Good Reason Chapter 13: Proposal Arguments Presis

                  In the Good Reasons’  text chapter 13:  Proposal Arguments, authors Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer claim that proposal arguments are arguments that identify a problem and offer a main solution, along with several other solutions, but provide facts as too why the main solution is better than the alternatives.  Faigley and Selzer discuss that a proposal argument is a call to action.  They describe the four components when writing a proposal argument: identify and define a problem, state a solution, convince solution is right and will work, and demonstrate that the solution is realistic.  The chapter then moves to demonstrate the six steps in writing a proposal argument and how to use a outline to organize your thoughts—finally, there is a sample proposal argument to give the readers a tangible example of how to information provided can be used to create an effective argument.  The authors’ main purpose is to inform the audience that “the key to a successful proposal is using good reasons to convince readers that if they act, something positive will happen (or something negative will be avoided).” (185). They state this  in order to demonstrate the importance of the proposal argument, and its structure.  The main audience of this particular chapter would be English students learning about the art of writing arguments and also anyone who may be writing a proposal for political, business or other professional reasons—a call to action can be used by anyone!