Student Digest

Eric Schlosser's book Chew on This should be a great book to excerpt for my students. Like Curious Incident the book is broken with several text features, headings, and pictures with captions. I think the subject matter should be really intriguing for them, and will push their critical thinking about advertisements and corporate manipulation of the wider public through the media. I will definitely use this book in the persuasive writing unit, because it connects nicely with a critical exploration of the media, and the persuasive techniques advertisers use to draw in their victims. Last year we analyzed advertisements as we learned persuasive techniques, and those lessons proved to be pretty engaging, so I'm sure this book will work nicely.

I think my students will also enjoy thinking about the ideas posed, but I'm not so sure it will actually change their behavior, as far as frequenting fast food restaurants, that is. I think it's important to remember that a lot of these students don't have much control over what they eat, because they are still under the care of their parents, many of whom are working two jobs, some of whom are single parents. In these types of households, it's very difficult to plan for meals, because of all the other responsibilites that weigh upon the parent or guardian. Perhaps I can couple these excerpts with some ideas for easy, healthy meals. Even those that come in a box are probably better than what they serve in fast food joints! It just comes down to how much my students buy into the book, and how much they're truly willing to digest.