Part I:

Here are some basic arguments. Identify the conclusion for each argument.

If youre not sure which is the conclusion, ask yourself: What is the person trying to convince the listener of? Are there reasons given? If so, the reasons are premises and the sentence that the speaker or writer is trying to convince the listener/reader of is the conclusion.

Example:

Mom, you should let me go to the movies tonight. I finished all my homework.

Is the speaker trying to convince her mother that she finished her homework? No, shes just asserting it. But why is she telling her mother she finished the homework? Shes clearly doing it to convince her mother to let her go to the movies. So the conclusion, the thing that the speaker is trying to convince the listener of, is you should let me go to the movies. Think of it this way: if the speakers mother believes that the speaker finished her homework, but still doesnt let her go to the movies, then the speaker has clearly not accomplished her goal. But if the speakers mother lets her go to the movies even though she doesnt believe she finished the homework, the speakers goals have been met. The goal was: get mom to believe she should let me go to the movie. Therefore, the conclusion must be you should let me go to the movies tonight.

1)Drinking while driving is dangerous. My cousin got drunk once, and he ran over a dog and then died of a heart attack.

2)If good men do nothing then evil will triumph. Right now, we stand idly by as children starve to death and innocent people are butchered in the conflict in the Congo. And yet, we do nothing. Clearly, the time has come to take action.

3)The ten commandments say thou shall not kill. So some people say that God made it so that killing was wrong. But if thats true, then God could have made it so killing was right just by saying thou shall kill. Thats hard to accept, since killing causes harm and we generally do all we can to avoid being killed. So, its not that killing is wrong because God said its wrong, rather, God said thou shall not kill because it is in fact wrong to kill.

4)Look, either you support Bushs policies in regard to torturing, I mean interrogating, prisoners, or youre on the terrorists side. I know youre not on the terrorists side, right? So youll have to support Bushs policies.

5)People who give money to charity are easy to swindle. I just swindled Terrence out of 40 bucks. So I bet he gives money to charity.

6)I know that God exists. I mean, I feel like he exists. So he must exist, right?

7)Compact florescent bulbs use about 1/5 the power of standard light bulbs, and they fit in standard light bulb sockets. The light they produce is slightly different from standard incandescent bulbs, but its nearly indistinguishable to the naked eye. Switching one incandescent bulb for a compact florescent bulb saves about 30 dollars a year in energy cost, and the compact florescent bulb lasts between 6 and 20 times as long as the incandescent bulb. While the initial price of a compact florescent is about double that of an incandescent, you more than make the money back in reduced energy expenditure and increased lifespan of the bulb. You should really switch to compact florescent bulbs.

8) English is the language this country uses in colleges and in business. If a student can't pass a test in English, he should not be given a diploma. By giving diplomas to those who dont understand English, you create the illusion that students who can't communicate in the work place are nonetheless prepared for college or the workforce.

9) You should graduate from college. College grads earn more than non-graduates, on average. Also, college graduates report greater happiness in their lives than non-grads. Plus, if you dont graduate, youll always wonder what you could have done if you did graduate.

10) All Dogs are loyal and all cats are friendly. So if you have a dog, youll have a loyal animal, but if you have a cat, youll have a friendly animal.

11) Michael Bloomberg was once found consorting with the Devil. He eats babies for breakfast and killed his own mother. Anyone who can consort with the devil, eat babies, and kill their own mother would have plenty of courage. Courage is the single most important trait a governor can have. In fact, courage alone would make someone a good governor. You should vote for Michael Bloomberg.