Language for Critical Discussion

The following may be useful when you are using authors' ideas in your assignments, especially if you have been asked to write a discussion, critical analysis, or literature review of a topic.

Stating your own position on a subject or topic:

“The aim of this paper is to claim that…”
“The point of this article is to claim that…”
“It shall be argued in this paper/review/thesis that…”
“The view presented in this is that…”
“The argument advanced/put forward in this is that…”
“The point of view expressed/put forward in this essay is that…”
“The perspective presented here is that…”
“The point of view argued for here is that…”

Stating the view of another person on a subject or topic:

“Smith claims that…”
“Smith thinks that…”
“Smith’s argument is that…”
“Smith’s conclusion is that…”
“Smith’s claim is that…”
“Smith’s point is that…”
“Smith’s point of view is that…”
“According to Smith…”
“From Smith’s point of view…”
“The point of Smith’s article/paper is that…”
“The substance of Smith’s argument/paper/article is that…”
“Smith’s work/data allows him to draw the conclusion that…”
“Some theorists, such as Smith (1989) think that…”
“It is thought by some theorists, for example, Jones (1980) and Smith (1989) that…”

Attributing a view to another person (when you are not quite sure):

“Smith’s claim seems to be that…”
“Smith seems to be claiming that…”
“Smith’s argument seems to be that…”
“Smith’s conclusion seems to be that…”
“The point of Smith’s article seems to be that…”

Drawing a conclusion using the work of others:

“The conclusion of all this is that…”
“The result of all this is that…”
“An outcome of this is that…”
“A consequence of this is that…”
“When Smith’s work is looked at closely it is seen that…"
“When Smith’s argument is analysed it can be seen that…”
“Looking at Smith’s work /argument in detail…”
“Analysing Smith’s data shows that…”
“Developing Smith’s work/argument to its logical conclusion shows that…”
“It can be seen/shown that...”
“One possible consequence of Smith’s work is that...”
“From Smith’s work it can be determined that...”
“One outcome of Smith’s work is that...”
“The following point can be brought out of Smith’s work...”
“The following argument can be brought out of Smith’s work...”
“Using Smith’s work it is possible to show that/argue that...”
“Using the work of Smith (1980) and Jones (1989) it can be shown that/argued that...”

Disagreeing with the views of others:

“Jones does not agree [with Smith] that...”
“Brown’s argument against Smith is that...”
“Brown’s disagreement with Smith is that...”
“Unlike Smith, Brown suggests/claims/argues/proposes...”
“Contrary to the views of Smith, Jones believes...”
“Smith’s argument does not seem to work for the reason that...”
“In contrast to Smith’s view/argument/data...”
“The argument being advanced here is opposed to that of Smith...”
“It does not seem to follow from Smith’s work/data that...”
“Smith’s data/arguments are faulty for the reason that...”
“Analysing Smith’s work in this way, it can be seen that...”
“Problems arise in Smith’s work [when it is seen that]...”

Agreeing with the views of others:

“As Smith says...”
“Brown agrees with Smith’s point [that]...”
“This is also Smith’s view...”
“Brown argues a similar view to that of Smith...”
“Following from Smith’s point...”
“Brown agrees with Smith in so far as...”
“Along the lines of Smith (1980), Jones suggests/proposes/argues/is putting forward...”
“The view Jones puts forward is largely in agreement with [that of] Smith.”
“The argument being put forward/espoused here is similar to that of Smith (1980).”

Pointing out assumptions:

“This assumes that...”
“Smith assumes that...”
“Assuming... [then] it follows that...”
‘The following assumption is being made here...”
“One/An assumption of this view is that...”
“The point being assumed here is that...”
“The assumption on which this depends is...”
“The assumption behind this view is [the point that]...”
“Smith’s argument depends on the assumption/assumes one thing...”

Adapted from Davies, M. (2002). Critical Review Language. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.