By Veronica Hoac
Many English teachers will ask students to write PIE paragraphs for assignments. Although it may be a little confusing at first, once you get the basic idea of how to write it, you will be able to naturally understand the flow of a paragraph. Every PIE paragraph consists of point, illustration, and explanation, therefore creating “PIE”. The first part, point, may be a little tricky because it can be confused with the topic sentence. Topic sentences normally end the introduction paragraph in a full essay. Some teachers may only ask you to write one paragraph as opposed to the whole essay, therefore making the point the topic sentence. However, it is important to know which your teacher is specifically looking for, so be sure to ask for clarification if you need it. Overall, the point should be what you are going to write about for the paragraph itself and is usually one sentence. For illustration, use evidence to support your argument (the point). This should be a quote, fact, or statistics that should have an efficient lead-in for context. Finally the paragraph ends with the explanation, the hardest part of PIE paragraphs. This should answer the “so what?” of the illustration. Expand on exactly how it proves your point. It is extremely important to not give context for the quote here. Some tips are to think of what the evidence literally means and then delve deeper into the figurative meaning. It is okay to think a little outside the box, but being as specific and confident as you can be allows a bigger impact on the reader. Again, depending on the teacher, you may need a concluding sentence, where the entire argument is summed up once more in one neat sentence.