Breaking Down the MEAL Plan: Wrapping Up With Lead Out Sentences
Over the past three weeks, Beth, Sarah, and Jen explained the first three parts of a MEAL plan* paragraph: a main idea, evidence, and analysis. This week we’re going to explore the fourth and
final letter of the MEAL plan acronym: L, for “lead out.”
Of all the components of the MEAL
plan, the lead out is the one I see writers struggle with most often. Maybe
it’s because the term “lead out” doesn’t paint as clear a picture in our minds
as do “main idea,” “evidence,” and “analysis.” Those three words show up often
in course readings and assignments; “lead out,” not so often. So what does it
mean to lead your reader out of the paragraph? In order to write an effective
lead out sentence, it’s important to know what it is, but also what it is not.
A lead out sentence is:
- The final sentence of the paragraph.
- A summary of the main point you want your reader to take away from your paragraph.
- A resting place for your reader to process what he or she has just read before moving on to new content in the next paragraph.
- A transition sentence.
Imagine your paper is a journey
you are taking with your reader. You are the guide, and you have the map; the
reader doesn’t know where you are going, but trusts you to lead expertly and to
thoughtfully consider how long each leg of the journey should be. Your job is to
anticipate the most logical resting points, and group your ideas together in
ways that will allow the reader to rest easily between them. These groupings
are your paragraphs. The space between each paragraph is a resting point, a
place for the reader to briefly process what he or she has just experienced on
the leg of the journey just completed: the previous paragraph.
So, what do you want your reader
to process while he or she rests up for the next leg? A succinct summary of the
main content of the preceding paragraph. If you transition before the resting
point, the reader may not be able to rest at all; instead, he or she has to
jump instantly into processing a new idea.
As an illustration, let’s look once again at our sample paragraph from the
first three blog posts. This time, though, I’ve changed the original lead out
sentence to a sentence that transitions to a new idea.
Many infant and mother deaths can be prevented, especially in the third world. Worldwide, around 11,000,000 children under 5 years old die primarily from preventable diseases, and over 500,000 mothers die from pregnancy- or delivery-related complications annually; almost 99% of these occur in developing countries (Hill et al., 2007). This high number is devastating because while infants in these countries have a high risk of dying, their risk does not stop once they are adults. For women, the lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes is about 100 times higher in Bangladesh than in developed countries (WHO, 2004). The continued failures in implementing straightforward interventions targeting the root causes of mortalities have been responsible for these deaths (McCoy, 2006). The medical community has not been able to come up with simple, cost-effective, and life-saving methods that would help save lives in developing countries. In spite of these high mortality rates, women hold more political seats in Bangladesh than in nearly all other developing nations in the world.
Do you see how that last
sentence, while well-written, factual, and smoothly linked to the preceding
content, feels jarring at the bottom of that paragraph? If, as a writer, I
wanted to move from discussing infant and mother mortality rates in Bangladesh
to discussing Bangladeshi women in politics, I could certainly do so,
especially if my paper was a broader discussion of life for women in
Bangladesh. It would make much more sense, however, to make this transition at
the top of the next paragraph, after
the reader had rested and taken in the content in this paragraph about high
mortality rates. The transitioning sentence would instead become the main idea
(that “M” in the MEAL plan) of the next paragraph.
The original concluding sentence
of the example paragraph is a perfect example of a successful lead out. Let’s
check it against the criteria listed above.
This lack of innovation in the medical field has resulted in the continued unnecessary deaths of thousands of mothers and children.
√ Is it the final sentence of the
paragraph? Yes.
√ Does it summarize of the main
point of the paragraph? Yes. It does not repeat the main idea but instead helps
tie together all three MEAL components that precede it: main idea, evidence,
and analysis.
√ Does it help the reader rest
before moving on to the next paragraph? Yes. It gives readers content from the
previous paragraph to file away in their brain so that they are up to speed on
the paper’s argument and are ready to move on.
√ Does it wrap up the idea(s) in the paragraph rather than transitioning to a new idea?
Yes. It stays with the same ideas, leaving the transition for the beginning of
the next paragraph.
Using the MEAL plan can help you write paragraphs that are organized, developed, focused, and easy for readers to understand. Try the MEAL plan with your next piece of writing, and let us know how it goes in the comments!
*The MEAL plan is adapted from the Duke University Writing Studio.
Using the MEAL plan can help you write paragraphs that are organized, developed, focused, and easy for readers to understand. Try the MEAL plan with your next piece of writing, and let us know how it goes in the comments!
*The MEAL plan is adapted from the Duke University Writing Studio.
Brittany Kallman Arneson is a Writing Instructor and the Coordinator of Writing Center Residency Instruction and Design. Brittany also co-hosts WriteCast, the Writing Center's podcast.
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Thank you for this great article!!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! We're glad that our post was useful for you.
DeleteThank you. I feel like I can write effectively using the M E A L plan.
DeleteYou're welcome! We're glad this post was helpful for you.
DeleteRemarkable insight...
DeleteReally helpful and easy to follow. I'm about to try it in my current paper.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that! We are so happy this post is useful for you. :) Good luck in your writing.
DeleteThis information discussed items that should be known, however if you are not a writer until you are in a class, these are techniques you would not be aware of. Thanks for breaking it down into a way that can be used as a future reference to improve my writing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for you comment, Kathy. We are so happy that this resource will help support the writing instruction you're getting in your courses. Keep working hard!
ReplyDeletePersonally, I see the MEAL plan as a useful formula for constructing paragraphs. This is an eye-opener coupled with the detailed and simple explanation of the MEAL plan. I will remember this learning for life.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you found this post helpful!
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