• Identify the argument.
  • Is it an argument?
  • Find the conclusion.
    • State it clearly.
  • Find the explicit premises.
    • State them clearly.
• Identify the terms in the argument.
  • Standardize those terms.
• Look for layers of argumentation.
  • Identify the steps in the argument.
• Lay out the form of the steps in the argument.
  • See whether it can fit into common patterns.
• Find implicit premises.
  • What is needed to make the argument valid?
  • What is presumed but not said?
• Check the original against your formulation.
  • What have you missed?

[There will be feedback from some steps to others; i.e. doing one step may require that one revise the finding of a previous step.]