In researching the status quo, you will probably come across work by other writers that you would like to use in your own writing. This can be a very successful argument strategy when done properly. Using sources well means doing more than just repeating what other authors say; you need to engage with your source text – comment on it, argue with it, analyze it, expand upon it. To do any of those things, you need to start with a thorough and accurate understanding of the other authors’ work.
This level of understanding begins with thinking critically about the texts you are reading. In this case, “critically” does not mean that you are looking for what is wrong with a work (although in the course of your critical process, you may well do that). Instead, thinking critically means approaching a work as if you were a critic or commentator. Your primary goal is to evaluate the text at hand.
This is an essential step in analyzing a text, and it requires you to consider many different aspects of a writer’s work. Do not just consider what the text says. Think about what effect the author intended to produce in a reader. Look at the process through which the writer achieves (or does not achieve) the desired effect, and which rhetorical strategies are being used. If you disagree with a text, what is the point of contention? If you agree with it, how do you think you can expand or build upon the argument put forth?
Critical thinking has many uses. If you apply it to a work of literature, for example, it can become the foundation of a detailed textual analysis. With scholarly articles, critical thinking can help you evaluate their potential reliability as future sources. Finding an error in someone else’s argument can be the point of destabilization you need to make a worthy argument of your own. Critical thinking can even help you hone your own argumentation skills, since it requires you to think carefully about which strategies are effective for making arguments.