I used sources in this paper by either quoting it directly or paraphrasing the section I wanted to address or use to support my ideas. It was difficult to beginning using quotes in the course in comparison to what I’ve done in the past when it comes to using evidence for my papers. I don’t think I was really ever taught how to fully utilize text, and going full speed into college-level academic writing made that very apparent. In my first paper, I would give a quote to the reader but then leave it in the air hardly touched. I would only scrape the surface, never getting down to analyzing it in its full. The textbooks we have in this course, however, came in handy more than once. I found myself using it not only to help me put my own opinion down but to even help myself introduce the quote.

One of the points I brought up in this essay was the fact that Pollan described this interesting concept of industrialized food being in our diets since WWII. I wanted to put this in to support how we can’t go and take technology out of our food when it’s already in it. This is how I did it: 

“Already, technology is playing a large part in how Americans eat at home. Pollan touches this idea in his writing when he reminds us that, “After World War II, the food industry labored mightily to sell…all the processed-food wonders it had invented…: canned meals, freeze-dried foods, dehydrated potatoes, powdered orange juice and coffee, instant everything” (Pollan 15). By pointing out when the switch to the new way of eating started and what this new way of eating looked like, Pollan shows the importance of how long Americans have had to become accustomed to these eating habits and it prompts us to think about how these foods may even be normality in our own life.”

I made sure to start with a hint at the big idea of the quote coming up. I then started by introducing Pollan but with something more than saying “Pollan says”. The quote is next followed by an analysis. In the analysis, I tried to reinforce why this quote is important but also put my idea inside of it when I talk about how it prompts us to them. Looking back now, I see I could’ve put even more of my own stance in this, but when looking at this as a progress piece, there is a lot more analysis in here than in paper one.