Bearsden Academy English Department: Discursive Essay

TOPIC: Is it time to ban Easter Eggs?

Your task is to write a discursive essay about this topic.

Success Criteria

INTRODUCTION:

Arguments for... Arguments against...

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

The ideas are clearly stated, and there are enough of them (500-600 words).

You have conducted independent research at home or in the library.

The beginning, middle, and end are clearly indicated and tied together. Details or examples support the main idea.

The words used are appropriate and clear.

The level of language is appropriate for the subject and audience.

Your sentences vary in length and structure.

GATHERING INFORMATION

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

POINT EVIDENCE

CONCLUSION

Sources

In this table, you should list all of the sources for your information. You are expected to use

a range of books, websites and newspapers. It will be your homework over the next 3

weeks to gather evidence for your research.

No Source Author (if applicable)

1

2

3

4

5

6

You will be expected to write in a formal manner. You may find the vocabulary listed below

quite helpful.

Topic sentences For Against Useful phrases

One issue which causes controversy is . . . Another topic of concern is . . . Furthermore, Another matter which . . . Finally, I wish to discuss whether or not . . .

Also Moreover In addition Furthermore Another Finally Therefore ADVERB STARTERS Sadly Ironically Obviously Surely Fortunately Logically

Yet, By contrast However But Alternatively On the other hand Despite this On the contrary

Proponents of... Opponents of... Those in favour... Those against ... According to... A poll has shown... To quote a recent survey... In my opinion... In conclusion... To conclude... Whilst I agree with much of this argument… Although this may be a valid point of view...

Progress Tracker: You will have 3 periods to plan and structure the essay, and 2-3 periods in

class to write it.

Using the table below, keep a record of what you achieve in each lesson.

Lesson Progress Next Steps 1 Planning and Research (3 periods)

2

3

4 Homework

5 Writing up the essay in class

6

You may wish to consider some of these factors when organising your work:

Religion

Price

Health

Environment

History

Geography

Culture

Fairtrade

Commercialism

Personal feelings

REMEMBER TO MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION!

Is it time to ban Easter Eggs?

The prospect of four days off work comes with a side of pressure — competitive Londoners are eager to make the most of the break, be that with a holiday or repainting the kitchen. And having a lovely time over Easter means buying the right egg. You don’t want to offend with something that’s too mainstream, too girly, or filled with the wrong sort of caramel — the ideal is salted not stodgy: step up Amelia Rope’s pale lemon and sea-salted caramel eggs and Paul A Young’s salted caramel hen’s egg, which comes with a spoon for the inside.

Easter egg sales are up, and we are more discerning than ever. There are the chocolate fiends who search for a high cocoa content confection, such as Pump Street Bakery’s pure cocoa chicken, or those who won’t be satisfied unless their treat has an unusual flavour and a distinctive design — try The Modern Pantry’s eggs in dark chocolate and miso or matcha and pistachio.

Eggs are a serious business. Easter is all about eggonomics, so here are all the numbers you need to know to impress the eggheads.

£220 million

What the UK chocolate Easter egg market is worth.

1873

The year that the first chocolate Easter egg was produced. It was made by Fry’s and it was solid. If you’d like to relive that, the Solid Chocolate Egg company makes 700g orbs. Good luck breaking into them. Paul A Young’s Easter chocolates are so thick that they are almost solid and many are filled with smaller eggs that are chunky and dark.

100

The number of limited edition Art Deco eggs made by Claridge’s head pastry chef this year. It’s perfect for people who don’t want the same egg as everyone else, but actually it’s more of an art object, in black-and- white foil and packaged in an eau de nil coloured box. Once you’ve finished admiring the box the chocolate is either Valrhona dark, milk or white — it’s nice and thick and inside there are posh mini eggs with fine sugar crusts.

£25,000

The price of the most expensive chocolate Easter egg. They are from Choccywoccydoodah and that much money buys you 100kg of chocolate with a design inspired by gifts Russian tsars gave each other in the 19th century.

110lbs

The weight of William Curley’s Venezuelan Amadei chocolate egg that sold for £7,000 in 2012. It took seven chefs three days to make at Curley’s Richmond workshop and is filled with handmade William Curley chocolates in flavours such as black vinegar, and juniper and cassis.

8.6 per cent

The amount that Easter confectionery sales are up on last year.

500 million

The amount of Cadbury’s Creme Eggs that are made every year globally. Try them at Rinkoff’s bakery cracked onto crodoughs — that’s a cross between a croissant and a doughnut, obvs. They’re popular with the kind of person planning to fill their Easter holiday with as much fun as possible, which may or may not involve an eggcellent themed quiz full of questions about which politician loves Creme Eggs (Jacob Rees-Mogg, who always follows up his Easter feasts with a simnel cake).

Luxury Easter eggs

2/9 Bettys Milk Chocolate Spring Flowers Egg

Yorkshire’s famous Bettys tea shop is well known for its sumptuous afternoon tea, but its staff know a thing or two about chocolate too. At 24cm high, the handcrafted Spring Flowers egg, created from creamy Swiss milk chocolate, showcases an intricate floral design and is stippled with rich dark chocolate. Not only does it make a statement, but also tastes wonderfully moreish. £57.50, Bettys,

£30 million

The yearly spend on Cadbury’s Mini Eggs. But you don’t want to eat the same thing as everyone else. If you want to go a bit off piste, try an Amelia Rope egg instead. There are two versions, pale lemon and sea salt and dark sea salt caramel. Both are wonderful.

35 minutes

The time you would have to spend running to burn off the calories in a 250-calorie chocolate egg.

10 per cent

The proportion of yearly UK chocolate spending that is on Easter eggs.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11512259/ 03 Apr 2015

Easter is a time to feast. But do celebration foods still bring us joy when so many of our

meals are heavily laden with treats?

By Bee Wilson

The best argument for giving up drink for Lent – according to friends who do it every year – is just how

good that first sip of claret tastes with the Easter lamb. After six weeks of forward to it, it’s pretty much

nectar.

It’s a shame that we have no equivalent with food. I know that some give up chocolate for Lent. But for

most of us, the orgy of roast meat, chocolate and hot cross buns, however lovely, comes on top of a daily

existence in which these things are never scarce.

I like Easter best as a celebration of spring: the shoots and leaves and chicks and mysterious blue grape

hyacinths and eggs – real eggs. Spring itself never gets stale.

But with each passing year, I find it harder to get excited about the chocolate nests filled with tiny pastel

eggs and the row upon row of giant cloying eggs in the supermarket, many garnished with additional bars

of chocolate, stickers and toys, as if acknowledging that the egg itself is boring. I still do an Easter egg hunt

for the children (“Try under the flowerpot!”). Yet it’s more about the thrill of the chase than the chocolate.

The problem isn’t Easter, it’s feasting in general. I’ve just been reading a new book called The Never-

Ending Feast by Dr Kaori O’Connor, an anthropologist. It’s not a light read, but covers an important

subject: how feasting is at the heart of human identity.

Feasts were what gave meaning to an otherwise dull existence. Communities have been held together by

the foods they celebrated with, from the beer and bread of Mesopotamia to the wedding meat-banquets of

east Africa. Dr O’Connor quotes the ancient Greek writer Athenaeus, who pointed out that the pleasure of

feasts is that they “transcend the usual”. A feast was therefore the one occasion when rich men enjoyed

their food less than everyone else. “For since the tables set before tyrants are always heavily laden, they

have nothing special to offer on feast days.”

This is our predicament. Because our tables are always heavily laden with sugar and meat, a meal of roast

lamb and chocolate cannot seem out of the ordinary. Numerous foods – white flour, cream, chicken – that

were once reserved for celebrations have become everyday commodities. In some shops, cake is no more

expensive than bread – 18 mini chocolate doughnuts for £1 at Asda!

We see the toll of this constant celebration in rising obesity figures. I heard a GP talk recently about how

she felt we needed to “rethink reward” as a society. Many of the obese patients she treats are “rewarding”

themselves with food every evening to make up for a hard day. The days only get harder and the rewards

get bigger.

No one would wish to go back to a peasant life of famine. The presence of food banks is a reminder that

not every table is laden. But there is definitely something out of sync here. It was the fast that gave the

feast its meaning. Without a bit of denial, how can we tell when we are actually celebrating?

The year loses its rhythm and the old celebration foods lose much of their festal joy. If every meal is a feast,

then no meal can be.

Irish News -Tuesday 19 March 2019

'Time to crack down on supersized Easter eggs' - obesity expert

Easter eggs are getting bigger - and so are our kids.

The number of eggs a child gets has also become a competitive sport, with the average child receiving five

eggs.

Now Ireland's leading obesity expert, Professor Donal O'Shea, says it is time for the Government to

regulate the size of bumper-sized, high-salt, high-sugar, high-fat snacks throughout the year. Dr O'Shea was

speaking as Lindt chocolate Easter bunnies are now available up to 200g for the holiday season. The

chocolate giant has also aligned itself with a hospital for sick children with a campaign to promote its

'personalised bunnies'. Meanwhile, Lindor is selling its miniature sweets in a "Maxi Ball" 550g version.

As Dr O'Shea explains: "When you see what's going on in shops around Halloween, Valentine's Day and

Easter, it reflects industry's inability to self-regulate. They have to go for the quick win. I have spoken to

the CEO of a soft drinks company and managers of wholesalers and, when they speak off the record, they

are quite clear that what they are trying to promote is sales and it is not something they apply to their own

children, family life or values.

"If you speak with them on a personal level about what they give their own kid, they say 'no way is my kid

having three Easter eggs', because they are socio-economic one or two [families] but they have got to feed

the market.When you get the chance to meet them, it is nice to see they know what they are doing but

unfortunately they can't really face up to it."

He adds their behaviour "shouldn't surprise us because that's what they have to do - take responsibility for

their shareholders and profit. So they go for it. We need to deal with this and if that means regulation,

well, then regulate."

Illustrating examples of faux attempts by junk food companies to appear active in efforts to curb Ireland's

obesity crisis, he says: "Nothing the food industry do is unplanned. It's all very well choreographed. Ten to

12 years ago, the food industry said they would get rid of the super-size Mars and Snickers bars and we

thought 'great, that was a step in the right direction'. But then they just introduced 'the duo' pack. They

can't help themselves."

In another example, he says: "The UK's public health department capped serving sizes of popular treats.

They told companies 'you can't super-size any portion of confectionery that is for individual sale'. But the

response really was that the food industry just laughed at that and brought out the multi-packs of sweets

we are all familiar with today."

As a result, he says, "there has to be a continued evaluation of what they are doing".

On the trend of linking occasions to junk food, he says: "They have been successful in linking annual

occasions to food and, if you have so much junk on a daily basis, the only way to make that special is to go

large. This is all happening at the same time we know our health system crisis is now a direct result of

lifestyle. At this stage, there is nothing in it for the Government not to deal with the obesity problem.

There really isn't."

Irish customers will consume over 17m eggs - or 2,100 tonnes of chocolate - during the holiday season,

while sales of Easter eggs are predicted to top €38.5m.

What is Easter? http://www.religionfacts.com/easter

Easter is the holiday that celebrates and commemorates the central event of the Christian faith: the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his death.

Easter is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year. All the Christian movable feasts and the entire liturgical year of worship are arranged around Easter.

Easter is preceded by the season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and repentance culminating in Holy Week, and followed by a 50-day Easter Season that stretches from Easter to Pentecost.

The origins of the word "Easter" are not certain, but probably derive from Estre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring {2}. The German word Ostern has the same derivation.

Non-Anglo-Saxon languages follow the Greek term used by the early Christians: pascha, from the Hebrew pesach (Passover).

In Latin, Easter is Festa Paschalia (plural because it is a seven-day feast), which became the basis for the French Pâques, the Italian Pasqua, and the Spanish Pascua. Also related are the Scottish Pask, the Dutch Paschen, the Danish Paaske, and the Swedish Pask. {3}

The method for determining the date of Easter is complex and has been a matter of controversy in Christian history. Put as simply as possible, the Western churches (Catholic and Protestant) celebrate Easter on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.

But it is actually a bit more complicated than this. The spring equinox is fixed for this purpose as March 21 and the "full moon" is actually the paschal moon, which is based on 84-year "paschal cycles" established in the sixth century, and rarely corresponds to the astronomical full moon. These complex calculations yield an Easter date of anywhere between March 22 and April 25.

In the 20th century, discussions began as to a possible worldwide agreement on a consistent date for the celebration of the central event of Christianity. No resolution has yet been reached.

There is evidence that Christians originally celebrated the resurrection of Christ every Sunday, with observances such as Scripture readings, psalms, the Eucharist, and a prohibition against kneeling in prayer. At some point in the first two centuries, however, it became customary to celebrate the resurrection specially on one day each year. Many of the religious observances of this celebration were taken from the Jewish Passover.

Over the centuries, Easter religious observances have been supplemented by popular customs, many of were incorporated from springtime fertility celebrations of European and Middle Eastern pagan religion. Rabbits and eggs, for example, are widely-used pagan symbols for fertility. Christians view the Easter eggs as symbols of joy and celebration (as they were forbidden during the fast of Lent) and of new life and resurrection. A common custom is to hide brightly coloured eggs for children to find.

9 other religious festivals you should take note of this spring www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-

news/easter

1. Vernal Equinox – Druid: Night and day will be equal on Friday, March 20. The Sun grows in power and flowers begin to bloom. By the Spring Equinox, the powers of the gathering year are equal to the darkness of winter and death. The Green Man awakens during this season.

2. Ridvan - Baha'i: The most important Baha'i festival, this year held from Tuesday, April 21 to Saturday, May 2. This festival marks the 12 days that Baha’u’llah declared himself as the Promised One. The festival is named after the garden outside Baghdad in which he was staying. The first, ninth and twelfth days are especially significant and are celebrated as holy days, when no work is done. During this period Baha’is also elect their local, national and international governing bodies.

3. Rama Navami – Hindu: The birthday of Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, is celebrated on Saturday, March 28 at midday, as Rama was born at noon. The ceremony of arati is carried out, usually performed in front of either the baby Rama, represented by a doll, in a swinging cradle or a picture showing this.

4. Passover – Jewish: Running from Sunday, April 4 to Saturday, April 11, this major Jewish festival lasts eight days and commemorates the liberation of the Children of Israel and their Exodus from slavery in Egypt. The highlight is the Seder meal held in at the beginning of the festival when the story of their deliverance is recounted. Matzah (unleavened bread) is eaten throughout the festival as are other foods that contain no yeast. Orthodox Jews are not permitted to work on the first and last two days of the festival.

5. Hanamatsuri - Buddhist, Japan: Held on Sunday, April 4 this flower festival marks the Japanese celebration of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s birthday. The flowers accentuate the tradition that the Buddha was born in a garden, so floral shrines are made and an image of the infant Buddha is set in it and bathed.

6. Songkran - Buddhist, Thailand: This traditional New Year's Day festival in Thailand is held on Monday, April 13. Containers of water, often filled with fragrant herbs, are thrown as a symbol of washing away all that is evil.

7. Vaisakhi – Sikh: Held on Tuesday, April 14 Vaisakhi is celebrated by Sikhs as the birth of the Khalsa. Traditionally Vaisakhi is the celebration of the harvest season in Indian culture. This changed for the Sikhs when 1699, on Vaisakhi, the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Order of the Khalsa. Five men, who later came to be known as the Panj Piare (Five Beloved Ones), were prepared to offer their lives when the Guru asked for volunteers. According to tradition this is when he initiated the Panj Piare (and many others) into the Khalsa, with men taking the name Singh and women taking the name Kaur. Early in the morning many Sikhs are initiated so committing themselves to a discipline including daily prayers.

8. The Prophet's Night Journey and Ascent – Muslim: This festival, held on Monday, May 26, celebrates the journey of the Prophet Muhammad, in the tenth year of his prophethood, from Makkah to Jerusalem, and through the heavens to the presence of God, all in one night. Muslims mark this night by reading the Qur’an and saying additional prayers.