“Fast Food Nation”

Target Goals: I canevaluate the use of persuasive appeals and techniques.

I can evaluate specific language choices when creating an argument.

Common Core State Standards:RI.10.1-RI.10.6

  1. The article opens with an anecdote about Elisa Zamot – why do you think so many details are given to the anecdote? Specifically, look at page 8. For instance, why add the detail about it being a “poor and working-class neighborhood”? What other specific words are used for a certain effect?
  1. What persuasive appeal is established through the use of the anecdote? Explain your answer.
  1. The first paragraph on page 8 combines the use of repetition and parallel structure. List two lines that use the repetition and parallel structure. For what effect are these structures used?
  1. The author uses an allusion to the movie Bugsy Malone.

“Fast food kitchens often seem like a scene from Bugsy Malone, a film in which all actors are children pretending to be adults.”

Why does he use this allusion? What point is he trying to prove?

  1. List the appeals to logic/reason. For what purpose are these facts/statistics used? How is the placement of the appeal important?
  1. According to the author, why do the fast food restaurants seek out teens?
  1. What is the definition of a throughput? How is the throughput of a factory similar to the throughput in the fast food industry?
  1. On page 9, Schlosser uses a combination of imagery and fact to describe the cooking process at the fast food restaurants. How does this support the overall message about teen workers?
  1. According to the article, how does the management control or have power over the worker?
  1. What does the following line mean? “The need to retain any individual worker is greatly reduced by the ease with which he/she can be replaced”(Schlosser 10).
  1. Page 11 opens with facts and statistics about immigrant workers – how does this fit this article? Why does the author choose to include this portion when he is writing about teens in the industry?
  1. What is the purpose of the second paragraph on page 11? What type of literary technique is this?
  1. What does the word altruistic mean at the end of the selection? What words help you to define that word?
  1. Why include the section “You Have Rights” at the bottom of the selection? How does it connect to the article?
  1. What is the tonal shift from the actual article to the “You Have Rights” selection? How is the tone different? What specific diction choices in the boxed section create this difference?
  1. On the first page of this article the text at the top reads, “A fast food restaurant could be a nice place to visit – but you might not want to work there – especially if you are a teenager” (Schlosser 6). Why is this quote/ text feature at the top of the page? What is the purpose? How does it connect to the article?
  1. Overall, so what is the overall point to the article? What “muck” does Schlosser want to bring to light here?