Major Essay Assignment Three: Food is Political
In Essay 1, you described the meaning of a particular food to a community you personally belong to. In Essay 2, you researched the meaning of food to another culture and discovered a conflict that gave you a reason to write about this community’s connection to food. Both of these assignments asked you to use personal, descriptive language while incorporating sources that added insight to your own perspective.
In Essay 3, you will build on these skills by investigating a local problem connected to producing and consuming food.
You should consider the national, or even global, consequences of this problem, but you should focus your essay on a local issue. “Local” can mean an issue on our campus, in Lexington, or in your own hometown. Once you’ve chosen your topic, you will conduct firsthand field work as well as traditional and nontraditional research in order to:
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Reflect on your own participation in food production and your personal consumption habits.
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Discover how local citizen action addresses the problem you are focusing on.
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Convince readers that the local issue you are focusing on is worthwhile.
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Persuade readers to reflect on our participation in food production and our consumption habits and potentially to become involved in local citizen action.
Develop your essay with credible and relevant sources:
For this essay, you must conduct firsthand fieldwork that is connected to the local issue you choose to write about. You may volunteer with a local organization, participate in a relevant local event, or conduct significant interviews with community members. I will post a list of ideas on
Blackboard to get you started. Past experience will help you develop your reflection, but does not count as fieldwork for this essay. You are also required to find, utilize, and cite at least 5 sources that add new information and/or a new insight to your discussion. You should use a variety of academic and nontraditional sources. You should not rely on Wikipedia or Google for articles.
Basic Essay Requirements:
Length: This essay requires 10 full pages of text. Graphics and your “Works Cited” page do not count towards the length. Essays fewer than 10 full pages will be considered incomplete and will receive a grade of “E” and consequently must be rewritten ( see Course Policy ).
Format: Your essay must be typed with 12-point Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins and double-spaced, and multiple pages must be numbered and stapled together. Include a title, in-text citations, and a “Works Cited” page.
Peer Review Date: TBA
Final Essay Due: F 4/11
Include in your folder:
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Final draft, including a “Works Cited” page, stapled
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Rough draft
 Field work and/or interview notes
Major Essay Assignment Three: Food is Political

Major Essay Assignment Three: Food is Political: Grading Criteria
Ethos:
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Make sure your voice is distinctive and direct and use “I” to frame your reflection.
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Use descriptive language and consider setting a scene(s).
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Conduct meaningful and relevant firsthand fieldwork.
 Choose sources that add important and interesting perspectives to your argument.
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Use surprising, original details and word choice so that your essay is memorable, rather than predictable.
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Show that you are aware of a public audience through word choice and tone.
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P ersuade readers to reflect on our own participation in food production/consumption habits.
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Consider whether part of your purpose should be to persuade readers to act in some way. You may suggest, for example, that readers should also volunteer or become involved in local citizen action in another way.
Analysis:
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Reflect on your own participation in food production/consumption habits.
 Your writing should show you discovered how local citizen action addresses the problem you are focusing on.
 Avoid making easy, predictable conclusions about the problem you are focusing on. Push yourself to answer the question, “So what?”
 Include a strong implicit or explicit thesis statement that conveys your purpose.
Evidence:
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Conduct meaningful, firsthand field work to be able to include personal experience and observation.
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Show your readers what you have learned from research and from considering the perspectives we have discussed in class about the production and consumption of food .
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Remember, you do not always have to use a direct quote(s) from sources; rather, you should consider when it is appropriate to either quote, paraphrase, or summarize.
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Be conscious of over-utilizing a source. Integrate sources into your writing while preserving your voice.
Structure
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Include an evocative title and draw your readers in to an interesting, original introduction.
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Organize your essay in a way that shows your personal style and voice. Avoid the 5 paragraph essay—this structure is predictable.
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Transition from one related idea to another in a way that adds to the reader’s understanding of your reason for writing.
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Conclude your essay in a way that makes your readers continue to think after they have put your essay down.
Writing Conventions:
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Include in-text citations and a “Works Cited” page.
 Proofread and edit for any distracting errors. Use “the top twenty” list on page 3 of your
St. Martins’ handbook as a guide for editing for common errors.
A “B” range essay will have a weakness in one area, or may struggle but recover in a few areas.
A “C” range essay will be deficient in one area, or may struggle significantly in a few areas.
A “D” or “E” range essay will not fulfill the requirements of one or more areas.