English 101
ASSIGNMENT THREE: Cultural Foods Research Project (Cultural Food Essay)
Length: 1500 words (about 6 pages)
Format: Double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-pt. font
Grade: 30% of Final Grade
Related Readings: In the QCC Library Databases search FOUR articles as a secondary source of your choosing directly related to your project topic (must create an appropriate title for the cultural food project, never just write Cultural Food Essay as your essay title).
Regarding this project, researching involves making sense of cultural foods events. To organize your research activities, arrange your essay around four learning strategies, that is, reading, writing, field working, and reflecting. This type of research is referred to as ethnographic research, meaning the systematic investigation of the culture of a particular group or community in order to produce new knowledge or validate existing knowledge. Ethnography means both data gathering and the analysis of specific people, settings, or ways of life.
Cultural Food Spaces
Where: Your first step in this assignment is to identify a food related cultural space. While the word culture means many things to many people, for the purposes of this assignment, think of a culture as any group of people who come together in a physical space and have (at least some) common practices, behaviors, and/or beliefs. Here are some possible spaces:
School Cafeteria
Sit-down Restaurant
A Soup Kitchen (Places where free food is
served to those hungry people)
Food Pantry
Coffee Shop
Grocery Store
Corner Store / Bodega
Farmers Market
Food Court (in a mall / an airport) Fast Food Restaurant
Wholesale Food Market
Farm or a Local CSA (Community
Supported Agriculture) Specialty Food Market Your own home
One important thing to keep in mind about this assignment: an ethnographer is a researcher who is distanced or removed from what he or she studies. This means that even if you identify with or belong to the culture/space you choose to write about, you should pretend that you are an outsider who is looking in on this culture. While you can talk to members of this group, you must act like you dont belong to the group as you interact with group members. You may choose a local online food related place that you can start exploring for this project.
Cultural Foods Research Project. As explained previously, this project allows you to choose a particular food culture, including your own family food culture, and research it. You will be researching the following information:
its food (such as commonly used ingredients and recipes),
history,
table manners (what, how, and why so?),
eating behaviors (A behavior is patterned when it is recurrent. What can explain these patterns? What types of eating behaviors therehaving sandwich, bagel, or pizza everyday rather than rice or noodles? Eating desert before a main meal or ice cream after a meal? Drinking hot water or hot tea instead of cold water or cold drinks? Eating whole chicken or duck? Why have people developed their eating behaviors? Any changes, Why?),
cultural food space observations (in some detail)
family values, and
holidays, including activities related to the food culture.
Why cultural foods research? Any cultural food is a fantastic way to introduce critical thinking and writing about culture. Food plays a huge role in social structure that can be understood as the patterned relationships between people that persist over time.
Research: Primary and Secondary Research as described below
1. All the research for this project must be based on:
your own observations of food space, food preparation, food consumption, etc. (or memories of seeing
it);
interviews with at least two people (could be anyone you know or dont know, or your family members,
or friends about their experiences of the food culture and the activities that are related to it. You may
even call someone you know for a phone interview.
Scholarly articles (FOUR – researched and found by you in one of the QCCs electronic databases.
Your research paper includes the word count and a correct MLA format of a Works Cited page.
2. Guidelines for interviews:
The purpose of the interview is to find out what the food means to your interviewees, what they get from
the space, why they spend time there. You may ask them very direct questions, but part of your job as a researcher is to determine this from your analysis of what they say, meaning that you MUST analyze what they say.
Ask them to tell you a story (ies) or memories of their experience(s) of the food-related culture. This will provide evidence of what the food means to them more than asking them directly.
Use your cellphone to record what they say in your notes (or audio if they agree and if you have access to the technology)
3. Writing and Revising Process:
Draft 1 Peer Review Worksheet 1
Draft 2 Peer Review Worksheet 2
Draft 3 Peer Review Worksheet 3
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