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100 Unit 2 ■ Appealing to an Audience

supported your overall claim, which remained the same. Even though your over-
all perspective or claim didn’t change, the reasons and sequencing of those reasons
likely did. The reasons and their sequence are called the line of reasoning.
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Establishing a Line of Reasoning
Writers must justify their claim or thesis with reasons and support the reasons
with evidence: details, facts, anecdotes, or even other sources. They must also
provide an explanation of how the evidence supports their claim. As the evi-
dence accumulates, so does the support for that particular line of reasoning. This
explanation of connecting the evidence with the reasons and ultimately with the
writer’s claim is considered the writer’s line of reasoning. If the line of reasoning is
logical and justifies the writer’s claim, then the argument is considered valid.
Because the ordering of each reason within the line of reasoning may affect
how well a particular audience within a specific context accepts the writer’s mes-
sage, writers must think carefully about how they organize a text or argument.

Induction and Deduction
Writers use induction or deduction to organize their reasons and claims based
on their audience and context. Inductive reasoning moves from specific obser-
vations to broad generalizations, while deductive reasoning begins with a broad
generalization followed by specific observations.

INDUCTION DEDUCTION

CONTEXT
CLAIM
CONTEXT REASON 1
QUESTION EVIDENCE
COMMENTARY
REASON 1
EVIDENCE REASON 2
COMMENTARY EVIDENCE
COMMENTARY
REASON 2
EVIDENCE REASON 3
COMMENTARY EVIDENCE
COMMENTARY
REASON 3
EVIDENCE CALL TO
COMMENTARY
ACTION
CLAIM AND CALL TO ACTION

INSIDER Audiences have expectations. The way an argument is
TIP constructed is contingent on the audience’s expectations.
In general, writers in the natural and social sciences
convey knowledge through induction. In contrast, writers
in the humanities and the arts construct knowledge through deduction.

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