LR

Identify the role

Question frequencyUncommon

Common question stems

  • "Which one of the following most accurately describes the role played in the argument by the claim that "XXXX"?"
  • "The claim that "XXXX" plays which one of the following roles in the argument?"

Identify the Role Intro

Identify the role questions are often quite confusing for new students, but with practice you can get to 100% accuracy on these. The keys are understanding what the question is asking you to do (the question stem for these is often confusing) and having a deep understanding of argument structure.

Question Stem

The question stem for Identify the Role questions will give you a statement that is made in the stimulus and ask you what role that statement is playing in the argument. If you don't already understand the various parts of arguments that you may be presented with on the LSAT now's a good time to go read my Introduction to Arguments article LINK TO INTRO TO ARGUMENTS ARTICLE

Argument Structure/Approach

The first step for these questions is to find the main conclusion of the argument. Then, identify all other parts of the argument: any sub conclusions, premises that act as evidence, premises that are claims made by other people that our argument rejects, or background information, for example.

Lastly, refer to the claim in the actual question stem. If you broke down the argument properly you should already know what part of the argument it is! You just have to find the answer choice that matches.