TOPIC : [Have you ever wondered where a food was from? Where did a spice originate, or was a meat first
prepared in a specific way, or did several ingredients come together?]
Assignment: Choose a food (a plant, animal, or dish/recipe) and research its origins. Write an essay
that summarizes your findings. You may use non-scholarly sources, such as cookbooks or other
popular writing,
but 1) no Wikipedia (not because it is necessarily wrong, but because we often can’t
evaluate the original source of its information), 2) all sources you use must be referenced on a Works
Cited page, 3) you must find at least three sources, and 4) you must cite specific pieces of
information so that we know their source. See citation instructions below.
Each essay must be 400-500 words in length, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and 12 point font.
Essays shorter (or longer!) than this will be penalized, although if you are asked to complete
additional documents (e.g., a list) as part of your assignment that page will not count towards the
word limit. You do not need a title page; just write the title and your name at the top of the first
page, along with the assignment topic number. Your paper must have a title that reflects the content
of your specific essay. Please include a separate “Works Cited” page if you have sources to cite – i.e.,
anything you used beyond class notes and your own experience. Be sure to check your paper for
spelling, grammar, and other typographical errors before turning it in. If you do not follow these
formatting guidelines, you will not be able to earn full points on the paper.
Justify your points by citing relevant points, but given the brevity of these essays you may not use
lengthy quotations (avoid even a long sentence) and should avoid summary of single works in favor
of a synthesis of your own creation. You must properly cite all information presented in your paper
using parenthetical in-text citations following the format below: (Author date:page numbers). The
following are examples of the types of statements you might make in your paper and how they
should be credited:
1. Many peoples in northern China enjoy noodles as a part of everyday cuisine. [Here there
is no citation needed since this is information that you would find in a number of places
and is not an opinion or conclusion of one author].
2. Sites of the Neolithic period in China also include those of the Yangshao culture, as seen
at sites such as Banpo, where the inhabitants planted and harvested rice, millet, and
cabbage (Feder 2004:360). [Here the citation lets the reader know that the information
has been complied by a specific person in a specific way; the citation gives credit to the
author for his hard work and also points the reader towards the location of additional
information if it is needed. The page number is used even though this is not a direct
quote because it will help the reader locate the information within a longer work].
3. The Great Wall, just like other monuments such as Stonehenge and the ancient pyramids
of Egypt, may be “merely the incidental effects of the evolution of complex social,
political and economic structures” (Feder 2004:397). [Here you make use of the author’s
eloquence and credit his words directly with quotation marks and a page number with
the reference – you must include a page number with any direct quote].
