Thursday, February 28, 2008

Fast Food Essay Due March 12

Requirements for the essay

  • Minimum of five paragraphs
  • First paragraph is an introduction
  • Last paragraph is a conclusion
  • The three body paragraphs in between must be based on these SHAPER format. If you need to re-acquaint yourself with this format, grab a worksheet from class or click here.
  • Your completed essay will be graded according to this rubric.

Essay Prompt

Most people know fast food is unhealthy, yet almost everyone chooses to eat because it is convenient, cheap and tastes good. Like any business, the primary goal of a fast food restaurant is to make money, and so far there doesn’t seem to be as much money in selling food that is healthy first and convenient-cheap-tasty second. The rate of overweight and obesity is increasing rapidly for adults and children. Common sense tells us that this has a lot to do with how much fast food we eat.


Whose fault is this? There are many factors to consider; yes, no one is being forced to eat fast food, but how can a company knowingly contribute so directly to this serious problem?


Where does personal responsibility end and corporate responsibility begin?


Your essay should explore this question throughout, but you can build this around a more specific topic such as advertising to children, the rules of capitalism, what’s actually in the food, or any other aspect of the subject you find interesting.


Be sure to pull information from the book Chew on This, the film Supersize Me, and from the actual visit we made to McDonalds.

The final draft of the essay is due March 12.

Use this rubric to understand how the essay will be graded.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Work for today, Feb 12

Start by taking the Moodle quiz for the week of Feb 11-18 called Chew on This pp. 156-202.
The password is beef.
There are only three questions on this quiz.

THE ASSIGNMENT for today is a mix of creative writing and textual analysis.

Write a good-sized monologue with one of the following titles:
I am a Cow, and This is My Story
or
I am a Chicken, and This is My Story

Use as much information as you can from Chew on This, particularly pages 156-191.

When you turn it in, be sure to observe the GUIDELINES for written work. (I know it says in that document that some exceptions will be make for creative assignments, but you should still stick to the basic rules of double spacing, name/class/date in the top right, etc.)