Michael Pollan Argument Analysis
William Jensen
Professor Cavender
RWS 280 section 19
February 11, 2013
Word count: 1775
Politics, Food, and corn: A recipe for change?
Americans today are no strangers to stretching every dollar earned in an attempt to live the American dream. Most people work long hours and eat on the fly with very little thought to what, or where, the food they have purchased came from. The reason food is so inexpensive has not been a concern to the average American, but the article written by Michael Pollan “The Food Movement Rising” attempts to convince the people that it is time to remove the blinders and take an accounting of the situation that America finds itself in. With obesity at epic proportions, and preventable diseases like diabetes on a rampage, the author argues that Americans cannot afford to ignore the food movement any longer. In company with Pollan’s article, the Film “King Corn” produced by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, amplifies the food movements argument with a look into the industrialization of corn farming, and its products such as high fructose corn syrup, which have become an unavoidable ingredient in the making, and sustaining, of the cheap food that Americans have come to depend on. Several rhetorical strategies are used in the execution and delivery of Pollan’s article with the use of tone, organization, emotional appeal, logical reference, as well as the use of credible sources to further his argument. In the following paragraphs I will provide an analysis of Pollan’s strategies found in his article.
The structure of Pollan’s article is a strategy he employs very well, because the organization of each part flows nicely into the next. Pollan’s main claim suggests that changes in the policies that govern our food system, which have corrupted American health and social well being, are far overdue. Pollan’s solution requires removing the industrial giants out of the farms and giving power back to smaller farms and local government.
Professor Cavender
RWS 280 section 19
February 11, 2013
Word count: 1775
Politics, Food, and corn: A recipe for change?
Americans today are no strangers to stretching every dollar earned in an attempt to live the American dream. Most people work long hours and eat on the fly with very little thought to what, or where, the food they have purchased came from. The reason food is so inexpensive has not been a concern to the average American, but the article written by Michael Pollan “The Food Movement Rising” attempts to convince the people that it is time to remove the blinders and take an accounting of the situation that America finds itself in. With obesity at epic proportions, and preventable diseases like diabetes on a rampage, the author argues that Americans cannot afford to ignore the food movement any longer. In company with Pollan’s article, the Film “King Corn” produced by Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, amplifies the food movements argument with a look into the industrialization of corn farming, and its products such as high fructose corn syrup, which have become an unavoidable ingredient in the making, and sustaining, of the cheap food that Americans have come to depend on. Several rhetorical strategies are used in the execution and delivery of Pollan’s article with the use of tone, organization, emotional appeal, logical reference, as well as the use of credible sources to further his argument. In the following paragraphs I will provide an analysis of Pollan’s strategies found in his article.
The structure of Pollan’s article is a strategy he employs very well, because the organization of each part flows nicely into the next. Pollan’s main claim suggests that changes in the policies that govern our food system, which have corrupted American health and social well being, are far overdue. Pollan’s solution requires removing the industrial giants out of the farms and giving power back to smaller farms and local government.