PIE: Point-Illustration-Explanation Paragraph

Point: The idea that is being developed; may be the topic sentence

Illustration: An example that illustrates the point.

• • The Illustration supports (illustrates) the Point (the main idea being supported).

  • The illustration will always be specific (a particular fact) and usually concrete (a physical detail, a quote, names, numbers).

Explanation: How the illustration supports the point.

• • The Explanation shows (explains) two things:

    • How or why the Illustration, your evidence, supports the Point

    • Explains the relationship between the point and the illustration

  • Rule of thumb: The explanation should be twice as long as the illustration

Guest Lecture

Hartwig, Jennifer. “P.I.E. Recipe for Paragraphs.” 2 Aug. 2013. YouTube.com. Web. 2 Feb. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4G_F0RZ23M

See attached:

Worksheet using the format of the image in Hartwig's lecture

Using PIE for literary analysis