Food Review Models

Models for Essay 3: The New York Times food reviews

Tertulia

1. What does title for the review of Tertulia tell you about the subject? ...How does this help you create your own essay title? 
2. What are some of the opening details, and again, what impact do these details have on the reader?
3. What were some details or descriptions where you felt you could have had a bit more explained to you, and why? 
• Why does this writer get away with things we can't? 
4. How did the author use adjectives and adverbs to paint a picture of the food experience? What types of adjectives and adverbs were used--and how might those be different from less effective modifiers?
5. What point does the author, Sam Sifton, make about service, and how does he support that claim?
6. How does he use paragraphs to organize what he has to say about the food? Let's look at a few paragraphs to see how Sifton can inspire us! 
• How 'long' does he take to describe one aspect of the food at the place?
7. What is lacking about the conclusion, and what would/could you write if this were your review? How might you incorporate the rating (two stars) that comes after the last paragraph? What ideas most pointed to that rating?

Per Se

1. Again, what does the title indicate to the reader about the subject?
2. How does the title connect to the hook?
3. What background information is given to support the claim's opening stance?
4. How does Sifton transition from the introduction to the current review of the restaurant? What are some of the key phrases and ideas?
5. How does Sifton create or develop the theme of "high-class culture" in this piece?
6. How and what does Sifton say about who should eat at Per Se? 
7. In this review, Sifton organizes his critique to discuss the service last. What are some reasons that he may have chosen to organize his points about service here instead of earlier? 

Developing A Point Synonymously

A good strategy for organizing your essay once you have a thesis statement and subtopics is to lay out in Word your points in the order you want them to be organized in your essay (outline of just sentences).

Then, erase the outline and work on revising the sentences so that they sound new (sounds simple, but take notes as we go through an example).

• Use the thesaurus on Word to help
• Use a print dictionary/thesaurus
• Re-order the sentence's structure (add or delete clauses, modifiers, etc.)
• Add more specific details and/or contextual information in the body versions.

***We will attempt to write our own thesis statement and subtopics on food, service and atmosphere on Tertulia so that we can illustrate the strategy and go over the rhetorical issues that come with trying out this strategy...

I. Intro

• Thesis:  ______ (of course, the more clear and developed the thesis, the easier it is to work on the rest)
• Subtopic 1:
• Subtopic 2:
• Subtopic 3: if applicable
• ...

II. Body

        A. Subtopic 1: paste the sentence/clause from introduction you are repeating, then work on revising it.

        B. Subtopic 2: paste the sentence/clause from the introduction you are repeating, then work on revising it.

        C. Subtopic 3: ditto, here, if you have a third point. 

III. Conclusion

• thesis statement: paste your thesis statement, then work on revising it! Use a transitional introductory phrase that indicates this is your conclusion topic sentence...

• "In conclusion...." is a standard, easy phrase, so try to come up with a variance to show you know there are many ways to indicate in words that this paragraph is a conclusion!
• "After considering ______, ..."
• "Based upon the _____ ______ and ______..."