Be comfortable with the terms for the fundamental parts of an argument.

• Remember that every argument has a conclusion and know how to identify the conclusion.
• Also remember that every argument has at least one premise, and know how to identify all premises.
• Distinguish independent premises from dependent ones.

Understand the terms of praise and opprobrium for arguments and when and how to apply those terms.

• Use the evaluative "good" and "bad" only as general measures of how well premises support the conclusion and not as specific diagnostic concepts.
• Know intimately the meaning of a valid argument as well as what makes an argument not only valid but sound to boot.
• Use the evaluative "valid" and "invalid" only when assessing deductive arguments.
• Understand how to classify arguments as strong or weak, and how that classification differs from the valid/invalid distinction.
• See that the traditional distinction between deductive and inductive arguments fits into the present structure of evaluations.

Identify unstated or implied premises in an argument and identify them.

• Be able to spot those premises that an argument needs in order to become a good argument, but that are not stated in the argument itself.
• Base your identification of those premises on the criteria for a good argument: recognize the difference between finding premises that make an argument valid and finding those that make the argument strong.
• Be able to evaluate unstated claims in an argument on the same grounds.

Analyze the structure of arguments in order to understand and evaluate them.

• Feel comfortably about laying out the working parts of an argument and arranging them into a perspicuous order.
• Become familiar with the difference between the real and functional parts of an argument on one hand and the mere window dressing or elaborations on the other, which your diagram does not need to acknowledge.
• Use argument diagrams fluently to analyze the relationships between premises and conclusions.

Be familiar with the two fundamental questions with which everyone evaluates every argument, everywhere, every time.

• Understand how to ask whether the argument's premises support its conclusion.
• Understand when and how to ask whether the premises themselves in turn are reasonable claims to accept.