TEEL/PEARL PARAGRAPH

STRUCTURE
 TEEL

• When writing persuasive text, it is important you

structure your work properly.
• There are a lot of ways you can plan out your
work before you start.
• We are going to use the strategy called T E E L
today.
YOU CAN STEP UP AND USE PEARL
 STEP 1:CHOOSE A TOPIC

•  T stands for topic sentence. This is the KEY or MAIN IDEA of the paragraph. It
should be strong and clear, and be able to be supported by EVIDENCE and
EXAMPLES. The topic sentence:
• shows the focus of each paragraph;
• develops your argument;
• controls the paragraph; and
• gives it unity and order.

• For example:
• Feral cats should be killed off because of the harm they cause our natural habitats. .
 BODY PARAGRAPHS

• You will need to outline your Evidence and Explain and interpret your

evidence. What does it say about the topic? How does the evidence support
my contention? Make your points and Link them back to your topic sentence.
• In a well-written body paragraph, you must ensure that:
• the sentences develop and expand on the topic sentence;
• there is a logical step-by-step progression of ideas; and
• there are no irrelevant or unnecessarily repetitive sentences.
 STEP 2: SHOW EVIDENCE AND EXAMPLES OF THIS
ISSUE

• E is for evidence or example - you need to provide evidence and examples.

• Remember, you are here to prove a point and win over the readers in some way.
• Use facts that are interesting that are going to catch the readers attention.•

• T: Feral cats should be killed off because of the harm they cause our natural habitats.
• Evidence/Example: Firstly, where native species are reintroduced into a habitat, they more
often than not do not survive if there are cats present. However, if cats are not present they
tend to survive. Dr Chris Dickson, Sydney University wildlife researcher, conducted the
study which also shows that cats kill approximately 6 million native animals per year.
 STEP 3: EXPLAIN/EVALUATE THE
EVIDENCE

• E is for evaluation and explanation, you need to sum up your arguments or facts, using appropriate wording
like: therefore, consequently, this means that.
• Remember to also be using persuasive devices and word choices.

• T: Feral cats should be killed off because of the harm they cause our natural habitats.
• Evidence/Example: Firstly, where native species are reintroduced into a habitat, they more often than not do
not survive if there are cats present. However, if cats are not present they tend to survive. Dr Chris Dickson,
Sydney University wildlife researcher, conducted the study which also shows that cats kill approximately 6
million native animals per year.
• Explain/Evaluate: This means that we must do more to reduce the number of feral cats if we want to protect
our vulnerable native species..
 REPEAT

• After the topic sentence, you can keep using more E and E (Evidence and Explanation) to expand your
paragraph and make your argument stronger!
• All you need to do is add TRANSITION WORDS to expand on your ideas or add extra information.
• Examples of Transition words/phrases include:
• Additionally, furthermore, not only that, also, in addition to this

• Extra E/E : Furthermore, the population of feral cats is growing at an alarming rate and is having a devastating
impact on our natural habitats. This causes the biodiversity of our native animals to diminish and they may
become extinct
  STEP 4: LINK UP YOUR WORK

• L stands for links. At the end of your paragraph you need to link up your work.
• Make sure it makes sense when you link it up, and that it either links back to the topic
sentence or relates to the next topic/paragraph
• Link: Many of our animals and habitats will disappear if we don’t get rid of feral cats.
  ALL TOGETHER

• Feral cats should be killed off because of the harm they cause our natural habitats. Firstly,
where native species are reintroduced into a habitat, they more often than not do not survive
if there are cats present. However, if cats are not present they tend to survive. Dr Chris
Dickson, Sydney University wildlife researcher, conducted the study which also shows that
cats kill approximately 6 million native animals per year. This means that we must do more to
reduce the number of feral cats if we want to protect our vulnerable native species.
Furthermore, the population of feral cats is growing at an alarming rate and is having a
devastating impact on our natural habitats. This causes the biodiversity of our native animals
to diminish and they may become extinct. Many of our animals and habitats will disappear if
we don’t get rid of feral cats.
 PERSUASIVE PARAGRAPHS
STRUCTURES AND EXAMPLES

• If you are finding TEEL a bit hard to wrap your head around, try some
of these other reasoning strategies to develop your paragraph.
 OUTCOME/PROBLEM AND CAUSE

• By 2050 there will be more plastic bags in

our oceans than there are fish. These bags - You explain the
will come from our supermarkets, where
we thoughtlessly take them rather than problem or the
use reusable bags. These bags will come
from our beaches and drains where they future problem
have been left by a society of litterers.
And these bags will come from our cities
which are overrun and overburdened by
and what causes
too much consumption and too little
thought about reducing our packaging.
this problem.
 QUESTION AND ANSWER

• Why is it that so much plastic waste pours into

our seas? The answer is staring us in the face
- You ask a
at supermarket checkouts, where we needlessly question and
consume plastic bags by the million each day
without any plan for how we will recycle them. then you answer
These plastic bags are consumed thoughtlessly
and then discarded thoughtlessly – left to go it in the rest of
down the drain, thrown out the car window, the paragraph
tossed into the air or left on the street. People
need to care about what they consume and
care about what they do with it.
 BUILD UP / SPIRAL UP:

•Each day, each of our cities creates thousands - This is a bit like listing.
of tons of plastic waste which we cannot You show how the
recycle and which we do not collect and store.
problem gets bigger
Around the country, we poor millions of tons
of waste literally down our drains and out to and bigger and affects
the sea where they clog our sea beds, sicken more and more people,
our waterways and strangle our water places and things
animals. And around the world, each day
sees billions of tons of waste poured into the
ocean, so that soon there will be more plastic
bags in the seas than there will fish.
 CLAIM AND REBUTTAL

•Some people claim that we can’t suddenly do without

plastic bags because they’re necessary for shops and - You bring up an
shoppers. But the thing about us humans is that we’re argument from the
great at adapting. Take away plastic bags from
supermarkets and we’ll soon remember to bring our own other ‘side’ and then
to carry home shopping. It’ll become an instinct like you ‘rebut’ it or
putting on your seatbelt (everyone complained we
shouldn’t have to do that before it became law), or counter it (argue
putting on your bike helmet (people complained about
that, too) or walking down a pedestrian mall where cars
against).
can longer go. Before you know it, we’ll be saying to
ourselves: Remember when supermarkets gave out
plastic bags, how stupid was that!