B.5.RA:4.3 - Recover the dependencies of the conclusion

Work backward from the conclusion through the claims or constructions it uses. At each needed transition, identify its premises, the inference or operation, and the result.

Keep jointly needed premises together. Preserve an independently sufficient alternative as a separate way to reach the conclusion. Track a shared premise wherever a later step uses it; repeated uses of one assumption do not provide independent support for that assumption.

Distinguish a premise supplied for the argument, a result established earlier and a temporary assumption used inside a subargument. Recover the point at which a temporary assumption is discharged and what then follows. If this logical form is unfamiliar, obtain the relevant explanation before treating the subargument’s assumption as an established fact.

Use established results at the level needed for the task. If the question concerns what a lemma permits, its statement and conditions may suffice. If the question concerns how to alter the lemma’s proof, recover its internal reasoning.