Once your introduction (around 150 to 200 words) sets the stage, and your conclusion (also 150 to 200 words) wraps it up, you’re left with roughly 1000–1200 words for the main body of your essay.
This is where the main analysis of the HLE is developed.
With that word count, you should aim for 3 to 4 well-developed body paragraphs.
Fewer than three, and you risk being too shallow.
More than four, and you’ll probably spread yourself too thin or start repeating ideas.
Each body paragraph should dive deep into a different angle of your argument, offering fresh evidence and analysis every time.
Use PEEL to structure each body paragraph
Each paragraph in the HLE should focus on one clear idea, and PEEL provides a useful structure:
Point: Start with the paragraph's main argument. This should directly support the line of inquiry. It functions as the topic sentence.
Evidence: Bring in a quote or reference a specific literary technique. You’re showing what the author is doing.
Explanation: Unpack how the quotation or technique proves the point. Focus on its effect and link the analysis back to the LOI.
Link: Tie the paragraph back to the overall thesis. It can also prepare the transition to the next paragraph.
Example
PEEL Paragraph
LOI: How does Jhumpa Lahiri use naming and renaming in The Namesake to explore the complexities of cultural identity and self-definition?
P (Point): Lahiri uses names and renaming as symbols of Gogol’s internal struggle with identity.
E (Evidence):Gogol reflects on his two names: “He wonders how his parents chose the weirdest namesake, a Russian writer they barely knew” (Lahiri 76).
E (Explanation): The protagonist’s discomfort with his name represents his disconnect from both his cultural heritage and his personal identity. The name “Gogol” becomes a symbol of his struggle to define himself outside of his parents’ expectations. As he later changes his name to “Nikhil,” the transformation reflects his attempt to take control of his own narrative.
L (Link): By illustrating Gogol’s fluctuating relationship with his name, Lahiri highlights the challenges of cultural duality, reinforcing the novel’s central theme of identity.
Example
Example PEEL paragraph
LOI: How does Shakespeare use soliloquy in Macbeth to explore the disintegration of identity through unchecked ambition?
P (Point): Shakespeare uses Macbeth’s soliloquies to show how unchecked ambition erodes personal identity and moral certainty.
E (Evidence): In his famous soliloquy, Macbeth reflects, “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition.”
E (Explanation): The metaphor of “vaulting ambition” suggests a force that leaps beyond limits, uncontrolled and self-destructive. Shakespeare presents ambition not as motivation, but as a destabilising internal force that overrides Macbeth’s sense of self. His hesitation and inner conflict reveal the disintegration of his moral compass, as he struggles between who he is and who he wants to become. This internal battle ultimately strips Macbeth of his identity, turning him from a noble warrior into a tyrant.
L (Link): Through Macbeth’s shifting inner voice, Shakespeare explores how ambition can fracture identity, aligning with the concept of selfhood being shaped, and destroyed, by internal desires and external pressures.
