RHE 309K: The Rhetoric of Eating

For this assignment, your team of four will assemble a group of pictures with accompanying commentary based on your experiences as Austin eaters. You can find a sample photo essay, compiled by me, here.

Your essays should deal with some aspect of the topics we've covered in class this semester, and should engage directly with discussions of rhetorical situtation, ethos, logos, etc. Your essays should either make an argument about your topic or present various aspects of a common argument you see manifested in your experiences. For example, if you see various iterations of the theme of perfection in your eating experiences in and around Austin, your photos and attendant commentary should reflect that. My sample essay deals with family dining in Austin, and my photos and commentary reflect that to some degree.

You do not have to have a digital camera to have a successful photo essay. Please note that many of the photos in my essay were taken with a cameraphone. I will not grade you on the quality of your photos, rather their rhetorical usefulness in your essay.

I suggest that each member of your team take the lead (NOTE: this does not mean that each member assumes complete responsibility for one aspect of the project; you are all equally responsible for every aspect of the essays) on the four major components of the project on which you will be graded:

Photos: Do the photos adequately reflect the theme/argument of the essay? (25 points)
Text: Does the text effectively communicate and justify the photo's presence in the essay and how it contributes to the overall theme/argument? (25 points)
Assembly on Google maps: Does the team use the technology accurately and effectively? (25 points)
Presentation: Does the team present its project to the class clearly, effectively, and interestingly? (25 points)

100 total possible points, worth 10% of your grade. All four team members will get the same grade for the project.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:
Waitresses
Perfection in dining
Ethical eating
Ethnicity and eating
Restaurants
Weight loss rhetorics
Fast food
Austin chefs

Timeline:
November 14: Go over assignment in class
Monday, November 19: One team member emails me with the names of your team members and chosen topic.
Monday, November 26: Google Maps workshopping in class.
Wednesday, November 28: Progress check.
Tuesday, December 4: One team member emails me a link to your Google map no later than 5pm.
Wednesday, December 5: In-class presentations of photo essays. Each team will have 10 minutes to present their photo essays in class.