English 306 Essay Two

Your assignment for Essay Two is to write an essay that analyzes/responds to one idea/ issue from the first section (Industrial: Corn—Chapters 1-7) of Michael Pollan’s’ The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. In your analysis, you must use one, but no more than two, additional sources from any of the library databases.

When choosing your topic, you need to choose a particular issue related to industrial food—this might be focusing on a chapter, or on an idea that shows up in multiple chapters. Overall, your essay should make clear how your perspective on your chosen issue connects to Pollan’s overall message in Part I.

Questions to think about when developing your topic (just for brainstorming— your essay doesn’t need to address any of these): • Overall, what is Pollan pointing out about how our food is made? • In what different ways does Pollan look at how our food production and consumption has

changed? What are the implications of those changes? • What is particularly interesting or important about the particular issue you’ve chosen? • Does Pollan prove his points convincingly or not? • What is your reaction to his arguments and why? • How might this book lead us to act/think differently as a society?

Remember, you are the essayist here, so your job is to analyze what the most interesting and relevant aspects of your topics are, and clearly present connections to Pollan’s (and your other source(s)’ ideas (see your “They Say/I Say” book and the “Four Rules” handout for details). You also need to make sure to use MLA-style citations and a Works Cited page.

This essay should be four to five pages long, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and it should be formatted according to MLA style.

Good luck, and I look forward to reading your essays. 🙂