Writing Outlines
Cannibalism

I. Europeans discovered cannibalism
   Cannibalism = people eating people

II. 3 kinds of c.

A. survivors eat the dead
B. friends or relatives eat/drink the dead for power
C. kill and eat enemies
1. maybe only rumors
2. c. was excuse for abuse
3. probably not common
    lack of prisoners
4. meat vs. slaves
    enslavement now rare

III. 4th kind of c.--Aztecs

A. 15 to 20,000/year
B. shortage of animal meat

Now for homework write an outline for your own classification essay.

form Topic I. Introduction II. Categories A. 1st category items (=examples) or description B. 2nd category items (=examples) or description C. 3rd category items (=examples) or description III. Conclusion

example Power I. Law of the Jungle--survival II. 3 kinds of power A. Physical 1. health 2. strength B. Mental 1. efficiency 2. strategy C. Emotional 1. love / family 2. groups III. Economic power

Warnings

Choose a topic and categories that divide the entire set of items with as little overlap as possible.

Make sure that your ''categories'' are not only a few selected items.

A short essay cannot cover very many categories. You should try for between 3 and 5. If your topic seems very hard to divide into a small number of categories, you might try to narrow the topic down. Deciding on 3-5 kinds of people is very difficult. Defining 3-5 kinds of students OR teachers is much easier.

Your essay will explain and/or describe each category with specific examples. If the division of items into categories is too obvious, then there will be little or nothing to explain or describe--and thus nothing to write about. You want to avoid such easy categories.