How to pre-phrase weaken except questions

[rameday]

Hello,

So for weaken except questions I don't usually pre-phrase. Should I be? How would I best go about doing that? Is it smarter to prephrase how the stimulus could be weakened (so one of the incorrect AC's) or is it better to prephrase how the stimulus could be strengthened or an AC that does nothing to the stimulus (so what the correct answer choice could be)?

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[Ron Gore]

Hi Rameday,

As with all questions on the LSAT, you definitely should be prephrasing Weaken questions. In fact, Weaken questions often provide some fantastic prephrasing opportunities.

The best way to do it is to find the conclusion in the stimulus, and then figure out what evidence was offered in support of that conclusion. There will always be some logical gap between the premises and the conclusion, some unanswered question left open by the facts. But even if you have trouble identifying the logical gap in the argument, you can always have the general prephrase that any answer choice that makes you doubt, even a little bit, that the conclusion is true weakens the conclusion. Your prephrase does not have to be anything fancy.

As to prephrasing for the correct answer choice versus the incorrect answer choices, it depends on the question. If it is a straightforward Weaken question, then prephrase for the correct answer choice, the one that weakens. If it is a Weaken Except question, prephrase for the four wrong answer choices, each of which will weaken the conclusion, rather then the correct answer choice, which will not weaken it.

Thanks,

Ron

[rameday]

Ok great.

I like the idea for weaken except questions to prephrase for the Incorrect AC the one that will weaken. Because that is the habit I have picked up on for general weaken questions.

I feel like If i start doing the opposite for weaken except I will just needlessly confuse myself.

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