The Whole Meal Project
Project Description and Importance
For this collaborative biology and humanities project we explored the role of food in our lives, tried different styles of cooking and eating, prepared meals and began answering the essential question "should I eat that?" Every student followed a diet and for all of our meals we maintained a food journal documenting what we ate and how we felt. We cooked meals from this diet, eventually mastering one that we prepared and served at exhibition. We did this project to educate ourselves on the history, culture and economics that related to our diets and to share this knowledge in an original cookbook.
Cookbook Article
“Please take a seat right over here,” Jerry, the Loving Hut waiter, says as he directs me and my family to a corner table. The restaurant is green, lively and has an open window that pushes a cool breeze upon our faces. “Have you dined with us before?” Jerry inquires. “No, we saw one of your flyers. We were intrigued by your advertisement that said, “the Loving Hut is a fully vegetarian restaurant that is family friendly” and we had to try it.” After we order our meals, Jerry quickly brings the food and sets the vegetarian vegetable soup and a bright fruit salad in front of my hungry family. We begin digging into our cuisine and when Jerry returns to refill our drinks, I ask him a question. “Are you a vegetarian?”
“As a matter of fact I have been a vegetarian almost my whole life. My father was raised Hindu and when I was a child he read me Faith in Food that explained that Hindus believe that “food is a gift from God and should be treated with great respect.” My father told me that his parents were very strict about this diet and every night they would “offer food to God before eating and were careful about what and how they eat.” At first I hated the diet and felt left out when my non-Hindu friends ate a burger and I ate a salad. I now realize that the diet is to my benefit because I sleep better, reap the health benefits, and in fact, feel more energetic. My father showed me an article written by the American Institute for Cancer Research that explains the biology of how reducing red meat in your diet can lower the risk of various cancers and diseases.”
“Who came up with vegetarianism anyway?” I wonder aloud. Jerry seemed struck by this question primarily because he did not know the answer, but also because he didn’t realize that others were so curious about something that, to him, was just a way of life. “I am embarrassed to say that I do not know the answer to that question. I recently read a Vegetarian Resource Group article that proved vegetarianism is becoming more popular and in 2013 about 13% of Americans identify themselves as vegetarians.” Jerry expanded. With that, Jerry hurried on to service more hungry customers and my family continued to ponder the dessert menu. We left feeling full, satisfied and a bit more educated than when we walked in. Once I got home, I immediately went to my father’s office, turned on the computer and started my research on the origin of vegetarianism.
It is impossible to know who the very first vegetarian was. However, I discovered that some anthropologists believe that the earliest humans primarily ate plants. As I continued my research I was surprised to come across a name that I recognized. A 2013 Huffington Post article revealed that one of the most famous Greek mathematicians, Pythagoras, was a vegetarian. I was more shocked to learn that the earliest vegetarians were even called Pythagoreans. It was not until the mid 1800’s that the word vegetarian was used to describe this diet as the Latin root refers to the source of life. Some other famous vegetarians were Leonardo da Vinci, George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.
There are many different classifications of a vegetarian. There are vegans, pescetarians, lacto-vegetarians and semi-vegetarians. The individual can accommodate ones lifestyles and make the diet more or less strict. Additionally, many people have different reasons for choosing to be vegetarians including ethical, environmental, economic and health factors. Some people chose to follow the diet because it is the newest “food trend” and it is something new to try without any health risks. My interest, though, was to find out where vegetarianism originates. With the power of Google, I hit the jackpot and found an article that explained the beginnings, including how meat storage foregoing the 1900’s was the foundations of this now popular diet.
Prior to the industrial revolution, in the late 1700’s, there was little to no meat consumption across the globe. However, the 1960’s brought ease of access through refrigeration and widespread distribution. There was a dramatic increase in meat consumption across Western cultures due to these convenience factors. However, as meat consumption increased so did heart disease, diabetes and various cancers. During the early 1900’s, Americans began to eat more meat but the high cost, extensive preparation time and storage difficulties made it extremely inconvenient and did not allow for widespread consumption. As a result, most people relied solely on a plant based diet.
Shortly after, in 1970, Frances Moore Lappe published Diet for a Small Planet that captured the attention of the United States as she advocated for a more earth friendly way of eating. Another book similar to Lappe’s was Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. This novel sparked the animal rights movement and led to the creation of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as PETA, which quickly became a voice for many vegetarians. Furthering PETA’s mission was a 1970’s magazine called Vegetarian Times. By the mid 1990’s the United States government also began advocating a diet heavily based on fruits, vegetables and grains rather than meat with its food pyramid. Diet for a Small Planet was a huge success and sold millions of copies while launching the vegetarian movement in the United States. More cookbooks, restaurants and co-ops started to appear and soon after the 1980’s, vegetarianism was widespread and accepted.
It is shocking that “beef now costs half of what it did in 1970” according to KPBS in a Frontline article about industrial meat. “The beef industry has undergone a radical transformation” says a famous food author Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire. Pollan in a November 2011 New York Times article did an experiment where he “bought a cow for $598 and chronicled its journey through the cattle system.” He discovered that “small cattle farmers have been replaced by beef-processing companies.” Pollan strives to educate the public about the “ecological logic behind a ruminant feeding on grass” and he discusses the "hidden costs of feedlot beef including antibiotic resistance, heart disease, environmental degradation and food-borne illnesses.” Nutritionists continue to research and conduct experiments this diet and its health benefits and we have seen a major increase in the vegetarian population.
The next day, my family and I returned to the Loving Hut. Over another great meal, I shared all of the cool things that I learned with my new friend Jerry. I even provided him with a graph that I created for an exhibition project called the Whole Meal Project that illustrates the population of vegetarianism over time. I hope to educate my peers, friends and family on what they are eating and how to be a healthy vegetarian. I have strictly been following the vegetarian diet since October 22nd and have noticed that I am taking more time to prepare healthy meals and I have seen and overall cleanse by eliminating meat from my diet. I am lovig the way that I am feeling so I will continue with this lifestyle.
For this collaborative biology and humanities project we explored the role of food in our lives, tried different styles of cooking and eating, prepared meals and began answering the essential question "should I eat that?" Every student followed a diet and for all of our meals we maintained a food journal documenting what we ate and how we felt. We cooked meals from this diet, eventually mastering one that we prepared and served at exhibition. We did this project to educate ourselves on the history, culture and economics that related to our diets and to share this knowledge in an original cookbook.
Cookbook Article
“Please take a seat right over here,” Jerry, the Loving Hut waiter, says as he directs me and my family to a corner table. The restaurant is green, lively and has an open window that pushes a cool breeze upon our faces. “Have you dined with us before?” Jerry inquires. “No, we saw one of your flyers. We were intrigued by your advertisement that said, “the Loving Hut is a fully vegetarian restaurant that is family friendly” and we had to try it.” After we order our meals, Jerry quickly brings the food and sets the vegetarian vegetable soup and a bright fruit salad in front of my hungry family. We begin digging into our cuisine and when Jerry returns to refill our drinks, I ask him a question. “Are you a vegetarian?”
“As a matter of fact I have been a vegetarian almost my whole life. My father was raised Hindu and when I was a child he read me Faith in Food that explained that Hindus believe that “food is a gift from God and should be treated with great respect.” My father told me that his parents were very strict about this diet and every night they would “offer food to God before eating and were careful about what and how they eat.” At first I hated the diet and felt left out when my non-Hindu friends ate a burger and I ate a salad. I now realize that the diet is to my benefit because I sleep better, reap the health benefits, and in fact, feel more energetic. My father showed me an article written by the American Institute for Cancer Research that explains the biology of how reducing red meat in your diet can lower the risk of various cancers and diseases.”
“Who came up with vegetarianism anyway?” I wonder aloud. Jerry seemed struck by this question primarily because he did not know the answer, but also because he didn’t realize that others were so curious about something that, to him, was just a way of life. “I am embarrassed to say that I do not know the answer to that question. I recently read a Vegetarian Resource Group article that proved vegetarianism is becoming more popular and in 2013 about 13% of Americans identify themselves as vegetarians.” Jerry expanded. With that, Jerry hurried on to service more hungry customers and my family continued to ponder the dessert menu. We left feeling full, satisfied and a bit more educated than when we walked in. Once I got home, I immediately went to my father’s office, turned on the computer and started my research on the origin of vegetarianism.
It is impossible to know who the very first vegetarian was. However, I discovered that some anthropologists believe that the earliest humans primarily ate plants. As I continued my research I was surprised to come across a name that I recognized. A 2013 Huffington Post article revealed that one of the most famous Greek mathematicians, Pythagoras, was a vegetarian. I was more shocked to learn that the earliest vegetarians were even called Pythagoreans. It was not until the mid 1800’s that the word vegetarian was used to describe this diet as the Latin root refers to the source of life. Some other famous vegetarians were Leonardo da Vinci, George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.
There are many different classifications of a vegetarian. There are vegans, pescetarians, lacto-vegetarians and semi-vegetarians. The individual can accommodate ones lifestyles and make the diet more or less strict. Additionally, many people have different reasons for choosing to be vegetarians including ethical, environmental, economic and health factors. Some people chose to follow the diet because it is the newest “food trend” and it is something new to try without any health risks. My interest, though, was to find out where vegetarianism originates. With the power of Google, I hit the jackpot and found an article that explained the beginnings, including how meat storage foregoing the 1900’s was the foundations of this now popular diet.
Prior to the industrial revolution, in the late 1700’s, there was little to no meat consumption across the globe. However, the 1960’s brought ease of access through refrigeration and widespread distribution. There was a dramatic increase in meat consumption across Western cultures due to these convenience factors. However, as meat consumption increased so did heart disease, diabetes and various cancers. During the early 1900’s, Americans began to eat more meat but the high cost, extensive preparation time and storage difficulties made it extremely inconvenient and did not allow for widespread consumption. As a result, most people relied solely on a plant based diet.
Shortly after, in 1970, Frances Moore Lappe published Diet for a Small Planet that captured the attention of the United States as she advocated for a more earth friendly way of eating. Another book similar to Lappe’s was Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. This novel sparked the animal rights movement and led to the creation of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as PETA, which quickly became a voice for many vegetarians. Furthering PETA’s mission was a 1970’s magazine called Vegetarian Times. By the mid 1990’s the United States government also began advocating a diet heavily based on fruits, vegetables and grains rather than meat with its food pyramid. Diet for a Small Planet was a huge success and sold millions of copies while launching the vegetarian movement in the United States. More cookbooks, restaurants and co-ops started to appear and soon after the 1980’s, vegetarianism was widespread and accepted.
It is shocking that “beef now costs half of what it did in 1970” according to KPBS in a Frontline article about industrial meat. “The beef industry has undergone a radical transformation” says a famous food author Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire. Pollan in a November 2011 New York Times article did an experiment where he “bought a cow for $598 and chronicled its journey through the cattle system.” He discovered that “small cattle farmers have been replaced by beef-processing companies.” Pollan strives to educate the public about the “ecological logic behind a ruminant feeding on grass” and he discusses the "hidden costs of feedlot beef including antibiotic resistance, heart disease, environmental degradation and food-borne illnesses.” Nutritionists continue to research and conduct experiments this diet and its health benefits and we have seen a major increase in the vegetarian population.
The next day, my family and I returned to the Loving Hut. Over another great meal, I shared all of the cool things that I learned with my new friend Jerry. I even provided him with a graph that I created for an exhibition project called the Whole Meal Project that illustrates the population of vegetarianism over time. I hope to educate my peers, friends and family on what they are eating and how to be a healthy vegetarian. I have strictly been following the vegetarian diet since October 22nd and have noticed that I am taking more time to prepare healthy meals and I have seen and overall cleanse by eliminating meat from my diet. I am lovig the way that I am feeling so I will continue with this lifestyle.
Reflection
I am very proud of my personal achievements during this project. SInce I am in honors biology and honors humanities I had more work than the average student. I spent a lot of time helping my classmates with their jobs and had random tasks to complete given to me personally from Brandon and Randy. Some of these jobs were drawing a diagram of lactic acid fermentation and alcoholic fermentation to explain the science for the recipe book, inviting Larry and Rob, the founder of HTH to exhibition, binding our menus, making our documents for the menu, cooking and working on honors work like updating my DP. I think I was a great communicator, leader and participator for this project and I have improved on my multi taking skills. We have had a lot of visitors this week and I had to talk to them, give tours and manage my internship preparation.
What are your favorite parts of your article for the Whole Meal Project? What aspects of your writing are you most proud of?
My favorite part of my cookbook article for the Whole Meal Project is hard evidence and facts that I gathered from researching before I wrote my article. I thought I had some background knowledge of vegetarianism but I soon learned that vegetarianism was more than not eating meat. I made sure that I did not use only one website for all of my research. I did site visits, read lots of articles and looked at many graphs and pictures including vegetarian propaganda to write my cookbook article. The aspects of my writing that I am most proud of is the way I implanted my quotes. Before I was in Randy’s class I used to stick quotes in without any analysis and made it hard for readers to comprehend the importance. With using professional examples as my rubric, finding proof for the mock trial and practice I now know that you must provide a quote, source and analysis for every fact.
The assignment for cookbook articles began with these three guidelines: tell a true story, use social science research methods and use the techniques of creative writing. Considering all that you have learned, all of the professional examples you have read and all that you have written, to what extent do you feel that you met the guidelines on this writing assignment?
I feel that I have met these three guidelines to the full extent. Throughout the process of creating drafts and critiquing, I made sure to make sure with every paragraph I involved part of a true story, using social science research methods and used techniques of creative writing. As an example of telling a true story, I recreate in my first paragraph a family dinner scene at a restaurant that is a true and common set. I used social science research by using a variety of sources. I feel that I have used the techniques of creative writing when I use language that makes the scene realistic and easy to imagine. I use details about the restaurant when I say, “The restaurant is green, lively and has an open window that pushes a cool breeze upon our faces.” Overall, I feel like I have improved as a writer by using these guidelines to support my article.
In what ways does your writing measure up to professional standards? Identify a professional example and explain, with quotes, how you wrote in similar ways, used similar techniques or otherwise aligned your writing with professional writing.
For the Whole Meal cookbook articles, students were given professional examples to use as a rubric for their writing to compare. I read many articles throughout the course of the project but used the article Crunch by John Seabrook as a specific model for my writing. I found that his article was powerful because Seabrook began his paper in media res, meaning in the middle of a scene. I used this technique for my article by saying as my first sentence, “Please take a seat right here” Jerry, the Loving Hut waiter, says as he directs me and my family to a corner table. In the Crunch article, Seabrook starts with a quote saying, “Great apple,” repeated, and smiled. Seabrook also used very descriptive writing. In the middle of the article, Seabrook describes the way that temperature affects the apple when he says “ the breezes rise from the river that warm the apples on cold nights and cool them down gently on hot nights.” I compare this to my writing when I say, “After we order our meals, Jerry quickly brings the food and sets the vegetarian vegetable soup and a bright fruit salad in front of my hungry family.” I will use this method of comparing my writing to professional examples as a tool in the future to use it as a guideline and inspiration of their different techniques.
In what areas does your writing need to improve when you compare it to professional examples? Identify a professional example and explain, with quotes, how you could improve or grow as a writer so that you write in similar ways, use similar techniques or otherwise align better with professional writing.
Since this is my first paper without a teacher rubric, I think that my writing has improved a lot by using real world models but there is more room to grow and to gain practice before writing college essays and other important writing in the future. What I would like to see stronger endings. With this paper I feel that there is an abrupt ending because once I met my length requirement I felt like I was repeating myself and could have used the ending to give more in depth analysis. Towards the end of my article I side-tracked from the topic of the history of vegetarianism and talked about my personal experience on the vegetarian diet. I ended with, “I have noticed that I am taking more time to prepare healthy meals and I have seen and overall cleanse by eliminating meat from my diet. I am loving the way that I am feeling so I will continue with this lifestyle.” Looking back, I would have removed this because it is irrelevant to my original goal and vision for this piece. However, I felt that Seabrook had just as strong ending as beginning. His last sentence was, “I contemplated man’s long and sometimes discordant relationship with this fruit. Then I set my teeth on its skin, and crunched.” I think this was the perfect ending and in a way answered his original question and curiosity about the apple.
What Writing Tip helped you the most? Quote a section of your article and explain how you used a Writing Tip in it's development, and what makes this significant.
I found Writing Tip #3: What is your engine? to be most helpful. All of these tips were very helpful in the beginning stages of writing my article. Before creating my first draft I spit all of my ideas out on paper and made some engines. I began writing, “Who could I interview that has a first hand experience with vegetarianism?” “What religions do not eat meat?” “Where is the most concentrated population of vegetarianism?” “Who were influential leaders in the vegetarian community?” This gave my writing purpose and made it easier to write. I found that the this writing tip was very significant because my middle section of my article was answers to these engines. For example, one answer is, “Some other famous vegetarians were Leonardo da Vinci, George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.” This guided my writing and will take practice but I will create engines at the beginning stages of my next paper.
What constructive criticism or peer feedback helped you the most? Quote from google comments, peer feedback forms or similar feedback and explain how this feedback helped guide your work.
I received a lot of great help when I was in the process of writing my cookbook article. I think that the most helpful piece of constructive criticism and peer feedback that I got was from Kelsey Trevino because she suggested that I use the writing tip #4 and finish my paper with me going back to the original anecdote at the restaurant, tell Jerry what I learned and show him graphs that I created. Kelsey also suggested, “What makes meat inconvenient?” This gave my writing another question to answer and her other suggestions and questions helped me to analyze my paper and its purpose.
What was the most difficult part of writing this article? What might you continue to revise if you had more time?
I think that the most difficult part of writing this article was making my paper all about vegetarianism rather than choosing a few key points. If I were to continue to revise this or of I had more time I would stick to three main topics about vegetarianism. This would maintain my reader’s attention and would give me an opportunity to go into further detail about each concept. For example I could talk about how vegetarianism relates to biology, culture and economics. I talk about these in my cookbook article but also discuss lots of other ideas which I feel could improve if I narrowed it down and went deeper.
What is the most important thing, concept to skill that you learned in the course of researching & writing this article? How might we see this in your writing?
I think that the most important skill that I learned in the course of researching and writing my cookbook article was doing more research that I needed. In previous years, I would start writing a paper and would not plan ahead and know what I was writing about. For this article, I needed to do extensive research from various sources and I think my biggest takeaway is to practice making outlines. This will structure my writing and will guide my research so that I am not trying to discuss five or six ideas but to go into detail about three or four that make the most sense to my essential question or thesis. You can see this in my writing in my drafts. I got a lot of great feedback from my peers and I have learned that for me I need to write to an ending and I can do that by planning and making brainstorms.
Overall, out of 50 points, how many points would you assign to your work and why?
Overall, out of fifty total points, I would assign my work a 45 out of 50. I gave myself this number because I did everything that was required. I did a brainstorm, wrote many drafts, gave and received critique, told a story, used social science research and used creative writing techniques. I think my writing was informative and creative but could always use some improvement. I think my ending was too abrupt but have learned to outline my writing in the future so that I know what I am going to write about in my final sentences. I compared my writing to professional and I have mimicked their style of introducing quotes which made my writing strong but I think my reader may have drowned in all of my information. Overall, I put a lot of time and effort into this cookbook article and have been very thorough with this reflection. I have taken away lots of new knowledge about my topic but also good skills that will help me with my future writing.
I am very proud of my personal achievements during this project. SInce I am in honors biology and honors humanities I had more work than the average student. I spent a lot of time helping my classmates with their jobs and had random tasks to complete given to me personally from Brandon and Randy. Some of these jobs were drawing a diagram of lactic acid fermentation and alcoholic fermentation to explain the science for the recipe book, inviting Larry and Rob, the founder of HTH to exhibition, binding our menus, making our documents for the menu, cooking and working on honors work like updating my DP. I think I was a great communicator, leader and participator for this project and I have improved on my multi taking skills. We have had a lot of visitors this week and I had to talk to them, give tours and manage my internship preparation.
What are your favorite parts of your article for the Whole Meal Project? What aspects of your writing are you most proud of?
My favorite part of my cookbook article for the Whole Meal Project is hard evidence and facts that I gathered from researching before I wrote my article. I thought I had some background knowledge of vegetarianism but I soon learned that vegetarianism was more than not eating meat. I made sure that I did not use only one website for all of my research. I did site visits, read lots of articles and looked at many graphs and pictures including vegetarian propaganda to write my cookbook article. The aspects of my writing that I am most proud of is the way I implanted my quotes. Before I was in Randy’s class I used to stick quotes in without any analysis and made it hard for readers to comprehend the importance. With using professional examples as my rubric, finding proof for the mock trial and practice I now know that you must provide a quote, source and analysis for every fact.
The assignment for cookbook articles began with these three guidelines: tell a true story, use social science research methods and use the techniques of creative writing. Considering all that you have learned, all of the professional examples you have read and all that you have written, to what extent do you feel that you met the guidelines on this writing assignment?
I feel that I have met these three guidelines to the full extent. Throughout the process of creating drafts and critiquing, I made sure to make sure with every paragraph I involved part of a true story, using social science research methods and used techniques of creative writing. As an example of telling a true story, I recreate in my first paragraph a family dinner scene at a restaurant that is a true and common set. I used social science research by using a variety of sources. I feel that I have used the techniques of creative writing when I use language that makes the scene realistic and easy to imagine. I use details about the restaurant when I say, “The restaurant is green, lively and has an open window that pushes a cool breeze upon our faces.” Overall, I feel like I have improved as a writer by using these guidelines to support my article.
In what ways does your writing measure up to professional standards? Identify a professional example and explain, with quotes, how you wrote in similar ways, used similar techniques or otherwise aligned your writing with professional writing.
For the Whole Meal cookbook articles, students were given professional examples to use as a rubric for their writing to compare. I read many articles throughout the course of the project but used the article Crunch by John Seabrook as a specific model for my writing. I found that his article was powerful because Seabrook began his paper in media res, meaning in the middle of a scene. I used this technique for my article by saying as my first sentence, “Please take a seat right here” Jerry, the Loving Hut waiter, says as he directs me and my family to a corner table. In the Crunch article, Seabrook starts with a quote saying, “Great apple,” repeated, and smiled. Seabrook also used very descriptive writing. In the middle of the article, Seabrook describes the way that temperature affects the apple when he says “ the breezes rise from the river that warm the apples on cold nights and cool them down gently on hot nights.” I compare this to my writing when I say, “After we order our meals, Jerry quickly brings the food and sets the vegetarian vegetable soup and a bright fruit salad in front of my hungry family.” I will use this method of comparing my writing to professional examples as a tool in the future to use it as a guideline and inspiration of their different techniques.
In what areas does your writing need to improve when you compare it to professional examples? Identify a professional example and explain, with quotes, how you could improve or grow as a writer so that you write in similar ways, use similar techniques or otherwise align better with professional writing.
Since this is my first paper without a teacher rubric, I think that my writing has improved a lot by using real world models but there is more room to grow and to gain practice before writing college essays and other important writing in the future. What I would like to see stronger endings. With this paper I feel that there is an abrupt ending because once I met my length requirement I felt like I was repeating myself and could have used the ending to give more in depth analysis. Towards the end of my article I side-tracked from the topic of the history of vegetarianism and talked about my personal experience on the vegetarian diet. I ended with, “I have noticed that I am taking more time to prepare healthy meals and I have seen and overall cleanse by eliminating meat from my diet. I am loving the way that I am feeling so I will continue with this lifestyle.” Looking back, I would have removed this because it is irrelevant to my original goal and vision for this piece. However, I felt that Seabrook had just as strong ending as beginning. His last sentence was, “I contemplated man’s long and sometimes discordant relationship with this fruit. Then I set my teeth on its skin, and crunched.” I think this was the perfect ending and in a way answered his original question and curiosity about the apple.
What Writing Tip helped you the most? Quote a section of your article and explain how you used a Writing Tip in it's development, and what makes this significant.
I found Writing Tip #3: What is your engine? to be most helpful. All of these tips were very helpful in the beginning stages of writing my article. Before creating my first draft I spit all of my ideas out on paper and made some engines. I began writing, “Who could I interview that has a first hand experience with vegetarianism?” “What religions do not eat meat?” “Where is the most concentrated population of vegetarianism?” “Who were influential leaders in the vegetarian community?” This gave my writing purpose and made it easier to write. I found that the this writing tip was very significant because my middle section of my article was answers to these engines. For example, one answer is, “Some other famous vegetarians were Leonardo da Vinci, George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.” This guided my writing and will take practice but I will create engines at the beginning stages of my next paper.
What constructive criticism or peer feedback helped you the most? Quote from google comments, peer feedback forms or similar feedback and explain how this feedback helped guide your work.
I received a lot of great help when I was in the process of writing my cookbook article. I think that the most helpful piece of constructive criticism and peer feedback that I got was from Kelsey Trevino because she suggested that I use the writing tip #4 and finish my paper with me going back to the original anecdote at the restaurant, tell Jerry what I learned and show him graphs that I created. Kelsey also suggested, “What makes meat inconvenient?” This gave my writing another question to answer and her other suggestions and questions helped me to analyze my paper and its purpose.
What was the most difficult part of writing this article? What might you continue to revise if you had more time?
I think that the most difficult part of writing this article was making my paper all about vegetarianism rather than choosing a few key points. If I were to continue to revise this or of I had more time I would stick to three main topics about vegetarianism. This would maintain my reader’s attention and would give me an opportunity to go into further detail about each concept. For example I could talk about how vegetarianism relates to biology, culture and economics. I talk about these in my cookbook article but also discuss lots of other ideas which I feel could improve if I narrowed it down and went deeper.
What is the most important thing, concept to skill that you learned in the course of researching & writing this article? How might we see this in your writing?
I think that the most important skill that I learned in the course of researching and writing my cookbook article was doing more research that I needed. In previous years, I would start writing a paper and would not plan ahead and know what I was writing about. For this article, I needed to do extensive research from various sources and I think my biggest takeaway is to practice making outlines. This will structure my writing and will guide my research so that I am not trying to discuss five or six ideas but to go into detail about three or four that make the most sense to my essential question or thesis. You can see this in my writing in my drafts. I got a lot of great feedback from my peers and I have learned that for me I need to write to an ending and I can do that by planning and making brainstorms.
Overall, out of 50 points, how many points would you assign to your work and why?
Overall, out of fifty total points, I would assign my work a 45 out of 50. I gave myself this number because I did everything that was required. I did a brainstorm, wrote many drafts, gave and received critique, told a story, used social science research and used creative writing techniques. I think my writing was informative and creative but could always use some improvement. I think my ending was too abrupt but have learned to outline my writing in the future so that I know what I am going to write about in my final sentences. I compared my writing to professional and I have mimicked their style of introducing quotes which made my writing strong but I think my reader may have drowned in all of my information. Overall, I put a lot of time and effort into this cookbook article and have been very thorough with this reflection. I have taken away lots of new knowledge about my topic but also good skills that will help me with my future writing.