Here's how to develop your paragraphs using MEAL

1. Body
Paragraphs
Using “MEAL” to create
strong support in our
paragraphs

2. Why paragraphs?
 Effective paragraphing is a central skill in
academic writing.
 Therefore, grasping the general form of a
paragraph is very important.
 We’ve established a thesis and some topic
sentences, but we have to start finding the
support for each of these topic sentences.
 Your topic sentence is only the beginning…

3. It’s MEAL time!
 One way to envision a body paragraph is
as a “complete MEAL,” with the
components being the paragraph’s :
 Main idea,
 Evidence,
 Analysis, and
 Link back to the larger claim.

4. M: Main Idea
 The main idea is the one point to be
discussed in that paragraph and it is related
to the thesis.
 As you know, the main idea appears in the topic
sentence of a paragraph.
 The topic sentence should be your first
sentence.
 The topic sentence should function like the
“umbrella” of that one paragraph. Therefore,
every sentence that follows must support this
sentence.

5. E: Evidence
 Evidence is part of the paragraph’s main course, the
meat.
 It allows you to prove that your paragraph’s main idea is
reasonable/believable.
 Evidence can be information from a variety of sources,
including:
 Quotations from a secondary source,
 Paraphrased material from a secondary source,
 Research (statistics and facts)
 An anecdote from personal experience
 An observation.

6. A: Analysis
 However, evidence can’t be plopped down in a paragraph and
left to “speak for itself.”
 Your paragraph must provide analysis, which is information that
will analyze the evidence;
 in other words, the analysis explains exactly how the evidence
you’ve cited proves your main point.
 Often a paragraph can have more than one “E” and “A”: you
might provide some evidence, analyze it, and then provide more
evidence and analysis.
 Think about it like this: a paragraph with no evidence and
analysis is like a hamburger with no patty or cheese. No one
likes a bread hamburger or a paragraph with no evidence and/or
analysis.

7. L: Link Back to the Larger Claim
 A paragraph’s link back to the larger claim
is in your last sentences of the paragraph.
 The link accomplishes two tasks:
 It wraps up what the paragraph is about, linking
back to the topic sentence/main idea (M)
 It shows how the paragraph is related to the thesis
statement/gets back to the writer’s original stance
Don’t be confused by its term: it does not
link to the next paragraph!

8. REVIEW: MEAL
 M: The main idea is the paragraph’s topic
sentence.
 E: The Evidence supports the main idea.
 A: Analysis shows the significance of that
support.
 L: The link back to the larger claim ties back
to the main idea and thesis.

9. MEAL Applied to Our Essays
M: The one point you are going to make with
the paragraph.
E: A quote from what you’ve read
(something from our textbook) or a
personal experience.
A: Explain how that quote or personal
experience supports the main point.
L: Restate your main point and make sure it
is related to the thesis.

10. A ‘double double”
M: The one point you are going to make with the
paragraph.
E: A quote from what you’ve read (something from
our textbook) or a personal experience.
A: Explain how that quote or personal experience
supports the main point.
E: A quote from what you’ve read (something from
our textbook) or a personal experience.
A: Explain how that quote or personal experience
supports the main point.
L: Restate your main point and make sure it is
related to the thesis.

11. MEAL Example #1
 In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Myrtle Wilson demonstrates how
members of the lower class cannot achieve the American Dream. Myrtle, a working class citizen,
associates herself with the wealthy in order to appear rich. During her apartment party, Myrtle
changes into a party dress and, “with the influence of the dress her personality had also
undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was
converted to impressive hauteur…until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot
through the smoky air” (Fitzgerald 39-40). In other words, Myrtle strives to be someone she is not
by changing into an outfit she thinks implies she is wealthy. She tries to be rich by dressing the
part, but the poor side of Myrtle still lurks within her, as displayed through the term, “smoky
air.” “Smoky air” relates to the Valley of Ashes, yet at this point in the novel, Myrtle is in New
York. By revealing that the “smoky air” of the Valley of Ashes follows Myrtle to New York, a
wealthier location, Fitzgerald demonstrates how simply associating with the wealthy is not enough
for Myrtle to actually obtain the American Dream. Her attempt to transcend class structures
ultimately leads to her death, which reveals that the working class cannot grasp the American
Dream.
Red: Main Idea, Green: Evidence, Blue: Analysis, Purple: Link

12. MEAL Example #2
 Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings. On one level, spirituals
referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul, but on another level, the songs
spoke about slave resistance. For example, according to Frederick
Douglass, the song "O Canaan, Sweet Canaan" spoke of slaves' longing for
heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful
listeners heard this second meaning in the following lyrics: "I don't expect to
stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don't expect to
stay." When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their
departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could
have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus,
but to the North. Slaves even used songs like "Steal Away to Jesus (at
midnight)" to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret,
forbidden meetings. What whites heard as merely spiritual songs, slaves
discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed
slaves to sing what they could not say.
 Red: Main Idea, Green: Evidence, Blue: Analysis, Purple: Link

13. Works consulted
 https://twp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/meal_pla
n.pdf
 http://www.capella.edu/interactivemedia/onlin
eWritingCenter/downloads/handoutMEALPla
nParagraphAnalysis.pdf