Describe the question, issue, or problem you wish to address. Discuss how some other authors have approached the issue (what Graff and Birkenstein call the “they say” move in academic writing) and then present your contribution to it. Your contribution may extend, complicate, illustrate, challenge, or qualify the arguments that other authors have made.
Focus on two or three texts that take different positions on the issue/problem. Describe points of connection, difference, and disagreement, and evaluate relative strengths and weaknesses.
Make your own argument about the issue, contributing to the conversation in some way – by extending, illustrating, complicating, or challenging what the other authors say.
Conclude by addressing the significance of the issue, discussing its implications, proposing a solution, or suggesting what can be learned from examining this issue