Occasion. Why does this inquiry exist now?
Live question. What uncertainty must the piece resolve?
Provisional answer. What do I currently think?
Question ladder. If the reader accepts section 1, what question follows? Repeat until the practical implication appears.
Section job. What does each section establish?
Paragraph engine. Claim → mechanism → evidence or example → implication.
Countercase. What serious objection changes or narrows the thesis?
Calibration. Fact, inference, judgment, expectation, speculation, or unknown.
Evidence mix. Which source is establishing magnitude, precedent, mechanism, direct fact, or comprehension?
Compression. Can each major section be restated in one sentence after it is proved?
Practical return. What remains on the reader's desk?
Ending. What is newly visible now that was not visible at the start?