Planning a Well-Structured Short Answer

The key to a good short answer is structure. The key to good structure is solid planning.

Let me introduce you to the PEEL planning method. Get this down, & writing a
well-structured answer will be a breeze…
FIRST you want to come up with 3 or 4 main points for your short answer.
Then, each paragraph should be planned in the following way…

Point What is your main point in this paragraph? This is almost like a topic line, and the rest
of the paragraph will back up and explain/prove this point.
This should
be the
Explain Then expand on your point. Give a bit more detail and explanation here.
structure

Evidence
for each Then you need to back up your point with evidence: statistics, facts, opinions. Or, in
paragraph.
the case of a history answer, this is where you quote from text.
At the end of your paragraph, you should link back to the overall topic. This can just
Link be in one sentence but is crucial as it helps the flow of your answer and makes sure you
are staying close to the overall topic at hand.
THEN you’ll have awesome short answers for your upcoming assignments!

Example:

One of the main themes in “The Trouble with Liberty” is manipulation

of people for your own benefit. We see this theme of manipulation play
out over the plot of the novel, where the antagonist of the novel, Liberty
Hayes, influences the behaviour of many other characters with her lies.
At one point in the novel, Hayes, who has recently moved to a new town,
accuses another character of sexual assault, causing huge negative
impacts on him, his family, and the community they live and go to school
in. Later, we find out that she lied about this situation to frame the person
that she accused, to get him fired because he wasn’t interested in
pursuing a relationship with her. In the novel, Hayes makes advances on
an older person but he rejects her and after she is asked to leave this
happens: “For a few seconds Liberty just stared daggers at him. Then,
without even picking up her things, she ran to the door. But as she
grabbed the knob, she looked back and growled, You’ll be sorry.”
(Butcher, 66). She also pretends to be friends with people when she
needs their help or support, and then dumps them when she has found
other people that are more useful to her. Close to the end of the novel we
find that Hayes has manipulated people in a similar way to the man that
she accused, and it is essentially a pattern. In conclusion, one of the key
themes of this novel is the idea of manipulation.