LSAT 88, Logical Reasoning II, Q15, LSATHacks

LR Question 15 Explanation, by LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Many popular novels have stylistic elements commonly…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: Using a journalistic writing style increases the chance a book will be popular.

REASONING: Many popular novels use journalistic writing. Many authors of popular novels started out as journalists.

ANALYSIS: This is a correlation-causation flaw. Just because many (“some”) popular novels use elements of journalistic writing doesn’t mean they’re successful because of fit. Also notice how it says “many” aka “some”: this isn’t a strong correlation at all! It could be that MOST popular novels aren’t written in a journalistic writing style. Better yet, there are more unpopular novels written in this style than there are popular ones.

___________

1. There isn’t any conditional relationship in the stimulus, so this mistaken reversal flaw I incorrect.
2. The stimulus never mentions what “most journalists” could do if they wanted.
3. Does it matter if the author laid out the specific requirements for a novel to be popular? No! This isn’t the flaw with our stimulus.
4. CORRECT. It could be that the number of unsuccessful novels written in a journalistic style outnumber the number of successful ones.
5. “Well written” doesn’t appear in the stimulus. Eliminate.

Recap: The question begins with “Many popular novels have stylistic elements commonly”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.

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