“The importance of misdirection incorporated into your act cannot be stressed enough. Factors include where your audience is positioned, where and when they look and what they are thinking about. Basically, misdirection is making sure that [they] stay focused on the magic and don’t start trying to figure out how the trick is done” – www.goodtricks.net
The last entry at You and the Bar Exam discussed the fundamental talents that applicants should have to begin deconstructing the magic of MBE questions. Let’s move on to define some terms so that we’ll all be speaking the same language about questions.
Each MBE question or “ITEM” has these pieces:
The ROOT of the item is the portion that contains the hypothetical and sets out the factual circumstances.
The STEM or CALL of the item – we will use the two terms interchangeably – is the question itself. For example, “If the state seeks review by the United States Supreme Court, which of the following statements is the most accurate?”
The OPTIONS are the answer choices.
The Two Most Common Question Types
Your Pattern Recognition Training Starts Here
Irrespective of the substance of MBE questions and the topics they test, nearly all of them are based on the same structure. It may help to think of the fundamental structure as the frame of a house. Once that’s in place, the walls, doors and windows can be added to make the house unique.
I suggest that you a quick read of the type of every question. It will provide an instant clue on how to attack the question.
Here are the two principal types of MBE questions.
Simple Option Questions
A significant minority of MBE items will contain simple options.
In this case “simple” does not mean easy. It means only that each option consists of a bare conclusion – nothing more. Here are some examples:
Call: If the plaintiff asserts a claim against the defendant, the court should award her a judgment in the amount of
(A) $1,2000 (the full purchase price of the car).
(B) $900 (the purchase price of the care less its reasonable rental value).
(C) $800 (the purchase price of the car less the damage that it sustained).
(D) nothing.
Call: Which of the following is the most serious crime of which the defendant can properly be convicted?
(A) First degree murder.
(B) Second degree murder.
(C) Voluntary Manslaughter
(D) Involuntary Manslaughter
This second question demonstrates why simple options are not easy options. To have the best chance of answering the question correctly, the applicant needs to know the prima facie definitions of all four possible offenses. Put another way, the applicant needs to know all the elements of each of the options.
Complex Option Questions
Let’s call the majority of MBE questions complex option questions. Complex, because they consist of two parts: a conclusion and a reason for the conclusion. Items containing complex items are really asking you to answer two questions correctly in each option. You must choose the correct conclusion AND you must choose the correct reason for the conclusion.
Here are some examples:
Call: “If the plaintiff seeks judicial review by the United States Supreme Court, can the United States Supreme Court grant such review?
(A) No, because the decision of the state court is based on an adequate state ground.
(B) No, because there has been no determination on the merits by the highest court of the state.
(C) No, because sexual preference is not a suspect classification.
(D) Yes.
Call: If the neighbor sues the doctor for $400 ($25 for the 16 months remaining in the term), the court should find for
(A) the neighbor, because the doctor’s monthly payments to the lawn service resulted in an estoppel-type waiver of his rights to deny liability.
(B) the neighbor, because the homeowner’s promise to provide lawn maintenance services touches and concerns the land.
(C) the doctor, because he did not agree to pay for the maintenance of the neighbor’s lawn.
(D) the doctor, because the price of $25 per month to maintain the neighbor’s lawn was equal to one-half the price that the law service charged for maintaining both lawns.
As you practice this semester for July – (If you have not already started, then get to it!) – practice locking in that initial instantaneous identification and you’ll be off to a good start to deciphering the magic of the MBE.
