Your assignment is to write a 3-5 page essay that examines some aspect of food and US food policy and relates that aspect to one of the authors we studied this semester. In class I will provide a number of resources that discuss food and food policy and your assignment is to pick one of these aspects and write a paper about it. These resources include the film Food Inc. and the PBS Envision special on food in San Diego. Some topics you might want to focus on are:- Treatment of Animals in Factory Farms
- Food Safety
- Conditions of Farm Laborers
- Health and Nutrition of Food
- Governmental Regulation of Food
- The Obesity Epidemic in the US
Once you pick an aspect of the debate to focus on, you should then write a 3-5 page essay in which you examine that topic and relate the issues raised to one of the authors or ethical theories we discussed in class. In particular, I want to know what the author you pick would say about the issue that you are discussing. A successful paper will do the following: - Contain a well-articulated thesis statement that explains what the paper is about and takes a clear stand on the issues under discussion.
- Provide a clear articulation of the food issue you have chosen (this will require some independent research and collection of data on your part).
- Provide a clear articulation of those aspect of the philosopher's position that are relevant to your paper.
- Apply the view of the philosopher to the issue at hand and explain what position the chosen philosopher would take on the issue.
- Conclude with your own analysis of the issue and whether or not you think the philosopher you have chosen is correct.
- Properly cite (using MLA or CMS) all sources used in the paper.
- Contain a "Works Cited" page.
Your paper should be typed, double-spaced and written in 10-12 point legible font. The final draft is due on Wednesday, May 9. In addition to the final draft, there are a few pre-writing assignments that must be completed:
- You will need to select a topic and come up with a thesis statement for class on Wednesday, April 25. That is, you will need to have chosen which aspect of US food policy you want to study and which of the authors we have studied in class you want to relate that topic to. This material should be brought to class to turn in.
- You will need to bring three copies of a rough draft of your paper to class on Wednesday, May 2 for in-class peer editing.
Grading Criteria for Essays: The goal for the student is to provide evidence that s/he has read and considered the course material and is able to write intelligibly about the concepts covered therein. You want to identify the prompt to which you are responding and provide evidence that you have understood the material.
To earn an A, your responses provide evidence of the ‘B’ standards below, plus that you have really thought about the concepts covered in the reading and lectures:
- You use very original examples to illustrate the concepts of the reading.
- You apply very specific events or discussions from the reading to some new situation.
- Your writing is excellent and/or your style is very interesting
To earn a B or higher, your responses provide evidence of your having read and comprehended the material. In addition to the ‘C’ standards below:
- You apply ideas from the reading to correspondent ideas presented in the classroom.
- You use examples from the lectures to illustrate the concepts in the reading.
To earn a C or higher, your responses provide evidence of your having read and comprehended the material.
- You answer correctly all basic questions about the main ideas and characters.
- You show recognition of all main ideas or characters’ names and their respective associations.
- You correctly identify all concepts introduced or reviewed in the reading.
- You correctly identify and apply all terms from the reading and lectures.
- Your writing is relatively free from spelling and grammatical errors.
- You use examples from the reading or lectures to illustrate your answers.
To earn a D or higher, your responses provide some evidence of your having read, thought about, and comprehended the material:
- You answer correctly some but not all basic questions about the main ideas.
- You show some recognition of main ideas or characters’ names.
- You correctly identify some but not all concepts introduced or reviewed in the reading and lectures.
- You correctly identify and apply some but not all terms introduced or reviewed in the reading and lectures.
To earn an F, you provide hardly any or no evidence of having read, considered, and comprehended the material. |
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