The paragraph argues that contrary to government claims, the US seems to be heading towards reinstating the military draft. It points to two pieces of information to support this. First, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said ongoing operations in Iraq limit the ability to handle other conflicts. Second, the US failed to meet recruitment quotas for the third month in a row. Taken together, these facts suggest a draft will eventually be needed to meet personnel needs as current methods like bending enlistment rules are not sustainable long-term.

1. PIE Paragraph 2 Chainz

2. What is the point of this paragraph?
How is the point supported?
In this video, yes, I do believe 2 Chainz is
different, because of what he wore. I think that he
is very brave to have worn the cheetah print jumper
that looks like it belongs to one of the girls in the
video. You don’t really see other rappers doing that.
Well, I guess Lil Wayne with his green Ugg boots,
but those were just shoes. 2 Chainz wore the whole
fit. He has major BALLS for that one. And him
“pulling up in a boat.” Wow. Yeah I guess that’s
different. Don’t see other rappers doing that. Only
in the water. 2 Chainz was rolling around in the
street in the boat.

3. In this video, yes, I do believe 2 Chainz is
different, because of what he wore. I think that he is
very brave to have worn the cheetah print jumper that
looks like it belongs to one of the girls in the video. You
don’t really see other rappers doing that. Well, I guess Lil
Wayne with his green Ugg boots, but those were just
shoes. 2 Chainz wore the whole fit. He has major BALLS
for that one. And him “pulling up in a boat.” Wow. Yeah I
guess that’s different. Don’t see other rappers doing that.
Only in the water. 2 Chainz was rolling around in the
street in the boat.

4. PIE= Point, Information, Explanation
• Point Tell Me!
• Information Show Me!
• Explanation So What?

5. POINT
Tell Me! •
This is the topic Sentence
Usually the first sentence.

6. INFORMATION
Show Me! (This is where you “Show, Don’t Tell”)
-This is your proof/evidence. It can include:
-Examples
-Statistics, Data, Facts
-Quotes
-Information from the readings or class discussions
-Personal Experience
What else can you use in a paragraph to support your
point/main idea?

7. EXPLANATION
• This is the part where the writer answers the
question: “So What?”
– How does the writer explain the connection between
the information and the point or the thesis
statement?
– What does the writer learn from the information?
– How does the writer react to the information?
– What does the writer think about the information?
•

8. What is the point of this paragraph?
How is the point supported?
In this video, yes, I do believe 2 Chainz is different,
because of what he wore. I think that he is very
brave to have worn the cheetah print jumper that
looks like it belongs to one of the girls in the video.
You don’t really see other rappers doing that. Well, I
guess Lil Wayne with his green Ugg boots, but those
were just shoes. 2 Chainz wore the whole fit. He has
major BALLS for that one. And him “pulling up in a
boat.” Wow. Yeah I guess that’s different. Don’t see
other rappers doing that. Only in the water. 2
Chainz was rolling around in the street in the boat.

9. Of course, PIE paragraphs don‘t always need to
look exactly like this; while you want to start a
paragraph with your main Point, you might
alternate between Information and Explanation,
so that your paragraph could look like this:
P  I  E  I  E

10. What is the point of this paragraph?
How is the point supported?
In this video, yes, I do believe 2 Chainz is
different, because of what he wore. I think that he
is very brave to have worn the cheetah print jumper
that looks like it belongs to one of the girls in the
video. You don’t really see other rappers doing that.
Well, I guess Lil Wayne with his green Ugg boots,
but those were just shoes. 2 Chainz wore the whole
fit. He has major BALLS for that one. And him
“pulling up in a boat.” Wow. Yeah I guess that’s
different. Don’t see other rappers doing that. Only
in the water. 2 Chainz was rolling around in the
street in the boat.

11. In this video, yes, I do believe 2 Chainz is
different, because of what he wore. I think that he is
very brave to have worn the cheetah print jumper that
looks like it belongs to one of the girls in the video. You
don’t really see other rappers doing that. Well, I guess Lil
Wayne with his green Ugg boots, but those were just
shoes. 2 Chainz wore the whole fit. He has major BALLS
for that one. And him “pulling up in a boat.” Wow. Yeah I
guess that’s different. Don’t see other rappers doing that.
Only in the water. 2 Chainz was rolling around in the
street in the boat.

12. What about these wavy-underlined parts? What are they
doing in the paragraph?
In this video, yes, I do believe 2 Chainz is
different, because of what he wore. I think that he is
very brave to have worn the cheetah print jumper that
looks like it belongs to one of the girls in the video. You
don’t really see other rappers doing that. Well, I guess Lil
Wayne with his green Ugg boots, but those were just
shoes. 2 Chainz wore the whole fit. He has major BALLS
for that one. And him “pulling up in a boat.” Wow. Yeah I
guess that’s different. Don’t see other rappers doing that.
Only in the water. 2 Chainz was rolling around in the
street in the boat.

13. Where is the point, information, and
explanation?
TV misleads us into believing that what is false is true. As
a 5th grade teacher and a driver’s education instructor, I
encounter students all the time who believe that if they see
it on TV, it must be so. I shared one of my pet peeves about
TV’s artificiality in a recent workshop by recalling how cars
explode every time they have an accident on TV, but do not
do so in reality. One of the teens attending told us how she
believed this was truth, so after the car her parent was
driving flipped onto its roof, she ran down the road leaving
her mother trapped. Of course the car didn’t explode, and
her mother was able to get help and recovered, but the
extra time that it took to get help on the scene and for her
to be reassured made the situation much more traumatic
for her.

14. This is consistent with the experiences of
emergency personnel who report that their
most difficult task when arriving at an accident
scene is to deal with victims trapped in the car
because the victims panic in fear of an
explosion. What TV has done is to cause people
to react with fear in accident situations when
instead they need to use their heads.

15. Where is the point, information, and
explanation?
Contrary to what government officials are saying,
the United States government seems to be heading
for a reinstatement of a military draft. Thom Shanker,
writing in the May 3, 2005 New York Times, reports
that Gen. Richard B. Myers, the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that the ongoing military
effort in Iraq “limits ability to fight other conflicts.”
This report, combined with the May 2 announcement
on NPR News that the United States has failed to
meet its recruitment quota for the third month in a
row, suggests that eventually a draft will be necessary.

16. Another article in the May 3 2005 New York Times reveals
that army recruiters are “bending rules” and accepting
enlistees with medical conditions and police records, but
this method of meeting personnel needs is not promising.
Because reports from newspapers, television, and radio
all emphasize that our military lacks the personnel to
continue our operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and still
be able to provide soldiers in new areas of military action,
a draft must soon be proposed. So far the Pentagon
insists that a draft is not on the way, but how else can the
necessary bodies be provided for the bags?