Why do you have to worry about critical thinking? Isn’t it enough just to tell everybody else what you think? That tactic probably works fine when you casually debate with your friends. After all, they already know you, your opinions, and your typical ways of thinking. They may even find your occasional rant entertaining. Whether they agree or disagree, they probably tolerate your ideas because they are your friends.

When you write a paper in college, however, you face a different type of audience, one that expects you to explain what you assume, what you advocate, and why you hold that position. That audience wants to learn the specifics — reasons you find compelling, evidence that supports your view, and connections that relate each point to your position. Because approaches and answers to complex problems may differ, your college audience expects reasoning, not emotional pleading or bullying or preaching.

How you reason and how you present your reasoning are important parts of gaining the confidence of college readers. College papers typically develop their points based on logic, not personal opinions or beliefs. Most are organized logically, often as a series of reasons, each making a claim, a statement, or an assertion that is backed up with persuasive supporting evidence. Your assignment or your instructor may recommend ways such as the following for showing your critical thinking.

Reasoning Deductively or Inductively. When you state a generalization, you present your broad general point, viewpoint, or conclusion.

The admissions requirements at Gerard College are unfair.

On the other hand, when you supply a particular, you present an instance, a detail, an example, an item, a case, or other specific evidence to demonstrate that a general statement is reasonable.

A Gerard College application form shows the information collected by the admissions office. Under current policies, standardized test scores are weighted more heavily than better predictors of performance, such as high school grades. Qualified students who do not test well often face a frustrating admissions process, as Irma Lang’s situation illustrates.

Your particulars consist of details that back up your broader point; your generalizations connect the particulars so that you can move beyond isolated, individual cases.

Most college papers are organized deductively. They begin with a general statement (often a thesis) and then present particular cases to support or apply it. Readers like this pattern because it reduces mystery; they learn right away what the writer wants to show. Writers like this pattern because it helps them state up front what they want to accomplish (even if they have to figure some of that out as they write and state it more directly as they revise). Papers organized deductively sacrifice suspense but gain directness and clarity.

On the other hand, some papers are organized inductively. They begin with the particulars — a persuasive number of instances, examples, or details — and lead up to the larger generalization that they support. Because readers have to wait for the generalization, this pattern allows them time to adjust to an unexpected conclusion that they might initially reject. For this reason, writers favor this pattern when they anticipate resistance from their audience and want to move gradually toward the broader point.

Building Sequences and Scaffolds. You may use several strategies for presenting your reasoning, depending on what you want to show and how you think you can show it most persuasively. You may develop a line of reasoning, a series of points and evidence, running one after another in a sequence or building on one another to support a persuasive scaffold.

Developing Logical Patterns. The following patterns are often used to organize reasoning in college papers. They can help show relationships but don’t automatically prove them. In fact, each has advantages but may also have disadvantages, as the sample strengths and weaknesses illustrate.

Pattern: Least to Most

Advantage: Building up to the best points can produce a strong finish.

Disadvantage: Holding back on strong points makes readers wait.

Pattern: Most to Least

Advantage: Beginning with the strongest point can create a forceful opening.

Disadvantage: Tapering off with weaker points may cause readers to lose interest.

Pattern: Comparison and Contrast

Advantage: Readers can easily relate comparable points about things of like kind.

Disadvantage: Some similarities or differences don’t guarantee or prove others.

Pattern: Cause and Effect

Advantage: Tracing causes or effects can tightly relate and perhaps predict events.

Disadvantage: Weak links can call into question all relationships in a series of events.