P.I.E. FormatMs. Comfort, ‘14-’15

Why use P.I.E.?• Organization – you want your readers to be able to find your

main points and separate your argument from your evidence.

• Clarity – if you don’t structure your paragraphs, you might end up losing your point and writing about irrelevant things.

• Standardization – This is the same paragraph structure that your college professors will expect from you someday!

Elements of P.I.E.• Each body paragraph in an academic paper should include the

following:

• a POINT• some INFORMATION• an EXPLANATION

• Plan on having about three pieces of information followed by explanation, all of which relates to and supports your main point. Your finished paragraph should look similar to this: P-IE-IE-IE.

Point• Think of the point as your topic sentence or main idea of this

paragraph. An example of a point would be the following:

• Gnomes steal socks by sneaking them out of the dryer when no one is looking.

• This establishes your argument for the entire paragraph. You will spend the rest of the paragraph proving this point.

Information• The information in the paragraph is going to come from

outside sources. These are the bits of information you are using to prove your point. Consider the following examples.

• The average house gnome is short, 9 inches to one foot tall.

• People who use clotheslines instead of electric dryers lose less socks.

Explanation• The explanation is the part of your paragraph in which you tie

the information to the point. You can’t just leave your reader hanging, and have to spell it out for them instead. Think of it this way. You are now the expert. Don’t assume everyone knows or understands the things you’ve been learning.

P.I.E. Outline• Point _______________________________________

• Information (1) ________________________________• Explanation (1) _________________________________

• Information (2) _____________________________________• Explanation (2) _____________________________________

• Information (3) _____________________________________• Explanation (3) _____________________________________

P.I.E. Outline• Point ___Gnomes steal socks out of the dryer.

• Information (1) _____Gnomes are about a foot tall________• Explanation (1) _They can sneak in and climb into the dryer

• Information (2) __Socks don’t go missing from the line_• Explanation (2) _Gnomes can’t reach the clothesline___

Sample Paragraph• Gnomes steal socks by sneaking them out of the dryer when no one is

looking. This practice can be understood by looking at the size of the sneaky little criminals. According a report by Michael Fernandez, a well-known gnome hunter, the average common house gnome “is quite short, the average gnome ranging between 9 inches and 1 foot in height” (Fernandez 382). This makes gnomes the perfect height to climb into clothes dryers. They would easily fit inside a standard washer, and their small size allows them to sneak by undetected. Furthermore, in a study published by the National Sock Institute, Dr. Presko states, “Households that hang clothes to dry on a clothesline tend to have very low rates of missing socks” (Presko 17). Clotheslines tend to hang much higher than a foot from the ground. Gnomes cannot reach clothes hanging on a line. This explains why sock theft rates are so low in households which use clotheslines. But to truly understand the problem of gnome-related sock theft, the motives driving the gnomes must be examined.