This document provides the agenda and notes for an English writing class. It discusses house standings, presenting on the concept essay, and introducing essay #2 on the concept of magic. Students will consider categories of magic and complete an in-class or out-of-class survey. They will also analyze example concept essays on cannibalism and love to help structure their own magic concept essay.

1. EWRT 1A
CLASS 7

2. AGENDA
 House Standings
 Presentation: Essay #2: The Concept Essay
 Discussion: Ngo and Toufexis
 Introduce essay #2 the concept essay:
Magic
 In-Class Writing: Consider categories of
magic.
 In-class/out of class survey

3. M/W
7th place
Name dly pts dly pts dly pts dly pts HW pts HW pts
HW
pts HW pts Bit 10 Perf. Att 10
Perf HW
10 two week ttl
6th place
5th place
4th place
0
0
0

4. Name dly pts dly pts dly pts dly pts HW pts HW pts
HW
pts HW pts Bit 10 Perf. Att 10 Perf HW 10 two week ttl
3rd place
2nd place
1st place
0
0
0
M/W

5. T/Th
7th place
Name dly pts dly pts dly pts dly pts HW pts HW pts
HW
pts HW pts Bit 10 Perf. Att 10 Perf HW 10 two week ttl
6th place
5th place

6. Name dly pts dly pts dly pts dly pts HW pts HW pts
HW
pts HW pts Bit 10 Perf. Att 10 Perf HW 10 two week ttl
4th place
3rd place
2nd place
1st place
T/Th

7. THE CONCEPT ESSAY

8. NGO: “CANNIBALISM: IT STILL EXISTS”
Get into your
houses to discuss
this essay and
answer questions.

9.  First, briefly summarize the story
 What is the concept about which Ngo writes?
 Which extended anecdote does Ngo use to help
explain the concept?
 What is his thesis?
 How does he define and classify his concept?
Which are Categories? What are the Types?
 Find examples of each of his classified concepts.
 How does he define his concept?

10. BRIEF SUMMARY AND CONCEPT
Extended Anecdote

11. EXTENDED ANECDOTE
Thesis and classification

12. THESIS AND CLASSIFICATIONS
Definitions

13. DEFINITIONS
Exemplification
Anyone need
salt?

14. EXEMPLIFICATION
Endocannibalism
 Survival: Vietnamese boat refugees
 Ate people as they died on the
boat
 Dietary: Miyanmin (both types
really)
 Eats their own dead and catches
outsiders
 Religious/Ritual: African tribe of the
Bimin-Kuskusmin
 Eat parts of genitalia to enhance
reproductivity
Exocannibalism
 Survival: Japanese troops’ supply
lines cut
 Sacrificed Arapesh people to feed
troops
 Dietary: Leopard people; Alligator
people
 Hunt victims
 Religious/Ritual: Bangalas and South
American Tribes
 To honor those held in high-esteem,
they sacrifice slaves and captives

15. NGO HAS WRITTEN A CONCEPT
ESSAY ABOUT CANNIBALISM
 Use this essay as a model for you own!

16. TOUFEXIS “ LOVE: THE
RIGHT CHEMISTRY
Get back
into your
houses to
discuss this
essay and
answer
questions.

17. TAKE 10 MINUTES TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
First, summarize the story.
How does Toufexis “Hook the Reader”?
How does Toufexis focus her plan?
How does she create a logical plan?

18. SUMMARY
Hooking the reader

19. HOOKING THE READER
What does Toufexis do to catch Readers’
attention?
 The title—”Love: The Right Chemistry”
 The epigraph quoting Greta Garbo’s line from the
film Ninotchka.
 The conversational tone of the essay
 Using “O.K.” and “Let’s” rather than the more
formal “let us.”
Focusing the Plan

20. FOCUSING THE PLAN
What She Does
 She focuses on certain scientific
aspects of romantic love, specifically
the evolutionary biology and
neurochemistry of love between adult
human heterosexual mates.
 By keeping to her focus, she is able to
present information that is unfamiliar,
and therefore interesting, to her
readers.
What She Does Not Do
 Because she wants to emphasize love
as a tool to promote reproduction,
she does NOT include same-sex love,
or nonsexual love between friends
and family members
 She does NOT discuss views on love
by various religions or cultures.
A logical plan

21. A LOGICAL PLAN
 Introduction
of topic
 Thesis
 Forecast
 Transitions
She provides clues for the reader:

22.  Introduction of Concept: Paragraph 1: She announces that she is writing about “romantic
love,” a concept that she will address with “scientific precision.”
 Thesis: Paragraph 2: What seems on the surface to be irrational, intoxicated behavior is in
fact part of nature’s master strategy—a vital force that has helped humans survive, thrive,
and multiply through thousands of years”
 Forecast: In paragraph two: “Love rests firmly on the foundations of evolution, biology,
and chemistry.”
 Toufexis also uses transitions to let the readers know when she is leaving one topic and
going to another: here is the transition from biology to neurochemistry:

23. THE TECHNICAL DETAILSTHE CONCEPT ESSAY
 Topic: Write an essay about
the concept of Magic. Choose
a “limiter,” that is, a way to
focus your concept into a
more specific topic that
interests you and that you
want to investigate further.
When you have a good
understanding of the focused
concept you have chosen,
explain it to your readers,
considering carefully what
they might already know
about it and how your essay
might add to what they know.
Format your essay in MLA style. Submit it through
Turnitin.
Your finished text should be between four and six pages,
excluding the Works Cited page. This means you should
have at least four complete pages (one line on page five
to be safe!).
The Works Cited page for this research project must
contain at least three entries. One of these might be
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The second will
be from a dictionary or other source that helps you
define both your concept and your limiter. The other can
be from a book, an article from a scholarly journal, a
credible website, or an article from a popular magazine,
such as Time, National Geographic, or the LA Times.

24. Limiters to Consider
Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Divination,
Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, History of Magic,
Herbology, Spellcasting, Animagi.

25. IN-CLASS WRITING:
Consider “limiters” for your concept essay on Magic
 Make a list of four different possibilities: For example, Potions, Spellcasting,
Animagi, and the History of Magic.
1. Which of the four seem more interesting? Write paragraphs for two of them,
sketching out what you already know about that particular kind of magic.
2. Think of at least one example for each from HP

26. This is a list of 20 supernatural beings. Ignore, for the moment, whether you
personally believe any of these exist. Instead, consider whether they seem as if
they could exist. In other words, how plausible is each of these creatures. Then
rank them 1-20 based on plausibility.
(1=most plausible [most likely could exist];
20 = least plausible [least likely could exist])
Bring the list of your rankings with you to our next class.
Notes:
--the Leviathan is a sea
monster mentioned in the
Hebrew Bible.
--Harpies are half-woman,
half-bird.

27. HOMEWORK
 Read: HG through chapter 19
 Read: “Fantastic Beasts and How to Rank Them”
(link on Canvas).
 Post #8 Finish your in-class writing (slide 21), and
find a definition for your concept. It can be from a
dictionary or an encyclopedia.
 Post #9: Name the two concepts about which you
wrote paragraphs. Find a few lines from Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that illustrate
each concept. Copy the quotation into your post,
and then explain how the example demonstrates,
defines, or embodies the concept. (Include page
numbers)
 Bring: Post #9 and SMG to Class