point proof explanation essay examples

Reading: Supporting Claims

Point, illustration, explanation, how does the structure of a body paragraph support a thesis.

Many authors use the PIE format to structure their essays. PIE = point, illustration, explanation. The point furthers a thesis or claim, the illustration provides support for the point, and the explanation tells the audience why the evidence provided furthers the point and/or the thesis.

Graphic of a person wearing glasses in high relief, with one finger of one hand up in the air. The title above the head is "Point."

He Illustrates with a quote from a professor who argues, “‘(students) have less incentive to try’” (Fesheraki, 2013).

Hajj then Explains that “not providing [the most motivated students] with additional motivation of a higher grade … is inequitable.”

Through his explanation, Hajj links back to his claim that “A plus-minus grading scale … should not be used at Radford University” because, as he explains, it is “inequitable.” The PIE structure of his paragraph has served to support his thesis.

ALL CLAIMS NEED EVIDENCE

Ever heard the phrase “everyone is entitled to his opinion”? It is indeed true that people are free to believe whatever they wish. However, the mere fact that a person believes something is not an argument in support of a position. If a text’s goal is to communicate effectively, it must provide valid explanations and sufficient and relevant evidence to convince its audience to accept that position. In other words, “every author is entitled to his opinion, but no author is entitled to have his opinion go unchallenged.”

What are the types of evidence?

Any text should provide illustrations for each of its points, but it is especially important to provide reliable evidence in an academic argument. This evidence can be based on primary source material or data (the author’s own experience and/or interviews, surveys, polls, experiments, that she may have created and administered). Evidence can also stem from secondary source material or data (books, journals, newspapers, magazines, websites or surveys, experiments, statistics, polls, and other data collected by others).

Let’s say, for example, that you are reading an argument that college instructors should let students use cell phones in class. Primary source material might include a survey the author administered that asks students if policies forbidding cell phone usage actually stop them from using their phones in class. Secondary sources might include articles about the issue from Faculty Focus or The Chronicle of Higher Education .

Revision and Adaptation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
Image of point. Authored by : Joshua Rappeneker. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/mWga . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Academic Argument Essay. Provided by : Radford University. Located at : http://lcubbison.pressbooks.com/chapter/core-101-academic-argument-essay/ . Project : Core Handbook. License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright

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How to structure paragraphs using the PEEL method

Sophia Gardner

Sep 1, 2023

You may have heard of the acronym PEEL for essays, but what exactly does it mean? And how can it help you? We’re here to explain it all, plus give you some tips on how to nail your next essay.

There’s certainly an art to writing essays. If you haven’t written one for a while, or if you would like to hone your academic writing skills, the PEEL paragraph method is an easy way to get your point across in a clear and concise way, that is easily digestible to the reader.

So, what exactly is PEEL ?

The PEEL paragraph method is a technique used in writing to help structure paragraphs in a way that presents a single clear and focused argument, which links back to the essay topic or thesis statement.

It’s good practice to dedicate each paragraph to one aspect of your argument, and the PEEL structure simplifies this for you.

It allows you to create a paragraph that is easy and accessible for others to understand. Remember, when you’re writing something, it’s not just you who is reading it - you need to consider the reader and how they are going to be digesting this new information.

What does PEEL stand for?

P = Point: start your paragraph with a clear topic sentence that establishes what your paragraph is going to be about. Your point should support your essay argument or thesis statement.

E = Evidence/Example: here you should use a piece of evidence or an example that helps to reaffirm your initial point and develop the argument.

E = Explain: next you need to explain exactly how your evidence/example supports your point, giving further information to ensure that your reader understands its relevance.

L = Link: to finish the paragraph off, you need to link the point you’ve just made back to your essay question, topic, or thesis.

Download a free PEEL paragraph planner below. 👇

Studiosity English specialist Ellen, says says students often underestimate the importance of a well-structured paragraph.

PEEL in practice

Here’s an example of what you might include in a PEEL structured paragraph:

Topic: Should infants be given iPads? Thesis/argument: Infants should not be given iPads.

Point : Infants should not be given iPads, because studies show children under two can face developmental delays if they are exposed to too much screen time.

Evidence/Example: A recent paediatric study showed that infants who are exposed to too much screen time may experience delays in speech development.

Explanation: The reason infants are facing these delays is because screen time is replacing other key developmental activities.

Link: The evidence suggests that infants who have a lot of screen time experience negative consequences in their speech development, and therefore they should not be exposed to iPads at such a young age.

Once you’ve written your PEEL paragraph, do a checklist to ensure you have covered off all four elements of the PEEL structure. Your point should be a clear introduction to the argument you are making in this paragraph; your example or evidence should be strong and relevant (ask yourself, have you chosen the best example?); your explanation should be demonstrate why your evidence is important and how it conveys meaning; and your link should summarise the point you’ve just made and link back to the broader essay argument or topic.

Keep your paragraphs clear, focused, and not too long. If you find your paragraphs are getting lengthy, take a look at how you could split them into multiple paragraphs, and ensure you’re creating a new paragraph for each new idea you introduce to the essay.

Finally, it’s important to always proofread your paragraph. Read it once, twice, and then read it again. Check your paragraph for spelling, grammar, language and sentence flow. A good way to do this is to read it aloud to yourself, and if it sounds clunky or unclear, consider rewriting it.

That’s it! We hope this helps explain the PEEL method and how it can help you with your next essay. 😊

You might also like: Proofreading vs editing: what's the difference? How to get easy marks in an exam 5 study hacks that actually work

Topics: English , Writing , Grammar

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ENGL001: English Composition I

Point, illustration, explanation.

Read this article about the PIE method of structuring and organizing body paragraphs. This method breaks a paragraph into three parts: the point, the illustration, and the explanation. By using this method, you can keep your paragraphs focused and connected to your thesis.

How Does the Structure of a Body Paragraph Support a Thesis?

Many authors use the PIE format to structure their essays: PIE = point , illustration , explanation .

The point furthers a thesis or claim, the illustration provides support for the point, and the explanation tells the audience why the evidence provided furthers the point and/or the thesis.

For example, in his argument against the +/- grading system at Radford, student-writer Tareq Hajj makes the point that "without the A+, students with high grades in the class would be less motivated to work even harder in order to increase their grades".

He illustrates with a quote from a professor who argues, "'(students) have less incentive to try'" (Fesheraki, 2013).

Hajj then explains that "not providing [the most motivated students] with additional motivation of a higher grade … is inequitable".

Through his explanation, Hajj links back to his claim that "A plus-minus grading scale … should not be used at Radford University "because, as he explains, it is "inequitable".

The PIE structure of his paragraph has served to support his thesis.

All Claims Need Evidence

Ever heard the phrase "everyone is entitled to his opinion"? It is indeed true that people are free to believe whatever they wish. However, the mere fact that a person believes something is not an argument in support of a position. If a text's goal is to communicate effectively, it must provide valid explanations and sufficient and relevant evidence to convince its audience to accept that position. In other words, "every author is entitled to his opinion, but no author is entitled to have his opinion go unchallenged".

What are the Types of Evidence?

Any text should provide illustrations for each of its points, but it is especially important to provide reliable evidence in an academic argument. This evidence can be based on primary source material or data (the author's own experience and/or interviews, surveys, polls, experiments, that they may have created and administered). Evidence can also stem from secondary source material or data (books, journals, newspapers, magazines, websites or surveys, experiments, statistics, polls, and other data collected by others).

Let's say, for example, that you are reading an argument that college instructors should let students use cell phones in class. Primary source material might include a survey the author administered that asks students if policies forbidding cell phone usage actually stop them from using their phones in class. Secondary sources might include articles about the issue from Faculty Focus or The Chronicle of Higher Education .

The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

What this handout is about

This handout will provide a broad overview of gathering and using evidence. It will help you decide what counts as evidence, put evidence to work in your writing, and determine whether you have enough evidence. It will also offer links to additional resources.

Introduction

Many papers that you write in college will require you to make an argument ; this means that you must take a position on the subject you are discussing and support that position with evidence. It’s important that you use the right kind of evidence, that you use it effectively, and that you have an appropriate amount of it. If, for example, your philosophy professor didn’t like it that you used a survey of public opinion as your primary evidence in your ethics paper, you need to find out more about what philosophers count as good evidence. If your instructor has told you that you need more analysis, suggested that you’re “just listing” points or giving a “laundry list,” or asked you how certain points are related to your argument, it may mean that you can do more to fully incorporate your evidence into your argument. Comments like “for example?,” “proof?,” “go deeper,” or “expand” in the margins of your graded paper suggest that you may need more evidence. Let’s take a look at each of these issues—understanding what counts as evidence, using evidence in your argument, and deciding whether you need more evidence.

What counts as evidence?

Before you begin gathering information for possible use as evidence in your argument, you need to be sure that you understand the purpose of your assignment. If you are working on a project for a class, look carefully at the assignment prompt. It may give you clues about what sorts of evidence you will need. Does the instructor mention any particular books you should use in writing your paper or the names of any authors who have written about your topic? How long should your paper be (longer works may require more, or more varied, evidence)? What themes or topics come up in the text of the prompt? Our handout on understanding writing assignments can help you interpret your assignment. It’s also a good idea to think over what has been said about the assignment in class and to talk with your instructor if you need clarification or guidance.

What matters to instructors?

Instructors in different academic fields expect different kinds of arguments and evidence—your chemistry paper might include graphs, charts, statistics, and other quantitative data as evidence, whereas your English paper might include passages from a novel, examples of recurring symbols, or discussions of characterization in the novel. Consider what kinds of sources and evidence you have seen in course readings and lectures. You may wish to see whether the Writing Center has a handout regarding the specific academic field you’re working in—for example, literature , sociology , or history .

What are primary and secondary sources?

A note on terminology: many researchers distinguish between primary and secondary sources of evidence (in this case, “primary” means “first” or “original,” not “most important”). Primary sources include original documents, photographs, interviews, and so forth. Secondary sources present information that has already been processed or interpreted by someone else. For example, if you are writing a paper about the movie “The Matrix,” the movie itself, an interview with the director, and production photos could serve as primary sources of evidence. A movie review from a magazine or a collection of essays about the film would be secondary sources. Depending on the context, the same item could be either a primary or a secondary source: if I am writing about people’s relationships with animals, a collection of stories about animals might be a secondary source; if I am writing about how editors gather diverse stories into collections, the same book might now function as a primary source.

Where can I find evidence?

Here are some examples of sources of information and tips about how to use them in gathering evidence. Ask your instructor if you aren’t sure whether a certain source would be appropriate for your paper.

Print and electronic sources

Books, journals, websites, newspapers, magazines, and documentary films are some of the most common sources of evidence for academic writing. Our handout on evaluating print sources will help you choose your print sources wisely, and the library has a tutorial on evaluating both print sources and websites. A librarian can help you find sources that are appropriate for the type of assignment you are completing. Just visit the reference desk at Davis or the Undergraduate Library or chat with a librarian online (the library’s IM screen name is undergradref).

Observation

Sometimes you can directly observe the thing you are interested in, by watching, listening to, touching, tasting, or smelling it. For example, if you were asked to write about Mozart’s music, you could listen to it; if your topic was how businesses attract traffic, you might go and look at window displays at the mall.

An interview is a good way to collect information that you can’t find through any other type of research. An interview can provide an expert’s opinion, biographical or first-hand experiences, and suggestions for further research.

Surveys allow you to find out some of what a group of people thinks about a topic. Designing an effective survey and interpreting the data you get can be challenging, so it’s a good idea to check with your instructor before creating or administering a survey.

Experiments

Experimental data serve as the primary form of scientific evidence. For scientific experiments, you should follow the specific guidelines of the discipline you are studying. For writing in other fields, more informal experiments might be acceptable as evidence. For example, if you want to prove that food choices in a cafeteria are affected by gender norms, you might ask classmates to undermine those norms on purpose and observe how others react. What would happen if a football player were eating dinner with his teammates and he brought a small salad and diet drink to the table, all the while murmuring about his waistline and wondering how many fat grams the salad dressing contained?

Personal experience

Using your own experiences can be a powerful way to appeal to your readers. You should, however, use personal experience only when it is appropriate to your topic, your writing goals, and your audience. Personal experience should not be your only form of evidence in most papers, and some disciplines frown on using personal experience at all. For example, a story about the microscope you received as a Christmas gift when you were nine years old is probably not applicable to your biology lab report.

Using evidence in an argument

Does evidence speak for itself.

Absolutely not. After you introduce evidence into your writing, you must say why and how this evidence supports your argument. In other words, you have to explain the significance of the evidence and its function in your paper. What turns a fact or piece of information into evidence is the connection it has with a larger claim or argument: evidence is always evidence for or against something, and you have to make that link clear.

As writers, we sometimes assume that our readers already know what we are talking about; we may be wary of elaborating too much because we think the point is obvious. But readers can’t read our minds: although they may be familiar with many of the ideas we are discussing, they don’t know what we are trying to do with those ideas unless we indicate it through explanations, organization, transitions, and so forth. Try to spell out the connections that you were making in your mind when you chose your evidence, decided where to place it in your paper, and drew conclusions based on it. Remember, you can always cut prose from your paper later if you decide that you are stating the obvious.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself about a particular bit of evidence:

OK, I’ve just stated this point, but so what? Why is it interesting? Why should anyone care?
What does this information imply?
What are the consequences of thinking this way or looking at a problem this way?
I’ve just described what something is like or how I see it, but why is it like that?
I’ve just said that something happens—so how does it happen? How does it come to be the way it is?
Why is this information important? Why does it matter?
How is this idea related to my thesis? What connections exist between them? Does it support my thesis? If so, how does it do that?
Can I give an example to illustrate this point?

Answering these questions may help you explain how your evidence is related to your overall argument.

How can I incorporate evidence into my paper?

There are many ways to present your evidence. Often, your evidence will be included as text in the body of your paper, as a quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Sometimes you might include graphs, charts, or tables; excerpts from an interview; or photographs or illustrations with accompanying captions.

When you quote, you are reproducing another writer’s words exactly as they appear on the page. Here are some tips to help you decide when to use quotations:

Quote if you can’t say it any better and the author’s words are particularly brilliant, witty, edgy, distinctive, a good illustration of a point you’re making, or otherwise interesting.
Quote if you are using a particularly authoritative source and you need the author’s expertise to back up your point.
Quote if you are analyzing diction, tone, or a writer’s use of a specific word or phrase.
Quote if you are taking a position that relies on the reader’s understanding exactly what another writer says about the topic.

Be sure to introduce each quotation you use, and always cite your sources. See our handout on quotations for more details on when to quote and how to format quotations.

Like all pieces of evidence, a quotation can’t speak for itself. If you end a paragraph with a quotation, that may be a sign that you have neglected to discuss the importance of the quotation in terms of your argument. It’s important to avoid “plop quotations,” that is, quotations that are just dropped into your paper without any introduction, discussion, or follow-up.

Paraphrasing

When you paraphrase, you take a specific section of a text and put it into your own words. Putting it into your own words doesn’t mean just changing or rearranging a few of the author’s words: to paraphrase well and avoid plagiarism, try setting your source aside and restating the sentence or paragraph you have just read, as though you were describing it to another person. Paraphrasing is different than summary because a paraphrase focuses on a particular, fairly short bit of text (like a phrase, sentence, or paragraph). You’ll need to indicate when you are paraphrasing someone else’s text by citing your source correctly, just as you would with a quotation.

When might you want to paraphrase?

Paraphrase when you want to introduce a writer’s position, but their original words aren’t special enough to quote.
Paraphrase when you are supporting a particular point and need to draw on a certain place in a text that supports your point—for example, when one paragraph in a source is especially relevant.
Paraphrase when you want to present a writer’s view on a topic that differs from your position or that of another writer; you can then refute writer’s specific points in your own words after you paraphrase.
Paraphrase when you want to comment on a particular example that another writer uses.
Paraphrase when you need to present information that’s unlikely to be questioned.

When you summarize, you are offering an overview of an entire text, or at least a lengthy section of a text. Summary is useful when you are providing background information, grounding your own argument, or mentioning a source as a counter-argument. A summary is less nuanced than paraphrased material. It can be the most effective way to incorporate a large number of sources when you don’t have a lot of space. When you are summarizing someone else’s argument or ideas, be sure this is clear to the reader and cite your source appropriately.

Statistics, data, charts, graphs, photographs, illustrations

Sometimes the best evidence for your argument is a hard fact or visual representation of a fact. This type of evidence can be a solid backbone for your argument, but you still need to create context for your reader and draw the connections you want them to make. Remember that statistics, data, charts, graph, photographs, and illustrations are all open to interpretation. Guide the reader through the interpretation process. Again, always, cite the origin of your evidence if you didn’t produce the material you are using yourself.

Do I need more evidence?

Let’s say that you’ve identified some appropriate sources, found some evidence, explained to the reader how it fits into your overall argument, incorporated it into your draft effectively, and cited your sources. How do you tell whether you’ve got enough evidence and whether it’s working well in the service of a strong argument or analysis? Here are some techniques you can use to review your draft and assess your use of evidence.

Make a reverse outline

A reverse outline is a great technique for helping you see how each paragraph contributes to proving your thesis. When you make a reverse outline, you record the main ideas in each paragraph in a shorter (outline-like) form so that you can see at a glance what is in your paper. The reverse outline is helpful in at least three ways. First, it lets you see where you have dealt with too many topics in one paragraph (in general, you should have one main idea per paragraph). Second, the reverse outline can help you see where you need more evidence to prove your point or more analysis of that evidence. Third, the reverse outline can help you write your topic sentences: once you have decided what you want each paragraph to be about, you can write topic sentences that explain the topics of the paragraphs and state the relationship of each topic to the overall thesis of the paper.

For tips on making a reverse outline, see our handout on organization .

Color code your paper

You will need three highlighters or colored pencils for this exercise. Use one color to highlight general assertions. These will typically be the topic sentences in your paper. Next, use another color to highlight the specific evidence you provide for each assertion (including quotations, paraphrased or summarized material, statistics, examples, and your own ideas). Lastly, use another color to highlight analysis of your evidence. Which assertions are key to your overall argument? Which ones are especially contestable? How much evidence do you have for each assertion? How much analysis? In general, you should have at least as much analysis as you do evidence, or your paper runs the risk of being more summary than argument. The more controversial an assertion is, the more evidence you may need to provide in order to persuade your reader.

Play devil’s advocate, act like a child, or doubt everything

This technique may be easiest to use with a partner. Ask your friend to take on one of the roles above, then read your paper aloud to them. After each section, pause and let your friend interrogate you. If your friend is playing devil’s advocate, they will always take the opposing viewpoint and force you to keep defending yourself. If your friend is acting like a child, they will question every sentence, even seemingly self-explanatory ones. If your friend is a doubter, they won’t believe anything you say. Justifying your position verbally or explaining yourself will force you to strengthen the evidence in your paper. If you already have enough evidence but haven’t connected it clearly enough to your main argument, explaining to your friend how the evidence is relevant or what it proves may help you to do so.

Common questions and additional resources

I have a general topic in mind; how can I develop it so I’ll know what evidence I need? And how can I get ideas for more evidence? See our handout on brainstorming .
Who can help me find evidence on my topic? Check out UNC Libraries .
I’m writing for a specific purpose; how can I tell what kind of evidence my audience wants? See our handouts on audience , writing for specific disciplines , and particular writing assignments .
How should I read materials to gather evidence? See our handout on reading to write .
How can I make a good argument? Check out our handouts on argument and thesis statements .
How do I tell if my paragraphs and my paper are well-organized? Review our handouts on paragraph development , transitions , and reorganizing drafts .
How do I quote my sources and incorporate those quotes into my text? Our handouts on quotations and avoiding plagiarism offer useful tips.
How do I cite my evidence? See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .
I think that I’m giving evidence, but my instructor says I’m using too much summary. How can I tell? Check out our handout on using summary wisely.
I want to use personal experience as evidence, but can I say “I”? We have a handout on when to use “I.”

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Lunsford, Andrea A., and John J. Ruszkiewicz. 2016. Everything’s an Argument , 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Miller, Richard E., and Kurt Spellmeyer. 2016. The New Humanities Reader , 5th ed. Boston: Cengage.

University of Maryland. 2019. “Research Using Primary Sources.” Research Guides. Last updated October 28, 2019. https://lib.guides.umd.edu/researchusingprimarysources .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Proving the Thesis/Critical Thinking

Good writing is not just about presenting information in an organized way such as an essay or research paper with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. It is about persuading your reader that you are right. In the case of an academic paper, the body paragraphs each must have a proof point (a topic sentence), and the content of each of the body paragraphs must include information that shows that the proof point is accurate. There are a number of ways to achieve this goal.

This section covers how to critically evaluate your writing with some general information in Proving the Thesis - General Principles and then goes on to explain logical thinking in Proving the Thesis - Logic and problems with logic in Proving the Thesis - Logical Fallacies and Appeals. Rhetorical modes such as description, definition, cause and/or effect, and compare/contract can be used to help prove the thesis.

The same principles are applied when you are evaluating someone else's presentation whether it is a potential source for a paper or simply reading a news article. Even what is called a documentary - which presumably is the truth - should be critically evaluated.

Proving the Thesis - General Principles

Stay focused on purpose.

It is critical to keep focused on the purpose of your writing: to prove the thesis. If you are planning an essay, start with at least a scratch outline and a working thesis – a starting thesis that you know you might change as you draft your paper. If you are writing an essay exam or paper, be sure to identify the key terms in the instructions such as the following and don’t stray from the topic and/or question or what the instructions say to do: analyze, clarify, classify, compare, contrast, define, describe, discuss, evaluate, explain, identify, illustrate, interpret, justify, relate, summarize, support, or trace. Remember to review and revise. See Writiing Process and Outlining in Related Pages on the right sidebar.

Relevance, Reliability, Accuracy, and Sufficiency

The information presented to prove the thesis should be relevant, reliable, credible, and sufficient.

relevant evidence – evidence must be directly and clearly related to proving the thesis
reliable evidence – evidence must be consistent and accurate; the same circumstances must have the same result
reliable narrator – there is general presumption in sources that are purportedly factual is that the writer is reliable; however, that it is not necessarily accurate that the writer is presenting consistent or even accurate information even when that writer thinks he or she is. The term reliable narrator is used more frequently in literary analysis to describe that the person telling the story can be trusted to be giving reliable information.
unreliable narrator – an unreliable narrator is where when the person writing the source is not consistent or accurate. The term reliable narrator is used more frequently in literary analysis to describe that the person telling the story cannot be trusted to be giving reliable information.
accurate evidence – for evidence to be credible, it must be factual. Even one inaccurate piece of information will cause the reader to doubt an author’s credibility.
sufficient evidence – evidence must be sufficient. Sufficiency is a question of whether even though the evidence used to prove the thesis may be reliable and accurate, it may not be enough to prove the thesis
representative evidence – a consideration related to relevance, reliability, credibility, and sufficiency is whether the evidence represents the entire group involved in the analysis. For example, evidence which is relevant, reliable, accurate, and sufficient that shows a high correlation of pesticide content in certain foods may not have been drawn from samples from all over the country, so the incidence may be limited only to the area from which the sample was drawn

Transitional Devices

A good paper must have coherence . This means that all the ideas should be in a logical order and fit together like links in a chain. One way to do this is to have an overall plan for how the paper will develop, such as in an outline. Another is to use transitional devices.

Transitional devices are a word or words that help one sentence or paragraph flow into the next. Here is an example of two sentences which do not have any transitional information to connect them:

The weather looked threatening. They went on their picnic.

In the above example, we are unsure how these two ideas relate to each other. See how one word connects the two thoughts in the following example:

The weather looked threatening. Nevertheless, they went on their picnic.

Now we understand the relationship between the ideas. The word Nevertheless serves as a transitional device from one sentence to the next.

Transitional devices can be more than just a word. They can also be entire phrases. Here is an example of a sentence with a phrase that serves as a transitional device.

In spite of the cloudy sky, they went on their picnic.

The words In spite of the cloudy sky are a transitional device.

Just as there should be transitions between sentences, paragraphs should also link together. There are a few ways to do this.

Refer to key words or thoughts from the thesis.
Refer to key words or ideas from the preceding paragraph.
Use transitional expressions.
Use transitional sentences.

Using transitions in your paper is like using signals when you drive. Imagine following someone in a car who is leading you to a place you’ve never been before. Think about how difficult it would be to follow him to the correct destination if he didn’t signal! Just as in driving, you don’t want to take a turn in your paper and risk leaving your readers behind.

Facts and Statistics

Facts and statistics can be very persuasive. In fact, a critical reader will challenge the accuracy or the legitimacy of the sources for purported facts and statistics.

It is important to investigate those ourselves before we use information that is supposed to be factual. We should know exactly where the information comes from and evaluate whether the source is credible. It is not a good idea to present information as though it is a fact unless you know it is a fact.

Statistics can be manipulated. An educated audience will pick that up and you’ll lose credibility if they sense that the presentation of statistics is not honest.

Here’s an example:

A board president claimed that ninety percent of the people who responded to a survey wanted a certain action taken. When asked how many responded to the survey, he answered that ten people had responded.

Primary and Secondary Sources

A primary source is a source written by the person providing the information. If you get information from your friend, the friend is the primary source.

In research, it is preferable to get information directly from the source when it is available.

Secondary sources are not directly from the provider of the information. It is like getting information about what Joan said from John. This information is not as reliable as primary sources. However, it is common practice for authors to include what others have said in their articles and analyze what was said.

Pictures, charts, graphs, drawings, and diagrams; not appropriate in writing for all courses – check with instructor if not indicated on assignment

Rhetorical Modes as Types of Proof

Narration is the use of language to tell a story. It is the telling of a sequence of events or occurrences. As a method of helping to prove a thesis, narration might be used tell the experience of the author or of someone else. For example, in a paper discussing allergies, a writer might narrate his or her experiences with allergies and what was done to control exposure to the allergens or treat the symptoms.

It is important, especially when dealing with a complex topic, that you define all the key terms in your argument. This is important because not all definitions are universally agreed upon. Take the idea of immigration reform. For some this could mean providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants; for others, it could mean tighter border security.

How you define something influences how you and your audience see a particular issue. Even the terms used to describe an issue can influence the reader. Take for example the difference in calling someone an “illegal immigrant” versus an “undocumented worker.”

Using the first entry in a standard dictionary is not usually sufficient, especially when writing about something very technical. Some areas have specialized dictionaries to define specific terms. The word gross is used very differently if used in everyday language or by a medical clinician. In everyday language, the word gross means awful or disgusting. However, in medical language the word gross means large.

Be careful not to use vague or judgmental words in your definition as it can seem to your readers that you are biased or imprecise.

Division and Classification

With complicated topics, it might helpful to separate the bigger topic or subject area into smaller parts and classify the information according to separate criteria. For example, in discussing plants, it could help to discuss by categories of plants.

Description

Description is to help bring the reader into the writing. Specific descriptions of sensations including sights, sounds, smell, touch, and taste can make the reader feel as though he or she is part of the experience which can be a useful strategy in proving a thesis.

Process Analysis

Using examples and facts can support your paper, but simply using these is not enough; you must also think critically about what you have read and react to it. Analysis means to go beyond the obvious and beyond what is literally in the text.

It is very tempting when writing a paper to simply paraphrase or summarize a source than it is to think critically about what was written. Often, when the source is difficult to understand, just repeating his or her words may seem simpler.

Analysis, however, requires a complete understanding of the point the author is making because you must take a complex idea, break it down in to smaller, simpler parts, and then figure out how they fit together.

Examples and Illustrations

Using examples is a way to explain or to prove that our position is accurate. Examples can be true or actual situations or they can be hypothetical.

Using examples are more effective if they are close to or exactly the same circumstances as in the case you are trying to prove. If a person can think to themselves that there is a significant difference, the example will not be effective.

If you are using an actual event, you should be careful to be sure you are familiar with the details. If not, using the example can backfire and convince the person of the opposite.

If you use a hypothetical situation as an example, you should think it through completely first. Again, if it is not a good example, it would weaken your position.

Attorneys use example to argue cases. In fact, if they can present a previously decided case in the same jurisdiction that matches up with the existing decision, the judge must decide in their favor. The supportive case has to be “on all fours,” that is, match up on all the essential points.

Compare/Contrast

We compare and contrast things all the time in life to make decisions from where we buy our groceries to what car to buy. Just as in life, college papers also often require comparing and contrasting. You might have to compare two historic events, world leaders, or poems. Often, even if it is not required, ideas become clearer when you evaluate them in relation to one another.

It is important to remember to be fair when contrasting ideas to show that one is superior. If you note only the strengths of one and only the faults of the other, your readers may determine that your argument is weak or not credible.

One way to do this is to think about how they are similar in addition to how they differ. Take the words liberal and conservative for example. Usually these are seen as very different things, but they do have similarities. They both are political philosophies, they both have a moral underpinning, and they both have people who passionately support their ideals.

Cause/Effect

Another way of proving a thesis is to show the causes and/or effects. For example, if your thesis is that the use of wind power is the best way of producing electricity, showing the effects of how much electricity can be produced is good proof. You could also include the bad effects of some other means of producing electricity.

Persuasion/Argumentation

In a way, all communication has a purpose: to persuade or argue for the validity of what is being said. Even when a person is expressing an emotion, effective communication involves convincing the audience that those feelings are legitimate.

The same strategies used to develop a good writing are used when the purpose is specifically to persuade. Transitional devices, use of examples, facts and statistics, primary and secondary sources, and rhetorical modes including analysis, definition, comparison/contrast, and cause and/or Effect are ways to prove your point.

See the difference in how these strategies can be used for persuasion.

A simple sentence: It was a cold day.

Transitional device: In addition to being dark and cloudy, it was a cold day.

Example: It was so cold that the chill of the air was felt right through layers of clothing.

Facts/Statistics: It was a record-breaking cold with temperatures plummeting below 15o F.

Primary Source: According to Jones, “Temperatures fell as though we were entering another Ice Age.”

Secondary Source: Goldstein agreed: “This cold wave surpasses any recorded to date” (qtd. in Jones).

Rhetorical Modes

Narration: While I was walking in the park, I noticed that it was a cold day.

Definition: The temperature at which water freezes is 32o F. This is typically the temperature used to describe weather conditions as freezing.

Description: It was so cold that frost was forming on the windows and the leaves on the plants were curling.

Process Analysis: The measurement of what is considered a cold day includes the temperature and humidity reading along with any wind-chill factor.

Comparison/Contrast: It was so cold this year that the strawberries froze and fell to the ground whereas last year’s crop survived the freeze.

Cause/Effect: Because it was so cold, the strawberries froze and fell to the ground.

Persuasion/Argumentation: The reading on the thermometer of 32o F, the frost or the windows, and the curling leaves of the plants show it was a cold day.

Proving the Thesis - Logic

Learning about logical thinking helps us in two ways: we learn to evaluate and use information better and we learn how to better present information to others to prove our point. In other words, we learn to critical think about information we hear or see, and we learn to think better ourselves.

Inductive Reasoning

There are different kinds of reasoning. Inductive reasoning is logic that draws a generalization from a particular piece of information. For example, a person who has only seen red colored roses might (erroneously) infer that all roses are red. Inductive reasoning is subject to error since the particular observation is not necessarily representative of a larger group. Sometimes, this type of thinking causes people to infer that some bad attribute of one in a group exists among all in that group such as seeing one rotting apple in the bag, makes an inductive leap that all the apples must be rotting. Of course, this doesn't really make sense, but people make these kinds of hasty generalizations all the time which is an error in logic.

Deductive Reasoning

Deductive reasoning is logic that draws a conclusion about a particular situation from a general rule. This is more likely to result in an accurate conclusion since a general rule usually applies to all situations within its category: All flowers need water; therefore, petunias need water.

A syllogism is a three-part sequence of reasoned thoughts to draw a logical conclusion: All flowers need water. Petunias are flowers. Petunias need water.

The syllogism consists of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. The major premise is the general or universal assumption used to make a logical analysis: All flowers need water. Note that if a major premise is not accurate, the resulting conclusion will not be accurate although it may be logical.

The minor premise is the assumption pertaining to an example in the major premise: Petunias are flowers. Note that if a minor premise is not accurate, the resulting conclusion will not be accurate although it may be logical. The conclusion (logical conclusion) is the resulting logical thought of analyzing the major and minor premise. Logical conclusions are not necessarily true or accurate since the major premise or minor premise may not be accurate.

Other Terms Related to Logic

self-evident – evidence that is apparent by observation or reasoning

valid argument – an argument which is based on logical analysis of information; not necessarily true

sound argument – an argument based on a syllogism that has accurate major and minor premises

Toulmin Logic

Toulmin Logic a form of logic that uses claim, grounds, and warrant for analyzing the logic of an argument

claim – the thesis; the point that is to be proved in Toulmin Logic

grounds – the evidence (proof, support) for the claim in Toulmin Logic

warrant – the result assumption of an analysis of claim and grounds in Toulmin Logic.

Proving the Thesis - Logical Fallacies and Appeals

Logical fallacies (flawed logic) .

A logical fallacy is a fallacy in logic. It is flawed logic. In order to be convincing, using logic is important. Also, identifying the flaws in what someone is saying or writing is necessary for a critical analysis.

There are several logical fallacies:

sweeping generalization – hasty generalization resulting in conclusion that is not necessarily accurate; inductive reasoning (going from a particular point to a universal rule) which is not thought through carefully. There is one rotting apple in the bag; therefore, all the apples in the bag are rotting.
argument to the person (ad hominem) – a statement raising questions about a person’s honesty or integrity who is taking a stand on an issue instead of making an argument on the issue itself. The candidate opposing the widening of the road is being investigated for tax evasion instead of arguing that the widening of the road is needed to alleviate traffic on another road.
non sequitur – an line of argument that really does follow logically. The road should not be widened because the city park is nearby. What does the park have to do with widening of the road? This often happens when the argument is just not clearly expressed. The road should not be widened because it will increase traffic on a street that many children cross to go to the city park.
either/or fallacy – where only two choices are presented instead of giving all the options. The county commissioners asked residents if they preferred a slight increase in taxes or charging a parking fee for on all county parks.
begging the question – using the argument that something is true or accurate because it is true or accurate.
bandwagon argument – Everyone else is doing it; therefore, you should
appeals – use of language to sway the reader by appealing to emotions, logic, or ethics.
strawman fallacy – where the opponent’s position is unfairly shown to be extreme or illogical in order to minimize its strength.
false comparison fallacy – where a position is compared to something which has some similarities but which is not comparable in a significant way resulting in a false negative comparison
faulty causality fallacy – where an occurrence or event is represented to cause another occurrence or event because they happen at the same time or close in time
slippery slope fallacy – where an action is represented to result in an adverse consequence even though that consequence is very remote.
red herring fallacy – where an irrelevant issue or situation is raised to distract the argument from the point; changing the subject

Appeals are the use of language designed to create a particular type of response in the audience. There are three types of appeals.

emotional appeals – presenting information designed to result in emotion. Commercials typically have emotional appeals to make the audience feel in a certain way. Perfume commercials showing couples; diaper commercials showing happy babies. There are many speeches that used emotional appeals to show the audience the validity of the point being made.
logical appeals – presenting information designed to result in the audience thinking that what is being promoted is logical. Examples include a commercial to refinance focuses on how money can be saved or an evaluation as to the beneficial effects of a specific course of action such as more community participation or a source of revenue for a business.
ethical appeals – presenting information designed to result in the audience thinking that what is being promoted is the right thing such as contributing to organizations that help victims of natural disasters.

Some use of appeals are thought to be unfair such as images of abused pets or hungry children. People tend to react emotionally instead of evaluating whether the particular organization will make good use of donations.

Proving the Thesis - Rhetorical Mode

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. In addition to using techniques such as unity and coherence and logic, the modes of rhetoric are used. Rhetorical modes are ways to use language for persuasion. In addition to using a sentence variety, unity and coherence, and logic, modes such as narration, comparing and contrasting, and cause and/or effect to prove a point. These can be used within a paragraph as well as the approach for an entire essay.

Types of Rhetorical Modes

Narration is when an author writes as though telling a story. This mode is used more often in fiction, but it can be used in academic essay writing when the best way to help prove the thesis is by relating a sequence of events.

Description/Definition/Exemplification, and Classification

These closely related modes use specific information about certain aspects of a thing, event, or situation. The terms speak for themselves. Description uses details describing the thing, event, or situation. Definition defines it. Exemplification uses examples, and classification uses categories.

The rose was red. (description)

A rose is a flower with soft petals and a beautiful, brief bloom. (definition)

Roses comes in a variety of colors such as red, yellow, and white. (example)

Roses come in a variety of types including miniature, climbing, hybrid tea, and floribunda. (classification)

Comparing and/or contrasting one thing, event, or situation is a helpful way to show what it is and isn't. If someone were arguing that a particular type of sneaker was the best, it would be useful to compare to others for support, durability, and price.

Cause and/or Effect

This mode is useful in arguing for or again an action. Showing the cause and/or effect of an action can be persuasive. For example, if someone were arguing for an increase in the speed limit, statistics showing an increase in fatalities where limits are higher would be a persuasive argument.

In a sense, the ultimate intent of all communication is persuasion. Argumentation is one way of talking about debate. We think of arguing as what we do among friends or family members - and it is - but there is a formal way to argue to prove our point. Actually, we can learn how to better have civil arguments which will be constructive. In thinking about persuasion/argumentation as a rhetorical mode, it refers to a type of writing that is clearly arguing in support of a specific point.

Paragraph Development with PIE

Paragraph Development with PIE Podcast

Paragraph development with pie transcript.

Greetings everyone. This is Kurtis Clements with another effective writing podcast. In this episode, I am going to talk about developing body paragraphs with a technique called PIE.

In my experience, writers often have one of two problem areas related to paragraph development: not enough development or not enough of the right kind of development. What I mean by the latter is the idea that just because a paragraph contains a lot of content does not necessarily mean that content is doing the best job developing the idea of the paragraph.

One good way to go about developing paragraphs is to use the PIE method, which is an approach that has been around in some form or another I imagine since the time of Aristotle. So for a long time. PIE is an acronym that stands for develop a limited point (that’s the P) in a paragraph; illustrate (that’s the I”) the point with supporting information; the E stands for explain how the evidence supports the point of the paragraph and relates to the thesis of the essay.

Restated: P = Point I = Illustrate E = Explain

Paragraphs need to make clear and focused points. I mean, that’s the point of a paragraph right? To make a point. Whether or not you use a topic sentence at the start of the paragraph does not matter, for the paragraph still needs to make a point.

In order to make a point, you have to illustrate the point by using evidence—details, facts, statistics, testimony, examples, and the like. Supporting information helps readers understand the point you are trying to make in a paragraph.

Evidence alone will not help you develop the point. What every paragraph needs is elaboration where you explain the relevance of the information presented as it relates to the point of the paragraph as well as the essay as a whole. As the writer, you need to offer thoughtful commentary of the supporting details you use to illustrate the point. This last part is critical to the success of a paragraph, for its this kind of commentary where the writer offers analysis and interpretation of the content as it relates to their point. It’s also how the writer connects the point of the paragraph to the larger point of the essay.

I am going to read a sample paragraph and as I do, listen for the elements of PIE that may be missing:

What did you hear? Or, should I ask, what did you not hear? The paragraph starts out with a clear focus—the proud history of the postal service—and that point is illustrated with some good examples. But what’s it all add up to? Is there any explanation that discusses how the information relates to the point of the paragraph and to the larger point of the essay? Do you have any sense of what this paragraph as a whole is trying to support? Do you sense a connectedness to a thesis? I don’t think so. I see this paragraph as just floating in the sea.

This is how PIE can help you. If you think about your paragraphs as needing those three parts—Point, Illustration, and Explanation—then you are more likely to notice that what is lacking in the paragraph I read is explanation, language that helps readers understand the relevance of the information as it relates to the point of the paragraph and to the larger point, the thesis, of the essay. Listen to the revised version of the paragraph:

The United States Postal Service has a proud history. Benjamin Franklin was named Postmaster General in 1775 even before The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 (USPS, 2007). Through the evolution of the service, the mission of the USPS has remained the same: “provide universal service to all Americans. From the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the furthermost point in Alaska, mail gets through” (USPS, 2010,para. 4). In addition to those accomplishments, the USPS also provides nearly 600,000 jobs and has donated over $70 million to breast cancer research through its breast cancer awareness stamps (USPS, 2010). The United States Postal Service has been an important institution and provided valuable services for over two hundred and thirty years—all at no cost to U.S. taxpayers. While the post office needs to redefine how it conducts business in the electronic age, eliminating the service is not the answer. In fact, there is no reason the postal service cannot, once again, change with the times and continue to add to its rich history and accomplishments.

What do you think? Better? Did it seem as if the paragraph was trying to develop a point and that point was connected to a bigger idea? Was there enough explanation—that is, was there enough commentary on the information presented so that you understand better the point of the paragraph as well as how the paragraph relates to the thesis? When you offer explanation, you are, in a sense, taking a step back and examining-analyzing—the information presented and making sure readers understand how the information relates to the point of the paragraph and to the larger point of the essay. The revision offers language such as the “in addition to those accomplishments” and “also” in the sentence “In addition to those accomplishments, the USPS also provides nearly 600,000 jobs and has donated over 70 million dollars to breast cancer research” thereby creating the sense that the USPS already has many accomplishments and on top of those, the postal service also has other accomplishments. The language connects the new piece of information to other pieces of information which are all connected to the idea of proud accomplishments.

The revision also includes three full sentences of explanation after the last piece of information—all of which work to connect that information to the point of the paragraph and to what the essay as a whole is trying to communicate. Listen:

The first version of the paragraph stops after the sentence “The United States Postal Service provides nearly 600.000 jobs and has donated over $70 million to breast cancer research.” That’s it—a paragraph floating in an ocean, insignificant and hardly noticed. But listen to what happens when the writer explains the importance of the information:

In addition to those accomplishments, the United States Postal Service also provides nearly 600,000 jobs and has donated over $70 million to breast cancer research through its breast cancer awareness stamps (USPS, 2010). The United States Postal Service has been an important institution and provided valuable services for over two hundred and thirty years—all at no cost to U.S. taxpayers. While the post office needs to redefine how it conducts business in the electronic age, eliminating the service is not the answer. In fact, there is no reason the postal service cannot, once again, change with the times and continue to add to its rich history and accomplishments.

Do hear the difference? Do you understand the importance not just making a point and illustrating a point but also—perhaps most importantly—explaining the importance of that information through commentary and analysis? The revised paragraph, which is only three sentences and maybe five words longer than the original is better by leaps and bounds.

When you are working on an essay and developing body paragraphs, keep PIE in mind—the idea that body paragraphs need to make a point, information presented needs to illustrate that point, and commentary and analysis is essential to explain the significance of the point. Indeed, PIE is an effective method for developing healthy paragraphs. Thanks for listening, everyone.

Happy writing!

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 3 strong argumentative essay examples, analyzed.

General Education

Need to defend your opinion on an issue? Argumentative essays are one of the most popular types of essays you’ll write in school. They combine persuasive arguments with fact-based research, and, when done well, can be powerful tools for making someone agree with your point of view. If you’re struggling to write an argumentative essay or just want to learn more about them, seeing examples can be a big help.

After giving an overview of this type of essay, we provide three argumentative essay examples. After each essay, we explain in-depth how the essay was structured, what worked, and where the essay could be improved. We end with tips for making your own argumentative essay as strong as possible.

What Is an Argumentative Essay?

An argumentative essay is an essay that uses evidence and facts to support the claim it’s making. Its purpose is to persuade the reader to agree with the argument being made.

A good argumentative essay will use facts and evidence to support the argument, rather than just the author’s thoughts and opinions. For example, say you wanted to write an argumentative essay stating that Charleston, SC is a great destination for families. You couldn’t just say that it’s a great place because you took your family there and enjoyed it. For it to be an argumentative essay, you need to have facts and data to support your argument, such as the number of child-friendly attractions in Charleston, special deals you can get with kids, and surveys of people who visited Charleston as a family and enjoyed it. The first argument is based entirely on feelings, whereas the second is based on evidence that can be proven.

The standard five paragraph format is common, but not required, for argumentative essays. These essays typically follow one of two formats: the Toulmin model or the Rogerian model.

The Toulmin model is the most common. It begins with an introduction, follows with a thesis/claim, and gives data and evidence to support that claim. This style of essay also includes rebuttals of counterarguments.
The Rogerian model analyzes two sides of an argument and reaches a conclusion after weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each.

3 Good Argumentative Essay Examples + Analysis

Below are three examples of argumentative essays, written by yours truly in my school days, as well as analysis of what each did well and where it could be improved.

Argumentative Essay Example 1

Proponents of this idea state that it will save local cities and towns money because libraries are expensive to maintain. They also believe it will encourage more people to read because they won’t have to travel to a library to get a book; they can simply click on what they want to read and read it from wherever they are. They could also access more materials because libraries won’t have to buy physical copies of books; they can simply rent out as many digital copies as they need.

However, it would be a serious mistake to replace libraries with tablets. First, digital books and resources are associated with less learning and more problems than print resources. A study done on tablet vs book reading found that people read 20-30% slower on tablets, retain 20% less information, and understand 10% less of what they read compared to people who read the same information in print. Additionally, staring too long at a screen has been shown to cause numerous health problems, including blurred vision, dizziness, dry eyes, headaches, and eye strain, at much higher instances than reading print does. People who use tablets and mobile devices excessively also have a higher incidence of more serious health issues such as fibromyalgia, shoulder and back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and muscle strain. I know that whenever I read from my e-reader for too long, my eyes begin to feel tired and my neck hurts. We should not add to these problems by giving people, especially young people, more reasons to look at screens.

Second, it is incredibly narrow-minded to assume that the only service libraries offer is book lending. Libraries have a multitude of benefits, and many are only available if the library has a physical location. Some of these benefits include acting as a quiet study space, giving people a way to converse with their neighbors, holding classes on a variety of topics, providing jobs, answering patron questions, and keeping the community connected. One neighborhood found that, after a local library instituted community events such as play times for toddlers and parents, job fairs for teenagers, and meeting spaces for senior citizens, over a third of residents reported feeling more connected to their community. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. People see libraries as a way to connect with others and get their questions answered, benefits tablets can’t offer nearly as well or as easily.

While replacing libraries with tablets may seem like a simple solution, it would encourage people to spend even more time looking at digital screens, despite the myriad issues surrounding them. It would also end access to many of the benefits of libraries that people have come to rely on. In many areas, libraries are such an important part of the community network that they could never be replaced by a simple object.

The author begins by giving an overview of the counter-argument, then the thesis appears as the first sentence in the third paragraph. The essay then spends the rest of the paper dismantling the counter argument and showing why readers should believe the other side.

What this essay does well:

Although it’s a bit unusual to have the thesis appear fairly far into the essay, it works because, once the thesis is stated, the rest of the essay focuses on supporting it since the counter-argument has already been discussed earlier in the paper.
This essay includes numerous facts and cites studies to support its case. By having specific data to rely on, the author’s argument is stronger and readers will be more inclined to agree with it.
For every argument the other side makes, the author makes sure to refute it and follow up with why her opinion is the stronger one. In order to make a strong argument, it’s important to dismantle the other side, which this essay does this by making the author's view appear stronger.
This is a shorter paper, and if it needed to be expanded to meet length requirements, it could include more examples and go more into depth with them, such as by explaining specific cases where people benefited from local libraries.
Additionally, while the paper uses lots of data, the author also mentions their own experience with using tablets. This should be removed since argumentative essays focus on facts and data to support an argument, not the author’s own opinion or experiences. Replacing that with more data on health issues associated with screen time would strengthen the essay.
Some of the points made aren't completely accurate , particularly the one about digital books being cheaper. It actually often costs a library more money to rent out numerous digital copies of a book compared to buying a single physical copy. Make sure in your own essay you thoroughly research each of the points and rebuttals you make, otherwise you'll look like you don't know the issue that well.

Argumentative Essay Example 2

There are multiple drugs available to treat malaria, and many of them work well and save lives, but malaria eradication programs that focus too much on them and not enough on prevention haven’t seen long-term success in Sub-Saharan Africa. A major program to combat malaria was WHO’s Global Malaria Eradication Programme. Started in 1955, it had a goal of eliminating malaria in Africa within the next ten years. Based upon previously successful programs in Brazil and the United States, the program focused mainly on vector control. This included widely distributing chloroquine and spraying large amounts of DDT. More than one billion dollars was spent trying to abolish malaria. However, the program suffered from many problems and in 1969, WHO was forced to admit that the program had not succeeded in eradicating malaria. The number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa who contracted malaria as well as the number of malaria deaths had actually increased over 10% during the time the program was active.

One of the major reasons for the failure of the project was that it set uniform strategies and policies. By failing to consider variations between governments, geography, and infrastructure, the program was not nearly as successful as it could have been. Sub-Saharan Africa has neither the money nor the infrastructure to support such an elaborate program, and it couldn’t be run the way it was meant to. Most African countries don't have the resources to send all their people to doctors and get shots, nor can they afford to clear wetlands or other malaria prone areas. The continent’s spending per person for eradicating malaria was just a quarter of what Brazil spent. Sub-Saharan Africa simply can’t rely on a plan that requires more money, infrastructure, and expertise than they have to spare.

Additionally, the widespread use of chloroquine has created drug resistant parasites which are now plaguing Sub-Saharan Africa. Because chloroquine was used widely but inconsistently, mosquitoes developed resistance, and chloroquine is now nearly completely ineffective in Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 95% of mosquitoes resistant to it. As a result, newer, more expensive drugs need to be used to prevent and treat malaria, which further drives up the cost of malaria treatment for a region that can ill afford it.

Instead of developing plans to treat malaria after the infection has incurred, programs should focus on preventing infection from occurring in the first place. Not only is this plan cheaper and more effective, reducing the number of people who contract malaria also reduces loss of work/school days which can further bring down the productivity of the region.

One of the cheapest and most effective ways of preventing malaria is to implement insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs). These nets provide a protective barrier around the person or people using them. While untreated bed nets are still helpful, those treated with insecticides are much more useful because they stop mosquitoes from biting people through the nets, and they help reduce mosquito populations in a community, thus helping people who don’t even own bed nets. Bed nets are also very effective because most mosquito bites occur while the person is sleeping, so bed nets would be able to drastically reduce the number of transmissions during the night. In fact, transmission of malaria can be reduced by as much as 90% in areas where the use of ITNs is widespread. Because money is so scarce in Sub-Saharan Africa, the low cost is a great benefit and a major reason why the program is so successful. Bed nets cost roughly 2 USD to make, last several years, and can protect two adults. Studies have shown that, for every 100-1000 more nets are being used, one less child dies of malaria. With an estimated 300 million people in Africa not being protected by mosquito nets, there’s the potential to save three million lives by spending just a few dollars per person.

Reducing the number of people who contract malaria would also reduce poverty levels in Africa significantly, thus improving other aspects of society like education levels and the economy. Vector control is more effective than treatment strategies because it means fewer people are getting sick. When fewer people get sick, the working population is stronger as a whole because people are not put out of work from malaria, nor are they caring for sick relatives. Malaria-afflicted families can typically only harvest 40% of the crops that healthy families can harvest. Additionally, a family with members who have malaria spends roughly a quarter of its income treatment, not including the loss of work they also must deal with due to the illness. It’s estimated that malaria costs Africa 12 billion USD in lost income every year. A strong working population creates a stronger economy, which Sub-Saharan Africa is in desperate need of.

This essay begins with an introduction, which ends with the thesis (that malaria eradication plans in Sub-Saharan Africa should focus on prevention rather than treatment). The first part of the essay lays out why the counter argument (treatment rather than prevention) is not as effective, and the second part of the essay focuses on why prevention of malaria is the better path to take.

The thesis appears early, is stated clearly, and is supported throughout the rest of the essay. This makes the argument clear for readers to understand and follow throughout the essay.
There’s lots of solid research in this essay, including specific programs that were conducted and how successful they were, as well as specific data mentioned throughout. This evidence helps strengthen the author’s argument.
The author makes a case for using expanding bed net use over waiting until malaria occurs and beginning treatment, but not much of a plan is given for how the bed nets would be distributed or how to ensure they’re being used properly. By going more into detail of what she believes should be done, the author would be making a stronger argument.
The introduction of the essay does a good job of laying out the seriousness of the problem, but the conclusion is short and abrupt. Expanding it into its own paragraph would give the author a final way to convince readers of her side of the argument.

Argumentative Essay Example 3

There are many ways payments could work. They could be in the form of a free-market approach, where athletes are able to earn whatever the market is willing to pay them, it could be a set amount of money per athlete, or student athletes could earn income from endorsements, autographs, and control of their likeness, similar to the way top Olympians earn money.

Proponents of the idea believe that, because college athletes are the ones who are training, participating in games, and bringing in audiences, they should receive some sort of compensation for their work. If there were no college athletes, the NCAA wouldn’t exist, college coaches wouldn’t receive there (sometimes very high) salaries, and brands like Nike couldn’t profit from college sports. In fact, the NCAA brings in roughly $1 billion in revenue a year, but college athletes don’t receive any of that money in the form of a paycheck. Additionally, people who believe college athletes should be paid state that paying college athletes will actually encourage them to remain in college longer and not turn pro as quickly, either by giving them a way to begin earning money in college or requiring them to sign a contract stating they’ll stay at the university for a certain number of years while making an agreed-upon salary.

Supporters of this idea point to Zion Williamson, the Duke basketball superstar, who, during his freshman year, sustained a serious knee injury. Many argued that, even if he enjoyed playing for Duke, it wasn’t worth risking another injury and ending his professional career before it even began for a program that wasn’t paying him. Williamson seems to have agreed with them and declared his eligibility for the NCAA draft later that year. If he was being paid, he may have stayed at Duke longer. In fact, roughly a third of student athletes surveyed stated that receiving a salary while in college would make them “strongly consider” remaining collegiate athletes longer before turning pro.

Paying athletes could also stop the recruitment scandals that have plagued the NCAA. In 2018, the NCAA stripped the University of Louisville's men's basketball team of its 2013 national championship title because it was discovered coaches were using sex workers to entice recruits to join the team. There have been dozens of other recruitment scandals where college athletes and recruits have been bribed with anything from having their grades changed, to getting free cars, to being straight out bribed. By paying college athletes and putting their salaries out in the open, the NCAA could end the illegal and underhanded ways some schools and coaches try to entice athletes to join.

People who argue against the idea of paying college athletes believe the practice could be disastrous for college sports. By paying athletes, they argue, they’d turn college sports into a bidding war, where only the richest schools could afford top athletes, and the majority of schools would be shut out from developing a talented team (though some argue this already happens because the best players often go to the most established college sports programs, who typically pay their coaches millions of dollars per year). It could also ruin the tight camaraderie of many college teams if players become jealous that certain teammates are making more money than they are.

They also argue that paying college athletes actually means only a small fraction would make significant money. Out of the 350 Division I athletic departments, fewer than a dozen earn any money. Nearly all the money the NCAA makes comes from men’s football and basketball, so paying college athletes would make a small group of men--who likely will be signed to pro teams and begin making millions immediately out of college--rich at the expense of other players.

Those against paying college athletes also believe that the athletes are receiving enough benefits already. The top athletes already receive scholarships that are worth tens of thousands per year, they receive free food/housing/textbooks, have access to top medical care if they are injured, receive top coaching, get travel perks and free gear, and can use their time in college as a way to capture the attention of professional recruiters. No other college students receive anywhere near as much from their schools.

People on this side also point out that, while the NCAA brings in a massive amount of money each year, it is still a non-profit organization. How? Because over 95% of those profits are redistributed to its members’ institutions in the form of scholarships, grants, conferences, support for Division II and Division III teams, and educational programs. Taking away a significant part of that revenue would hurt smaller programs that rely on that money to keep running.

While both sides have good points, it’s clear that the negatives of paying college athletes far outweigh the positives. College athletes spend a significant amount of time and energy playing for their school, but they are compensated for it by the scholarships and perks they receive. Adding a salary to that would result in a college athletic system where only a small handful of athletes (those likely to become millionaires in the professional leagues) are paid by a handful of schools who enter bidding wars to recruit them, while the majority of student athletics and college athletic programs suffer or even shut down for lack of money. Continuing to offer the current level of benefits to student athletes makes it possible for as many people to benefit from and enjoy college sports as possible.

This argumentative essay follows the Rogerian model. It discusses each side, first laying out multiple reasons people believe student athletes should be paid, then discussing reasons why the athletes shouldn’t be paid. It ends by stating that college athletes shouldn’t be paid by arguing that paying them would destroy college athletics programs and cause them to have many of the issues professional sports leagues have.

Both sides of the argument are well developed, with multiple reasons why people agree with each side. It allows readers to get a full view of the argument and its nuances.
Certain statements on both sides are directly rebuffed in order to show where the strengths and weaknesses of each side lie and give a more complete and sophisticated look at the argument.
Using the Rogerian model can be tricky because oftentimes you don’t explicitly state your argument until the end of the paper. Here, the thesis doesn’t appear until the first sentence of the final paragraph. That doesn’t give readers a lot of time to be convinced that your argument is the right one, compared to a paper where the thesis is stated in the beginning and then supported throughout the paper. This paper could be strengthened if the final paragraph was expanded to more fully explain why the author supports the view, or if the paper had made it clearer that paying athletes was the weaker argument throughout.

3 Tips for Writing a Good Argumentative Essay

Now that you’ve seen examples of what good argumentative essay samples look like, follow these three tips when crafting your own essay.

#1: Make Your Thesis Crystal Clear

The thesis is the key to your argumentative essay; if it isn’t clear or readers can’t find it easily, your entire essay will be weak as a result. Always make sure that your thesis statement is easy to find. The typical spot for it is the final sentence of the introduction paragraph, but if it doesn’t fit in that spot for your essay, try to at least put it as the first or last sentence of a different paragraph so it stands out more.

Also make sure that your thesis makes clear what side of the argument you’re on. After you’ve written it, it’s a great idea to show your thesis to a couple different people--classmates are great for this. Just by reading your thesis they should be able to understand what point you’ll be trying to make with the rest of your essay.

#2: Show Why the Other Side Is Weak

When writing your essay, you may be tempted to ignore the other side of the argument and just focus on your side, but don’t do this. The best argumentative essays really tear apart the other side to show why readers shouldn’t believe it. Before you begin writing your essay, research what the other side believes, and what their strongest points are. Then, in your essay, be sure to mention each of these and use evidence to explain why they’re incorrect/weak arguments. That’ll make your essay much more effective than if you only focused on your side of the argument.

#3: Use Evidence to Support Your Side

Remember, an essay can’t be an argumentative essay if it doesn’t support its argument with evidence. For every point you make, make sure you have facts to back it up. Some examples are previous studies done on the topic, surveys of large groups of people, data points, etc. There should be lots of numbers in your argumentative essay that support your side of the argument. This will make your essay much stronger compared to only relying on your own opinions to support your argument.

Summary: Argumentative Essay Sample

Argumentative essays are persuasive essays that use facts and evidence to support their side of the argument. Most argumentative essays follow either the Toulmin model or the Rogerian model. By reading good argumentative essay examples, you can learn how to develop your essay and provide enough support to make readers agree with your opinion. When writing your essay, remember to always make your thesis clear, show where the other side is weak, and back up your opinion with data and evidence.

What's Next?

Do you need to write an argumentative essay as well? Check out our guide on the best argumentative essay topics for ideas!

You'll probably also need to write research papers for school. We've got you covered with 113 potential topics for research papers.

Your college admissions essay may end up being one of the most important essays you write. Follow our step-by-step guide on writing a personal statement to have an essay that'll impress colleges.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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An essay on proof, conviction, and explanation: multiple representation systems in combinatorics

Published: 04 February 2020
Volume 103 , pages 173–189, ( 2020 )

Cite this article

Elise Lockwood ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4118-338X 1 ,
John S. Caughman 2 &
Keith Weber 3

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There is a longstanding conversation in the mathematics education literature about proofs that explain versus proofs that only convince. In this essay, we offer a characterization of explanatory proofs with three goals in mind. We first propose a theory of explanatory proofs for mathematics education in terms of representation systems. Then, we illustrate these ideas in terms of combinatorial proofs, focusing on binomial identities. Finally, we leverage our theory to explain audience-dependent and audience-invariant aspects of explanatory proof. Throughout, we use the context of combinatorics to emphasize points and to offer examples of proofs that can be explanatory or only convincing, depending on how one understands the claim being made.

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Introduction: Conceptualizing Argumentation, Justification, and Proof in Mathematics Education

Reflections on Proof as Explanation

On the meanings of argumentation, justification, and proof: general insights from analyses of elementary classroom episodes.

Providing such a definition was not necessarily their intent.

Balacheff ( 2009 ) also defined explanation as a psychological construct, proof as a social construct, and both characterized in terms of representation systems. However, at least in terms of student-generated proofs, he viewed a proof as a socially accepted explanation (i.e., all proofs are explanations). Our characterization says a student-generated proof might not be explanatory if it was generated with non-natural inferences or in an RS that a student did not personally value.

The theorem extends to other, non-integer values, but we focus on this version.

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Lockwood, E., Caughman, J.S. & Weber, K. An essay on proof, conviction, and explanation: multiple representation systems in combinatorics. Educ Stud Math 103 , 173–189 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-020-09933-8

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Skills to Develop

Read two examples of persuasive essays on the same topic

Justice: Retribution or Restoration?

Every day when I pick up my newspaper I read about crime. What strikes me as tragic in these discussions is that the solutions which are proposed are simply more of the same: bigger threats, more punishment. Few people ask more basic questions about whether punishment ought to be our main concern. Even fewer seem genuinely concerned about victims and what they need.

Consequently, victims’ needs and wishes continue to be ignored. Prisons are massively crowded, and the call for a return to the death penalty is back with a vengeance. The costs to us as taxpayers keep soaring.

Actually, there is good reason why we ignore victims and focus instead on more punishment for offenders. It has to do with our very definitions of what constitutes crime and what justice entails.

If you have been a victim, you know something about the fear, the anger, the shame, the sense of violation that this experience generates. You know something about the needs that result: needs for repayment, for a chance to talk, for support, for involvement, for an experience that feels like justice. Unfortunately, you may also know from personal experience how little help, information and involvement you can expect from the justice process.

If you have experienced crime, you know for a fact that you yourself are the victim, and you would like to be remembered in what happens thereafter. But the legal system does not define the offence that way and does not assume that you have a central role.

Legally, the essence of the crime lies in breaking a law rather than the actual damage done. More importantly, the official victim is the state, not you. It is no accident, then, that victims and their needs are so often forgotten: they are not even part of the equation, not part of the definition of the offence!

When a crime occurs, the state as victim decides what must be done, and the process of deciding focuses primarily on two questions: “Is the person guilty? If so, how much punishment does he or she deserve?” Our definitions of crime and justice, then, might be summarized like this:

Crime is a violation of the state and its laws.

Justice establishes blame and administers pain through a contest between offender and state.

This way of viewing crime might be called “retributive justice.” It has little place for victims, uses what some scholars have called a “battle model” for settling things, and, because it is centred so heavily on establishing blame, looks primarily to the past rather than the future. It assumes that punishment or pain, usually in the form of a prison term, is the normal outcome.

This process concentrates almost exclusively on offenders, but, ironically, does not hold them accountable. To be accountable, offenders ought to be helped to understand and acknowledge the human consequences of their actions. Then they ought to be encouraged to take responsibility for what happens thereafter, including taking steps to right the wrong. Yet this rarely happens; indeed, the justice process discourages responsibility. Thus neither victim nor offender is offered the kind of opportunities that might aid healing and resolution for both.

But what is the alternative? How should we understand crime and justice?

An alternate understanding of crime and justice might look something like this:

Crime is a violation of people and their relationships.

Justice identifies needs and obligations so that things can be made right through a process which encourages dialogue and involves both victims and offenders.

A restorative approach to justice would understand that the essence of crime is a violation of people and of harmonious relations between them. Instead of asking first of all, “Who ‘done’ it? What should they get?” (and rarely going beyond this), a restorative approach to justice would ask “Who has been hurt? What can be done to make things right, and whose responsibility is it?” True justice would have as its goals restoration, reconciliation, and responsibility rather than retribution.

Restorative justice would aim to be personal. Insofar as possible, it would seek to empower victims and offenders to be involved in their own cases and, in the process, to learn something about one another. As in the Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP), which operates in many communities in the U.S. and Canada, when circumstances permit, justice would offer victims and offenders an opportunity to meet in order to exchange information and decide what is to be done. Understanding of one another, acceptance of responsibility, healing of injuries, and empowerment of participants would be important goals.

Is restorative approach practical? Can it work? The experience of the VORP suggests that while there are limitations and pitfalls, restoration and reconciliation can happen, even in some tough cases. Moreover, our own history points in this direction. Through most of western history, most crimes were understood to be harms done to people by other people. Such wrongs created obligations to make right, and the normal process was to negotiate some sort of restitution agreement. Only in the past several centuries did our present retributive understanding displace this more reparative approach.

If our ancestors could view crime and justice this way, why can’t we?

Adapted from: Zehr, H. (n.d.). Justice: Retribution or Restoration? Retrieved from: www.peaceworkmagazine.org/pwo...499/049910.htm

Retribution

Retribution is perhaps the most intuitive—and the most questionable—aim of punishment in the criminal law. Quite contrary to the idea of rehabilitation and distinct from the utilitarian purposes of restraint and deterrence, the purpose of retribution is actively to injure criminal offenders, ideally in proportion with their injuries to society, and so expiate them of guilt.

The impulse to do harm to someone who does harm to you is older than human society, older than the human race itself (go to the zoo and watch the monkey cage for a demonstration.) It’s also one of the most powerful human impulses—so powerful that at times it can overwhelm all else. One of the hallmarks of civilization is to relinquish the personal right to act on this impulse, and transfer responsibility for retribution to some governing body that acts, presumably, on behalf of society entire. When society executes retribution on criminals by means of fines, incarceration, or death, these punishments are a social expression of the personal vengeance the criminal’s victims feel, rationally confined (it is hoped) to what is best for society as a whole.

While “it’s natural” tends not to carry much weight in the criminal law, “it’s morally right” can. Moral feelings and convictions are considered, even by the criminal law, to be some of the most powerful and binding expressions of our humanity. In binding criminal trial juries to restrict guilty verdicts to situations of the highest certainty, “beyond a reasonable doubt” is also often described as “to a moral certainty.” It is to their moral feelings of what is truly right that jury members are asked look before delivering a verdict. It’s perhaps not too much of a stretch, then, to argue that it’s morally right to make criminals suffer as their victims have suffered, if that’s the way one’s moral certainty points.

No matter what one’s moral feelings are about inflicting deliberate harm on a human being, the majority of the citizenry still holds that it’s right to exact retribution on criminal offenders. This is almost certainly true of the majority of victims, and their loved ones, for whom equanimity becomes more and more difficult depending on the severity of the crime. What rape victim does not wish to see her attacker suffer? What parent does not hate the one who killed their child? The outrage that would result from leaving these passions for revenge unsatisfied might be seen as a dramatic failure of the entire criminal justice system. It’s a good argument for retributive justice, then, that in this world public vengeance is necessary in order to avoid the chaos ensuing from individuals taking revenge into their own hands. And, until the moral certainty of a majority of society points towards compassion rather than revenge, this is the form the criminal law must take.

Adapted from: The Lectric Law Library. (n.d.). Retribution. Retrieved from: http://www.lectlaw.com/mjl/cl062.htm

Journal entry #10

Write a paragraph or two responding to the following.

Briefly describe one or two topics on which you may want to base your persuasive essay.

Why is this a good topic? What types of challenges do you think you may face in developing ideas on this topic?

Remember as mentioned in the Assessment Descriptions in your syllabus:

You will be expected to respond to the questions by reflecting on and discussing your experiences with the week’s material.

When writing your journals, you should focus on freewriting—writing without (overly) considering formal writing structures—but remember that it will be read by the instructor, who needs to be able to understand your ideas.

Your instructor will be able to see if you have completed this entry by the end of the week but not read all of the journals until week 11.

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Power of a point

COMMENTS

PEE: The secret to writing a good paragraph
PEE: The secret to writing a good paragraph. s. Lindy Ledohowski. Some jurisdictions refer to paragraphing in schools as having the P-E-E or P-E-A structure. These refer to Point-Evidence-Explanation or Point-Evidence-Analysis. In my teaching, I used to call this structure the Point-Proof-Explanation style. Regardless of what you want to call ...
PDF PPE-Point Proof Explain
At Princess Anne High School, we encourage students to become proficient writers by using a writing technique called PPE or Point, Proof, & Explain. This technique asks students to establish a point or argument, provide evidence to support their point, then follow it up with analysis of why the information being supplied and supported is ...
Point, Illustration, Explanation
Many authors use the PIE format to structure their essays. PIE = point, illustration, explanation. The point furthers a thesis or claim, the illustration provides support for the point, and the explanation tells the audience why the evidence provided furthers the point and/or the thesis. For example, in his argument against the +/- grading ...
PDF The Essay Guide: Developing Points/Depth of Analysis
The Essay Guide: Developing Points/Depth of Analysis . W3 Developing Points/Depth of Analysis . Point Evidence Explanation The Point Evidence Explanationrule is one that is still useful at FE and undergraduate level. The Point is the analytical insight; the Evidence is the material that you have found, through research, to support your point; Explanation is the heart of essay-writing: it is a ...
PDF Paragraph Construction: Point
In formal writing, answers should make a point, prove it, and explain how the proof proves the point. 1) Point Write a clearly-worded topic sentence making a point. 2) Proof Use examples and/or quotations to prove your point. 3) Explanation Explain the proof. How does it prove the point? Discuss what the proof shows. Be analytical and imaginative.
How to structure paragraphs using the PEEL method
P = Point: start your paragraph with a clear topic sentence that establishes what your paragraph is going to be about. Your point should support your essay argument or thesis statement. E = Evidence/Example: here you should use a piece of evidence or an example that helps to reaffirm your initial point and develop the argument. E = Explain ...
Write A Winning Essay Using The P.E.E Method: Point, Evidence ...
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ENGL001: Point, Illustration, Explanation
Many authors use the PIE format to structure their essays: PIE = point, illustration, explanation. The point furthers a thesis or claim, the illustration provides support for the point, and the explanation tells the audience why the evidence provided furthers the point and/or the thesis. For example, in his argument against the +/- grading ...
Example of a Great Essay
This example guides you through the structure of an essay. It shows how to build an effective introduction, focused paragraphs, clear transitions between ideas, and a strong conclusion. Each paragraph addresses a single central point, introduced by a topic sentence, and each point is directly related to the thesis statement.
3.3: Strong paragraphs start with good evidence
If you want to write an effective essay, you need to start with good evidence that supports your main point. This webpage from ENG 101 OER course explains how to choose, introduce, and analyze evidence in your paragraphs. You will also learn how to avoid common pitfalls such as irrelevant or weak evidence, faulty reasoning, and plagiarism.
How to use point, evidence, and analysis to comment on a text
KS3 English: How to use point, evidence, and analysis to comment on a text. SPEAKER 1: You can find ideas anywhere. I mean I never would've thought we would have written a song about Magwitch from ...
PDF Parts of the 5 Paragraph Essay
The 5 Paragraph Essay: 1. Introduction • The Lead-In • Background Information • Thesis Statement + three reasons 2. Body Paragraphs (Body 1, Body 2, Body 3) • Topic Sentence • Point 1 • Proof 1 • Explanation 1 • Point 2 • Proof 2 • Explanation 2 • Point 3 • Proof 3 • Explanation 3 3. The Conclusion.
Evidence
Books, journals, websites, newspapers, magazines, and documentary films are some of the most common sources of evidence for academic writing. Our handout on evaluating print sources will help you choose your print sources wisely, and the library has a tutorial on evaluating both print sources and websites. A librarian can help you find sources ...
Proving the Thesis/Critical Thinking
Proving the Thesis/Critical Thinking. Good writing is not just about presenting information in an organized way such as an essay or research paper with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. It is about persuading your reader that you are right. In the case of an academic paper, the body paragraphs each must have a proof ...
How to Write an Expository Essay
An expository essay should take an objective approach: It isn't about your personal opinions or experiences. Instead, your goal is to provide an informative and balanced explanation of your topic. Avoid using the first or second person ("I" or "you"). The structure of your expository essay will vary according to the scope of your ...
What is Point, Evidence, Explain?
Point, Evidence, Explain is a method for answering questions about a subject. It involves stating a point, providing evidence and explaining your argument. Point, Evidence, Explain, sometimes abbreviated to P.E.E., is a mnemonic formula used with students in KS2 and above. At this stage, students are expected to formulate and quantify an ...
Paragraph Development with PIE
So for a long time. PIE is an acronym that stands for develop a limited point (that's the P) in a paragraph; illustrate (that's the I") the point with supporting information; the E stands for explain how the evidence supports the point of the paragraph and relates to the thesis of the essay. Restated: P = Point. I = Illustrate.
When writing an essay using Point, Proof, Explain, how do you explain
Point, Proof, Explain: Point, Proof, Explain is an essay-writing technique designed to help students construct paragraphs correctly. The first part of the paragraph is the point you're trying to make. Next, you provide some proof that what you're saying is true. (This is usually a quote from the book, article, or essay that you've read.)
Essay Writing: Point, Proof, Comment by Patrick Brophy on Prezi
If you don't have PROOF, your original POINT will be quickly discarded by your audience. Good writing would be equally effective if it were spoken. Therefore, do not write in a style that is significantly different than how you speak. Use a "voice" that you would likely use when speaking to a parent or teacher (no slang or informal language).
3 Strong Argumentative Essay Examples, Analyzed
Argumentative Essay Example 2. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through female Anopheles mosquitoes. Each year, over half a billion people will become infected with malaria, with roughly 80% of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa.
mrbanksbluevale [licensed for non-commercial use only] / How to Write
Writing Effective Paragraphs . Writing effective paragraphs is easy once you know what to do. Use the "Point-Proof-Explanation-Summary" method to paragraph writing and watch how quickly your writing improves!. An effective paragraph includes: a topic sentence that expresses the main point of the paragraph.; a piece of proof, evidence, details, or examples to support your topic sentence.
An essay on proof, conviction, and explanation: multiple ...
There is a longstanding conversation in the mathematics education literature about proofs that explain versus proofs that only convince. In this essay, we offer a characterization of explanatory proofs with three goals in mind. We first propose a theory of explanatory proofs for mathematics education in terms of representation systems. Then, we illustrate these ideas in terms of combinatorial ...
10.4: Examples: Persuasive Essay
EXAMPLE 2. Retribution. Retribution is perhaps the most intuitive—and the most questionable—aim of punishment in the criminal law. Quite contrary to the idea of rehabilitation and distinct from the utilitarian purposes of restraint and deterrence, the purpose of retribution is actively to injure criminal offenders, ideally in proportion ...