A key part of academic writing is to "identify" the main issues or the important parts of the topic you are writing about. This makes your writing easier to understand for the reader. But, it also shows your critical thinking.
You need to decide what the key words or main issues are. This means you need to do enough reading and then think critically about what you have read so that you can decide for yourself what the main points are.
Different students might identify different main points - that is OK! You just need to show the reader that you have good reasons for your choice. Thinking for yourself and giving your reasons are features of critical writing. Here are two examples, the first is weak and the second is better.
Example 1: "Smith found two main problems with cycleways in cities..."
[Then it goes on to report the reasons given by Smith, but it doesn't really discuss them or compare them to what other researchers found]
It is not very critical. The problem with this is that the student hasn't really discussed whether Smith is right or what other researchers think. It doesn't show that the student is aware of other opinions. And, the student hasn't taken a position - we see only a report of what one author said as if there were no other possibilities. Example 2 is much better:
Example 2: "There are three main problems with having cycleways in cities: X, Y and Z."
[This is the writer identifying what they think are the main points.]
"...Smith only found two.... Jones found six.... However, this essay will argue that..."
[This is the writer discussing the points and showing why they identified X, Y, and Z.]
How does this show critical thinking?
It shows that you are thinking and that you are getting information from different sources and making sense of it by evaluating it and deciding what the main points or issues are. You can introduce the main points or issues in your introduction and also in the topic sentences of paragraphs.
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