Omnivores Dilemma Ch 2,6,7 & TSIS Ch 1-3

They Say I Say:
Ch 1: This chapter discusses how to open your paper with an argument, or the book states it as "They Say". It starts with a conference and throughout the conference the book author discusses how they never knew what the speaker of the conference was basing his conference off of. I think it is crucial to base your argument off of what other people are saying because this gives you reason to be writing or taking in the first place. Without this, as the author of TSIS states, you don't even know why you are there at the conference or reading this paper in the first place. So the low down of this chapter was starting with what "They Say". It helps you build your own argument in doing so.

Ch 2: This chapter talks all about "The Art of Summarizing". The author gives many ideas on how to summarize effectively such as putting yourself in the shoes of the person or thing you wish to summarize. This chapter also discusses the fact that you can also misunderstand a reading and summarize it the wrong way and if you try to make an argument with that summary later you will ultimately look like a fool. The way you summarize can make or break your argument in some cases and so though it is a summary it deserves much more credit than most people give it. In a way a summary can tell you the summarizer’s feelings behind the subject at hand, unless they have read this section of this book and learned that a good summary comes from the shoes of the original readings author. This chapter also brings up the proper use of signal verbs such as verbs that make a claim, express an argument, disagree or question, and verbs that recommend. This list of verbs seems to be very useful because I myself have a hard time sometimes introducing summaries into my writing. This chapter should be a great resource for future papers and arguments to come.
Ch 3: This chapter talks about "The Art of Quoting"(Graff C., Birkenstein C., 2006, p.39) :P and how quotes, like summaries, can also make or break your argument. I have come across many arguments where their quotes have told me whether or not to challenge their argument or agree with the writer and I definitely agree when it comes to using quotes to support you. Someone else has already done the research so why not use that research to write a paper or base an argument? I mean why not, it'll definitely save you a very large amount of time, but in return it is only kind to show them the same amount of niceness when you quote and cite their work. This chapter also discusses how to find proper quotations and the process of what to do after finding them. DON"T BE A HIT AND RUN QUOTER!!! Selecting a quote that has very little relevance to your assignment does not in any way fulfill your need for a quote, once you've selected a quote like the reading says, explain your quotes, don’t be a hit and run quoter who just hits the quote and leaves it there to defend for itself out on a open country road with plenty of scavengers around and doing this will surely get you incarcerated. Haha… This chapter also gives you a very good tip on blending the author’s words with your own when quoting. I think this was the more beneficial of the three chapters because it was the only one that if not done properly could get you in DEEP… oh what’s the word? POO…

Omnivore’s Dilemma:
Ch 2: Corn now days has become so widely needed for basically everything your average U.S. citizen consumes that I find it very much so CRAZY! Not only has our need gone up but our yield has gone up quite a bit too. Your average Iowa farmer yields anywhere from 160-200 bushels of corn per acre and compare to when this agricultural trend all started in the 1920’s is a 140-180 bushel increase. An even crazier thing is this my friends, Omnivore’s Dilemma only discusses half of it. The Author, Michael Pollan chose to do his research in Iowa and it kind of makes you want to assume that all our corn comes from there but that’s not even close, corn is such a desired cash crop that it is massively produced all over the U.S. where adequate soil has been established. Farmers are striving to plant so much of this stuff that they are actually pushing out the other plants, animals, and people who live in Greene County Iowa. I think the point Michael Pollan is trying to make is that corn has become such a great crop for the U.S. in many ways but we are now coming to find that corn has caused so many problems too and we as a nation need to take a step back and decide what we want to place into our bodies and into our atmosphere.
Ch 6: This chapter focuses on us the consumer, hints the title in case you haven’t read it yet. Haha. I had no idea that some many American’s in the early 19th century were having such a good time. What happened to us? Going from 5 gallons of spirits a year to 1, that’s a big difference and if studies show that alcoholism runs in the family, I think Michael Pollan just supplied me with reason otherwise. I mean 5 gallons a year is accurate think about how much they didn’t get done. No wonder we haven’t been able to travel through time yet, it was those damn 19th century foke slacken off. Lol alright back on topic. So Michael Pollan wants us to see that our drinking habits back in the early 19th century are very much so comparable to the eating habits of a modern U.S. citizen. Well I say NAY! I’ve never see someone sit down and eat themselves to death but I will admit that I have seem a few close one’s with alcohol. So I ask you Michael Pollan, where do you get off!? Haha ok in all serious now (bored). We are eating so much that this is the sad thing, our eating worldwide eating habits in 2000, took over nourished people and passed under nourished people 1 billion to 800 million. Can you believe that number? I just find that to be so astonishing I don’t know whether to be angry or laugh. Can a human being honestly be that selfish? 1 billion of the world’s people can eat themselves to death slowly but very much so surely, while 800 billion starve and die within weeks? I feel like we need so major televised/ broadcasted awareness program to guilt the people of the world into giving up their money for their morning box of donuts or midnight snack of McDonalds to go to the 800 million people or more of the world who are starving at this very moment. It would not only help out 1 billion people but 800 million as well. So there you go, there’s my two cents. I could go more into corn in this chapter especially on ethanol but I’m honestly becoming tired of typing so this is my last words: Type II diabetes and obesity KILL! LETS FIX IT! Enough said…


Ch 7: This chapter in Omnivore’s Dilemma talks about, “The Meal”, which is probably what you guessed it was about, “fast food”. Who would of thought this stuff could be bad for you right? I mean how could something deep fried in a vat of grease ever hurt you? Right? Haha lmao (my sarcasm kills me). I think Judge Sweet is right about this who McFrankensteinian chicken McNugget thing. Fast food retailers need to make the ingredients and the harm that may come from consuming this product, just like cigarettes do, available and easily attainable to the public. If we don’t know what’s in it, why would we ever put it in our mouths? That’s like having a stranger sit you down, blind fold you, have you open your mouth, and eat whatever they give you. Doesn’t sound to bright to me. Michael Pollan also brings up how much of our food comes from corn, now I don’t know how much you guys knew about this already but this is my second time reading Michael Pollan’s book and every time I read that such a high percent of our food we consume comes from corn I get shocked. He provides what would ridiculous and farfetched numbers and the scary part is he claims they’re true. So how bout we take an oath as a class to slow down on our fast food consumption, maybe even donate some money to a nutritional charity rather than paying for slop and then eating it. It was fun blogging with y’all. Peace out.