If you’ve spent any time in any English class, whether it’s first language, second language, or whatever, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of P.E.E.L.

Sorry, not a good chance.

It’s inescapable. 

Point, Evidence, Explanation Link are the words this legendary acronym is based on, the general idea is to write a good paragraph by:

1. Making your point very clear

2. Immediately giving evidence for your point

3. Explaining what the evidence means in the context of your point

4. Linking it back to either the previous paragraph or to whatever essay prompt you’re trying to respond to.

Which is why PEEL paragraphs look like this. 

EXAMPLE

Prompt:

Write a letter to your school principal arguing for or against mandatory homework.

Writer’s Intent:

To argue that students should have the freedom to choose whether to complete homework assignments.

PEEL Paragraph:

Point:

Students should be given the autonomy to decide whether homework helps their learning, rather than being forced to complete it regardless of its value.

Evidence:

A 2019 study by Stanford University found that students doing more than two hours of homework per night reported higher stress levels, physical health problems, and actually performed worse academically than peers with moderate homework loads.

Explanation:

This research shows that mandatory homework isn’t automatically beneficial—in fact, it can actively harm students when it becomes excessive or meaningless. Different students learn differently: some genuinely benefit from practice at home, while others need rest, extracurricular activities, or simply learn better through in-class work. By making homework optional, schools acknowledge that students understand their own learning needs and can make responsible choices about how to use their time productively.

Link:

Trusting students with this decision would not only improve their wellbeing but also teach them valuable self-management skills they’ll need in university and careers.

So that’s what it looks like. 

But is it the only way of writing an essay? 

No, not at all. 

Let’s deviate away to see that that’s true – here are a few other schemata that could also work for the same paragraph, available for our Premium Members!

With all that said, why do teachers keep on teaching P.E.E.L like dogma, repeating it in class after class when there are so many possible and alternate constructions? 

Part of the answer is convenience. 

If you pay attention you will notice that PEEL is not only thought but also rewarded because it’s very easy to look at every paragraph and then check student paragraphs to see if they have the points, the evidence, the explanations, and the links straight away.

Also, it’s easier to keep your students from becoming confused and make sure that they follow a specific way of doing things rather than just opening up their minds to different possibilities or to ask them to reach for something that they otherwise don’t have experience with.

But it’s also true that PEEL accomplishes a very specific teaching purpose. 

It forces students to do the one thing they most resist: actually explain the connection between their evidence and their claim.

Evidence doesn’t speaks for itself – you need to contextualize it. 

What’s missing is the entire cognitive act of argumentation: showing how that quote demonstrates that claim, why those specific words matter, what the quote reveals that wouldn’t be obvious without analysis.

A student who mechanically applies PEEL at least produces something with basic argumentative structure. 

A student freed from structure too early typically produces some of the following:

∙ Unsupported assertions

∙ Quote-dropping without analysis

∙ Circular reasoning

∙ Paragraphs that don’t connect to anything

…But it’s not the only way to write. 

What did you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!