LSAT 103, Section 4, RC Passage 4, Marriages and Contracts

RC Passage 4 Explanation

Paragraph Summaries

1. English marriages after 1660 began to resemble a contract. Susan Staves argued that this hurt women.
2. Staves lists many examples of how courts undermined women’s marriage rights.
3. Staves work led her to revise some opinions and her work also challenges other scholars.

Analysis

The second paragraph is long, and full of detail. There’s no sense in trying to memorize anything.

In fact, only one(!) question asks about paragraph two. It’s just there to slow you down.

You need to understand the general argument of Reading Comprehension passages, but you rarely need to memorize details. Don’t let them distract you from understanding the structure of a passage.

Paragraphs one and three are fairly simple. Paragraph one introduces the traditional argument, which Staves attacks.

Paragraph three lists a few of the effects that Staves’ research had on other scholars.