3.3 ASSIGNMENT: Descriptive Food Paragraph (Due on September 14)

Descriptive Food Paragraph (20 Points)

Directions:  Last week we learned about the Five Themes of Geography. Let's focus on the theme of region for a bit.  A region is an area that has certain unifying characteristics such as climate, language, history, or culture. One of the defining aspects of culture is the food we eat.  Today, we don’t have to travel to Italy to get delicious Italian food, or to Morocco to eat savory Moroccan food.  You can eat great food from all around the world without having to leave your hometown.  Don’t want to go to a restaurant?  Just pull up a Greek dish or French dessert recipe online and have an experience abroad while cooking in your kitchen. 

STEP 1:  Your assignment is to write a descriptive food paragraph.  It can be about a simple fruit or vegetable, or it can be about a prepared dish.  Choose only one item, like a plate of spaghetti or a peach, not an entire 4-course meal. 

STEP 2:  Look at the example paragraph below about a lemon. Can you find the introduction and conclusion sentence? Can you find all five of the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste)? Can you tell why the writer put the senses in the order she did? Can you tell how the writer feels about this food? Help the reader experience this for themselves through detailed and creative descriptions.

            My mother gave me a lemon last summer. Its yellow surface was bright and sunshiny. It was shaped almost round, but was slightly pointed at each end. Its size was almost as big as a baseball. As I sliced into it, I heard the knife make sharp cutting noises and heard the juice spurt out. I put it to my lips, and the cold wet liquid made me pucker up. My cheeks were drawn together with its bitterness. Its tart and tangy smell almost made my eyes water. As I tasted it, I was sure I had never tasted anything more sour in my entire life. I made up my mind right then and there never to eat another lemon unless it was sugared and in lemonade.

STEP 3:  Now it’s your turn! Choose a food you either love or hate, and write a descriptive paragraph. As you write, follow these guidelines:

1. Frame your paragraph with an introduction sentence at the beginning and a conclusion sentence at the end. The introduction should “set the stage” (where and when you ate the food), and the conclusion should give your feeling about the food.
2. Be sure to use all five senses listed above. The senses should be organized in the sequence you would experience them when really eating the food.
3. Use especially descriptive words, and show your feelings about the food through your choice of words.
4. Use at least one simile (a comparison) using like or as or metaphor (a direct comparison, doesn't use like or as) in your description. Be sure to highlight your simile or metaphor. For example:
1. Simile: The orange was as round as a basketball.
2. Metaphor: The apple was October crunching in my mouth.

Edit carefully for the following: complete sentences (no fragments or run-ons), spelling, capitalization, end punctuation, commas, subject-verb agreement, and possessives.

STEP 4: Open a Google Doc and begin writing! 

Go to your Google Docs and then click Create>Document in the left hand corner

Type/Complete your assignment. Name your assignment Last Name-Descriptive Food Paragraph (ie. Lyons- Descriptive Food Paragraph)

STEP 5:  When you are finished click SHARE in the right hand corner.  

STEP 6:  Under Who Has Access click CHANGE and choose People at Mountain Heights Academy who have the link can view

STEP 7:  Choose from the drop down Access field: Allow anyone at Mountain Heights Academy to Edit and then click Save. (Checking this box allows your instructor to write comments on your assignment)

STEP 8:  Copy the Link to the document (the top field of the Sharing Settings window.  To submit your assignment, in Moodle click Add Submission.  Paste the link to your Google Doc in the box.  Click Save Changes to submit your assignment

Grading Rubric:

/5 Mechanics- Contains very few, if any, errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.

/10 Uses all 5 senses

After you have completed this assignment, it will be marked as complete with a checkmark after it has been graded by the instructor.