The Final Exam! See below...

 If you missed class on Thursday, you'll need to know a few things:

1. Thursday was our LAST class. The rest of the semester (the next two weeks, though we only have one day next week) you can spend revising papers and/or working on your Final Exam paper.

2. The Final Exam paper is below. It's a simple paper, and if you were in class, you've already started it with your in-class writing. Make sure you get this in by the due date, since I'm doing this INSTEAD of a sit-down final. 

3. Repeat: there is NO Final Exam other than this assignment. You do not have to come to class for the Final Exam. This is it, but you must turn it in by December 1st (see below).

4. All revisions are due by December 1st as well. 

5. Let me know if you have any questions! The Final Exam assignment is below:

Paper #4: Final Exam

PROMPT: For your final paper, I want you to continue the conversation we had during our last class, when I asked you to respond to the question: “If someone was traveling to America from another country and asked you to recommend a specific activity or event that would help them ‘see’ America like an American, what would you recommend they do or see? What would teach them something about our country, such as who we are, how we think, experience life, and express our unique culture identity? Consider what they might not understand and would need explained to them, but at the same time, try to communicate your own experience and history with this event or activity.”

REQIUREMENTS: Expand your in-class response (or start a new one) and but remember to write to someone who isn’t American, and has never done or seen this event or activity. Think about what you would have to explain or translate for them. IN ADDITION, use at least ONE outside source that also explains and supports your idea about why this is an important illustration of American culture or beliefs. Quote this source in your paper and document it properly according to MLA format (or other, if you prefer).

ALSO: This response can be more informal than our previous papers, but you should still try to write with detail and interest, as well as cite properly. The paper can be as long or short as you want, so long as you fulfill the demands of the assignment and answer the question with sufficient detail to inform and persuade your reader.

DUE: The Final Exam paper is due no later than Thursday, December 1^st @ 5pm. Remember, this is your final grade for the course, so do your best work and turn it in on time!

For Thursday: Egan, Chapter 11, "What To Make Of All This"

 REMEMBER, we WILL have class on Thursday, and the Paper #3 assignment will be pushed back to Tuesday to give you more time. I want to spend one more day preparing for it, and discussing the very last chapter of Egan's book.

We'll do an in-class writing assignment when you arrive based on Chapter 11, which I also hope will help you with Paper #3. 

No class next Tuesday, since Paper #3 will be due then. After that, we're almost done with the class! Try to finish strong and turn in the paper, since no one can afford a zero this late in the game.

See you on Thursday! 

For Tuesday: Egan, Devoured, Chapter 8 "The Age of Stunt Foods" (see note)

NOTE: Remember, we have to cancel class on Thursday because of ECU's Interscholastic Meet, which will be taking over Horace Mann tomorrow morning. So take the extra time to start thinking about Paper #3, and of course reading Chapter 8 for next week. Don't forget to do the questions, since a few people seem to have forgotten about them! (hint, hint). 

Answer two of the following:

Q1: Since restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell are already world famous, and people will always go there, why do both places work so hard at "differentiating" (221)? Why are the 'stunt foods' necessary in the first place?

Q2: We might assume that creating a variation on the taco or the hamburger is as easy as adding some cheese dust, or using a different bun. But it's a surprisingly complex science that companies spend millions upon millions of dollars on. What makes it so difficult to "reinvent the taco," or to create a new variation on an old favorite? In other words, why is it so easy to mess up?

Q3: How does the "Food at Work" factor (in Chapter 2) also play into the innovation necessary at fast food restaurants? Since most Americans are now eating at their desks, how did fast food have to adapt to these new eating habits? What product seems to most directly reflect this? 

Q4: According to Chapter 8, what do stunt foods say about the American cultural psyche? Why would a culture that is always drinking water and going on Paleo diets be tempted by the lure of stunt foods? Shouldn't fast food restaurants even be out of business now? Why might they suggest that we're "at odds with ourselves"?