Final final final assignment, and please have fun with it!

In addition to finishing up and posting your final revision of the Perfect Meal essay, please take the time to produce what I call process writing.

What is process writing?

Process writing describes the process you went through when drafting and revising your pieces, and the thinking about yourself as a writer that you engaged in when preparing the portfolio. The jargon for this kind of writing is “metacognition”—thinking about thinking. That makes it sound heavy, but it’s actually relaxing and enjoyable, writing that celebrates the completion of your work for the course.

“What works best is simply to record what actually happened [as you reported, wrote and revised your work], with as much honesty and detail as possible—and with a spirit of calm, benign acceptance of yourself. That is, you aren’t trying to judge yourself or prove anything or reach big conclusions—just to find our what actually goes on when you write” (Elbow and Belanoff, A Community of Writers 12-13).

You don’t have to answer all these questions, but here are some points to think about as you do your process writing:

How did you discover a process for writing each piece?
What connections did you make between the texts we read and the pieces you wrote for class?
When were you frustrated?
What were your breakthroughs?
What are the important changes you made throughout the quarter with each draft and workshop?
How did you decide what to write about and what was your writing and research process like?
When were readers’ comments useful?
When did you find your own way to solve a problem rather than following the suggestion of your readers? Why did this seem to work better?
When did you disagree with readers? Why?
What did writing for this course teach you about yourself?

Be as personal and colloquial as you wish—it’s essentially writing you’re doing for yourself, though the class and I will be reading it, too. Like part three of your final assignment, word count is up to you.

Important: I will not give you a final grade for the class unless you’ve included process writing—it’s not optional!

Note: if you feel uncomfortable publishing your process writing on the blog or you prefer that I be the sole reader of your piece, you may simply email it to me as a WORD file and with the text of the document embedded in the email by 5 pm on June 11.

7th week: restaurant review workshop lineup

First group, to be workshopped Tuesday, pieces to be posted by blogs no later than Monday at 5 p.m.:

Katherine
Emma
Mallika
Colleen
Suyeon

Second group, to be workshopped Thursday, pieces to be posted by blogs no later than Tuesday at 5 p.m.:


Marie
Jordan
McKenna
Clare

Reading Assignment for Sixth Week Tuesday

Read this from this week's New York Times by Mark Bittman, who arguably holds the contemporary title for high priest of food writing.

Also from this week, check out Pete Wells's review of Cagen in the East Village and Ristorante Morini on the Upper East Side. His scathing review of Guy Fieri's then new Times Square restaurant made all kinds of headlines in 2012. Let's talk about that, too.

Even though his stint was short as the food critic for the New York Times, we're going to take a look at some of Sam Sifton's work:

Because the Fat Lady has to Eat
Osteria Morini
Il Matto
Kenmare, which gets zero stars
Sifton on how to eat for a living and stay healthy doing it
Sifton's My Life in Food
Round One Q&A
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
and just for fun, To Catch a Critic

And a little from the West Coast, Los Angeles, to be exact:

Jonathan Gold takes on a food court
Jonathan Gold swoons for this joint
A different kind of review from the L.A. Times

How about from a European food critic?

Advice to a 10-year-old aspiring food critic

And just for kicks, let's let Twitter (and HuffPo) show us who's important in the world of restaurant criticism

Meander through the pieces, play around, and discover what piques your interest. Make sure to read for craft--pick apart what each critic is up to in his/her reviews and how they go about achieving their effects for better or for worse. Learn from them. We'll discuss what makes a review a review and what separates a bad review from a mediocre review from a fantastic review.

Above all, enjoy!

Your next assignment in three parts

Your restaurant review assignment has three parts.

1. The assumptions, expectations and anticipation: 500 words

Choose a restaurant to review. Choose a restaurant that serves food that represents a “vivid entryway into another culture” for you (Long 1), and that may be a kind of travel or border crossing for you personally. Write a blog post of 500 words or more evaluating your expectations of and assumptions about the experience. What personal experiences or baggage from the past influence what you think will happen in terms of the dining experience? What are your worries or concerns, hopes and desires for the meal? Reference any pertinent readings (including CYOA, classmates’ blog posts, more formal readings for the course, etc.) and conversations (in class or online via blogs) in this informal, conversational essay. Post to your blog BEFORE you go to the restaurant. The audience for this piece is, indeed, this class. (Also, rather than post a list of restaurants in the area, I'm going to let you do a little reporting on that, and we can brainstorm in class as well.)

2. The review: 1000 words

Using the restaurant reviews we're reading for Tuesday as a model, write a well-reasoned and –argued, structurally sound, utterly readable if not downright entertaining review of the restaurant you chose.

In terms of PROCESS, do background research on the restaurant and the cuisine, take notes (and maybe photos) during the meal, think long and hard about what you have to say about the experience (both the food and the place/ambiance), find a place (aka “The But”) on the pan-to-rave continuum where you stand, start to develop the thesis, the main points you’ll argue to support “The But.”

With regard to ORGANIZING/WRITING, make sure your piece has clear elements: thesis, point of view, an effective lead, evidence to support your claims, a conclusion that leaves a lasting impression, etc.). Also, provide perspective/context/background/research and analysis. Build your case and do it as artfully and appropriately for your intended audience as you can. (We'll talk more about the elements of a good review in class next week.)

Choose an intended publication and state it before the lead of your piece.

3. The evaluation

I will give you this part of the assignment after workshop. Don’t worry about it. It will be pleasant and informal and written for the class on your blog, much as the first part of the assignment.

Fifth Week Plan

I want to thank you for a productive and enjoyable first week of workshops. I am thrilled at what you've accomplished individually and collectively; and I haven't even seen revisions yet!

As promised I also want to lay out what is due Tuesday in class:

1. A hard copy, double spaced and stapled, preferably in 12-point Times New Roman font, of your thoroughly revised memoir assignment. (You also need to post this on your blog so everyone can see how you put the workshop feedback to good use.)
2. Take a look at Jordan's blog sometime after 5 p.m. Sunday for his CYOA which he will present in class on Tuesday.
3. From Secret Ingredients, please read:
*The Secret Ingredient, 103
*Nor Censure Nor Disdain, 115
*An Attempt to Compile a Short History of the Buffalo Chicken Wing, 277
*Good Cooking, 121
4. Write a reading response, if you choose, to any/all of the assigned Secret Ingredients pieces.
5. Don't forget to keep up with those comments on others' blogs. . . .

And just a heads up: Clare will provide our CYOA for Thursday and your reading assignment due Thursday will also be from Secret Ingredients:
*All You Can Hold for Five Bucks, 3
*A Good Appetite, 30
*Is There a Crisis in French Cooking, 65
*Don't Eat Before You Read This, 83

Memoir prompts, as promised

To get the juices flowing (so to speak) on your memoir assignment, here are some possible entry points:

1. Use one of the writing exercises from class and expand it to explore food, memory and one of your places of origin.

2. After "Stealing Buddha's Dinner," write about a food obsession of yours.

3. Write about a memory of your first time with a new food, a time when you experienced a completely new flavor. What effect did it have on you?

4. Write about a longing for food that speaks to a bigger, deeper longing.

5. Write about an experience of giving up food--a particular kind of food, a particular amount, food in general--of denying yourself food.

6. Write about "site-specific" food or things you've cooked in conjunction with other activities, perhaps inspired by Jane Kramer. Or write about food you have--or would--travel for, like Bourdain and French Laundry. "I like the idea of having to travel to experience a French Laundry meal. The journey is part of the experience--or was for me--an expression of the seriousness of one's intent . . . " (251).

These are just starting points to get you going. Feel free to write from any other place in the universe as long as it speaks to food, travel, and memory.

Whatever you write, keep an eye toward crafting scene, developing character and voice, using dialogue, allowing yourself to meander and wander into the recesses of your mind as well as inform the reader about things s/he may not be familiar with. And have fun!

Choose Your Own Assignment Begins Tuesday!

Here are sites to get you started in your CYOA assignment:

*Gourmet's favorite food sites
*Bon Appetit magazine online
*Food and Travel magazine online
*The New Yorker online has a terrific search function in which you can find even more recent food pieces than the ones collected in Secret Ingredients
*Every Wednesday, the New York Times has a Dining Section; and every Sunday they put out a Travel Section. There are various food and travel articles throughout the paper everyday and you can access many of the articles and blogs anytime online. It's worth spending some time on the site.
*This is a delightful radio show devoted to food
*there are, of course, cable networks devoted entirely to food and travel. Take a look here, here and here.

That should at least get you started. Don't at all feel limited to these particular sites in your hunt for your CYOA; my hope is that by bringing what you love to class, you'll expand our knowledge and resources. Also, make sure to present something to us that sustains good discussion. Showing a cooking show clip or a recipe, for example, likely won't get us anywhere. Also, make sure to find something that speaks to the marriage of food and place.

The lineup for CYOA presentations is:

Week 2
Tuesday: Mallika
Thursday: Marie

Week 3
Tuesday: Jordan D.
Thursday: Emma

Week 5
Tuesday: Jordan M.
Thursday: Clare

Week 6
Tuesday: McKenna
Thursday: Katherine

Week 8
Tuesday: Suyeon
Thursday: Colleen

Week 9
Tuesday: Sophie