Role of a Claim Questions on the LSAT: What Job Does That Sentence Do?

A role of a claim question quotes or refers to a specific statement and asks what role it plays in the argument. The stem reads: the claim that X plays which role, or the statement about X functions in the argument to. You are identifying a job, not judging whether the statement is correct.

The possible jobs are limited: it could be the main conclusion, an intermediate conclusion, a premise that supports the conclusion, a position the author argues against, or background context.

Before reading the answers, build a quick map. Find the main conclusion, then find what supports it, then note any opposing view the author mentions in order to reject it.

Locate the highlighted claim on that map. Is it the endpoint everything leads to, a stepping stone that is itself supported and then used to support something else, or a viewpoint the author sets up to knock down. That placement is your answer.

The trickiest role is the intermediate conclusion: a statement that is supported by some premises and then itself supports the main conclusion. It is both a conclusion and a premise depending on where you look.

Use the why and therefore test. Ask why is this claim true; if the argument answers that, the claim is at least a conclusion of something. Then ask what does this claim support; if it props up a further claim, it is intermediate rather than the main conclusion.

Authors often state a view they will argue against, sometimes signaled by phrases like some people believe or it might seem. A highlighted claim of that type is functioning as the position the author opposes, not as the author's own premise.

Similarly, a concession acknowledges a point before pivoting. Recognize the pivot words, such as although, admittedly, or while it is true that, which mark a claim the author grants but does not rely on.

Find the main conclusion. Identify what supports it and any view the author rejects. Place the highlighted claim on that structure. Use the why and therefore test to separate the main conclusion from intermediate conclusions. Match to the abstract answer that describes that exact role.