What’s great about Parallel POE is that, in the first instance, the original question does not even matter.
Think for a moment about how paired questions operate. The correct answer to the first question must be
supported by an answer to the evidence question, and the correct answer to the evidence question must
support an answer to the first question. In other words, if there is an evidence answer that doesn’t support
an answer to the first question, it is wrong. Period. Likewise, if there is an answer to the first question that
isn’t supported by an evidence answer, it too is wrong. Period.
Let’s use this to our advantage! Rather than worry about what the first question is asking and what the
answer might be, just start making connections between the two answer sets. If an evidence answer
supports a first question answer, literally draw a line connecting them. You should not expect to have four
connections. If you are lucky, you will have only one connection, and you will therefore have your answer
pair. Otherwise, you might have two or three connections and will then (and only then) worry about the
first question. The important thing to remember is that any answer choice in the first question that isn’t
physically connected to an evidence answer—and any evidence answer that isn’t connected to an answer
in the first question—must be eliminated.
Let’s take a look at how this first Parallel POE pass would look. (The paired questions have been
arranged in two columns to help understand this, and the lines have been written out for your convenience.
This does not represent what you will see on the official test.)