A deductive essay is a specific method of evaluating the academic achievements of students in many different subjects. The key peculiarity of a deductive essay is that it must show the ability of the author to use the provided information to come to a logical conclusion, which will represent a total piece of information.
The essay of this type should be structured in the way it reflects the process of deductive reasoning:
- Introduction states the topic and thesis, attracting the reader’s attention.
- The first paragraph of the main body describes the set of premises (the initial generally accepted information or clues, which are further used as a basis for reasoning).
- The second paragraph focuses on the evidence, the piece of information you are analyzing in order to correlate it with premises.
- The analysis finally results in a deductive conclusion, which is a balance of the evidence against the premises.
- The final paragraph of the essay contains the restated thesis and the deductive conclusion.
An important feature of the deductive essay is its sharp focus and clarity. The paragraphs must be very clearly organized, discussing one particular issue and providing examples, details and explanation why the deductive conclusion is as it is. The support must be very strong and well-organized, as the failure to provide clear supporting arguments will make the conclusion look far-fetched and unrealistic.
Topics for deductive essays often seem to include comparison (Love vs. Habit, Democracy vs. Totalitarism), however, one must be careful in order not to confuse the two types of writing, as the question here is not in the issue of whether love and habits are similar or different, but in the deduction of why love cannot be a habit or vice versa.
