The PEEL structure is a way to write a paragraph in essays that gives young learners the best chance at creating a compelling and informative piece of writing. PEEL writing is used across schools to ensure reports are structured clearly, and it’s an essential skill to develop; this is essential for exams and encourages an excellent discourse structure that students can take into their adult life.
So what is PEEL all about?
PEEL writing follows four simple steps; Point, Evidence, Explain, and Link. The PEEL structure is used to make opinions and findings clear. Essays are persuasive writing; your goal is to convince the reader of your scholarly opinion. To create something compelling, it’s been recognized that the four steps of this writing style are an excellent way to bring readers around to agree with you.
Point
It is the most crucial part of the PEEL writing system. Your point needs to be set out right away. The opening sentence is used as the topic sentence and is your way to introduce to the reader the topic you’re going to be speaking about and a quick word on your stance. Clarity is essential here as the start of the paragraph is the first time your reader will engage with your point, and if there is irrelevant information, there will be things you can’t address in the body of your paragraph, which will count against you.
Evidence
Essays are persuasive writing, and because of that, you aim to get the reader to either change their minds or trust your information and agree with you. In either instance, speaking with knowledge and authority is essential to a persuasive voice. The best way to create a trustworthy voice is through evidence. It would help if you showed readers that your point is based on fact and that they should agree because it’s the most logical thing to do. By adding facts and figures to your essay, readers can compare the conclusion you’re drawing to the evidence you provide and, hopefully, leave them with no choice but to agree.
Explain
You’ve made a compelling point; given all your evidence, you must explain what it all means. Most instances of persuasive writing will have a call to action – this means something the writer wants the reader to do. With a PEEL essay, the call to action is to inform a reader and have them agree that your point is sound. The explanation is where you’re going to make the most influence on a reader to agree with you. Clearly explain how your evidence supports your point, and ensure there isn’t any doubt as to why you’re right.
Link
Linking is a way to end one point while starting a new one. It can be tricky to introduce a new idea when completing the last one, but an essay’s structure becomes messy if this doesn’t happen.
Once you’ve concluded your point and are ready to move on to something else, find a way to bridge the gap between the two. Is there something they share that can take you forward? If there isn’t, that could show something is missing in your essay, or you should restructure the order of your points, so they all flow together. Linking is the part of a paragraph that will inform how you write your essay. Think before you start writing about which points link together closely, and you’ll easily be able to create an essay story that won’t be confusing.
