What to be able to do

1. Recognize what an argument is and what an argument is not
2. Asses the quality and reliability of the source
3. Find the premises and conclusion of an argument
4. Standardize an argument
5. Identify when premises are to be accepted or rejected
6. Identity hidden assumptions within an argument
7. Recognize where missing definitions reduce argument clarity
8. Distinguish inductive and deductive arguments
9. Determine the strength of an inductive argument
10. Asses an inductive argument as cogent or not cogent
11. Identify valid deductive arguments
12. Identify sound deductive arguments
13. Recognize 11 fallacies
14. Recognize seven common ways statistic can be misleading

Steps to analyze the essay

1. Read the essay, slowly, carefully
2. Identify the authors thesis/goal/ purpose
3. Standardize the argument
   1. Each paragraph in a thesis essay may provide ONE premise
   2. They could be several in a paragraph or several paragraph could be supporting one
4. Consider if there are any implicit/hidden assumptions related to the standardized argument