When you respond to texts, try to formulate claims. That makes it much easier to find and use specific textual evidence and examples to support your ideas. Using quotes in summaries doesn’t open texts up, and that’s ultimately what we want to do. We want to read critically. Keep the analysis sandwich in mind. Basically, if you analyze the texts, I’ll be pretty stoked. 

If you need a break from my prompts, you’re in luck! At this point in the semester, you probably don’t need me to provide them anyway. However, if you do like them, let me know. I might be able to spice the Pollan journals up. That said, I’ve provided an example thesis. 

We are reading four texts this week. One is in the anthology. Two are posted as PDFs. One is the introduction to a book we will be reading for the remainder of the semester.  

-Laura Fraser, “Why I Stopped Being a Vegetarian” (Norton Mix 132-136)

-Steven G. Kellman excerpt from Fish, Flesh, and Foul: The Anti-Vegetarian Animus (pdf on WebCampus)

-David Foster Wallace, “Consider the Lobster” (pdf on WebCampus)

-Michael Pollan, Introduction to The Omnivore’s Dilemma

-Clip from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRd13bMWhsU

Note: You don’t have to write about the Scott Pilgrim clip. It’s just for fun and to add another perspective on attitudes towards vegans/veganism. 

Example Thesis

In “Why I Stopped Being a Vegetarian,” Laura Fraser doesn’t really make an argument against vegetarianism. Instead, she makes a disingenuous critique of vegetarians that portrays them as selfish people striving to fit in rather than people motivated by ethics or specific interpretations of health.