Reading Comp Training: Persuasive Headers

Regardless of whether RC is “learnable”, I guarantee you it is trainable.

Reading Comprehension on the LSAT can be divided into three broad categories of questions: Author’s POV, Structure and Details.

This exercise is meant to hone your skills in spotting, understanding and answers Author POV and passage structure questions. The creation of headers in litigation briefs (and judges’ decision) is absolutely critical for any brief writer. You will learn how to write persuasive headers in your Legal Research & Writing class as a 1L.

Point being, this is something you will be trained to do. Learning it now will improve your reading comprehension skills and improve your score.

So learn it and practice it. It’s free real estate.

Part I: Function Headers

A functional outline describes the function of each paragraph within a larger argument. This is how most legal briefs begin! This is what you’d think of when answering a role/purpose of paragraph/passage. Here’s a very basic example.

1. I intend to prove A

   1. Factor 1 A weighs in our favor

   2. Factor 2 A weighs in our favor

   3. Factor 3 is not relevant here

2. I intend to prove B

   1. There is a split on the interpretation of law B

   2. The Court should choose XYZ interpretation

   3. Under that interpretation, B weighs heavily in our favor

3. As a result of A & B, the Court should find that…

4. The Court Should Find X in Damages

   1. Here is evidence and an estimation of damage type 1

   2. Here is evidence and an estimation of damage type 2

5. As a result, the Court should order the following…

All I’m doing is stating the very basic purpose of each section, and each subsection within it!

Part II: Persuasive Headers

PT 64 was my 179, so I use it a lot. Sorry if you haven’t worked it before, but I would really suggest you read this, do the entire RC section, and then re-read this once more.

To reverse create persuasive headers, we take a simple functional outline the paragraphs and passage, and ask ourselves “why did the author write it like this?”

E.g. why these details in this paragraph? Why order these paragraphs the way they did? Why did it makes sense to discuss (argument A) before (argument B)? Why do they think this structure was optimal?

The best way to understand an author’s argument comes from understanding why the author wrote it the way they did.

We want to learn to see the flow: why did A—>B—>C—>D?

Let’s jump into:

(64-4-1): My Reverse-Title: Utility Maximization Provides a Uniting Framework for Positive and Negative Deterrence of Deliberate Crime

A1: The Two Approaches to Deterring Deliberate Crime May Not Be As Different As Scholars Believe

A2: The Economic Framework of Utility Maximization Reconciles These Approaches

A3: Both Positive and Negative Incentives Impact a Person’s Utility Maximization and, Thereby, Deterrence of Crime

I have a question: is this passage argumentative or an academic inquiry?

Creation Basics: Chunk and Reconstruct

When constructing headers, don’t try to create the entire sentence at once. Focus on picking out the key information that should be included in a header, then tie it together Here’s the process applied to 40-4-4:

40-4-4

Leading Questions
Effect on Witness Testimony
Underestimating Danger

Courts Underestimate the Dangerous Effect of Leading Questions on Witness Testimony
———

Recent Studies
Leading Questions
Alter Memories

Recent Studies Have Confirmed the Power of Leading Questions to Fundamentally Alter Witnesses’ Memories
———

Vague Memory
Tangential Details Easiest to Alter/Pollute
Crucial in Court

Vague Memories Make Tangential Details More Susceptible to the Effects of Leading Questions, Even When Those Details are Legally Crucial

The Role and Importance of Proverbs in Generational Exchange in Mexican-American Communities (64-4-2)

A1: Many Spanish Language Proverbs Used by Mexican-Americans Originate from the Common Proverb Tradition of Europe.

A2: In Mexican-American Communities, Proverbs Play an Important Role in Educating the community’s youth.

A3: Moreover, Proverbs Foster a Sense of Ethnic Identity and Strengthen Children’s Ties to Their Community’s History and Tradition

DO NOT DO THIS ON THE EXAM ITSELF

This is a training exercise, not a test-day strategy. This training improves recall and core comprehension skills:

1. Identify transition statements between paragraphs and how paragraphs flow into/build upon each other.

2. Distinguish between the author’s points of argument in each paragraph v. the details supporting them.

3. Learn to describe “role of” questions and “point of X” questions with the same brevity as LSAC’s answer choices.

64-4-3 (comparative)

The Familial Origins of Empathy May Explain Altruism’s Surprising Compatibility with Evolutionary Psychology’s Emphasis on Reproductive Success

• A1: Evolutionary Psychology’s Emphasis on Reproductive Success Is Seemingly Incompatible with the Existence of Altruism.

• A2: The Genes Contributing to Identification and Empathy May Have First Arisen in Response to Assisting Relatives.

• A3: These Genes May Now Lead Us to Express Empathy, and, Thereby, Altruism, to Non-Relatives.

Evolutionary Psychology Is Crap Built on Crap Arguments Using Crap Standards

• B1: Evolutionary Psychology Ignores Human Agency and Reduces All Our Motivations to the Propagation of Genes

• B2: Seemingly Persuasive Arguments in Favor of Evolution Psychology May Be Flawed

• B3: Inferences About the Cause of a Behavior Are Only Meaningful if All Other Potential Causes Can Be Ruled Out

An Educational Variation: Research Headers

1. Elements of the New Value Defense

3. New Value Must be Quantified with Specificity/What is “New Value”?

Section 547(g) provides the burdens applicable to Section 547 and states that…

4. Is New Value Calculated Using the Check Date, the Date the Check is Received or the Check Clearance Date?

New value is calculated based on the date the check is received….

Likely by the date the goods are delivered. …

6. May the Value of a Transfer, Whose Avoidance Is Not Being Sought in the Complaint, Be Used to Offset New Value Received by the Transferee?

Yes. While no decision in the Southern District of New York…

7. May a Creditor Assert a New Value Defense Based on New Value Provided by a Third Party?

No. Although there is scarce precedent on this issue, Judge [Smith] has answered this question in the negative, holding that …

8. May Services Rendered Post-Petition Be Included in a Calculation of New Value?

~No. The vast majority of courts have held that the new value defense encompasses only new value provided prior to the petition date. …

64-4-4

Dostoyevsky’s Views on Reality, the Purpose of Art, and Artistic Value Put Him at Odds with 19th Century Russian Radical Literary Critics

• A1: Dostoyevsky Rejected the Constraints of Both High and Radical Literary Critics’s View of Fantasy v. Reality

• A2: Dostoyevsky Broke With Radical Critics over His Belief that Reality Was Inherently Subjective

• A3: Moreover, Dostoyefsky Believed that Artistic Merit, Not Political Aims, Defined the Value of a Literary Work

• A4: Finally, Dostoyefsky Believed that the Value of Art is Neither Predictable, Nor Measurable with Precision

Divining Purpose!

Well-written argumentative headers explain exactly what the author wants to do, and how they’ve structured their brief to achieve it (imo)! If you read those headers alone, I think you could easily break them down it a model “author’s purpose” answer:

• Passage 1 is an academic explaining how the application of a new theory resolves existing two-sided dispute.

• Passage 2 is an academic educating us on the use and importance of proverbs in Mexican-American communities.

• Passage 3 relays two conflicting approaches to addressing the apparent incompatibility of empathy and evolutionary psychology.

  • Author A accepts the framework and then tries to explain how a seemingly incompatible behavior (empathy) fits within it.

  • In contrast, Author B directly attacks the framework, its logic and its theoretical basis.

• Passage 4 is intended to describe the ways in which Dostoyevsky’s broke with high and radical Russian literary critics.

What Did We Accomplish?

• So we started by creating headers, which gave us ~model answers to “author’s intent/purpose in paragraph N” questions.

• Which, in turn, made the author’s tone (teaching v. persuading) far easy to identify, describe and articulate.

• Then, we boiled down each header further, into a ~model answer on the role of each paragraph

  • E.g., for 64-1, we boiled this down into

    • P1: introduce main topic (deterrence) + summarize dispute

    • P2: explain how new theory resolves the dispute

    • P3: explain how resolution creates deterrence.

• And finally, we used our headers to create ~model answers for author’s purpose question (directly above)

• And oh, I created a title for the entire passage. But that’s just taking our headers together and summarizing the entire main point of the passage.

Not bad, eh?

Training Guidance (In Progress)

This will be slow going at first. This is a skill that needs to be developed. I write precise headers quickly because I wrote them professionally for ~6 years, both as a judicial clerk and as a bankruptcy litigator. Let’s walk through some guidance on training!

• Don’t use fresh RC passages: it’s preferable you do this exercise with passages you’ve already done. It’s better to ease into this training already having a vague sense of how the passage develops.

• The first few will take a long time: this is expected and normal. Budget at least 8-10 minutes/paragraph for your first few passages. I take around 4 min/paragraph, and I’ve been writing headers for years.

• Check your work: Once you finish your headers, go find the structure & role questions; are your headers communicating the same thing as the correct answer choice? Rinse and repeat until they do.

Obligatory Social Media Links and Tutoring Pitch

I charge $150/hr. This is significantly less than you would pay a certain Test Prep company from my services, and significantly more than they pay me. Win-win. I offer discounts for members of the queer community.

I am an excellent tutor. You will enjoy working with me. And I do things traditional tutors don’t. If you’re stuck at a plateau, considering hiring me. Breaking plateaus is what I do.

• Easiest way to reach me is on LSAT Dragon’s Discord

• Watch me tutor and teach (live) on my Twitch channel

• Watch VODs and video testimonials on my YT channel

• DM me on IG @ IdiosyncraticLSAT.

• hmu at u/idiosyncratic-lsat on reddit

• Email me at [email protected]

• For advanced students, consider buying LSAT Dragon’s LR Perfection and RC Perfection books. These are the end-all, be-all breakdown of each section.

• Check out AdeptLR’s training platform for Logical Reasoning!

PS: If anyone is interested in tutoring, I offer a $33/hr discount if you’re willing to be streamed on Twitch!

More Model Headers

63-4-1: An Examination of Recent Developments Regarding the Definition of Native Traditions under Alaskan Law

While Tradition is a Powerful Legal Concept in Alaskan Law, the Absence of a Statutory Definition Has Led to Inconsistent and Problematic Results

The Requirements that a Tradition Be Continuously Practiced Within “Living Memory” Has Proven Problematic in Recent Cases

Regulatory Authorities Held That, Because Natives Had Not Produced Pelt Handicrafts within Living Memory, this Activity Was Not a Tradition

The Courts, Emphasizing that the Native’s Tradition Was Ended by Circumstances Beyond Their Control, Rejected the “Living Memory” Interpretation of Tradition

63-4-2: The Life-Long Evolution of Kate Chopin’s Literary Influences

Although Kate Chopin Grew Up During the “Sentimental Novel” Period of Fiction, She Initially Modeled Her Writing after the “Local Colorists” Movement

Spurred by the Fragmenting Concept of “Women’s Culture”, Local Colorists Imbued Traditional Women’s Culture with Mythic Significance

Unlike the Local Colorists, However, Chopin Sought to Ground Emotionally Intense Stories as Part of a Region’s Culture

Chopin Ultimate Found Her Home with the Innovative New Women Movement, Which Used Impressionistic Methods to Explore Female Consciousness

63-4-3: An Exploration of the Causes of Scientist’s Embrace of the Ocean Floor Spreading Theory in the 1950s

After Discovering the Unusual Magnetic Properties of Ocean Floor Basalt, Scientists Began to Question Their Belief that the Sea Floor Is Unchanging

The Subsequent Discovery of the Global Mid-Ocean Ridge Led Scientists to Theorize that New Oceanic Crust is Being Created Over Time

The Correlation Between Reversals of the Polarity of Earth’s Magnetic Field and of the Polarity of Rock Ridges Spreading from the Crust Strongly Supports this Theory

63-4-4:

A: The Basis and Need for Objectivity from Professional Historians

Objectivity, the Central Ideal of Professional Historians, Rests in Large Part on Distinguishing Fact from Fiction

Thus, Interpretations Must Be Judged by How Well It Accounts for Known Facts; Therefore, Evolving Interpretations Do Not Mean Events Lack Fixed Meaning

The Goal of Objective Historians Is and Should Be to Be Neutral Judges, Not Propagandist or Political

B: Objective Scholarship Does Not, and, Should Not Require Historians Be Perfectly Neutral

Historical Scholarship Depends on Practitioners Approach Their Scholarship with Objectivity

Neutrality, However, Is Not Objectivity. To Create Truly Power Arguments, a Historian Must Inhabit a Position and Defend Against Alternatives

This Definition of Objectivity Is More Faithful to the Complexity of Historical Interpretation and Leads to True Exploration of History

58-2-2

Phillip Emeagawali’s pioneering designs of parallel computer systems finally allowed geologists to quickly calculate the flow of oil fields

Emegawali’s design of a massively parallel computer hinged on his discovery that an organic distribution of tasks to parallel computers maximizes speed of their calculations.

E, whose most recent design is based on the geometry of honeycombs, believes that computer scientists will increasingly look to nature for solutions to complex problems.

58- 2-3

Proponents of the tangible-object theory of copyright argue that such rights derive from ownership rights in tangible objects.

Theorists assert that the ability of copyright holders, like the owners of property or land, to transfer or retain certain rights in their work [more]

The inability of tangible object theory to accommodate evanescent things or recognize that the idea is more crucial than putting them into tangible form.

58-2-4

Complex music can have a positive effect or negative effect on listeners, depending on whether it is coherent to the listener

….

73-1-1

Recently, a group of “strict constructionist Darwinians” have asserted that natural selection is the exclusive means of evolution, in spite of Darwin’s repeated rejection of this view during his lifetime.

Darwin(who1),
Recently a(when)…
Strict Constructionist Group (who2),
disagree on whether natural selection is the exclusive cause of evolution

Although SCG’s theorize all adaptations are based on natural selection for survival, nature provides numerous examples to the contrary.

Strict Constructionists
all adaptations are for survival
DISAGREEMENT: Author
evidence: nature provides examples

For example, while genetic mutations can enhance or harm reproductive success, academic researchers have established that most mutations, although persisting for generations, do not effect reproductive success.

genetic mutations (actor/who)
help or harm (action1)
researchers (who2)
establish (action 2)
most mutations (who3)
don’t effect reproductive success (action 3)
from generation to generation (when)

Moreover, mammals’ survival of the mass extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs conflicts with the strict constructionist view of adaption.

dinosaurs(who1) extinction (action1)
mammals(who2) survived (action 2)

From Clemens, currently scoring in the 170s

25-1-1 -- E-Mails and Privacy Law, An Unresolved Legal Issue

P1) It presently is unclear to what extent legal privacy protections apply to emails in professional contexts
P2) Does the government's accountability obligation apply to electronic forms of communication?
P3) Private Enterprise: Does ownership of communication systems justify surveilling employees?
P4) Third Party Interceptions and Encrypted Messaging - A possible solution with drawbacks

25-1-2 -- Two Focal Points in 20th Century Homer Scholarship 

P1) Between 1935 and 1970, professional classicists studying Homer's 'Illiad' and 'Odyssey' focused primarily on these works' non-poetic aspects
P2) Background: This non-poetic focus can be traced back to Milman Parry's studies of oral storytelling in Ancient Greece in the early 1900s
P3) Since 1970, Milman Parry's son Adam has revived scholarly interest in the poetic side of Homer's work

25-1-3 -- Tribal and Intertribal Trends in Recent Revivals of Native American Cultural Practices

P1) Sociologists endorsing the 'Pan-Indian' theory interpret the recent revitalization of intertribal traditions as a stepping stone towards assimilation
P2) However, these cultural revivals are more complex than the sociologists realize
P3) An Unwarranted Assumption: Why should minority cultures succumb to the majority?
P4) Rather than just blending tribes together, Native American cultural practices often are unique to individual tribes
P5) While Tribal practices distinguish individual tribes from another, intertribal activities distinguish Native American culture from mainstream society (edited)

25-1-4 -- Organicism as an Unsuccessful Challenge to the Analytic Method

P1) Organicists purport to challenge the analytic method by exposing a naive conception of complex systems and their relations towards their components
P2) Internal Relations Theory as a Presupposition of Organicism
P3) Problem #1: The Internal Relations Theory Fails to Distinguish Accidental From Definitional Properties
P4) Problem #2: The Internal Relations Theory Makes Knowledge Impossible
P5) Assessment: The Organicist Challenge misrepresents the Analytic Method and fails