The MEAL plan is a strategy you can use to structure your writing at the paragraph level. MEAL stands for:

• Main idea: What it my main idea?
• Evidence: What is my supporting evidence?
• Analysis: How am I interpreting my evidence or analysis?
• Link: How do separate pieces of my writing fit together?

You can use the MEAL plan to deconstruct the paragraphs in articles and other sources you read:

• What is the main idea of the paragraph?
• What are the examples or evidence the author used to support their claims?
• What is the author’s analysis of those examples?
• Where is the link to the next paragraph or the concluding sentence?