Chapter 1
Fundamentals of Critical Thinking and Essay Preparation
Course: Gre
Subject: Gre Analytical Writing
Chapter: The Writing Process Brainstorming Outlining And Argument Construction
Introduction: The Satisfaction of Logical Thinking
Readers experience a distinct sense of satisfaction when encountering a well-reasoned argument. This feeling resembles the moment in a murder mystery when the detective reveals the solution and all previously scattered clues suddenly arrange themselves into a coherent pattern. The revelation feels inevitable, yet surprising—the result of careful logic rather than arbitrary invention.
Conversely, readers also know the disappointment of mysteries where the ending seems to come from nowhere, where the author appears to have invented a solution without laying necessary groundwork. Such endings frustrate because they violate the implicit contract between writer and reader: that the conclusion will follow logically from what came before.
Student essays operate under a similar contract. Readers—whether teachers, graders, or peers—expect to follow the writer's reasoning from beginning to end. The path from introduction to conclusion should be traceable, with each step leading logically to the next. This lesson explores two fundamental reasoning patterns that writers use to structure arguments: deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning.