Inductive versus Deductive Reasoning, a la Shmoop.
As you may have heard, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Although none of them are endorsed by PETA.
In the same vein, there is more than one way to... apply reason.
For example, you may decide that it wouldn't be a good idea for you to skin a cat...
...because all living things are precious, and you may be incurring the wrath of God
by so callously torturing one of his creatures.
Or, you might just realize that you've got too much homework to do tonight.
Either way, there's a cat out there somewhere sighing a huge meow of relief.
When it comes to reasoning, there are two main ways to do it...
...by using inductive reasoning...
...or by using deductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning, otherwise known as the "top down" approach...
...starts with a general statement, theory or hypothesis...
...and then works its way down to a specific conclusion by examining various pieces of evidence.
For example, if you hypothesize that Dr. Seuss hates cats...
...and you provide examples from The Cat in the Hat that you feel support that hypothesis...
...you can deduce that Dr. Seuss does, in fact, hate cats.
And let's not even get started on how he feels about Thing 1 and Thing 2.
Of course, it's a little more complicated when applied to an essay, because there are
many more pieces of evidence to consider, but you get the idea.
Inductive reasoning, or the "bottom up" approach...
...starts with a small observation or question...
...and works its way to a theory by examining the related issues.
It's a bit more exploratory by nature than deductive reasoning.
Like... "How does Dr. Seuss feel about cats?"
"Well, he has this cat do some really dumb stuff... and he keeps getting in trouble...
and the kids get angry at him... and he looks weird.
So yeah... Dr. Seuss doesn't seem like a big cat fan."
So... how to apply these tools when writing an essay?
If writing a deductive essay, you'll want to make your big statement right up front...
...and then spend the rest of the paper providing evidence that supports your statement.
In your conclusion, you can restate your premise, and then remind the reader how fabulously
you just proved your point. When writing an inductive essay, your intro
will be a little more mysterious...
...you're going to start with the facts, and gradually string together a conclusion...
...which will end your essay with a bang.
You could also try using seductive reasoning,
but you'd better look good in a nightie.