#10- Helen: Reading a book is the intellectual equivalent of

[srcline@noctrl.edu]

Hello

So this is another instance where the issue of analogy and example has shown up on the LSAT and I'm still having trouble with it. So I know Robert or Adam had responded and said that an example is something that is very specific and an analogy is comparing things that are broad. For this reason I choose answer choice E the correct answer choice was B

So Helen says that "reading a book is the intellectual equivalent of investing money. Great, this is the analogy, I see that.

But the question stem asks how Randi replies to Helen's argument. Randi says: But that applies ONLY to vocational books. Reading fiction is like watching a sitcom:its just wasted time. How is this not an example He is differentiating between reading fiction and vocational books. Vocational books is a specific example of a type of book?

Thankyou
Sarah

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Sarah,

But the question stem asks how Randi replies to Helen's argument. Randi says: But that applies ONLY to vocational books. Reading fiction is like watching a sitcom:its just wasted time. How is this not an example He is differentiating between reading fiction and vocational books. Vocational books is a specific example of a type of book?

Randi's counterargument limits the scope of Helen's argument to vocational books. Just because vocational books are a specific subset of all books doesn't make them an "example." An example is supposed to illustrate something (the conclusion). Compare Randi's argument to the following: if he said, "Reading fiction is clearly a waste of time. I read 50 Shades of Gray and I got nothing out of it" - that would be a counterexample. What he's doing is something entirely different: he concedes that Helen's argument is valid but with a narrow scope, and then proceeds to offer another analogy - that between reading fiction and watching a sitcom. Both similar in that they are a waste of time, so what applies to one also applies to the other.

Hope this helps!

[brcibake]

why not D? I see the analogy clearly in Randi's response but not in Helen's response.
Thank you

[Eric Ockert]

Helen's argument analogizes reading a book to investing money. Those are different things, but comparable in this case, according to Helen.

There is no "example" present in Helen's argument. An example needs to be a specific illustration of the point the author is trying to make. Helen cites no specific instance of a book one reads or of investing money. She just describes how they are similar here.

Hope that helps!