LSAT 157 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q2

LR Question 2 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: The sculptor Barajas died before she could even begin…

QUESTION TYPE: Weaken

CONCLUSION: The statue probably looks like what Barajas would have made herself.

REASONING: Barajas’ assistants made the statue after her death based on her sketches of how she planned to sculpt it herself.

ANALYSIS: Essentially, the stimulus assumes that the assistants can perfectly emulate Barajas’ product. I thought of it as a step-based process like this:

1. Barajas makes sketches;
2. The sketches are interpreted by assistants; and
3. The assistants sculpt a statue.

The correct answer will interrupt this process and throw a wrench into it.

___________

1. CORRECT. This shows that the three sketches were likely to not have been final, and Barajas probably planned to revise them before making the statue. It breaks the first step in our process above. It’s still possible that the statue is accurate, but certainly less likely – especially since three sketches is far fewer than the dozens Barajas usually makes.
2. This does not break our process. The existence of one assistant who helped plan the sculpture but didn’t participate in the recreation does not indicate that the recreation is likely to have failed.
3. The use of materials Barajas didn’t typically use does not strongly discount the idea that the Sonora is accurate to Barajas’ vision. We have nothing to indicate that the use of new material was not part of the sketches.
4. This does not weaken the argument. If anything, it somewhat strengthens it by showing that the sketch was what Barajas is likely to have used.
5. This does not break our process. It’s not a strike against the assistants that they took unusually long to craft the Sonora – they were trying to recreate their master’s vision, after all!

Recap: The question begins with “The sculptor Barajas died before she could even begin”. It is a Weaken question. Learn more about LSAT Weaken questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.