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POLITICS OF FOOD
NOTE ON ABOVE FILES.
First PDF is the full student version in PDF form. It contains all activities and worksheets and it is very long. The second file is a doc version of the Student Version. It cuts out formatting and some activities. It has far fewer pages and covers everything you need and more. The third file is the actual READINGS in PDF form. You were given this in class. If you do not have the readings, print them out. It is important that you have an actual printed out version of the reading because you have to mark up the text.
Below are the assignments for this unit. You need to seriously engage each text. You will need to annotate the text. Mark it up, Write in the margins.Working together and in groups you will work through the text to improve your understanding. Each text will be read several times. You will write a short paper and a long paper bringing the texts together to form an argument.
#1 Berry
WENDELL BERRY
Work through the essay with a partner. On a separate sheet create a grid to analyze each chunk of the essay. The chunks are listed by paragraph numbers below. Write out the gist—the summary of what it says—of the chunk. Then write a one sentence interpretation and one sentence on why it matters. See the model below for paragraphs 1-2/
Paragraphs
What does it say?
(Summary or gist)
What does it mean?
(Interpretation)
What does it matter?
(Implications or consequences)
1-2
American farming and rural life is declining. City people can help by eating responsibly.
Some people eat irresponsibly.
Changing our eating habits will help farms.
3-5
6
7-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
Annotating and Questioning the Text
In Activity 7, you filled out a Say, Mean, Matter chart for different sections of the Berry article. In that activity, you made objective notes about what Berry was talking about, what you thought he meant, and what the consequences might be. You were working to understand the article. Now you are going to work on questioning the article. As you read the article and your notes, make further notes in the opposite margin or on another sheet of paper. Remember that Berry is writing for an audience that has already asked him what they can do to be more responsible eaters, so he is preaching to the choir to a certain extent and may not feel that he has to present evidence for every one of his claims. Think about the following questions:
1. Berry asserts that “Most eaters . . . think of food as an agricultural product perhaps, but they do not think of themselves as participants in agriculture.” What does he mean by this? Is it true? How would you find out?
2. Berry says that “food industrialists” think that “[t]he ideal industrial food consumer would be strapped to a table with a tube running from the food factory directly into his or her stomach.” Does he provide evidence for this idea? Do you think that this is true?
3. In this passage, Berry defines the “industrial eater” as a “victim”: “The industrial eater is, in fact, one who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical—in short, a victim.” Do these qualities actually characterize a “victim”? If consumers are victims, who is victimizing them? Do you feel like a victim?
4. Berry says, “Our kitchens and other eating places more and more resemble filling stations, as our homes more and more resemble motels.” What does he mean by this? Is this true of your kitchen and home?
5. Berry says that if one got all of one’s knowledge of food from advertisements, “one would not know that the various edibles were ever living creatures, or that they all come from the soil, or that they were produced by work.” Is this true in your experience? Why would food companies hide the origins of their products?
6. Berry says that in the food industry, “the overriding concerns are not quality and health, but volume and price.” Does he have any evidence that food companies care only about price? Do you think this is true?
7. Berry lists seven actions one can take to reclaim “responsibility for one’s own part in the food economy.” Are you convinced that people who change their behavior in these ways will lead better lives? Why or why not?
8. In Berry’s conclusion he argues that “[e]ating with the fullest pleasure—pleasure that is, that does not depend on ignorance – is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world.” Is this essay really about pleasure? Is it the sensory pleasure of taste and smell, or is it self-satisfied pleasure from doing the “right”?
Noticing Language—Sentence Modeling
Among the delights and pitfalls of reading Berry is the fact that he uses hyperbole to create humor. The combination and the volume of words can be overwhelming. Here you have an opportunity to take a breath, relax, and enjoy the experience.
Locate the sentence below in “The Pleasures of Eating.” (Hint: It’s in paragraph 9.) Define any unknown words. Next, find a partner, and read the sentence aloud, striving to read it in the most expressive manner possible. (It is a Dickensian sentence!)
The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered in inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, strained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived.
The model sentence relies heavily on interesting descriptive words, phrases, and verbs in a series, so using a thesaurus or dictionary may be helpful. Just be careful to choose words you know; words that are unfamiliar may be inappropriate to use in the context of your topic.
The key to sentence imitation is to first understand the grammatical structure of the sentence you are imitating.
Look for the subject first because the subject of a sentence is its focus.
In Berry’s sentence the subject is consumer.
Next, look for the main verb in the sentence. What is the subject doing?
In Berry’s sentence, the verb is confronts.
So what is the consumer confronting?
The consumer confronts substances (presumably food).
Here is Berry’s sentence again. Notice how Berry expands each element in his sentence to give it rhetorical punch.
What is the consumer like? passive and American, sitting down to a meal
What is the meal like? of prepared or fast food
What does the consumer do? confronts a platter
What is the platter like? covered in substances
\What are the subtances like? inert, anonymous, that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, stained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived
Berry takes these elements and combines them into one powerful sentence:
The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered in inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, strained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived.
To create your own sentence, you will first decide on a topic for the sentence (related to the politics of food), a subject, a verb that shows what the subject is doing, and descriptive words, phrases, and clauses that provide additional details and dramatic impact. Here is an example:
The diver stares at the pool below.
Topic: a diver on a high diving board
Subject: The diver
Verb: stares
Now comes the fun part where you give flavor and emotion to the sentence. Notice that Berry first describes the consumer. Here is an example using the diver. Our diver will be young and nervous.
The diver: The terrified, adolescent diver, standing knock-kneed and trembling on the six meter board,
What does the diver do? stares at the tiny aquamarine rectangle of water,
What is the water doing? shimmering, shifting, swelling, slopping, swirling, sloshing, splashing, splattering,
Where is the water? miles below his toes
What do his toes do? clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board.
The finished sentence:
The terrified, adolescent diver, standing knock-kneed and trembling on the six meter board, stares at the tiny aquamarine rectangle of water, shimmering, shifting, swelling, slopping, swirling, sloshing, splashing, and splattering miles below his toes that clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board.
Okay, so it is not as good as Wendell Berry, but the idea is to give it a try! You can change it as you go along.
ASSIGNMENT: Now try your own. Write a short sentence on the politics of food and identify the subject and verb. Then expand the elements in your sentence with descriptive words, phrases, and clauses. Ask yourself questions like the ones above.
clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board. What are the substances like?
inert, anonymous, that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, stained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived
Berry takes these elements and combines them into one powerful sentence:
The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered in inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, strained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived.
To create your own sentence, you will first decide on a topic for the sentence (related to the politics of food), a subject, a verb that shows what the subject is doing, and descriptive words, phrases, and clauses that provide additional details and dramatic impact. Here is an example:
The diver stares at the pool below.
Topic: a diver on a high diving board
Subject: The diver
Verb: stares
Now comes the fun part where you give flavor and emotion to the sentence. Notice that Berry first describes the consumer. Here is an example using the diver. Our diver will be young and nervous.
The diver:
The terrified, adolescent diver, standing knock-kneed and trembling on the six meter board,
What does the diver do?
stares at the tiny aquamarine rectangle of water,
What is the water doing?
shimmering, shifting, swelling, slopping, swirling, sloshing, splashing, splattering,
Where is the water?
miles below his toes
What do his toes do?
clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board.
#2 Pollan
Michael Pollan
Make a chart as below and work with each listed word.
Word and Paragraph / Definition / Know it well / Have heard of it / Don’t know it
dubious (1)
domestication (2)
insinuated (3)
subsidized/ subsidies (4, 6)
evolved (6)
wreaks havoc (6)
stave off (6)
ethanol (6)
biodegradable (6)
qua (7)
begrudge (8)
domestication/ domesticating (8, 13)
soared (9)
metabolized (10)
fructose (10)
glucose (10)
triglyceride (10)
sustainable (12)
predators (13)
douse (13)
Making Predictions and Asking Questions
Consider the following questions, and make predictions about what the article will be about. Make notes about your predictions for later reference.
1. Read the title of the article, and guess what it might discuss. Jot down your ideas.
2. Read the first paragraph. Based on the title and first paragraph, jot down your predictions of what Pollan’s point of view might be.
3. Read the first four paragraphs. Revise your predictions.
READING: Read Pollan’s essay silently, and note in the margin where your predictions turn out to be true. Note also what surprises you: What didn’t you know? Does he persuade you to accept his point of view? What, specifically? To what extent?
In groups of three or four, read a paragraph at a time, and ask yourself the following questions for each paragraph:
What does the paragraph say? What does the paragraph mean? What does it matter?
Discuss your responses in your groups.
#3 Barboza
Making Predictions and Asking Questions
Read the title and first four paragraphs of Barboza’s essay silently and consider the following questions.
1. Based on the title and these early paragraphs, what do you think Barboza is discussing?
2. Turn the title into some questions you might keep in mind as you read the essay.
3. Who do you think is the intended audience for this piece?
4. What type of argument do you think Barboza is going to make?
Vocabulary: Find 10 words you do not know in the text. Try to guess what the word means from context. Look up the words. Write out the word the definition and the sentence the word appears in.
Reading for Understanding
Read Barboza’s essay silently, and note in the margin where your predictions turn out to be true. Note also what surprises you: What didn’t you know? Does he persuade you to accept his point of view? What, specifically? To what extent?
Read a paragraph at a time, and ask yourself the following questions for each paragraph. Some of the paragraphs are quite small, so combine them where it makes sense to do so.
What does the paragraph say?
What does the paragraph mean?
Why does it matter?
Discuss your responses in your group.
Considering the Structure of the Text
This activity will help you discover the main method of organization in the essay.
Draw a line across the page where the introduction ends. Is it after the first paragraph, or are there several introductory paragraphs? Is it in the middle of a paragraph? How do you know that the text has moved on from the introduction?
Draw a line across the page where the conclusion begins. Is it the last paragraph, or are there several concluding paragraphs? How do you know that the text has reached the conclusion?
Discuss in groups or as a class why the lines were drawn where they were.
In the left-hand margin of the text, label and summarize the information in sections of the essay by using the following outline.
The introduction
The issue or problem Barboza is writing about
The author’s main arguments
Examples the author gives
The conclusion
In the right-hand margin, write your reactions to what the author is saying using the same outline. This will provide you with a valuable resource when you begin your essay. You will have the examples the author uses and your own reactions to those examples ready to be used to support your claim.
The introduction
The issue or problem Barboza is writing about
The author’s main arguments
Examples the author gives
The conclusion
Write a half a page on each quick write:
Quickwrite: Analyze your own diet or your family’s diet in light of the Pollan, Barboza, and Berry articles you have studied. Is it possible for you to eat a more healthy diet? Why or why not?
Quickwrite: Imagine that you will be having Berry, Barboza, or Pollan (or all three) to dinner. What would you serve them? Why would you make these choices? And where would you purchase the food?
#4 RAYNER
Text: Big Agriculture Is the Only Option to Stop the World Going Hungry by Jay Rayner
Getting Ready to Read
Read the title and the subtitle of the Rayner article. Answer the following questions:
Do you think that Rayner will agree or disagree with Wendell Berry or Michael Pollan? Why or why not?
Which article so far was the most difficult to read with an open mind?
Do you think that you will agree with Rayner? If not, do you think you can read with an open mind? Why or why not?
Reading for Understanding
The previous articles argued against “Big Agriculture” in favor of local, organic, home-grown, and self-prepared food. Wendell Berry says he likes “to eat vegetables and fruits that [he knows] have lived happily and healthily in good soil, not the products of the huge, bechemicaled factory-field.” Michael Pollan laments the fact that government policies have made corn, especially high fructose corn syrup, a major part of our diet. However, Rayner, at least judging from the headline, is going to argue that we need factory farms, or the world will starve. As you read for the first time, you probably won’t be able to avoid thinking “What would Berry say to this? What would Pollan say? What would Barboza say?” However, you should also be asking, “What if Rayner is right?”
As you read the article, note in the margins what you think these other writers would say to each point. Do any of them have good arguments against the points that Rayner is making? Are there any sections where Rayner is responding to the types of arguments that the other authors have made?
Considering the Structure of the text--Descriptive Outline
This activity will help you discover the main method of organization in the essay.
Draw a line across the page where the introduction ends. Is it after the first paragraph, or are there several introductory paragraphs? Is it in the middle of a paragraph? How do you know that the text has moved on from the introduction?
Draw a line across the page where the conclusion begins. Is it the last paragraph, or are there several concluding paragraphs? How do you know that the text has reached the conclusion?
Discuss in groups or as a class why the lines were drawn where they were.
Now draw lines between the major sections of the essay. For each section, consider the following questions, and make notes in the left margin:
What is the section about?
What does it say about that topic?
What is the main argument in the section? How is it supported?
What does the section do for the reader?
When you are finished with your descriptive outline, share it with a partner to see if you divided the article in the same way. If there are differences, are they in the ways you analyze how the arguments fit together?
Postreading
Thinking Critically
The following questions are based on Aristotle’s three appeals: logos, ethos, and pathos. Using your notes and annotations about the Rayner article, answer each question.
Questions about Logic (Logos)
1. What are the major claims and assertions made in this reading?
2. What evidence has the author supplied to support these claims? How relevant and valid do you think the evidence is? How sound is the reasoning? Is there any claim that appears to be weak or unsupported? Which one, and why do you think so?
3. What counterarguments has the author addressed?
4. Do you think the author has left something out on purpose? Why?
5. How have the author’s ideas developed over the course of the text?
Questions about the Writer (Ethos)
1. What can you infer about the author from the text?
2. Does this author have the appropriate background to speak with authority on this subject?
3. What does the author’s style and language tell the reader about him or her?
4. Does the author seem trustworthy? Why or why not?
Questions about Emotions (Pathos)
1. Do you think the author is trying to manipulate the reader’s emotions? In what ways? At what point?
1. Do your emotions conflict with your logical interpretation of the arguments?
2. Does the author use humor or irony? How does that affect your acceptance of his or her ideas?
NOTE ON ABOVE FILES.
First PDF is the full student version in PDF form. It contains all activities and worksheets and it is very long. The second file is a doc version of the Student Version. It cuts out formatting and some activities. It has far fewer pages and covers everything you need and more. The third file is the actual READINGS in PDF form. You were given this in class. If you do not have the readings, print them out. It is important that you have an actual printed out version of the reading because you have to mark up the text.
Below are the assignments for this unit. You need to seriously engage each text. You will need to annotate the text. Mark it up, Write in the margins.Working together and in groups you will work through the text to improve your understanding. Each text will be read several times. You will write a short paper and a long paper bringing the texts together to form an argument.
#1 Berry
WENDELL BERRY
Work through the essay with a partner. On a separate sheet create a grid to analyze each chunk of the essay. The chunks are listed by paragraph numbers below. Write out the gist—the summary of what it says—of the chunk. Then write a one sentence interpretation and one sentence on why it matters. See the model below for paragraphs 1-2/
Paragraphs
What does it say?
(Summary or gist)
What does it mean?
(Interpretation)
What does it matter?
(Implications or consequences)
1-2
American farming and rural life is declining. City people can help by eating responsibly.
Some people eat irresponsibly.
Changing our eating habits will help farms.
3-5
6
7-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
Annotating and Questioning the Text
In Activity 7, you filled out a Say, Mean, Matter chart for different sections of the Berry article. In that activity, you made objective notes about what Berry was talking about, what you thought he meant, and what the consequences might be. You were working to understand the article. Now you are going to work on questioning the article. As you read the article and your notes, make further notes in the opposite margin or on another sheet of paper. Remember that Berry is writing for an audience that has already asked him what they can do to be more responsible eaters, so he is preaching to the choir to a certain extent and may not feel that he has to present evidence for every one of his claims. Think about the following questions:
1. Berry asserts that “Most eaters . . . think of food as an agricultural product perhaps, but they do not think of themselves as participants in agriculture.” What does he mean by this? Is it true? How would you find out?
2. Berry says that “food industrialists” think that “[t]he ideal industrial food consumer would be strapped to a table with a tube running from the food factory directly into his or her stomach.” Does he provide evidence for this idea? Do you think that this is true?
3. In this passage, Berry defines the “industrial eater” as a “victim”: “The industrial eater is, in fact, one who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical—in short, a victim.” Do these qualities actually characterize a “victim”? If consumers are victims, who is victimizing them? Do you feel like a victim?
4. Berry says, “Our kitchens and other eating places more and more resemble filling stations, as our homes more and more resemble motels.” What does he mean by this? Is this true of your kitchen and home?
5. Berry says that if one got all of one’s knowledge of food from advertisements, “one would not know that the various edibles were ever living creatures, or that they all come from the soil, or that they were produced by work.” Is this true in your experience? Why would food companies hide the origins of their products?
6. Berry says that in the food industry, “the overriding concerns are not quality and health, but volume and price.” Does he have any evidence that food companies care only about price? Do you think this is true?
7. Berry lists seven actions one can take to reclaim “responsibility for one’s own part in the food economy.” Are you convinced that people who change their behavior in these ways will lead better lives? Why or why not?
8. In Berry’s conclusion he argues that “[e]ating with the fullest pleasure—pleasure that is, that does not depend on ignorance – is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world.” Is this essay really about pleasure? Is it the sensory pleasure of taste and smell, or is it self-satisfied pleasure from doing the “right”?
Noticing Language—Sentence Modeling
Among the delights and pitfalls of reading Berry is the fact that he uses hyperbole to create humor. The combination and the volume of words can be overwhelming. Here you have an opportunity to take a breath, relax, and enjoy the experience.
Locate the sentence below in “The Pleasures of Eating.” (Hint: It’s in paragraph 9.) Define any unknown words. Next, find a partner, and read the sentence aloud, striving to read it in the most expressive manner possible. (It is a Dickensian sentence!)
The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered in inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, strained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived.
The model sentence relies heavily on interesting descriptive words, phrases, and verbs in a series, so using a thesaurus or dictionary may be helpful. Just be careful to choose words you know; words that are unfamiliar may be inappropriate to use in the context of your topic.
The key to sentence imitation is to first understand the grammatical structure of the sentence you are imitating.
Look for the subject first because the subject of a sentence is its focus.
In Berry’s sentence the subject is consumer.
Next, look for the main verb in the sentence. What is the subject doing?
In Berry’s sentence, the verb is confronts.
So what is the consumer confronting?
The consumer confronts substances (presumably food).
Here is Berry’s sentence again. Notice how Berry expands each element in his sentence to give it rhetorical punch.
What is the consumer like? passive and American, sitting down to a meal
What is the meal like? of prepared or fast food
What does the consumer do? confronts a platter
What is the platter like? covered in substances
\What are the subtances like? inert, anonymous, that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, stained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived
Berry takes these elements and combines them into one powerful sentence:
The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered in inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, strained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived.
To create your own sentence, you will first decide on a topic for the sentence (related to the politics of food), a subject, a verb that shows what the subject is doing, and descriptive words, phrases, and clauses that provide additional details and dramatic impact. Here is an example:
The diver stares at the pool below.
Topic: a diver on a high diving board
Subject: The diver
Verb: stares
Now comes the fun part where you give flavor and emotion to the sentence. Notice that Berry first describes the consumer. Here is an example using the diver. Our diver will be young and nervous.
The diver: The terrified, adolescent diver, standing knock-kneed and trembling on the six meter board,
What does the diver do? stares at the tiny aquamarine rectangle of water,
What is the water doing? shimmering, shifting, swelling, slopping, swirling, sloshing, splashing, splattering,
Where is the water? miles below his toes
What do his toes do? clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board.
The finished sentence:
The terrified, adolescent diver, standing knock-kneed and trembling on the six meter board, stares at the tiny aquamarine rectangle of water, shimmering, shifting, swelling, slopping, swirling, sloshing, splashing, and splattering miles below his toes that clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board.
Okay, so it is not as good as Wendell Berry, but the idea is to give it a try! You can change it as you go along.
ASSIGNMENT: Now try your own. Write a short sentence on the politics of food and identify the subject and verb. Then expand the elements in your sentence with descriptive words, phrases, and clauses. Ask yourself questions like the ones above.
clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board. What are the substances like?
inert, anonymous, that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, stained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived
Berry takes these elements and combines them into one powerful sentence:
The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered in inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, strained, blended, prettified and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived.
To create your own sentence, you will first decide on a topic for the sentence (related to the politics of food), a subject, a verb that shows what the subject is doing, and descriptive words, phrases, and clauses that provide additional details and dramatic impact. Here is an example:
The diver stares at the pool below.
Topic: a diver on a high diving board
Subject: The diver
Verb: stares
Now comes the fun part where you give flavor and emotion to the sentence. Notice that Berry first describes the consumer. Here is an example using the diver. Our diver will be young and nervous.
The diver:
The terrified, adolescent diver, standing knock-kneed and trembling on the six meter board,
What does the diver do?
stares at the tiny aquamarine rectangle of water,
What is the water doing?
shimmering, shifting, swelling, slopping, swirling, sloshing, splashing, splattering,
Where is the water?
miles below his toes
What do his toes do?
clench tightly to the wobbling, sandpapered board.
#2 Pollan
Michael Pollan
Make a chart as below and work with each listed word.
Word and Paragraph / Definition / Know it well / Have heard of it / Don’t know it
dubious (1)
domestication (2)
insinuated (3)
subsidized/ subsidies (4, 6)
evolved (6)
wreaks havoc (6)
stave off (6)
ethanol (6)
biodegradable (6)
qua (7)
begrudge (8)
domestication/ domesticating (8, 13)
soared (9)
metabolized (10)
fructose (10)
glucose (10)
triglyceride (10)
sustainable (12)
predators (13)
douse (13)
Making Predictions and Asking Questions
Consider the following questions, and make predictions about what the article will be about. Make notes about your predictions for later reference.
1. Read the title of the article, and guess what it might discuss. Jot down your ideas.
2. Read the first paragraph. Based on the title and first paragraph, jot down your predictions of what Pollan’s point of view might be.
3. Read the first four paragraphs. Revise your predictions.
READING: Read Pollan’s essay silently, and note in the margin where your predictions turn out to be true. Note also what surprises you: What didn’t you know? Does he persuade you to accept his point of view? What, specifically? To what extent?
In groups of three or four, read a paragraph at a time, and ask yourself the following questions for each paragraph:
What does the paragraph say? What does the paragraph mean? What does it matter?
Discuss your responses in your groups.
#3 Barboza
Making Predictions and Asking Questions
Read the title and first four paragraphs of Barboza’s essay silently and consider the following questions.
1. Based on the title and these early paragraphs, what do you think Barboza is discussing?
2. Turn the title into some questions you might keep in mind as you read the essay.
3. Who do you think is the intended audience for this piece?
4. What type of argument do you think Barboza is going to make?
Vocabulary: Find 10 words you do not know in the text. Try to guess what the word means from context. Look up the words. Write out the word the definition and the sentence the word appears in.
Reading for Understanding
Read Barboza’s essay silently, and note in the margin where your predictions turn out to be true. Note also what surprises you: What didn’t you know? Does he persuade you to accept his point of view? What, specifically? To what extent?
Read a paragraph at a time, and ask yourself the following questions for each paragraph. Some of the paragraphs are quite small, so combine them where it makes sense to do so.
What does the paragraph say?
What does the paragraph mean?
Why does it matter?
Discuss your responses in your group.
Considering the Structure of the Text
This activity will help you discover the main method of organization in the essay.
Draw a line across the page where the introduction ends. Is it after the first paragraph, or are there several introductory paragraphs? Is it in the middle of a paragraph? How do you know that the text has moved on from the introduction?
Draw a line across the page where the conclusion begins. Is it the last paragraph, or are there several concluding paragraphs? How do you know that the text has reached the conclusion?
Discuss in groups or as a class why the lines were drawn where they were.
In the left-hand margin of the text, label and summarize the information in sections of the essay by using the following outline.
The introduction
The issue or problem Barboza is writing about
The author’s main arguments
Examples the author gives
The conclusion
In the right-hand margin, write your reactions to what the author is saying using the same outline. This will provide you with a valuable resource when you begin your essay. You will have the examples the author uses and your own reactions to those examples ready to be used to support your claim.
The introduction
The issue or problem Barboza is writing about
The author’s main arguments
Examples the author gives
The conclusion
Write a half a page on each quick write:
Quickwrite: Analyze your own diet or your family’s diet in light of the Pollan, Barboza, and Berry articles you have studied. Is it possible for you to eat a more healthy diet? Why or why not?
Quickwrite: Imagine that you will be having Berry, Barboza, or Pollan (or all three) to dinner. What would you serve them? Why would you make these choices? And where would you purchase the food?
#4 RAYNER
Text: Big Agriculture Is the Only Option to Stop the World Going Hungry by Jay Rayner
Getting Ready to Read
Read the title and the subtitle of the Rayner article. Answer the following questions:
Do you think that Rayner will agree or disagree with Wendell Berry or Michael Pollan? Why or why not?
Which article so far was the most difficult to read with an open mind?
Do you think that you will agree with Rayner? If not, do you think you can read with an open mind? Why or why not?
Reading for Understanding
The previous articles argued against “Big Agriculture” in favor of local, organic, home-grown, and self-prepared food. Wendell Berry says he likes “to eat vegetables and fruits that [he knows] have lived happily and healthily in good soil, not the products of the huge, bechemicaled factory-field.” Michael Pollan laments the fact that government policies have made corn, especially high fructose corn syrup, a major part of our diet. However, Rayner, at least judging from the headline, is going to argue that we need factory farms, or the world will starve. As you read for the first time, you probably won’t be able to avoid thinking “What would Berry say to this? What would Pollan say? What would Barboza say?” However, you should also be asking, “What if Rayner is right?”
As you read the article, note in the margins what you think these other writers would say to each point. Do any of them have good arguments against the points that Rayner is making? Are there any sections where Rayner is responding to the types of arguments that the other authors have made?
Considering the Structure of the text--Descriptive Outline
This activity will help you discover the main method of organization in the essay.
Draw a line across the page where the introduction ends. Is it after the first paragraph, or are there several introductory paragraphs? Is it in the middle of a paragraph? How do you know that the text has moved on from the introduction?
Draw a line across the page where the conclusion begins. Is it the last paragraph, or are there several concluding paragraphs? How do you know that the text has reached the conclusion?
Discuss in groups or as a class why the lines were drawn where they were.
Now draw lines between the major sections of the essay. For each section, consider the following questions, and make notes in the left margin:
What is the section about?
What does it say about that topic?
What is the main argument in the section? How is it supported?
What does the section do for the reader?
When you are finished with your descriptive outline, share it with a partner to see if you divided the article in the same way. If there are differences, are they in the ways you analyze how the arguments fit together?
Postreading
Thinking Critically
The following questions are based on Aristotle’s three appeals: logos, ethos, and pathos. Using your notes and annotations about the Rayner article, answer each question.
Questions about Logic (Logos)
1. What are the major claims and assertions made in this reading?
2. What evidence has the author supplied to support these claims? How relevant and valid do you think the evidence is? How sound is the reasoning? Is there any claim that appears to be weak or unsupported? Which one, and why do you think so?
3. What counterarguments has the author addressed?
4. Do you think the author has left something out on purpose? Why?
5. How have the author’s ideas developed over the course of the text?
Questions about the Writer (Ethos)
1. What can you infer about the author from the text?
2. Does this author have the appropriate background to speak with authority on this subject?
3. What does the author’s style and language tell the reader about him or her?
4. Does the author seem trustworthy? Why or why not?
Questions about Emotions (Pathos)
1. Do you think the author is trying to manipulate the reader’s emotions? In what ways? At what point?
1. Do your emotions conflict with your logical interpretation of the arguments?
2. Does the author use humor or irony? How does that affect your acceptance of his or her ideas?