Below, you can find an overall explanation of how to structure an essay paragraph.

Lots of my students struggle with essay writing – in any essay subject, the process for writing a great middle paragraph is exactly the same. Once you learn it, your grades will massively improve across the board! This advice is for middle paragraphs only – the intro and conclusion to an essay have a totally different structure.

Check out our post on How To Write a Perfect Conclusion


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EXTENDED PEE PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Point – the topic sentence, the main idea of that paragraph that answers part of your overall question and is the driving force behind your analysis. It tells the reader what the main idea of that paragraph is. It also breaks apart part of the question in order to analyse it more deeply. 

Evidence – quote or reference that proves your point. Needs to be carefully selected – no longer or shorter than necessary in order to illustrate your point. High-level answers may find multiple pieces of evidence that prove the same point. 

Explanation – Your analysis of HOW and WHY the evidence proves your point. Needs to be as long and detailed as possible – at least 3 sentences per point. Includes analysis of how and why TECHNIQUES or FEATURES are used to reinforce the effect mentioned in your point. This is your chance to show off all of the subject terminologies that you learned! Zoom in to particular words/phrases for extra marks.

Development – use extra information to deepen your analysis – CRITICAL ideas from your anthology or generally, CONTEXTUAL ideas – information about the time that text was written, the writer, the reason for writing etc, alternative interpretations Link > link back to your thesis, the overall argument stated at the end of your introduction


Thanks for reading! If you find this page useful, you can check out our full courses here:

Academic Skills

Basic Essay Writing

All our English Literature and English Language Courses