As we have seen in this course (module 2), food is not just
food. It is an indicator of selfhood and it functions as an important
constituent of the narrative of autobiographic memory and self-concept. In this
term paper, you are going to talk about a dish (a) that you enjoy very much (module 1) and (b) is of
significance to your autobiographic
memory (module 1)
and self-concept (module 2). Examine how this
dish is a medium for constructing the self – in relation to your personality,
gender, age, marital status, family, profession, socioeconomic status,
politics, lifestyle, vegetarianism, health status, religion, geography,
nationality, and ethnicity, etc. You should also provide a recipe for this dish in
the appendix.
Even though this paper is primarily inspired by what
you have learned in modules 1 and 2, you should utilize concepts that you have learned
throughout the semester, including those in module 3. A good paper is one that
demonstrates to me the breadth and the depth of your knowledge in the
psychology of eating and food.
This essay should be at least 1200
words (excluding references and the recipe). It must also follow the APA
format.
What is this paper about?
This
paper should obviously have an Introduction,
a Conclusion, and a References section. Moreover, you need
to provide a recipe for the dish and put it in the appendix.
Please
do not
use headings such as “Introduction,” “Content,” and “Conclusions” (of
course with the exceptions of “References” and “Appendix” – open a new page for
these two). The whole essay should read smoothly from beginning to end.
·
Cover page (p. 131) – must show the word
count
·
Introduction: (8%)
o
Name the dish that you have chosen to
talk about. Very briefly describe the sociocultural history of the dish (e.g. When and
where did it originate? Is it a popular dish or specialty dish? etc.) Please
note that there is no need to provide a detailed description of the dish as you
will provide a recipe for this dish as an appendix.
o
Mention the three dimensions you have chosen to talk
about in examining how the dish is a medium for the construction of your
selfhood.
·
Content:
For
its content, it should consist of three parts:
o
Part 1: (20%) (Min: 2 paragraphs; Max: 3 paragraphs)
Which sensory
aspect(s) of the dish do you find appealing? (Information mainly from Module 1.
But you can use information from other modules as well.) (Maximum: 2
paragraphs). Choose from the following.
·
Gustation: Which of
the five taste primaries? Other tastes (e.g. kokumi, astringency, spiciness,
numbness, temperature, etc.)
·
Olfaction
·
Somatosensation
(i.e. texture)
·
Vision &
Audition
·
Beyond the five
senses (e.g. emotion, expectation, social factors – providing transition to
Part 2 (?))
o Part 2:
(20%)
(Max: 2 paragraphs)
Personal significance of the dish to you.
Answer the following questions:
§ Why do
you choose that particular dish?
§ Why is
it of such significance to you?
§ What autobiographic memory
does it evoke? How does the dish evoke such memory?
§ Who
cooks/cooked it?
§ On what
occasion do you eat it?
§ With
whom do you partake while enjoying it?
§ Are
there any other ways that you celebrate this particular dish (e.g. as a comfort food? sharing
it with a non-famiily significant other? confiding to a friend? planning to
pass it on to your children?)
Provide plenty of specific real-life examples
to substantiate your answers. Moreover, try to utilize concepts that you have learned
throughout the semester, including those in modules 2 and 3.
o
Part 3:
(40%) (Min: 3 paragraphs,
Max: 5 paragraphs)
The dish as a medium for the construction of your self-concept
§ How does
this dish serve as a medium for the construction of your self-concept?
§ You
should choose at least three of the following dimensions
in answering this question.
q
Personality
q
Gender
q
Age
q
Marital
status
q
Family
q
Profession
(e.g. student, work)
q
Socioeconomic
class
q
Politics
q
Lifestyle
q
Vegetarianism
q
Health
status
q
Religion
q
Geography
q
Nationality
q
Ethnicity
§ If you
have any original ideas, please feel free to expand on them.
§ Provide
plenty of specific
real-life examples to substantiate your answers. Moreover, try to
utilize concepts that you
have learned throughout the semester, including those in modules 2 and
even 3.
·
Conclusions (4%)
·
Appendix: a recipe of the dish
About the research:
·
Since this paper is semi-autobiographic in
nature, with the exception of certain information such as specific concepts,
you may find the information provided in your course pack already quite
sufficient for your discussion. The concepts you use can be from any chapter in the course pack. Do not just limit
yourself to the various chapters entitled “Food as a medium for the
construction of the self.”
·
When you use concepts from the course
pack, you do not have to put “Ho, 2018” in your “References”. However,
you do need to indicate the numbers of
the pages where they are found in the course packs (cp) (e.g. cp1. p.24 or cp2. P. 56, etc.)
·
Of course, you are strongly
encouraged to use information obtained from primary academic sources published
in peer-reviewed journals
or periodicals to supplement information that you deem insufficiently provided
or explained in the course pack. You can easily locate these articles using EBSCO Academic Search Complete.
·
You may also use either secondary non-academic sources,
including newspapers, magazines, non-academic websites, etc.) or even oral
history (e.g. from your parents) especially regarding information that pertains
to the dish itself. However, you have to bear in mind that a lot of these
sources (e.g. “Wikipedia”) may not be reliable.
·
You may, of course, use library books (not
textbooks) as additional sources of information.
·
Since this is a short paper, no direct citation is allowed.
Paraphrase!!!
·
Regardless of your sources of
information, you have to document them in the “References”
section of your term paper unless you are
utilizing information from the course pack. Please follow the APA style when you are listing your
references. For details of the APA style, please access the Vanier website http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/litc/styleguides.html
About the
structure of the term paper
·
Please address all the aforementioned issues in the
same order: (i) introduction (with sociocultural history of the dish),
(ii) the sensory & extra-sensory appeal of the dish; (iii) the personal
significance of the dish to you, (iv) the dish as a medium for the construction of your self-concept,
and finally (v) the conclusion.
However, since this is an essay, instead of simply answering all the questions,
you have to link those answers together
conceptually using “transitional
phrases” to make them coherent and smooth to read. If you do not do
so, you will lose a lot of marks on “writing style”.
·
Obviously, you also
need to have a references section.
In the appendix, provide the recipe
of the dish.
·
In other words, your
essay should have the following components
o
First paragraph: Introduction (8%)
o
Part 1: (20%)
Sensory & extrasensory aspects of the dish that appeal to you
·
At least two paragraphs,
maximum three
paragraphs
o
Part 2: (20%) Personal
significance of the dish to you
§
Preferably one paragraph
§
Maximum of two paragraphs – no more than two paragraphs
o
Part 3: (49%) The
dish as a medium for the construction of your self-concept
§
At least three
different dimensions in three different paragraphs, i.e. at least three paragraphs.
§
You can come up with
more than three dimensions, but do not write more than five, i.e. maximum of five paragraphs (one dimension for each paragraph).
o
Final paragraph:
(4%) Conclusions
o
References
o Appendix: the recipe of the dish
Please
use the checklist provided for you in course pack 2 pp. 129-130
I included module 1 and 2 of the notes
