What does personalizing the argument mean on the LSAT?

Personalizing an argument is one of the most important steps in constructing a good logical reasoning question. The logic games section of the LSAT requires you to personalize arguments (sometimes more than once). To personalize an argument means to make it specific to what actually happens in your life or what is happening at that moment. Personalization can be done by adding information, changing words, and asking questions about what’s being reasoned about.

Here is an example of what the argument looks like on paper: “All journalists are reporters.” In this sentence, you can see what’s being reasoned about and it doesn’t include any specific information. Now let’s personalize it by changing some words to make a specific situation more clear: “My dad is a journalist,” or “Your older brother is a reporter.”

Now what’s being reasoned about has more specific information that fits into what you know from real life. You can personalize an argument with the use of your own experiences, knowledge, and understanding to fit what’s actually happening around you. 

In conclusion, personalizing an argument is what you do when reasoning about what is happening, and what’s being reasoned about has more specific information that fits into what you know from real life.