What Makes a ‘Good’ Argument and How Can You Tell?

A good argument is like a strong bridge, it connects the idea to the reason why you should believe it. If the pieces are missing or broken, the whole thing falls apart. A good argument has two parts: facts, which are things that are true, and reasons, which tell you why those facts matter.

How It Works

Imagine someone says, 'You should eat vegetables because they’re healthy.' That’s a simple but strong argument, it gives you both a fact (vegetables are healthy) and a reason (you should eat them for that). But if someone just says, 'Eat vegetables,' without explaining why, it doesn’t make the same impact.

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Examples

  1. If your friend says you should take an umbrella because it looks like rain, that’s a good argument, it gives a reason based on what you can see.
  2. Your teacher tells you to do homework every day because tests are coming up. That’s a good argument if the test is important and your grade depends on it.
  3. You tell your mom not to take the car out because it's snowing, and she says, 'But I need to go.' Your argument isn't as strong without showing why the snow would make the trip dangerous.

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