P. E. E. – Point, Evidence, and Explain (Short Read)

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Making a point, giving evidence for it, and then explaining it, is the basic structure of academic writing. It is the foundation of a basic but solid paragraph. We need to remember P.E.E!

When you are doing academic writing, you are writing to persuade and convince. If nothing else, you want the person reading your work to believe what you have written. To do this you need to be clear, and you need to provide evidence to back up your argument. P.E.E gives you a structure to help with this.

P – Point

E – Evidence

E – Explain

That is the basic structure for a solid, albeit basic, paragraph.

Point – What Is The Main Point You Are Making?

You start by making your point. What is it you actually want to say? What is this paragraph about?

The paragraph could stand on its own, making its own point. This could be towards the start of a section, or it could be delivering its own point, which builds towards the greater argument or your work. In which case, you want to be clear about what it is you are saying.

You might start this kind of paragraph by making a declarative statement such as … Samuel Logan Brengle’s theology of entire sanctification is built on a distinctively American version of Wesleyanism. … This establishes what you are trying to argue for. It is clear and sets out the main point of this argument.

Or the paragraph might build on the one that has gone before, continuing to develop the answer.

You might start this kind of paragraph with something like this … Further, I suggest that Samuel Logan Brengle’s theology of entire sanctification is a distinctively American form of Wesleyanism.

Or, the paragraph might be disagreeing with the previous paragraph. This might be a way to present a balanced argument or to refute someone else’s arguments.

You might start that kind of paragraph with something like this … Whilst **** argues that Brengle should be understood within a Pentecostal framework, it is clear that this is not the case. Rather, Brengle should be understood within a distinctively American form of Wesleyanism.

It is worth spending time to ensure that the opening of each paragraph is strong, simple, and to the point. Do not overload it or ask it to do too much work. The rest of the paragraph will do the heavy lifting.

But if you get the opening to the paragraph wrong, then the rest of your paragraph won’t make sense or won’t work as well.

Evidence – What Sources of Evidence Support Your Main Point?

Having made your point, you then need to give evidence to back it up.

Why should someone believe a statement you make unless you can give evidence for it? But what kind of evidence you need depends on what point you are trying to make.

If you are giving an argument based on empirical facts, then you may give some statistics to back up your argument. What evidence is there to support your facts? How can you prove it?

Or if you are making a point about the way an event or experience affects people, then you might need to introduce some narrative testimony from someone who has experienced the subject of your argument.

Perhaps you are making a more theoretical argument, then you may need to include a quote from someone else who is either making the same argument you are making or whose argument you are building on.

If you are making an argument which is original and unique, then you will need to provide evidence for the foundations of your argument to demonstrate where there is support for your thinking, even if you are doing something new with it.

Use only the necessary evidence to support your argument. Don’t try to persuade through the weight of words or stacks of statistics, but through the quality of the evidence you are presenting.

Make sure that the evidence in context actually supports your argument. Don’t just include it because you like it. Don’t cut it down to make it say what you want it to say. You will need to demonstrate that your choice of evidence is appropriate and is being used with integrity.

Don’t forget to reference and cite your evidence. Who wrote it, and where did it come from? There are many methods for doing this, and different forms of writing will require different citation methods. You can find a comparison of MLA, APA, Harvard, and MHRA styles here. Especially if this is for an academic essay, where you will need to utilise an in-house style.

Explain – Why Does Your Point Matter? What Does It Mean?

Having made your point and then given the evidence to support your point, you then need to explain the evidence and how it relates to your point.

You should not just give the statistics or include a quote and leave it at that. You will need to explain your reasoning. Here is a short but easy sequence of steps to do so:

– Why have you chosen this source as opposed to others?

– How does this piece of evidence support your point?

– Is there any way that it does not fully support your point, and if so, explain why it is wrong, or why that doesn’t matter, or what you learned from it.

– What does this paragraph mean for the wider argument of your work?

Then you have reached the end of the paragraph. Well, almost. You need to finish the paragraph well. A good declarative sentence recapitulating your starting point and how it relates to the wider argument, and summarising the direction of travel for the coming work.

P.E.E – Point, Evidence, and Explain

So there you have it. Point, evidence, explain. The foundation of a basic but strong paragraph structure to help you present information in a way that is clear and accessible.

Over time, you will develop other ways of using paragraphs, using more complex structures and building your own writing style.

But this structure will always be one that you can turn to as a firm foundation for presenting an argument.

Theology in particular rewards this discipline. When you can state what you believe, show why you believe it, and explain what it means — you are doing something close to what the best Christian thinkers have always done.

Good luck with all your writing!

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