Argument Structure Questions - - Question 2

When Alicia Green borrowed a neighbor's car without permission, the police merely gave her a warning. However, when P...

hbanana100396 April 12, 2018

Breaking down the passage

In a discussion post for question 1, Mehran broke down each part of the passage into the unnecessary background information, conclusion, premise, and subsidiary conclusion. I found that super helpful and I was wondering if it could be done for this question as well? "When Alicia Green borrowed a neighbor's car without permission, the police merely gave her a warning" "However, when Peter Foster did the same thing, he was charged with automobile theft" "Peter came to the attention of the police because the car he was driving was hit by a speeding taxi" "Alicia was stopped because the car she was driving had defective taillights" "It is true that the car Peter took got damaged and the car Alicia took did not, but since it was the taxi that caused the damage this difference was not due to any difference in the blameworthiness of their behavior." "Therefore Alicia should also have been charged with automobile theft" (Conclusion?) I can't even tell what the premise is here.

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Mehran April 13, 2018

Yes re: the conclusion!

"Therefore" is our structural indicator for conclusion so our conclusion here is, "Therefore, Alicia should also have been charged with automobile theft."

The support is everything else in the stimulus.

Hope that helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

aleezam696@gmail.com November 3, 2018

Hi It is hard for me to figure out the conclusion.

Mehran November 5, 2018

Hi @ aleezam696@gmail.com, thanks for your post. The conclusion is the main point of the argument in the stimulus. Sometimes, the LSAT writers help us by including words that serve as "structural indicators." Structural indicators help identify different parts of an argument. Words like "since" and "because" or phrases like "due to" may signal premises. Words like "therefore" or "ultimately" or "consequently" may indicate either conclusions or subsidiary conclusions.

In this stimulus, there is a structural indicator that helps you find the conclusion: "therefore" ("Therefore Alicia should also have been charged with automobile theft"). This is the main point of the argument in the stimulus.

Hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

maonuo October 14, 2019

what do you mean by stimulus? like the question?