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- Writing an analytical paragraph: PEE and PETAL
Writing an analytical paragraph: PEE and PETAL
At Key Stage 3 you may have used PEE (Point, Evidence, Explain). At GCSE the same idea grows into fuller analysis. PETAL is one helpful way to remember the extra steps.
From PEE to PETAL
Embed your quotations
Keep quotations short and build them into your own sentence.
Weak: The writer says 'the sun sat on the rooftops like a great white weight'. This shows it is hot.
Strong: The sun sits 'like a great white weight', suggesting the heat is pressing down on the village.
Useful verbs: suggests, implies, emphasises, conveys, creates a sense of.
Weak: The writer says 'the sun sat on the rooftops like a great white weight'. This shows it is hot.
Strong: The sun sits 'like a great white weight', suggesting the heat is pressing down on the village.
Useful verbs: suggests, implies, emphasises, conveys, creates a sense of.
A model paragraph
The writer presents the heat as overwhelming (P). The sun sits on the rooftops 'like a great white weight' (E). This simile (T) makes the heat feel physical and heavy, as if the whole village is being crushed beneath it; the word 'weight' suggests something the narrator has to carry (A). This sense of exhaustion is developed when even the dogs are 'too exhausted to bark' (L).
Turn this weak point into a strong one: 'The writer says the dogs were too exhausted to bark. This shows it was hot.'
- Embed a shorter quotation: 'too exhausted to bark'.
- Zoom in: 'exhausted' is stronger than 'tired'.
- Explain the effect: if even dogs cannot bark, the heat must be extreme.
Answer: Even the dogs are 'too exhausted to bark': the word 'exhausted' suggests the heat has drained all energy from the village, emphasising how extreme it is.
A strong analytical paragraph makes a clear point, uses a short embedded quotation, names a method where helpful, zooms in on precise words to explain their effect, and links back to the question.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
Check you have got it
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