Strong topic sentences

To make a good point in a PEEL paragraph you need to use a cause and effect sentence structure that includes a signal word or phrase.

A cause is why something happens. An effect is what happened.
A cause is an action, and the effect is the resulting reaction.
A cause is a catalyst, a motive, or an action that brings about a reaction—or reactions. A cause instigates an effect.

Cause and effect sentences can present the cause first and follow it with the effect, or present the effect first and follow it with the cause.

Cause then effect signal words

lead to
result in
give rise to
is the result of
is the consequence of
creates

Effect then cause signal words

results from
is caused by
can be produced by
can emerge from
is the cause of
is the reason for
is the source of
... because of ...
... due to ...

Paragraph without a strong topic sentence.

Within the very first interactions of King Lear, it is revealed to the audience that Gloucester has two sons, one of which is illegitimate. The line, ‘I thought the king had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall’, is a subtle foreshadowing of the play’s central idea: the dynamics shared between parent and child. However, Shakespeare throws the audience askew with the discovery that Gloucester does not favour his legitimate son, evident through the line, ‘some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account’. As a result, the conflict between Gloucester and Edgar reinforces the recurring idea of love as a measurement; a test that needs to be passed.

Paragraph with a strong topic sentence

Tragedy can emerge from complex expectations that parents have for their children. In King Lear, we see complex parental relationships within the very first interactions when it is revealed to the audience that Gloucester has two sons, one of which is illegitimate. The line, ‘I thought the king had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall’, is a subtle foreshadowing of the play’s central idea: the dynamics shared between parent and child. However, Shakespeare throws the audience askew with the discovery that Gloucester does not favour his legitimate son, evident through the line, ‘some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account’. As a result, the conflict between Gloucester and Edgar reinforces the recurring idea of love as a measurement; a test that needs to be passed.

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