Pop Culture Topics: Images
of Food in America
How to Cite Images in MLA, Research Thesis
Workshop, Topic Sentences
Thesis Workshop
• Now that you’ve done your reading and completed
your annotated bibliography, I want to know what
your ROUGH thesis is. This is the ANSWER to the
question that you asked in your research proposal.
Thesis Workshop
• Now that you’ve done your reading and completed
your annotated bibliography, I want to know what your
ROUGH thesis is. This is the ANSWER to the question
that you asked in your research proposal.
• Thesis statement should be:
• A claim (research-supported opinion) about your topic.
An assertion that something is true. (Not a question.)
• Clear and specific.
• Setting up a complex response. (Your entire paper is a
complex response to the question you asked in your
proposal…)
• See p. 27-29 of Rules for Writers for advice on Thesis
Statements.
Checking for Topic Sentences
• Every single body paragraph of your research paper
needs to have an effective topic sentence.
• A topic sentence is a sentence at the beginning of a
paragraph that clearly states the point that the rest
of the paragraph will be about.
• For a persuasive research paper, a topic sentence
should do one of two things:
• clearly state the reason your thesis is correct that the
paragraph will discuss
• clearly state how the ideas/stories/explanations in the
paragraph relate to the thesis
Checking for Topic Sentences
• Example Thesis: Colleges and professors should have
policies and programs in place that keep textbook costs
down because high textbook prices can keep students
from succeeding academically.
• Some Example Topic Sentences that relate to this
thesis:
• Students who cannot afford to buy books for classes will be at
a disadvantage for several reasons. (The rest of this paragraph
should discuss all of the reasons that the student will be at a
disadvantage. This sentence connects that paragraph to the
thesis because it make a claim about how textbook costs
affect academic success.)
Checking for Topic Sentences
• More Example Topic Sentences:
• One way many colleges address the problem of textbook
costs is by opening textbook lending libraries that rely on
student and community donations. (The rest of this
paragraph should explain how a lending library works and talk
about whether it’s an effective way to solve the problem. This
topic sentence relates to the thesis because it is about a
program that colleges have to help with textbook costs.)
• Professors can and should contribute to solving this problem
by putting one copy of each textbook they use on reserve in
the library and using older editions whenever possible. (The
rest of this paragraph should explain why these strategies are
useful ways to solve the problem. This sentence relates to the
thesis because it is a policy that professors can follow to help
students with textbooks.)
Checking for Topic Sentences
• More Example Topic Sentences:
• The stories of students like Joe Smith and Maria Gonzalez are
good examples of why keeping textbook costs low is
important. (The rest of this paragraph should tell the stories
of these two students and connect their experiences to the
claim – the colleges and professors need to think of ways to
keep costs down.)
• Another way colleges can help lower costs is by making
students aware of low-cost options such as textbook rental
and digital copies. (The rest of this paragraph should explain
how textbook rental and digital copies work, why these
strategies are useful ways to solve the problem, and whether
there are any drawbacks. This sentence relates to the thesis
because it is a policy that colleges can follow to help students
with textbooks.)
As you write your draft, double
check for topic sentences.
• Does each topic sentence clearly and succinctly
state the main point of the paragraph?
• Does each topic sentence connect the paragraph
back to the thesis?
• If the answer to either of these questions is “no,”
you need to revise your topic sentence(s).
• If you realize that a paragraph covers too many
topics to be covered by one topic sentence, you
need to break up that one paragraph into several,
each with its own topic sentence.
Write at least three rough topic
sentences for your research paper.
• This requires you to know what main reasons you
will present in support of your claim. Each
paragraph should be devoted to discussing a
reason, or a specific aspect of a reason.
• Remember…
• Topic sentences are not questions.
• Topic sentences must be in your own words. Do not start
a paragraph with a quote from a source.
• Topic sentences are umbrella statements that let your
reader know what the entire paragraph will be about
and how that paragraph relates to the thesis.
Preparing to Discuss the Readings
• Each of the essays we read for today talks about a trend
related to American ideas about food. (“An Expert’s
Theory of Food Television’s Appeal” discusses the
current popularity of Food TV, and “Heat, Tray, Love”
discusses the significance of TV dinners in the author’s
childhood.)
1. Do you watch “food television”? If so, what are your
reasons for watching? Do you agree with the
author’s theory about why we watch food TV?
2. OR, do you eat “instant meals”? Can you relate to
the author’s experiences/memories? Did your family
eat them when you were growing up? Why or why
not?
Discussion of Readings
• What were some of the theories about the
popularity of Food TV that the author of “An
Expert’s Theory of Food Television’s Appeal” (p.
110) put forward? Does any one of these theories
make more sense to you than the others?
• What was the author’s attitude toward TV dinners
in “Heat, Tray, Love” (p. 114)? What ideas about
“instant food” is this author responding to?
Questions for Discussion
• What are some images of food that you see in
popular culture?
• What are some images of cooking that you see in
popular culture?
• What are the various messages that these images
of food send? (In other words, what do these
images of food/cooking encourage us to think
about food?)
“Freedom
from Want”
by Norman
Rockwell
This painting was
published in the
magazine The Saturday
Evening Post on March 6,
1943.
What do you notice
about this image? About
the food? About the
people?
What assumptions is this
painting making about
American families? What
values does it represent?
How might a
Thanksgiving today be
similar? Different?
Discussion of Painting
• Do you think that people who haven’t had
experience like these (with family traditions related
to food) are missing something? Is there something
that can be done to reverse this trend that has led
to a generation of people who, for the most part,
do not cook? Should there be? What do you think
the authors of the essays we read for this class
would say to that question?
More Images of Food/Eating in
Pop Culture
• The next three slides contain three different
advertisements. For each ad, ask yourself what the
message of the ad is. What does the ad want you
(the audience) to think about food/eating? What
are the assumptions and attitudes about food that
are present in each ad?
MLA Rules to Remember for
Citing Images
• Give credit for the image to the person who created
it, if you know who that was.
• Let your audience know where to find the image if
they want to see it for themselves in context.
• Unlike other essays where I have allowed you to
insert images without referring to them, you MUST
mention each image you use in the text of your
paper.
Tips for Choosing Images for Use in
Your Research Paper (via the OWL)
• Choose images that are directly relevant to the
argument you are making. Look for illustrations
that enhance your audience’s understanding of
your topic or illustrate a point you are trying to
make in a powerful way.
• Use quality versions of the images. If your images
are low quality or distorted, this distracts your
reader from your argument.
How Do I Cite an Image?
• Each image will be assigned a number, in the order
in which it is mentioned in the essay.
• In MLA format, photographs, charts, graphs, and
other images are all called “figures.” This is
abbreviated in the text of your paper to “fig.”
• When you mention the image, direct your audience
to that image at the end of the sentence that
mentions it by writing (see fig. #) at the end. (Note:
replace # sign by the number assigned to the
image.)
How Do I Cite an Image?
• Each image must have a caption below it that does
three things:
• Tells the image’s figure number.
• Briefly describes the image and why it is relevant to
your argument.
• Gives credit to the source of the image, either with
an in-text citation (author’s name in parentheses) if
the source is on your works cited page, or by simply
telling the audience all information about the
source of the image in the caption.
Example Image Use When You
Know the Photographer/Creator
• The following example uses an image of a wellknown painting to make a point.
• Here is how you might mention the image in the
body of your essay.
Norman Rockwell’s painting “Freedom From
Want” shows a typically middle class family from the
1940s eating together. Looking at the painting
closely, one can see how closely concepts of food
and family values were connected to what it meant
to be American in the time that Rockwell painted it
(fig. 1).
Insert the image at the end of the paragraph
where you mention it. Try to center the image.
Fig. 1: In Norman Rockwell’s painting “Freedom From Want,” a middle class American
family typical of the 1940s enjoys a meal together. Image from the Norman Rockwell
Museum website.
Example Use of Images in
Textbook
• See example in Rules for Writers on p. 471. The
author says (see fig. 1) at the bottom of the 1st
paragraph, and Fig. 1 is located at the top with a
brief description below it, including this in-text
citation  (Adams 106). This sends the audience to
the works cited page to see the source of the
image.
• See p. 455 for how to cite an advertisement.
General Guidelines:
• Give your audience enough information in the caption
to find the image for themselves.
• If you can’t find the name of a photographer or creator,
leave it out, but give your audience some other
information to help them find the image.
• Use google image search to see if you can find a copy of
the image accompanied by more information.
(images.google.com) Simply drag and drop the image
you want more information about into the search bar,
and it will find similar images and give you any
information google can find about it.
Do I HAVE TO have an image in
my research paper?
• No, but images are incredibly powerful rhetorical
tools.
• You will want to consider whether your argument
would be strengthened by including at least an
image or two that were relevant to your main
points.
• I will not take away points if you do not have
images, but excellent use of images can help you to
earn more points in categories where I am grading
you on use of rhetorical tools.