Rhetorical Précis on Good Reasons Chapter 3

     In Chapter 3 of Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer’s Good Reasons (2012), “Finding Reasons”, the authors discern the different key points in identifying, building, and supporting arguments, and break down components that make up the difference between what could be a good argument and a bad argument, or even an argument and something else entirely. They first explain how to identify an argument, both by distinguishing one in everyday conversation, and by telling the differences between one type of argument from another or a persuasive article versus an argumentative one; they then elaborate on different types of arguments and how to involve oneself in both others arguments and one’s own more effectively—things such as argument categories, how to analyze issues, how to read into, examine, and find evidence for arguments, and how to establish different kinds of standpoints or contributions to arguments were listed and discussed. Faigley and Selzer intend to emphasize to the reader that an argument is something that can be weighed, analyzed, broken down, and evaluated, and give textual examples and list major rules and factors in being able to do these things when reading or writing arguments. Their intended audience is those being educated on writing argumentative research papers, supplying them with different recipes and ingredients for identifying, defining, researching issues on, and writing or reading arguments.