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LSAT Logical Reasoning Mastery - Coggle Diagram

- - - - What Evidence Is
        
        Evidence = Premises → statements that support the conclusion
        
        Provides reasons (facts, opinions, principles, data, examples) the author uses
        
        Without evidence, the conclusion has no foundation
      - What Evidence Is Not
        
        Conclusion → the claim the argument is trying to prove
        
        Background info → context, scenesetting, not actually supporting
        
        Counterpremises → opposing claims introduced only to be rejected
      - Common Premise Indicators (Keywords)
        
        Since
        
        Because
        
        For
        
        As
        
        Given that
        
        Seeing that
        
        In view of the fact that
        
        (Not always present, but very helpful clues)
    - - Facts/Statistics “Surveys show that 80%…”
        
        Examples “For instance, when X happened…”
      - Principles/Rules “All citizens have the right to…”
      - Comparisons/Analogies “Just as in case X, so too in case Y”
      - Causal Statements “This leads to that…”
      - Evidence vs Conclusion How to Tell Them Apart
        
        Evidence supports → Conclusion
        
        Ask
        
        “If I take this away, does the argument fall apart?” → If yes = evidence
      - Tone
        
        Evidence often sounds more factual/neutral
        
        Conclusion often sounds more opinionated, judgmental, or prescriptive
        
        Indicators
        
        Conclusion words
        
        thus
        
        therefore
        
        hence
        
        so
        
        accordingly
        
        it follows that
        
        Premise words
        
        since
        
        because
        
        given that
    - - Hidden premises
        
        unstated but assumed (watch for them)
      - Evidence first, conclusion last (or reversed)
        
        Don’t assume order
      - Multiple premises
        
        sometimes several reasons pile up
      - Intermediate conclusions
        
        a statement can be both a conclusion (supported by earlier premises) and a premise (supporting the final conclusion)
    - - What is the author trying to prove?
        
        Conclusion
        
        What reasons are given to prove it?
        
        Evidence
        
        Does this statement stand on its own, or is it supporting something else?
        
        If I remove it, does the argument lose its foundation?
      - Understand reasoning structure
        
        how evidence → conclusion
      - Recognize common flaws
        
        bad leaps
        
        false assumptions
        
        causal mistakes
      - Translate conditionals (If A → B; contrapositive = If not B → not A)
      - Handle quantifiers (“all, some, most, none”) precisely
      - Prephrase predict the answer before looking