Date of Award
6-2010
Document Type
Union College Only
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Claire Bracken
Second Advisor
Kara Doyle
Language
English
Keywords
food writer, diet, environmental health, rhetoric, vegetarianism
Abstract
This thesis pertains to the rhetorical strategies utilized by activist food writers. Specifically, the first chapter focuses upon the rhetoric employed by Frances Moore Lappé in both the 1971 edition of Diet for a Small Planet and the 1991 edition. The second and third chapters concern the rhetoric employed by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Throughout the thesis, I maintain that all three bodies of work seek to persuade readers to transform their diets in order to protect the deteriorating environment. Yet, by contextualizing the time period in which the authors are writing, as well as explicating the personal experiences of the authors, I argue that their rhetorical strategies shift as a result of both factors.
Recommended Citation
Randall, Lauren R., "The rhetoric of change : exposing the prose of America’s activist food writers" (2010). Honors Theses. 1212.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1212