The following appeared in a memo written by the head of the Gorham School.

“Under Governor Winslow’s leadership over the past four years, Myria has enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. Average wage increases this year are higher than they have been at any time since the 1970’s, the number of people who report being unemployed has decreased by 10 percent, and construction of new homes is up by one third. In contrast, over the past four years Governor Winslow’s opponent, Mr. Homer, has been mayor of a city in which only a small number of new businesses have opened. If Myrians want another four years like the past four years, they should reelect Governor Winslow.”

The arguer recommends that Governor Winslow should be reelected to power as the governor of Myria since the past four years during his tenure as the governor have brought in prosperity for Myria. The past four years have seen an increase in the average wages, a decrease in the number of unemployed people and an increase in the construction of new homes. The arguer compares this with the situation in a city where Mr. Homer, Governor Winslow’s opponent, has been the mayor for the past four years. The city has seen only a few new businesses opening up during the past four years. The given argument suffers from several fallacies that render it unconvincing.

First and foremost, the capability of a governor cannot be adjudged by the average wages, unemployment and construction of new homes only. It is likely that these aspects have improved due to the efforts put in by Governor Winslow’s predecessor and so Governor Winslow cannot be given the entire credit for the same. There is a need to assess the civic situation in Myria before one can be convinced that Governor Winslow has indeed been successful in his tenure as governor. Information related to the crime rate in Myria, the civic facilities available, the law and order situation, the standards of education being provided etc. needs to be provided in order to assess the effectiveness of Governor Winslow in leading Myria to prosperity.

An increase in the average wages does not necessarily mean that the wages of all the citizens of Myria have improved in the past four years. It is likely that there has been an increase in the wages of the people who were already drawing high salaries. This has made the average wages go higher up, but the workers who are getting low wages have seen no improvements in the past four years. It is likely that a lesser number of people have reported being unemployed. Moreover, it is possible that the problem of unemployment in Myria is so profound that people have moved out of Myria in search of better jobs. These factors could explain the decrease in the numbers of unemployed people.

Additionally, construction of new homes is not an indication of the success of the governor of Myria. There is no information pertaining to the construction of new homes in the past. It is likely that the construction of homes was almost negligible and therefore, even if it has increased by one-third, it would not account for a large margin by which the construction has increased. Moreover, it is likely that the new homes are being constructed by people who do not live in Myria themselves but they plan to rent them to Myrians for business purposes.

Another major lacuna in the given argument is the lopsided information provided with respect to Governor Winslow and Mr. Homer. If the capabilities of Mr. Homer have to be compared with those of Governor Winslow, there is a need to provide additional information related to Mr. Homer’s tenure apart from the number of businesses that have come up in his tenure as mayor. Lack of information in this aspect makes it difficult to believe that Governor Winslow would be the best choice for Myria’s governor for the coming term.

Therefore, the arguer fails to convince the reader that his recommendation is valid as he has failed to provide adequate evidence in its support. The arguer needs to provide additional information like the lowest wages being drawn by the Myrian workers, the exact number of unemployed Myrians and the number of Myrians who are constructing new homes in order to convince the reader that the average wages, the unemployment statistics and the construction of new homes point towards the prosperity of Myria. Moreover, the reader would like to know more about Mr. Homer before he can be convinced that the recommendation made is justified.