This document provides guidance for students on writing a directed summary of the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for an upcoming essay assignment. It instructs students to include the title and author of the film in their first sentence. The second part explains how to hook the reader with interesting details relevant to their later review. The third part advises including only the most important plot points that will be discussed in the review, rather than a full summary. It reminds students to consider what parts of the story are relevant to the points they want to make. Homework is available on the Canvas course page.

1. EWRT 211: DAY 2

2. A BRIEF SURVEY
• I want to get to know you better.
• Put your name on the scantron.
DO NOT put your name on the
question sheet.
• Bubble in the scantron for each answer.
• Some of the questions have an “F”
answer. If you want to choose F, then
just make a new column and bubble it
in.
• Like this----------------------------------


3. SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT OUR 211
• I’m not the only instructor teaching this Harry Potter 211
this quarter: Kim Palmore and Karen Chow are each
teaching a very similar 211.
• In Winter Quarter, Kim and I will each be teaching an
EWRT 1A that continues the Harry Potter curriculum. We
will read the next book (or two?).
• If you pass my 211 this quarter, you have a reserved
space in either mine or Kim’s EWRT 1A in Winter—if you
want to continue with the Harry Potter series!

4. SYLLABUS
https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/malonebrian/pdf/ewrt211f17.pdf

5. DIRECTED SUMMARY
• For your first essay—which you will
write in class next Wednesday—you
are being asked to write a review of
the HP movie we are watching.
• as part of that review, you will make
a judgment about how good you
think the movie is
• and you will justify that judgment
(what does that mean?)
• But, before you can tell your reader
what you think about the movie, you
have to tell your reader some things
about the movie itself.
• What might you need to tell your
reader before you tell them how you
feel about a movie?
• the name of the movie!
• who’s in it? Who wrote it?
• what’s it about?

6. WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A DIRECTED SUMMARY
PART 1
• Title of the movie and the (author).
• What might we include for author?
Director and writer of original book!
• You will need to say this early—
perhaps in your first sentence.
• The title of the movie must go in
ITALICS!
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Directed by Chris Columbus.
Original book by J. K. Rowling.

7. WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A DIRECTED SUMMARY
PART 2
• Hook the reader.
• In the first sentences, write what is particularly interesting about the movie. This
information should also be relevant to what you’ll be talking about later in your
essay.
• BAD: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is about a kid who goes to a magic school.
Why is this bad?
• GOOD: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a film about dreams coming true. The
main character, Harry Potter, discovers that there is a secret, hidden world that exists
alongside our boring, sad, everyday world. And, even better, Harry discovers that there
is a place for him in that secret world because of his hidden magical powers.
Why is this good?

8. WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A DIRECTED SUMMARY
PART 3
• Assume your reader is somewhat familiar with the work
you are writing about. Do not include too much plot
summary.
• HOWEVER, you should include several sentences that
summarize the plot and that mention parts of the movie
that will be important later in your review.
• Think about:
1. What are the most important parts of the movie?
• Ex: Do you need to list the names of all of Harry’s teachers?
• Ex: Do you need to describe the characteristics of each of
the Hogwarts’ houses?
• Ex: Do you need to mention that Harry becomes a wizard?
• Ex: Do you need to mention that Harry’s parents were killed
by Voldemort?
• 2. What is relevant to the points that you want to
make?
• Ex: If you want to praise the special effects, which
parts of the story might you want to mention in your
plot summary?
• Ex: If you want to talk about how much you like the
relationship between Harry and his friends, what
parts of the story might you want to mention in your
plot summary?
• Ex: If you want to talk about how funny the film is,
what characters might you want to mention in the
plot summary?

9. HOMEWORK FOR MONDAY
Where do you find the homework for Monday?
Canvas: https://deanza.instructure.com