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.
