The Goal:
The goals for this week are (1) to understand what quality analysis looks like in preparation for your first paper, (2) to become MLA ballers, and (3) to familiarize yourself with the class rubric so you fully understand your audience (*ahem,* that would be me).
What to Read:
“Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps to Rhetorical Analysis” in Writing Spaces, Vol 1.
Read MLA-1 through MLA-5 in A Writer’s Reference—please note you’re responsible for these pages for your MLA Quiz (pp. 391-470)
“Teaching Literary Analysis‘ by Rusul Alrubail
Our Class Rubric
* The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan: Intro and Chapters 1 & 2 (57 pages)
Writing Exercise:
1. Analysis of Chipotle’s “Honest Scarecrow”
Advertisements are great ways to practice looking at something critically and analytically because their purpose is so blatant. Watch Chipotle’s “Honest Scarecrow” youtube ad. Then write a 1-2 page mini-analysis answering one of these questions: what idea is Chipotle trying to sell? Who might their audience be? What anxieties or idealizations are they playing off of? Submit this on blackboard under “WA2”.
2. Blackboard Quiz
This week, along with your formal writing exercise, you will be taking a quiz on some of the finer points of MLA citation style.
This quiz can be taken in Blackboard by clicking on “MLA Quiz’ in the menu. You must achieve a score of 80% or better in order to pass this course. You can take it as many times as you wish, but no score less than 80% will be recorded. Although it’s open book, please make sure you’ve read the MLA section in A Writer’s Reference beforehand.
Discussion:
This is our first week reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. What do you think about Pollan’s simple opening question “What should we have for dinner?” As you read on, think critically about Pollan’s argument. This book is now almost ten years old. Is it still relevant? Accurate? What do you think of Pollan’s and Naylor’s premise that capitalism and agriculture have never worked cohesively?
Jump to our slack page to discuss.
Submission Checklist:
- Analysis of Chipotle (WA2) (20 points)
- Blackboard Quiz (20 points)
- Contribution to discussion (30 points)