Organizational Methods: DEDUCTION
(1) Deductive Reasoning
- "Deductive" reasoning derives from a Latin word meaning to "lead
down from."
- It is the process of beginning with a general statement and then
moving down to specific supporting details.
- For example:
- GENERAL STATEMENT:
Answering legislative mail in a Congressional office is a complex
operation.
- Specific Statement:
Legislative mail must be accurately logged in and routed to the
appropriate staff member for response.
- Specific Statement:
If a piece of mail can be answered with a form letter, the staff
member must code it properly and route it to the computer
operator.
- Specific Statement:
If the correspondence cannot be answered with a form letter, an
individual response must be drafted and forwarded to the
computer operator for entry.
- Specific Statement:
The computer operator must accurately enter the correspondent's
name and address, and either the code number of a form response
or the text of an original reply.
- Specific Statement:
Computer-generated letters must be separated and forwarded for
signature to the member of Congress, or his/her designee.
(2) The Deductive Theme
Pattern
- The writer presents a general proposition, or thesis, in his
introductory paragraph and then supports that thesis with more
specific statements in a series of developmental paragraphs. The
conclusion is a brief restatement, usually in other words, of the
main thesis.
- Note that the function of the thesis statement is to state the
main idea of an entire paper. This purpose is similar to that of the
topic sentence: stating the main idea of an individual paragraph.
For the mathematically inclined, the thesis statement is to the
multiparagraph paper as the topic sentence is to the paragraph:
THESIS STATEMENT =
TOPIC SENTENCE
ENTIRE PAPER = PARAGRAPH
- The typical multi-paragraph student paper, either expository or
persuasive, will likely be structured as illustrated below:
Introductory Paragraph
(50 - 100 Words) |
Thesis
Statement |
|
Topic Sentence #1 |
Topic Sentence #2 |
Topic Sentence #3 |
(100 - 150 words)
Developmental
Paragraph
Supporting ideas |
(100 - 150 words)
Developmental
Paragraph
Supporting ideas |
(100 - 150 words)
Developmental
Paragraph
Supporting ideas |
- This schematic demonstrates
a typical pattern of organization, one which you should find very
helpful in ordering your multi-paragraph papers so that all of the
supporting details support one clear thesis. But it is neither
necessary nor always desirable to imitate this rigid pattern. You
may want, for example, to state your thesis in the very first
sentence instead of withholding it to the end of an introductory
paragraph. Similarly, not every supporting paragraph needs to begin
with a topic sentence, although the topic idea of the paragraph
ought to be clearly evident somewhere within it.
- Regard the deductive theme
pattern as a general guide, one that will both focus and order your
thinking, and not as a rigid prescription that replaces that
thinking.
- EXAMPLE:
-
A
deductive multi-paragraph paper might be ordered something along
the lines suggested by this brief outline:
-
THESIS: Political Action Committees (PACs) are a growing
menace to our Democratic form of government.
-
Topic Sentence 1: Our Congressmen and Senators are
becoming increasingly dependent on campaign contributions from
PACs.
-
Topic Sentence 2: PAC contributions, at a minimum,
buy the kind of access to public officials which is denied to
the ordinary citizen.
-
Topic Sentence 3: PACs represent special interests
like big banks and big oil, and not the interests of most
citizens.
-
Conclusion: PACs are a growing danger to the
ordinary citizen's right to be represented in his or her
government.
- With the addition of
appropriate introductory matter and the inclusion of adequate
supporting information, a multi-paragraph paper using the deductive
pattern could be generated to support the thesis.
-
REMEMBER:
- The deductive theme pattern begins with the
statement of your paper's main thesis, which is then developed
through a series of supporting paragraphs, each organized around a
topic sentence.
- The paper's conclusion is ordinarily a restatement
of the main thesis.
- Like your individual paragraphs, a well executed
multi-paragraph paper will be unified, coherent, and will adequately
develop its main idea.
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