How do I structure an essay paragraph?

It's really important that every paragraph in an essay adds to and is informed by the overall argument of your essay. One paragraph should contain one overarching point: it should begin by describing the point, then give evidence for this point, explain this evidence, and ultimately tie the point back into the essay. This is often described as the 'PEEL' structure: 'Point, Evidence, Explain, Link.'

An example essay question might be, 'How does Shakespeare present the character of Lady Macbeth in Macbeth?'. One point of your essay might be that the language in Macbeth portrays Lady Macbeth as 'unnatural'. Your paragraph would begin: 'Throughout Macbeth, the language Shakespeare uses in relation to Lady Macbeth is full of unnatural and supernatural imagery.' This is the 'Point' in PEEL. Then you would choose enough evidence to back this up - depending on how long your quotations are and how specific your point is, this could be between one and five quotations (or even more if they're very short!). You would introduce the evidence saying: 'An example of this occurs in Act 1, Scene 5, when Lady Macbeth herself commands the 'spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts' to 'unsex' her, 'make thick [her] blood,' and 'Stop up the access and passage to remorse, / That no compunctious visitings of nature / Shake my fell purpose.' Next follows an explanation of your evidence - of why it is important to the argument. You might say: 'In Lady Macbeth's demand to the 'spirits', Shakespeare aligns her to unnatural imagery, removing her sex and altering her blood, and stopping the 'visitings of nature. She becomes less of a natural woman and more like the three 'weird sisters' that give Macbeth his fatal prophecy.' Finally, you link it to your argument - you might be saying that overall, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as evil, so you could finish the paragraph by reinforcing that being 'unnatural' is equal to being 'evil', according to Shakespeare.