America's National Dish
For my first scholarly article, I chose to read about something that I love and that I am greatly interested in. It is also related to the topic in which my feature story is on -- food.
The article that I read, written by Ann D. Zwicky and Arnold M. Zwicky examines a certain aspect of food and restaurants in a very unique way. They dive into the topic of examining restaurant menus and the language that is used in them. The article was very interesting and brought about many issues that I had never related to food or restaurants.
In the article, one of the main points that they try to drive home is the fact that a lot of the time, the language used in menus substitutes affect for content and showmanship for information. The authors feel that there is a big difference between the forms of language and the functions of those forms. I completely agree, although I feel that it is a bit obvious. Anytime anybody uses language -- whether it be in everyday conversation or in a menu -- they change the form of that language to fit the style of that particular setting. This is what is being done on menus across the country.
A lot of the time, restaurants will not simply put the dish itself and what is included in the dish. Often times, they will write the dishes in a manner that makes the dish seem positive and delightful. Whether you are eating the cheapest, most plain salad or the most expensive, intricate cuisine, all menus are written in a way to entice the customer and why not?
The article that I read, written by Ann D. Zwicky and Arnold M. Zwicky examines a certain aspect of food and restaurants in a very unique way. They dive into the topic of examining restaurant menus and the language that is used in them. The article was very interesting and brought about many issues that I had never related to food or restaurants.
In the article, one of the main points that they try to drive home is the fact that a lot of the time, the language used in menus substitutes affect for content and showmanship for information. The authors feel that there is a big difference between the forms of language and the functions of those forms. I completely agree, although I feel that it is a bit obvious. Anytime anybody uses language -- whether it be in everyday conversation or in a menu -- they change the form of that language to fit the style of that particular setting. This is what is being done on menus across the country.
A lot of the time, restaurants will not simply put the dish itself and what is included in the dish. Often times, they will write the dishes in a manner that makes the dish seem positive and delightful. Whether you are eating the cheapest, most plain salad or the most expensive, intricate cuisine, all menus are written in a way to entice the customer and why not?
Source
Zwicky, Ann D., and Arnold M. Zwicky. "America's National Dish: The Style of Restaurant Menus." American Speech 55 (1980): 83-92.
Zwicky, Ann D., and Arnold M. Zwicky. "America's National Dish: The Style of Restaurant Menus." American Speech 55 (1980): 83-92.
1 comment:
Why not indeed? If you're going to describe a dish, of course you're going to try to make it sound enticing.
Good summary. 25/25
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