Composing the perfect essay using the PEEL paragraph structure is a skill that one needs to master in order to attain the best outcome. Before we dive into how to create a perfect essay using this paragraph, let us first define the important terms and understand why this is not an easy task especially for an untrained writer.
What is a perfect essay that contains a PEEL paragraph?
There are many different elements that come into play to create what may be considered a perfect essay. These types of essays although difficult to write, are very impressive and are capable of helping you score top grades in all your classes. In essence, a perfect essay should contain a clear central idea. Any of the following paragraphs should have a main point that is well-argued and defended with evidence. The essay should also be organized in a manner that is logical and transits as smoothly as possible. As a reader, one should be able to make sense of the essay without exerting too much effort. In this light, that is why a good paragraph strategy like the PEEL would be highly effective when applied to the essay.
There are many reasons why you need to write perfect essays as a student. Not only does it demonstrate your understanding of a given area of study, but essays are also used as a means of assessment in schools and colleges all over the globe. However, writing a perfect essay is a challenging task that needs many years of practice and experience. During these years, you are expected to adopt different tactics in your work which will essentially help in the effective delivery of your intended message even when you are discussing tricky topics. However, not all students are experienced in the art of formal essay writing, and it is common for them to struggle with different topics. Such students can make their life easier by learning the various techniques that can be employed in essay writing, especially when dealing with difficult topics. In this article, we explore one such technique widely recognized as the PEEL structure.
Structure of a PEEL Paragraph
Prior to understanding the structure of the PEEL paragraph, we need to ask ourselves, what does the PEEL paragraph stand for? This is best explained as an abbreviation for a number of terms that are generally used in writing. As we try and explain the structure and how best to attain it during writing, we will get to understand the entire term.
A paragraph is one of the most critical parts of any given essay. It contains essential information about any given topic and should always be well structured if you want to grab your readers’ attention effectively. When writing a given essay, you must structure all your paragraphs well and ensure that they contribute to the main topic. Ideally, it is essential to ensure that all paragraphs that make up your essay contain useful ideas that you effectively explain and provide evidence as a way to back up your claims. As a good writer, you learn that each paragraph should contain one main idea that you should be able to defend using sources. This main idea should also contribute to or defend your main arguments. Different people usually compose their paragraphs differently, but it is essential to identify a good structure that will make your work more comprehensive.
In most essays, we follow a standard structure that includes an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introductory paragraph contains a short history of the topic of discussion, some important information about the topic, and a well-written thesis statement that we are expected to defend throughout our essays. The body paragraphs, on the other hand, hold the ideas about the topic in relation to the thesis, points to defend the ideas, and evidence that is usually found through conducting proper research. The conclusion paragraph may be a reiteration of the introduction or a summary of the main ideas and results captured throughout the essays. As we write these paragraphs, it is important that we consider the readers’ perception and how they will understand the work. This is where PEEL comes into play. PEEL is an abbreviation of Point, Evidence, Explanation, and Link. Using this structure is very effective in paragraph writing and can be effectively administered towards the creation of perfect essays.
This technique is employed in the writing process to help structure paragraphs in a unique manner that leads to single, clear, and focussed arguments that are directly related to the thesis statement that you create in your introduction. As seen above, each of the body paragraphs should always focus on a single idea, and the PEEL structure makes it easier to attain this without exerting too much effort. Whenever you use the technique, it makes work easier to read and understand by your target audience. Since it is very important to consider your audience as you compose your papers, the PEEL paragraph ensures that you express yourself in a clear manner that does not take too much time to understand. You simply identify your idea and point it out to your audience. You then go ahead to provide an example from a credible source that acts as your evidence. You then offer an explanation of the idea using the provided evidence to back up your claims and later link all this to the thesis statement. This helps the general flow of your thoughts and ideas and helps you to write your essay faster and in a more comprehensive manner.
PEEL Paragraph Outline
There four important elements of the PEEL paragraph that we always need to consider in the creation of a perfect essay. To write a flawless PEEL paragraph, you need to understand what is contained in the structure, and in doing so, create an outline that best suits your needs. As seen above, the PEEL structure is composed of the Point, Evidence, Explanation, and the Link. You can never underestimate the importance of a well-structured paragraph and hence you always need to include this pointer in your outline. It is therefore important to explore all of these elements individually and essentially look at examples of each of the parts of the paragraph. Let us assume that we are talking about the impacts of overpopulation in the United Kingdom. Let us understand the elements of the PEEL structure that you should include in your outline by using the below-given peel writing strategy examples.
Peel writing strategy example
‘The United Kingdom is an overpopulated country. It is approximated that the UK needs 200,000 new houses each year to meet the increasing demand. England is deemed the most overcrowded large nation in Europe and an extra 750,000 school places will be needed in the area by 2025 since the population is expected to expand further. The population growth rate is attributed to there being more births than deaths and more individuals migrating into the UK than leaving. This increase in the population has had a great impact in the country which includes exacerbating an existing housing crisis, and children failing to secure school places hence lowering their academic growth.’
How to Write a Perfect Essay using PEEL Paragraph
First and foremost, you need to understand the main topic as indicated above and come up with an introduction. In your introduction, you will need to create a good thesis statement that will essentially guide you throughout the process. Using the PEEL paragraph as above, you will then need to create the elements as presented.
The elements that we are looking out for in the above paragraph include:
POINT: This refers to the topic sentence, which is likely at the beginning of the paragraph, which establishes what the author was trying to speak about. The point should always work to support the thesis statement used in the essay. In this case, we identify the point as; ‘The United Kingdom is an overpopulated country. ‘
EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE: This next part in the PEEL structure should contain a piece of evidence or example from a credible source of information that helps to confirm your main point above and point your argument in the right direction. In the paragraph above, the example will be; ‘It is approximated that the UK needs 200,000 new houses each year to meet the increasing demand. England is deemed the most overcrowded large nation in Europe and an extra 750,000 school places will be needed in the area by 2025 since the population is expected to expand further.’
EXPLAIN: According to the structure, the next part should offer an exact explanation of how the given evidence/example supports the main point. It should also give further information to make sure that the target audience clearly understands the relevance. In this case, the explanation offered is that; ‘The population growth rate is attributed to there being more births than deaths and more individuals migrating into the UK than leaving.’
LINK: The final part of the PEEL paragraph is meant as a way to finish off the paragraph and needs to link the point that you were discussing to the thesis of the essay. The above-given paragraph contains the link; ‘This increase in the population has had a great impact in the country which includes exacerbating an existing housing crisis, and children failing to secure school places hence lowering their academic growth.’
As seen above, it is important to be able to identify each of the elements individually, especially when you are learning how to use this incredible structure. It may seem difficult at first, but with increased practice, it is easier to master and understand. In case you are experiencing difficulties trying to master the technique, you can always seek help from a reliable essay writing service provider. Such a company concentrates on assisting students like you learn how to write better papers and will be in a great position to help you out. It is also important to read and understand the best practices when applying this technique and trying to use them effectively in all your essays.
Explanation of the PEEL Method and How it can Help you
To be able to use this technique effectively, you should be able to explain the PEEL method and how it can help you. Having a clear mindset of how it works and the benefits it yields is a great step towards applying it. First and foremost, you need to clearly understand the essay instructions and what is expected. In some cases, you will not be given a specific topic to use and you will need to come up with your own. This means that you will need to conduct thorough research a pick a good topic that you are interested in exploring. After that, you will need to think around the research and come up with a good thesis statement that you can easily defend using your points, arguments, and sources of evidence. This may sound complex at first, but let us assume that you have decided to focus on the dangers of drug abuse among university students. Using this PEEL writing strategy example, we can think of and offer an explanation of the PEEL method.
Example and Explanation of the PEEL method
Assuming that you have conducted your research on the dangers of drug abuse among university students, it will be quite possible to come up with a good topic, introduction, as well as a clear thesis statement that clearly guides your writing.
Topic: Should drug abuse be encouraged among university students?
Thesis/ argument: University students should be encouraged to avoid abusing drugs.
It is already clear that we want to show that drug abuse among university students has more disadvantages than advantages and should therefore be discouraged. We are also trying to defend the main thesis that university students should be encouraged to avoid using and abusing drugs. When using the PEEL paragraph structure, the next step would be to come up with a great point that sets the platform for a proper explanation and argument.
POINT: University students should be encouraged to avoid abusing drugs because studies show that learners that abuse drugs are more likely to perform poorly or even drop out of school.
Once you have stated the main point that you want to try and argue out, you need to move to the next step where you will provide evidence or an example. This is meant to answer the reader as to why drugs are likely to cause the stated problems. The evidence needs to be very clear and in most cases, should always be backed up by a good citation.
EVIDENCE/EXAMPLE: A recent research conducted at a local university shows that students that are addicted to drugs usually perform poorly in class and have a higher chance of dropping out of school.
Once you have presented a good example or evidence, you need to explain to the audience how this is caused by the drugs. You need to think critically and offer facts that contribute to the paragraph.
EXPLANATION: The reason that the students perform poorly is that they spend most of their time looking for the next fix and in a drunken stupor instead of focussing on their studies. They also have a higher dropout rate because they end up missing most of their classes and hence end up lagging behind in class which is stressful.
The final step of peel paragraph writing activities includes linking the entire paragraph to the main thesis/argument.
LINK: The evidence suggests that university students who are involved in drug abuse are more likely to perform poorly and drop out of college, and therefore, they should be discouraged against drug abuse.
When you are done with the writing, it is imperative that you take your time and make sure that you have incorporated all four elements into your paragraph. As shown above, the entire process needs to be well-thought-out and you need to take your time to understand how all four elements are interrelated. Always make sure that your paragraphs are concise to the point. In cases where you are not able to form shorter paragraphs, think of ways to split them without affecting the quality of your work. Most importantly, ensure that for each new idea that introduces into the paper, you write an entirely new paragraph. There are a number of benefits of using the PEEL method as discussed below.
How can a PEEL paragraph help you?
Before we answer this question, we need to ask ourselves, how many words should a PEEL paragraph be? Essentially, the paragraph should only contain important information that contributes to the general readability of the essay. This said a good PEEL paragraph should always contain a minimum of four sentences. All four elements (point, example, explanation, Link) should be effectively captured and you should also ensure that each paragraph contains a unique argument that connects back to the predominant main topic. When you achieve this in your work, you will be able to come up with;
- A well laid out argument
- A clear and concise paragraph that addresses your main idea
- A focussed paragraph that ensures that all your arguments are robust
- A link to the main topic that ensures that your work does not lose track
- Points that are linked to concrete examples that are relevant to the topic of discussion
A combination of these benefits ensures that your essay is easy to read and can easily address your intended message. The essays that you write using this structure are also more likely to get you higher marks.
