Your challenge is to critically analyze the package of some food that makes some health-related claims. You should avoid products primarily marketed as fun, rather than healthy (so, don’t critique candy, soda, Doritos, etc). Some things like kids cereal straddle that line, but as long as there are health claims to critique, it’s fine. If you can’t automatically think of something to write about when you see the package, you should pick something else.
Apply the course discussion and activities in the real world by critically analyzing “stuff” that communicates about health, which is clearly true for most of the packages we see in grocery stores. This is the goal of the entire course–to help you think critically and historically about diet and health. In terms of the writing itself, the assignments encourage/force you to focus on the clarity and concision of your thinking and expression. It’s a super useful skill that you’ll frequently employ in your future career, whatever it is.
Your essay should be ~750 words. Focus on quality over quantity. The challenge isn’t to write enough words, but pack as much clear and concise analysis into that space as you can.
The main question we’re focusing on for this assignment: How does your product’s package shape our perception of health?
Another question to keep in mind as you write: How can the history of diet and health (as we’ve discussed it so far), provide any insight into why the package looks like it does? For instance, you might discuss how fear motivates health claims commonly seen on packages.
You should begin your essay with a quick description of the product and package—no more than a few sentences—so that your readers have an idea of what you’re writing about.
One of the major goals of this assignment is to show me that you’re doing the reading, and you will do this by deliberately drawing from the readings in your analysis. Do you see any distinct similarities or differences between expertise from our earlier readings? You should cite passages from the readings with author-date notation.
An example: Although Cheyne appealed to his personal experience with diet, he himself was extraordinarily large (Shapin, 276).
Please do not cite work from outside course readings—this assignment is to help me evaluate your engagement with our course materials.
NOTE: If your essay does not meet minimum formatting requirements, I will return it to you, and you will have to fix it, turn it in again, and you will lose points for being annoying.
In the process of getting your ideas on paper, you might end up with something like: “This article does not cite any research. The lack of research means it is difficult to understand if it should be trusted.”
During revisions, you should rephrase this to: “The article’s lack of citations compromises its authority and casts out on its validity.”
This kind of revision gives you much-needed space for more analysis and makes your writing (and you, by extension) smarter.
NOTE: Revisions are hard! But they are the only way to make your writing shine.
If you are not pleased with your grade, you can revise and resubmit them within 1 week of getting them back. You get an average grade between the two, though I tend to count the second one a bit more. I encourage you to meet with me about your essay before revising it to make sure you have a clear understanding how to improve it.
Please email me anytime with questions or concerns, including whether a particular source will work with the assignment. It is always worthwhile to talk about these things in class, too. Don’t hesitate to ask.