Nomaan,

I think the easiest way to factor this is to remove the factor of x² from the first two terms

x³ - 2 x² - x + 2 = x²(x - 2) - (x - 2)

and then take out a common factor of (x - 2) from the two resulting terms.

To use the factor theorem let f(x) = x³ - 2 x² - x + 2 and then notice that f(1) = 0. Thus by the factor theorem (x - 1) is a factor of f(x). Divide f(x) by (x - 1) to obtain g(x) so that f(x) = (x - 1) g(x). Factor g(x).

Penny