BlogLearnHow to Write a STEEL paragraph and Why You Should Be Using Them in Your Essays

How to Write a STEEL paragraph and Why You Should Be Using Them in Your Essays

STEEL Paragraph - Person Writing in a Notebook

Are you ready to up your essay game by writing paragraphs that perfectly articulate your thoughts about a text?Incorporating STEEL paragraphs in your essays can be the way to do just that!

We will be using ‘Run Lola Run’ as an example in this article, but STEEL paragraphs are transferable to any text (or nearly subject, for that matter — If you study art, history, geography, even biology, this can be useful).

Keep reading to understand what a STEEL paragraph is and why you should use them!

What is a STEEL paragraph?
Step 1: State Your Answer to the Question
Step 2: Identify the Technique
Step 3: Incorporate Examples that Highlight the Purpose of the Technique
Step 4: Explain How Your Example Supports Your Argument
Step 5: Complete the Paragraph with Your Link
Bringing All the Steps Together to Create a STEEL Paragraph

What is a STEEL Paragraph? 

STEEL is a mnemonic (a pattern or work that can help us remember a concept). It stands for statement, technique, example, explanation, link.

You can think of it sort of like an acrostic that will unlock marks in your essays as it forms a really strong structure that your paragraphs can follow! Handy, right? 

STEEL Paragraph Structure

STEEL is used to ensure you are focussing on a singular and clear point within a paragraph, whilst bringing in relevant examples. It will also keep your entire essay on track, with a central theme or thesis flowing throughout.

The good thing about STEEL is that it is a dynamic way of writing. Once you have the basics of a paragraph down with one example and technique, you can begin to incorporate more, or change the ordering of your paragraph slightly, so that your essay can become as rich as possible.

STEEL is a fundamental building block for your work, but it’s not entirely prescriptive. 

That said, let’s get into a breakdown! 

Step 1: State Your Answer to the Question

Statement Sentence

When creating a statement sentence for your paragraph. There’s two big things you need to consider: 

  • What is my overall argument or thesis statement? (e.g. ‘Run Lola Run’ is about how small decisions and chance impact major outcomes)
  • What point will I make in this paragraph to expand my thesis statement? (e.g. This is symbolised through the colour red)

Your statement should be short and straight to the point. You can think of it as a signpost that will inform the reader of what is coming next. 

The sentence is what the marker is going to read first. They need to understand exactly what you are saying, or the validity of your paragraph will be weakened. 

You’ll know you have a good thesis statement if you have:

  • Answered the two questions above 
  • Kept it short, with minimal commas or run ons
  • Written it simply enough that adjectives are not needed 
  • Used similar themes to what is outlined in your introduction 

For added brownie points, you can link this statement to the paragraph above it. This will show that your essay has considered the text/s holistically. 

Example: In ‘Run Lola Run’, Tykwer examines how minute decisions can be amoral, yet lead to great consequences.

Make sure you also understand what the key verb is asking you in the question.

Step 2: Identify the Technique

Technique Sentence

It’s not enough to just make a blanket statement. It needs to be justified. 

To find a good technique to use, consider these three questions:

  • Does my technique work well with the form I am writing about? (e.g. if it’s a poem, film, etc.) You might consider camera angles, mise-en-scène and colour in a film, but for a song you might consider rhythm and rhyme.
  • Is my technique specific? (e.g. are there key points in my text in which this technique can be identified?) 
  • Are there examples of this technique that add to my overall thesis statement? 

This particular section of your paragraph can be short and sweet. You shouldn’t need to include any more than a sentence outlining what your technique is, with a simple definition if you think the marker may not have heard of it.  

Example: This is demonstrated through the symbolism of Lola’s red hair, which connotes ideas such as danger and chaos.

Check out our guides for literary techniques and visual techniques!

Step 3: Incorporate Examples that Highlight the Purpose of the Technique

Example Sentence

One of the most important parts of an English essay is being able to pick key examples from the text to support your argument. If you can do this well, it will also give you a great head start at university

An example is where you bring in evidence from the text that proves your argument is true!

You’ll know you’ve found a good example if:

  • There is a prominent technique that you can unpack OR (and even better) there are several techniques that you can speak on
  • Your example is unique to help you stand out from other students
  • You are reading/viewing your example in context (more on this below)
  • You understand your example (there’s no point picking something really challenging if you’re not able to analyse it well). 
  • The example doesn’t take up too much of the word count (though long quotes can be packed full of techniques, the quotes themselves won’t actually get you marks — only include what really needs to be there)
  • Your example is genre specific (more on this below)

Getting your example right is really important. Before we go any further, let’s unpack two of the big points listed above.

Example: In the roulette scene, a wide shot depicts Lola’s hair in contrast to the monotone casino and men around her. This contrast suggests that Lola may be dangerous, or chaotic. 

Reading or viewing your example in context 

One of the most common mistakes students make is pulling a quote or scene that is packed full of techniques, but ignoring the context.

For example, if you talked about the ‘green light’ in The Great Gatsby without realising it was a sign of longing and The American Dream, you’d miss a huge chunk of analysis. You might also interpret the example wrong entirely but suggesting it has to do with say, a dawn of electricity, or a supernatural power. 

Check out our list of quotes from The Great Gatsby here!

Being able to examine the context of an example and include that in your explanation (which we will talk about next), is what will make your essay really stand out. 

To ensure you are reading your quote in context, flick back through the last chapter or so. It’s also worth having a look online or chatting to a friend. 

Finally, it’s really essential that you actually read or watch your texts in their original form! Don’t just look at an overview or watch the movie instead of reading the book. 

Ensuring your example is genre specific

This is a fairly simple point, but important nonetheless. When choosing an example, make sure it is linked to the genre of the text you’re talking about. 

You’ll notice in this article we don’t use many quotes as we are talking about a film. We talk about camera techniques, colours, mise-en-scène etc. instead.

In the same way, you wouldn’t give an example of colour if you were speaking about a song. Instead, you might focus on an example that exhibits internal rhyme. 

Check out how to use the STEEL structure for short answer questions on visual texts in our guide to analysising visual texts!

Step 4: Explain How Your Example Supports Your Argument

Explanation Sentence

The last substantive step in a STEEL paragraph is ensuring that your example and technique support your thesis statement. 

To do this, you need to drill down on exactly what the technique and example, when paired together, achieve. 

You’ll know you have a good explanation if:

  • You have told the marker explicitly what your technique and example achieve
  • You have added your own ideas to the essay 

To go another step, it’s ideal if you can justify your explanation by linking several examples and techniques in the same paragraph. These all need to work as part of your theme within your original paragraph statement. By intertwining ideas, you give a richer analysis and show you understand the text. 

You’ll know your writing is advancing if it’s clear to read, but looks more like STEEEEEEEEL rather than just STEEL. Once you feel confident, you can also start swapping the EEs around to create complex arguments that build on your central thesis. If you feel you’re ready for this step up, chat to your teacher! 

Example: Such a concept is supported by her stressed behaviour and the matching red of the roulette board that spins out of control as it gets faster and faster. For Lola, the casino visit determines life or death, whilst for those around her it is a simple game.

Step 5: Complete the Paragraph with Your Link

Linking Sentence

Your linking sentence may seem simple, but it’s absolutely crucial to writing a good essay. Without it, the marker will not be able to follow your work and you might not get the marks you deserve. 

Remember that markers are reading hundreds of papers, so make your linking sentence simple and concise!

You’ll know you’ve linked well if: 

  • You’ve summed up the essence of your paragraph in one sentence
  • You have brought the reader clearly back to your thesis statement, while telling them how your paragraph adds to it

Linking statements are something you can’t just memorise (in fact, it’s good if you can write your entire essay to a specific question each time). Make sure that you read the essay question carefully and write accordingly. 

Example: As such, the colour red is used in ‘Run Lola Run’ as a continued motif to prove how small actions can carry through to bigger results. 

Bringing All the Steps Together to Create a STEEL Paragraph

Now that we have looked at exactly what goes in a STEEL paragraph with some examples of sentences, let’s put all those sentences together. 

This is a fairly simple STEEL paragraph, but it will help you to understand the essence of what you need to do. 

In ‘Run Lola Run’, Tykwer examines how minute decisions can be amoral, yet lead to great consequences. This is demonstrated through the symbolism of Lola’s red hair, which connotes ideas such as danger and chaos. In the roulette scene, a wide shot depicts Lola’s hair in contrast to the monotone casino and men around her. This contrast suggests that Lola may be dangerous, or chaotic. Such a concept is supported by her stressed behaviour and the matching red of the roulette board that spins out of control as it gets faster and faster. For Lola, the casino visit determines life or death, whilst for those around her it is a simple game. As such, the colour red is used in ‘Run Lola Run’ as a continued motif to prove how small actions can carry through to bigger results. 

Now you know how to write a STEEL paragraph, it’s time to put your new skill to use and get practising! 

On the hunt for other English resources?

If you’d prefer to use a different paragraph structure, then you should check out how the, TEEL paragraph structure, PEEL paragraph structure or the PETAL paragraph structure works!

You can also read up on our other articles below:

Looking for some extra help with the STEEL paragraph structure?

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Lucinda Garbutt-Young hopes to one day be writing for a big-shot newspaper… or maybe just for a friendly magazine in the arts sector. Right now, she is enjoying studying a Bachelor of Public Communication (Public Relations and Journalism) at UTS while she writes on the side. She also loves making coffees for people in her job as a barista, and loves nothing more than a sun shower.

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