Close Reading
Eating contests leave a bad taste
National 5
Read the passage carefully at least twice
• Identify the subject of the passage – what is it about? e.g.
Scottish Independence; the moon landings; immigration.
• Who is the writer and who are they writing for? Why are
they writing about it now – is there something that has
prompted this?
• What are their main points? Summarise them.
• What is their overall purpose in writing this? To inform, to
encourage debate, to persuade? Can you tell what their
stance/opinion on this is?
Personal perspective
established
Summarises
programme
and its format
Over the holidays, I experienced Man
v Food. I don’t mean my personal
battle with turkey and chipolatas, but
rather the fascinating cult TV show
from America.
Presented by the hugely likeable
Adam Richman, it follows one man’s
journey to eat all he can across the
United States. Each programme
focuses on one place and explores the
food culture, culminating in a crazy
local eating challenge.
Giving a couple
of examples.
Brief comment on host
who has quit
A lament that
this type of show
has come to UK.
Highlights have included Richman’s
demolition of fifteen-dozen oysters. In
another episode, he tackled a gargantuan
190lb burger, as big as a dustbin lid.
In other hands, this would be a grotesque
festival of gluttony, but it is saved by the
host. Richman is a food fanatic and his
knowledge and enthusiasm make the
show palatable. He also throws in the
towel a lot.
Having guzzled his way around America
for four years, Richman has decided to quit
while he is ahead. That sensible sentiment
sadly isn’t shared by others in the strange
world of competitive eating. This week an
ITV documentary, All You Can Eat,
examined the phenomenon and the impact
it is having here.
Examples of US
eating contests
Explanation of
techniques
In America, the spread of obesity has
been matched by a growth in
competitive eating. The highlight is the
annual Independence Day hot-dog
competition on Coney Island. Last
year’s winner, Joey Chestnut,
triumphed by consuming sixty-eight hot
dogs in ten minutes. To save you the
maths, that means eating one every
nine seconds.
However, it’s not eating in the
conventional sense. The gurgitators as
they are called, dip the bun and
sausage in water to make it pliable and
then use both hands to cram it in and
keep it in.
poor
UK imitations
– though apparently
it’s an expanding trend.
On this side of the Atlantic, we just
cannot compete. Britain’s contribution
to the programme was a bloke who ate
a lot of chillies and a menacing old man
with a passion for hard-boiled eggs.
But according to the show, this is just
the start. “Competitive eating is coming.
We’re spreading world-wide” said
George Shea, chairman of the
International Federation of Competitive
Eating.
Paradox between
eating contests
and world famine.
This week’s documentary failed
to mention the uncomfortable
fact that eating competitions
take place in a world where one
in seven of the population go
hungry every day.
I wonder how those people
enduring famine in the Horn of
Africa would view a competition
where you eat so much that
your body tries to go into what
the eaters quaintly call
“reversal”?
Blames the US
as the ‘exporters’
Definitive statement
of opinion
We’ve taken some wonderful
things from the US down the
years but that stops at food.
Their chocolate is inedible and
their cheese is indigestible but
competitive eating is their worst
offence yet.
In the world where 925, 000,000
are starving, it’s obscene and
wrong and it has no place here.
Each group member will take on an area of
analysis to focus on and present to the group.
Word choice and Tone
•
Identify any interesting choices the writer has made in
terms of language.
•
Why has he or she chosen that word instead of another?
•
What are the connotations of that word in this context?
(i.e. the topic he or she is discussing or the specific point
that is being made)
•
How does the word sound? (Is it onomatopoeic?)
•
Are there any patterns of word choice? (e.g.alliteration?)
•
What are the function of these words?
– How are they meant to make you feel?
– Do they affect the tone of the passage?
Figurative language
•
Identify examples of figurative language – imagery,
euphemism etc.
•
Why has he or she made that comparison or described
it in that way in this context?
•
What are the connotations of this and how does that
affect your response/attitude to the subject/point/issue?
•
How do these techniques impact on the tone of the text,
either at specific points or overall?
Punctuation and Sentence Structure
•
Identify examples of interesting punctuation and
sentence structure.
•
What is its function in this context? – e.g. why is there a
colon to introduce a list? What is the purpose of the list?
What does that parenthetical clause actually do? Why is
it there, or what specifically would be lost without it?
•
In other words: How does the punctuation/sentence
structure support the writer’s stance on the subject
and the specific points being made?
•
How does the use of punctuation and sentence structure
affect the tone of the text, either at specific points or
overall?
Structure
•
How does the passage start?
•
Why do you think the writer has chosen to do this? How does it a)
engage the reader b) relate to the rest of the passage and (possibly)
c) reflect their stance on the subject or issue?
•
Is this opening idea/point/example returned to or referred to
throughout the passage? E.g. does the writer return to it in the
concluding lines or paragraph?
•
How does the writer link his or her ideas? Watch out for transitional
markers - sentences or phrases that indicate a change in direction
from what has come before.
•
Is the information/ideas conveyed logically - e.g. all the for points
then all the against - or is it more random, like someone’s thoughts?
What does this tell you about the writer?
Title
•
Why has the writer called it this?
•
Are any techniques used? Why?
•
How does it help to engage the reader?
•
Does it convey the writer’s stance to the subject?
•
Is this an idea which is referred to or developed in the
passage?