Post 1: The reading I found interesting was “consider the lobster”. It was little shocking to me to think that boiling lobster or cooking lobster is cruel, I only loved eating it while on the other hand, I did not want to see the process of cooking. This article gave me new perspective in cooking lobster and I thought that it is hard to decide whether it is right or wrong because it is a dilemma for people who eat any kind of meat, and everyone will have to be vegetarians. I saw how people’s thoughts can vary widely depending on who is reading it. The reading I found that was interesting was the article which I read during my annotated bibliography, “6 countries around the world where curry is a big deal“. I chose curry because it is one of my favourites and I knew it is in many countries with different styles, but I did not know how exactly they differ and the article explained how they differ in details.

Post 2: I did not know what exactly is the rhetoric of food before this class. I can now say that it is one distinct genre of rhetoric, a communication topic. People write, talk, record about food and interact with the readers. Foods are different and distinct in countries, cultures, races and more. Food is essential for people’s living so it has grown up to be one huge medium in our lives. I can see at least one things that is related about food it I spend no more than 5 minutes on the internet. It is a common language across the world. People communicate, agree or debate their own thoughts and share them. The rhetoric of food will grow together with the internet.

The article that I enjoyed the most was the Fieri review. I thought it was interesting in how harsh it was. This reviewer came across as completely biased to the point where it seemed he was reviewing the man rather than the restaurant. However, at the same time it was still pretty humorous for how direct it was. While it was entertaining to read this, the sarcasm and tone took away from the actual message as well as the author’s credibility.

I chose to read “19 Lazy But Brilliant Recipes That Won’t Let You Down, ” a Tasty by Buzzfeed article. This was my mentor text I used to guide my original composition. This article is great, because it was written for millennials and the content was intended to be sharable, which were two characteristics important to my writing. It also promotes a simplicity to cooking which is very valuable.

At the beginning of the semester I would have thought that the rhetoric of food was just simply writing about what we eat. I thought it pretty much would be cookbooks and restaurant reviews. As the semester progressed it became apparent that who was writing was also just as important as what was being written. Also, the content of what was being produced took on many more forms than what I expected. It encompasses everything from cookbooks to Tasty videos to Buzzfeed articles. I never realized how many different genres can be used in food writing. All in all, I learned that the rhetoric of food is the way in which we express and analyze our experiences with food.

The rhetoric of food is more than just words or language. Its about communicating a variety of ideas. Each of these pieces, whether it be recipes, podcasts, Tasty videos, annotated bibliographies, or reviews, all have a reason for existing. It’s because the author wanted to share those ideas that they had. And there’s always a reason for why the author wants to share these things. That’s why we have to look beyond just what is written and look at the context, the history of both the author and the time they lived in, as well as the audience he wants to speak to. By looking at these things, we can see why a piece of work is so successful (or not). That’s why it’s important for us to be able to communicate with each other so we can share in these experiences.

For some people, they write because they want to show the disparity between certain groups of people. For me, I found a photo essay that demonstrated how different school lunches can be across the world. For other people, they may want to share something that their mother cooked since it brings back so many wonderful memories for them. Sometimes, these recipes have been passed down for an even longer time. All of these things tell us about each other as people, and with the written word, these experiences can last for a very long time.

The assigned reading that I most enjoyed would definitely have to be “A Guide to Venezuela Arepas.” As I am very interested in online content/media, I found this piece to be a joy to read and just see the animations that must have taken hours to make. The commentary was also humorous, making it easy to digest. There are so many versions of the arepas, and it made me understand that each person makes it their own way. It reminds me of the Japanese savory pancake, okonomiyaki, because like arepas, okonomiyaki is also a dish that is made “your own way.” It was also once a staple, back when Japan was still struggling after World War II. Since reading, the article, it has made me interested in trying out the arepa, and that’s the kind of work that I want to be able to create. I want to make something that gets other people curious about Japanese food and culture so they can try it out for themselves.

The favorite reading that I have chosen for myself would definitely have to be “Rice, Noodle, Fish” by Matt Goulding. Matt Goulding has such great narrative voice as he describes his travels and naturally, as an award winning writer, he is great at describing experiences with food. I didn’t expect for him to make me care about okonomiyaki, as much as I did, but he told Fernando Lopez’s story with such great detail that it made me care. Lopez was pretty much a nobody, an outsider from Guatemala in Japan, until he found his way to an apprenticeship under an okonomiyaki chef. And even being released from his apprenticeship didn’t mean he was successful immediately. He had to struggle to build his top-selling restaurant in Hiroshima. Matt Goulding tells stories about food that I had never read before, and I absolutely love his writing, so check out his books or the website he contributes to, Roads & Kingdoms.

Post 1: For the required readings, I liked reading “Consider the Lobster” by Foster Wallace. I learned a lot about lobsters and I didn’t know they used to be considered low-class food, since now they’re really expensive. The article was really informative and I thought it was interesting that there could be a whole article written about lobsters, including the ways it can be cooked and a little bit about its history. From my own readings, I liked this article, History of Ice Cream, which talked about the history of ice cream and included a lot of fun facts about ice cream. I love ice cream but I didn’t know much about it until I read this article.

Post 2: I think the rhetoric of food connects everyone around the world. Every culture has their own food and unique recipes, and by writing about food, we can share our culture with other people and learn something new. Writers can express their thoughts on food, whether it be about the food itself, the history of that dish, or their thoughts on a restaurant they went to. People write restaurant reviews to express their thoughts on a restaurant, and in today’s world, Tasty videos have become a popular way to show how to make food in a short video clip. The rhetoric of food brings us together and is meant to be shared with everyone. Anyone can read about food and write about it, and by doing so we can learn more about food and its importance to people around the world.

The rhetoric of food does not have one simple cut and paste definition. It is a very flexible term that expands across many mediums and genres of texts. Perhaps one of the oldest and longest lasting genres, the rhetoric of food can range from videos, movies, reviews, recipes and even stories- along with much more. Our class has proven that there is no set thing that is the rhetoric of food, but we have demonstrated that the rhetoric of food is meant to be shared and enjoyed by everyone. It is a subject that wants to inform, and in some cases, entertain as well. It is a subject that is important and prevalent in every culture and society, and has informed us about certain cultures and their histories. The rhetoric of food will continue to live on as long as humans are still alive and eating, and will continue to be one of the most universal and basic human connections.

Post 1: My favorite pieces of literature I read for this class was Pete Wells’ article titled “As Not Seen on TV” discussing Guy Fieri’s new restaurant in Times Square and the “Elemental Odes”, specifically the “Ode to Tomato”, by Pablo Neruda. The Fieri article was my favorite bit of assigned reading because of its humorous and sarcastic nature, mixed with the short paragraphs that allow the article to read as if the author is doing a comedy routine. This article began to expand my view on writing and show me that the way I revised my writing to look would affect the way it was read. Pablo Neruda’s “Elemental Odes” was my favorite reading that was not assigned, although it was suggested to me by Thea, it quickly became my favorite selection of reading I had read all year. Reading these odes helped me not only analyze the genre of poetry, but it helped me create poetry in a way that I had never done before.

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Post 2: When I started this course, I thought that the rhetoric of food were the words used around cooking and eating food. Coming to the end of this course I have learned that the rhetoric of food is much more than that. The rhetoric of food describes the way we understand, express, and experience food and all its constituencies. We use the rhetoric of food to analyze not only what the author is saying, but who the author is, where they are coming from, what they are trying to portray, and how they are trying to portray it. Instead of simply describing food itself, the rhetoric of food is the entire combination of all these elements into texts to then express points the author is trying to make about society and culture. I have learned that the rhetoric of food is as much about understanding the text meaning and depth as it is the literal words that the author uses to describe food.

My favorite text from class was definitely Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace. I found this text to be insightful and informative. This writing required me to think in a way that I’ve never thought before about lobsters and brought a very unique perspective on this specific food. I appreciated his style of writing and how he wasn’t forcing his point of view and opinions on the reader, but instead merely coming to the audience as a confused individual. His perception of certain things such as the type of people who attend these festivals also made me laugh.

My favorite text that I read outside of class was The Truth About American Sushi No One Wants to Hear by Hannah Cooper. There were several aspects that I liked about this text. For one, I really enjoyed the format that she utilized. She made it organized and easy to follow while also numbering her list. I also thought that this piece was helpful when it came to writing my bibliography on the difference in sushi in Japan and America. This was a short, yet enlightening text that gave me an idea on what specifically is different in each region.

The rhetoric of food is an attempt to put into words what we eat and all that is food. It is a very broad term, but it can cover countless aspects such as the history of food, food culture in certain regions, the production and consumption of food, or the taste of food itself. There are many ways in which to write about food: recipes, reviews, memoirs, blogs, etc. I have also learned that food writing doesn’t have to be presented in the form of words, but can also be viewed as videos. Throughout the semester we have covered and researched many different types of genres and looked at the specific meaning and purpose behind each one. I have learned about different styles of writing and how each style can commence different feelings or thoughts within the reader. In general, I believe that the rhetoric of food should make the reader feel emotions whether it be happiness or sorrow through telling a story about food.

What are you learning about the way writers express their ideas about food? Something that I have learned about the Rhetoric of Food is that writers have so many different ways to express their ideas about food. The mediums can be short stories, they can be poetry, videos, restaurant reviews, blogs, and movie trailers. Being able to use all of the literary mediums and a multitude of delivery forms allows many types of people to read about the rhetoric of food. “Food Cultures” are important  to each person, for me they different for each person as they are significant to each person, and their cultural heritages and the important to the foods that they can consume. When we worked on the annotated bibliography and we learned so many ways food connects to power, history, politics, race, gender, nationality and other identity markers. Cookbooks can be geared towards genders, the kitchen is considered to be a “feminine space”, burgers/wings are considered to be masculine foods, and how certain foods seemed to be racial and other certain people have the power to cook those things.