Framing Statement:

Prior to Reading Michael Pollan’s “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch”, we were informed that this text would be used as a source for the upcoming Project #3. Upon learning this information, rather than simply reading the text, marking up anything I am confused about, or find interesting, I came into the reading expecting to find material to include in my essay. Immediately, on the first page I notice how Pollan indirectly explains the bringing together of people through food; from my understanding, this is a huge portion of Project #3. So, when Pollan said that “Some of the more ambitious dishes like the duck or the mousse, were pointed toward weekend company…” I had to jot down on the side of the page that this is bringing people together. In other attempts to use the text in my essay, I read from Pollan: “That decline has several causes: women working outside of the home; food companies persuading Americans to let them do the cooking…”. This was something that stood out to me as soon as I read it. After reading this I had to write down on the side that what Pollan said, in my words “explained what happened to cooking”. I found that this was also a major talking point for my essay, believing that this would fit perfectly within my essay. And so I made a comment on the side in order to summarize, but also catch my attention when I return to the text. Sometimes, while critical reading, instead of looking for what will work with my next project, I tend to simplify what I read, and put it into my own words for me to better understand what I just read. For example, when Pollan said that “The idea that cooking is a defining human activity is not a new one”, I wrote next to it “only species that ‘cooks'” and “cooking is special to humans”. In that same paragraph, Pollan concluded it with “…regarding cooking as a symbolic way of distinguishing ourselves from animals” to which I responded beneath, “Without our laws and order, we are no different”. Instances such as these are only mere examples of how I approach my critical reading. But, critical reading, and the notes and doodles that come along with it allows me to agree or disagree with what has been said; but also, it allows me to better engage with the text, enabling me to create a much stronger understanding of what is attempted to be shown to me through the reading.