IMPORTANT: BLOG ASSIGNMENT AND WEEKEND WORK...READ CAREFULLY!

Hi guys,

Below are instructions for what's due on the blog (to take place of meeting on campus tomorrow), and what's due Monday.  Make sure to read this carefully, and take note of which instructions are for your particular class time...

Blog assignment (due at 9 AM for 8 AM section, and by 11 AM for 10 AM students):

Read the excerpt from Funeral Customs: Their Origin and Development, that begins on page 21 in the course reader; it's about a couple of crazy food phenomena--that of the sin-eater and that of corpse-eating.  There's a little black square on the left hand side of the first page; that's where you should start reading (it was a Post-It Note that said 'Start', but it didn't copy so well).

Respond to the excerpt in a reply to this post by the times indicated above.  Your response needs to be in your best formal writing style, and should display some sort of critical or analytical thinking.  One to two paragraphs should suffice.  If you are confused by the reading, say so on the blog, and allow your learning community to help you!

Weekend homework (due Monday):


Find two sources (any kind) for your research essay.  Don't use Wikipedia except as a very preliminary starting point; it's not credible, as there's no editorial authority on the site--anyone can publish anything.  Put the two sources in an MLA Works Cited List (use easybib.com ), print it, and bring it to class on Monday.

Also, please read the following two pieces in your course reader (refer to table of contents for page numbers): "Mauritania's 'wife-fattening' farm" from BBC News, and the excerpt from A Cook's Tour, by Anthony Bourdain.  We'll talk about these in class on Monday (they're both a quick read, and one is quite short).

Last, read the handout titled Research Tips, Guidelines, and Resources on pages 7-8 in the course reader, then read Tips for Evaluating Sources on page 9 in the reader.

E-mail me with questions!

Cheers,
CM

P.S. This seems like a lot of work, but it won't take an inordinately long time...

Louie's "Popular Dining"

Grade scale

Standard Grade Scale
with Percentage, Grade-point, and Letter-Grade Equivalencies
 

Percentage Earned	Grade-Point Equivalent	Letter-Grade Equivalent
100-98	4.0	A+
97-96	3.9	A
95-94	3.8	A
93-92	3.7	A-
91	3.6	A-
90-89	3.5	B+
88-87	3.4	B / B+
86	3.3	B
85	3.2	B
84	3.1	B
83	3.0	B / B-
82	2.9	B-
81	2.8	B-
80	2.7	C / C+
79	2.6	C
78	2.5	C
77	2.4	C
76	2.3	C
75	2.2	C
74	2.1	C-
73	2.0	C-
72	1.9	C- / D+
71	1.8	et cetera
70	1.7
69	1.6
68	1.5
67	1.4
65	1.2
64	1.1
63	1.0
62	0.9
61	0.8
60	0.7
59 and x < 59	0.0

WEEKEND WORK-A-THON

1) Go to the OWL at Purdue and look at the Sample MLA Works Cited List: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/

2) Then, using easybib.com,  and a bit of very easy web research, PATIENTLY work your way though creating a Works Cited List of your own with the following four sources: Chocolat,  “The Wages of Sin”, “The Cabmen’s Cafes”, and “Marco Zapata’s Last Supper” (this will be getting you ahead for Essay 2, and this part of the process takes practice; the website isn’t perfect, but it is self-explanatory--it tells you all the info you need to plug in).

3) Read the Summary Handout (page 4 in course reader) then, write a 1-4 sentence summary for the same four sources as above.

4) Read What is a Primary Source? (page 5 in course reader), then read an example of a primary source—the excerpt from Anthony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Travels (pp. 53-57 in course reader). We'll talk about this piece in class on Monday.

ALL WORK MUST BE REMITTED IN HARD COPY, 

Heather Allen's artwork

Chocolat link

Hi guys,

Check your e-mail for more detailed instructions, but here's a link to the film

8 AM: start at 43 minutes
10 AM: start at 1 hour 18 minutes

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=7IQGNBHP

Lynn Pham's prose

"What is that?" I screamed. I've never tried pie before. Blueberry, pumpkin, cheese pie, I really don't know any of them. Giving pie a chance never came in as a thought to me. People tell me it's like eating a cake, but with a crust. The only memory I have is seeing pie in cartoons. The little cat would do anything to get a slice, after many failed attempts.

    My mom brought pie home one day, apple pie. Each member in my family received a slice; even me. While everyone else enjoyed their individual slices, I left my share sitting on the dinner table. The sight of it got me shivering. The contents of the pie gave me a thought I wouldn't enjoy. My mind contained a thought of removing the filling, for it to look like cake. That really threw me off.

    My siblings glanced up at me, looking at my untouched slice. I didn't know what to do with my apple pie. Throw it away maybe? My parents would yell at me. I shoved my plate towards my parents. Their eyes didn't look too pleasant. I shivered more in fear, acknowledging the fact that something bad would happen soon.

    What to do, what to do? The dinner table sat in silence. Everyone just quietly gave me eye contact. My only option, force that thing in my mouth and hope for the best. "I don't want to eat that." I told my parents, finding the courage to speak. Right then, I noticed my choice wasn't very wise.

     "Do you need help?" my parents offered. I thought back to the times my parents helped me drink my medications; especially the pills.. Not much of a pleasant sight. Eventually after a few times of forcing myself, I was capable of swallowing a pill, just well as drinking water.

    I never remembered a time where I accepted their offer. Today is not going to be my first. "No, I hate it." I replied. I know I’m done with now; I've drawn the last straw. I watched my parents both stood up and headed over to me.

Early stages of a collage...

...I'll show you guys the finished product in class on Tuesday.  Anyone who does some food art and submits it for publication can get EXTRA CREDIT...

Hien Trinh's delicious photos

Nick VanSchaick's "Shrimp"

Karen Bichler's artwork

Trang Tran's "Mushrooms" and prose

I don't know when this exactly happened, but I been having a strong hatred of mushrooms for a long period of time. The texture of the mushroom feels like rubber and that disturbs me. The smell of mushrooms are horrible; I hate the scent of it strongly. The taste of the mushrooms plays a big part in my deep hatred of mushrooms. Everything about mushrooms is truly disgusting to me. I never liked it and I never will. The fact that I despise mushrooms lead to something like a fear of this fungus, but leaning more towards the fact that I will never want to eat this. This is a sketch I made with different types of mushrooms.

Taylor Fuller's artwork and prose

This picture demonstrates the fear that i have for mustard. One may feel that it is silly for an individual to have fear for a food condiment, but to me it is a serious thing. I had an     extremely scarring experience when it comes to mustard and i cannot seem to get over it. As a young girl my older brother and sister tried to punish me for annoying them by drenching a dead spider, my other largest fear, in mustard. I cried and i screamed until they left me alone and got rid of their horrific concoction, but even then i couldn't get over it. I had nightmares about that day for years and because of my cruel older siblings, i have the utmost fear for both MUSTARD and spiders.

Christine Ma's "Greasy"

John Michl's artwork

Hi guys,

We'll have to figure out to pop in HTML code in our replies to make our images visible, but in the meantime,  just give a link or URL, and I'll find your image and post it for you.

Here's John Michl's awesome photograph:

Food Fantasies

Hi guys,

Forgive the name of the blog; it's been a long day!  I'm not a huge crouton fan, really. I am, however, frightfully fond of alliteration...

Ok, so this first assignment is a creative one; even in research writing, the ability to write creatively allows you to describe, contextualize, formulate tone, etc., with ease and grace.  To the end of engaging you guys in some creative practice, I'm asking to you to reply to this message with a food fantasy, food dream, food fear, or food nightmare (choose one only).

Since I'm interested in your creativity, I want you to feel free to respond either literally or visually; you can either write a paragraph on one of the four options above, or you can draw/paint/photograph or otherwise create an image that responds to the option you select.  Keep in mind that this assignment should take you about 50 minutes, to stand in for our Friday class time.  You can truly do whatever you want here, just be sincere.

I'm posting some of my food collages for inspiration, and you should DEFINITELY have a look at "Double Cream" by A.K. Elder, on pages 60-61 of Gastronomica; it's a super-short food fantasy piece about cheese.

One last little thing--be critical in your definition of food.  Do you consider wine to be food?  Why or why not?  How about natural drugs, or tobacco?   You can certainly do your assignment on your favorite cocktail, cigar, etc.

Good luck, and e-mail me with questions!  Since this took me much longer than I anticipated, please just make sure to post your response by 4 PM tomorrow.

Thanks!
CM