For this essay, you should consider yourself joining an ongoing academic conversation.  From your research, you have learned about what scholars and professionals think about your chosen topic, how they view it, and how they respond to what others have to say about it.  Sometimes these sources respond to each other directly, other times they simply offer different thoughts and opinions, but regardless, they are in conversation with one another.  In this essay, you are contributing to this conversation by offering your own argument and perspective on it, based on the research youve already done.