This semester I’m exciting to be teaching a food writing course and will be sharing some readings, tips, and insights from this course on the blog. The first unit in my class will cover what is arguably the most recognizable piece of food writing: the recipe. For writing instructors, recipes and cookbooks have a lot of potential in the classroom. They can provide insight into genre, identity formation, technical writing, context, audience, editing, copywrite, and more.
My course is structured around non-fiction genres, so one goal of this unit is to demonstrate how recipes have changed over time and to deepen our understanding of a recipe’s purpose. To get this unit started, my class read Kerry Dirk’s “Navigating Genres” last week. One thing I love about this reading is Dirk’s discussion of “expectations,” which was helpful for my class to consider what users expect from a piece of writing. I also love discussing expectation from genres with my class because it’s a great “ah-ha” moment when you show students that their expectations demonstrate how they navigate genres every day. For example, asking my students why they think a chocolate chip cookie will be sweet. That was a great rhetorical moment in class.
For recipes, depending on where they are located, we come to expect certain qualities. Easy to follow, clear directions, precise measurements, etc. When I look back though, I often realize that many of my most beloved recipes may not do these things at all. One thing my class will be talking about next week is the way texts can impact you when they don’t follow your expectations. Tiktok videos are a great example of a recipe which resists genre norms but are still successful as texts. This oatmeal recipe from @jazmynjw on Tiktok was one example we discussed in class as a recipe which still fit the genre of recipe even though its angry tone was unexpected and not the norm for most instructional food writing.
To help my students better understand recipes as a genre, we’ll be looking at three readings over the next week:
After reading Wilson’s essay, students will be selecting their own mentor texts of recipes they love to read. We'll then look more at how recipe structure has changed over time. Week 2 we'll shift gears by looking at recipe adaptation (blog forthcoming).
Do you have a recipe you love to read or experience teaching recipes in your class? I’d love to hear more! Share your experience or recipes in the comments or consider contributing to our resource page (CFP below). And stay tuned for part 2 & 3 of this series of Working with Recipes in the Writing Classroom where I’ll be covering:
Who owns a recipe? Appropriation, Appreciation, and Ethical Adaptation
Recipes as Story: How Recipes Connect us to Others
Call for Pedagogy Resources:
One goal of this website is to build community resources for teaching at the intersection of food and rhet/comp. Have you incorporated food into your rhetoric and composition class? Consider contributing your materials to this website. Syllabi, assignments, examples, and readings are all welcome. You can submit resources via this Google Form.
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