TEEL Examples

Name:

When writing a persuasive essay, using the TEEL format helps structure
each paragraph in your body to have a clear link to your topic and ensure
that you explain the significance of your evidence.
TEEL is an acronym for the following:
T Topic Sentence
E Evidence
E Explanation
L Linking Sentence
The following questions help brainstorm what you should be addressing
when using the TEEL format.
Topic Sentence
What is the point of the paragraph? What is the topic or idea? What
are you going to discuss?
Evidence
What evidence do you have to support your idea? How do we know
it is from a credible source? Do you have a significant quote, dates
or statistics?
Explanation
What does the evidence mean? Why we should we care? Explain
how it connects to your topic or idea.
Linking Sentence
Restate the point of the paragraph. What was the topic or idea? How
does it connect to your argument or opinion?
In preparation for your persuasive essay, practice analysing the following
paragraphs and try to identify the use of the TEEL format. You will be
expected to proof-read your own persuasive essays to ensure that you
have used the TEEL format.
While reading the example paragraphs, highlight or underline:
T Topic Sentences,
E Evidence,
E Explanations and

 L Linking Sentences

Example 1:
It has been claimed that chocolate is a healthy food, but in fact it
contains a lot of sugar, which can be unhealthy. For example, sugar
can cause tooth decay, which can lead to dental problems later in
life. Too much sugar can also lead to obesity, which is a serious
health risk. In addition to this, sugar contains a high amount of
fructose, which is bad for the liver. As a result, if sugar leads to
health risks such as tooth decay, obesity and liver damage then it is
clear that it is unhealthy for the human body. Therefore, despite the
claim that chocolate is a healthy food, the sugar contained inside is
unhealthy and should either be avoided or eaten minimally.
Example 2:
Initially, many university students find that getting the right balance
between social activities and academic work can be a challenge, but
being organised will help students be more successful. As Burdess
(2007, p.8) believes, getting organised is something that students
need to work at, and that it will not just happen naturally for them.
Therefore, one of the important time management skills that
students can use to help meet deadlines is to use a semester
planner and a weekly timetable to mark in due dates and plan a
study program. Another management skill is goal setting, allowing
students to create short-term and long-term goals and to prioritise
between them. These management skills can help students lower
their stress levels, help maintain motivation and, therefore, improve
their chances of success. Clearly, using organisational skills to get a
work and life balance is one of the keys to ensuring success as a
tertiary student.
Example 3:
A person who lacks empathy can destroy the lives of others. Many
people create an isolated world for themselves and, in the process,
never learn that other people have feelings. The narrator in Edgar
Allen Poes The Tell-Tale Heart is an example of what can happen
when a person lacks the ability to empathise with others. In Poes
story, the narrator states, It was not the old man who vexed me but
his Evil Eye (189). The narrator only sees the old mans eye and
makes no effort to consider his victims thoughts, feelings or his life.

Just prior to the murder, the narrator shines his lantern on his
victims eye and says he could see nothing else of the old mans
face or person (191). Even after eight days of plotting the murder,
the narrator never gave himself the opportunity to empathise with
the old man. A simple thought about the pain he could inflicted, both
emotional and physical, and the outcome of the tragic story the
death of an innocent human being could have been avoided.
Example 4:
Learning to write college English papers is not necessary to a wellrounded education. As one professor stated, We dont have to
assign papers, and we should stop. We need to admit that the
required-course college essay is a failure. This failure is based on
the fact that students do not enjoy writing them and can even resort
to buying, borrowing or stealing English papers, if necessary.
Therefore, it is clear that college English papers are not necessary to
a well-rounded education and alternatives to summative tasks
should be encouraged, such as presentations, reports or debates.
Example 5:
Elies survival is linked inextricably to his farther. Ellie relies on him
for emotional security the reassurance that if another family
member is alive then he too must endure the hardships of the
environment in which he has been thrust. Indeed, as the narrative
progresses, their survival transitions from a question of him or me
to him and me. Elies fathers reliance on him for food and support
and Elies reliance on his father for emotional security demonstrates
that Elie and his father would live or die together. Clearly, the
ability for a young boy and his father to survive the Nazi death
camps for so long reveals the extent to which we rely on the other
for physical and emotional survival. As a result, the only way that
Elie can survive is if his father survives as well, making them
inextricably connected.
Example 6:
Jonas made the right decision to leave the community because
everyone there would have benefited from his action. The people of
the community were living a sad, limited existence. They had no
access to many of the most beautiful things about life, like love and
colour. Their very humanity had been gradually removed from them

and leaving the people almost like robots, unable to make decisions
for themselves because they thought they had to protect people
from wrong choices (p. 128). When Jonas left, he released all his
colourful memories for the community to gradually learn to
understand and enjoy. This would eventually benefit the people as
they would now have access to the memories and the interesting
details they contained. They were now more informed and educated
and could make choices about the way they lived their lives. Jonas
was clearly justified in leaving, as it would mean a better life for all.