Discussion 2 week 11-17 Exercise 2

Exercise #2 Page 225

“I am on my way to school. I left five minutes late.  Traffic is heavy. Therefore I’ll be late for class. So I might as well stop and get breakfast” Epstein

First we need to make sure if this is an argument: Yes

 This is an argument because this person is talking about why he or she is late for class. That person is going to school. He or she going to school, leaving five minutes late, and going through heavy traffic are claims. However, I think he or she being late for class is a claim as well because it supports the conclusion which is deciding to get breakfast.
Conclusion:
The conclusion for this argument is stopping to get breakfast due to being late.

I think a premise is needed to explain why he or she should get breakfast. If he or she did forget to eat breakfast before leaving the house, there should be premises mentioning that. If there isn't, you can and might as well add a different conclusion. The sub argument is this that she is getting late because of heavy traffic. I do not think this is a good argument because he or she did not state why he or she should get breakfast. If there was a premises that showed that he or she had a reason to get breakfast, then I would say this is a good argument. He or she also had the choice to still go to class without eating breakfast. Either way, he or she will be late.
I actually found this exercise useful because it tells you that you should be aware about your conclusion. In a way, it's a lesson teaching us that we should think before we act.