A strong analytical paragraph contains three essential parts: Point, Evidence and Explanation. Together, these turn an idea or opinion into a supported argument. PEE describes the jobs your writing needs to do, rather than a fixed number of sentences.
The three jobs in a PEE paragraph
P — Point
Make the claim your paragraph will develop.
What am I trying to show?E — Evidence
Support the claim with a relevant quotation, fact or example.
What supports my point?E — Explanation
Interpret the evidence and develop its significance.
How does this support my point, and why does it matter?Three jobs, not three sentences. Explanation will often need several sentences because it does most of the analytical work.
How the paragraph develops
- Make a pointAnswer the question with a focused claim.
- Give contextHelp the reader understand the evidence.
- Present evidenceIntegrate a quotation or relevant detail.
- Interpret itExplain how the detail supports your claim.
- Develop the analysisExplore why it matters or qualify your interpretation.
These are moves within a paragraph, not five compulsory sentences. Context and evidence can share a sentence; interpretation and development may take several.
Keep moving the argument forward. Returning to the question is useful when it shows what your analysis has established. Simply repeating the opening point adds nothing.
P — Point
Make a clear argument or analytical claim that answers the question and establishes what the paragraph will demonstrate. Think of it as a mini-thesis for the paragraph.
It should be specific enough to develop and support, but not so detailed that there is nothing left to explain.
Weak: Social media can be harmful.
Stronger: Social media can negatively affect teenagers by encouraging constant comparison with idealised versions of other people’s lives.
Your point tells the reader what you are arguing. The rest of the paragraph must prove and develop it.
E — Evidence
Provide specific evidence that supports your point. Depending on the assignment, this could be a quotation, fact, statistic, example, information from a source, or a reference to an event, character or situation in a text.
Introduce and integrate your evidence. Make it part of your own sentence so the reader understands its context. Avoid leaving a quotation on its own without explaining how it supports the argument.
When Aisha says, “Everyone should get a chance to play”, she challenges the captain’s decision to choose only experienced players.
Quote accurately and include the reference required by the assignment. You can also paraphrase: express the relevant information in your own words and still acknowledge its source. A quotation is useful when its exact wording matters to your analysis.
E — Explanation
Explain how and why the evidence supports your point. Interpret the evidence, draw out its significance and develop the argument.
Add analysis, not repetition. An explanation becomes redundant if it only repeats the point or restates the evidence. It should help the reader understand something more.
- What does the evidence reveal or suggest?
- How does it support your particular claim?
- Why does this detail matter?
- What does a word, action or contrast reveal about a character, attitude or theme?
- Is another interpretation possible, or does the claim need a qualification?
You do not need to answer every question. Choose the ones that help you develop your argument.
Repeating vs. analysing
Repetition: This shows that Aisha thinks everyone should have a chance to play.
Analysis: The word “everyone” makes inclusion more important than ability. Aisha therefore challenges the idea that a team’s success should be measured only by whether it wins.
The second version examines a particular word and explains what it reveals about Aisha’s values.
A complete PEE paragraph
Question: How does Aisha challenge the captain’s idea of a successful team?
The captain chose the strongest players first. Aisha looked at Leo, who had never played before. “Everyone should get a chance to play,” she said. “Leo can be on our team.”
Aisha challenges the captain by showing that a good team should give everyone a chance, rather than just include the strongest players. After the captain chooses the strongest players first, she says, “Everyone should get a chance to play,” and invites Leo, who has never played before, to join her team. By using the word “everyone”, Aisha makes it clear that a lack of experience should not be a reason to leave someone out. Inviting Leo also shows that she is willing to act on this belief. While the captain focuses on what players can already do, Aisha gives Leo an opportunity to learn by taking part. Her choice suggests that a team’s success can mean more than winning: it can also mean helping others feel that they belong.
The colours show the three parts: teal for the point, blue for the evidence and purple for the explanation. Notice how the explanation develops the evidence rather than simply repeating Aisha’s words.
Developing your analysis
A simple paragraph may make one point, give one piece of evidence and explain the connection. A more developed paragraph can examine wording, trace a cause or consequence, compare details or consider an alternative interpretation.
Frames such as “This suggests that…”, “The word … implies…” and “This matters because…” can help you start. The phrase itself does not create analysis: what you say after it must add meaning.
Keep the strength of your claim in line with the evidence. Use suggests or may indicate when the interpretation is plausible but not certain.
Before you finish
- Does my point answer the question?
- Have I chosen specific, relevant evidence and integrated it into my writing?
- Have I explained how the evidence supports the point?
- Does my explanation add meaning rather than repeat what I have already said?
- Do the sentences develop one connected argument?
- Have I included the references required by the assignment?
Try it: PEE paragraph basic · PEE paragraph advanced