ENGL 3820

Group discussion questions

In group discussion, answer the following questions about the Taubes article and the Food Pyramid article.

Taubes article:

1. In the Taubes article, what is the author’s main argument?
2. Does the author appear to be “taking sides” on the issue?  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
3. What is the “scientific content” of the Taubes article, if any?
4. Where does this scientific content appear?  In what form (statistics, claims by researchers, something else)?
5. What evidence is presented to support the author’s claims?  What are the sources of this evidence?
6. How much does Taubes expect his readers to already know about the topic?  How can you tell?  Point to some specific places in the text where he makes these assumptions about the reader’s prior knowledge.
7. What role is a reader expected to play in this article: passive recipient of information? informed decisionmaker? judge of a controversy? some other role?  How can you tell?

Food pyramid article:

8. In the Food Pyramid document, what is the main argument or message?
9. Does the author appear to be “taking sides” on the issue?  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
10. What is the “scientific content” of the Food Pyramid document, if any?
11. Where does this scientific content appear?  In what form (statistics, claims by researchers, something else)?
12. What evidence is presented to support the author’s claims?  What are the sources of this evidence?
13. How much does the author expect readers to already know about the topic?  How can you tell?  Point to some specific places in the text where the author makes these assumptions about the reader’s prior knowledge.
14. What role is a reader expected to play in this article: passive recipient of information? informed decisionmaker? judge of a controversy? some other role?  How can you tell?