The Cookbook Project: Part I
Cookbooks offer us a smorgasbord of possibilities when it comes to a consideration of publishing. They provide with us a picture of publishing practices and technologies over time, an example of technical communication, as well as stories about cultural identity and evidence of social and political struggle and change.
For the first part of this project, I want you to explore an aspect of cookbook publishing (broadly defined) and examine the interrelationship of publishing practices situated within their social, cultural, and/or historical contexts. Your work in this area will be blogged along with everyone else’s work in a WordPress site that we’ll be working on as a class.
In addition to gaining some hands on experience with WordPress, you will producing content for the blog in formats described below and addressing questions such as these (and more):
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What forces seem to be driving the development and distribution of cookbooks (or of the contents that we have come to associate with them)?Why and how are cookbooks published? Under what conditions?
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What determines who gets to publish and where? (this could include an examination of anything from self-published cookbooks and cookzines to commercial cookbook publishers)
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In what ways are new publishing platforms participating or challenging aspects of traditional cookbook publishing and other social and cultural factors related to them?
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To what extent have some cookbooks and cooks become part of a transmedia publishing experience and what kind of cultural storytelling does this facilitate? What historical precursors engaged in some of these practices in decades and centuries past?
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In what ways are cookbooks examples of technical communication and in what ways do they intersect with its motives and imperatives?
Even if cooking and cookbooks are not your thing, there is ample opportunity to use this as a case study addressing publishing issues and practices and to gain deeper more experience considering how online publications managed through database driven platforms like WordPress function.
Posting Guide and Grading Scale
|
Points |
Posting Type |
Specs |
Due by |
|
10 each (40) |
Curation (4) Posts that feature content from other sites, along with your contextual presentation. |
50 – 100 words with image and link. |
2/28, 3/7, 3/21, 3/28 |
|
25 each (50) |
Analysis (2) Critical analysis of an individual blog/blogger, food website, cookbook app, celebrity chef |
200-400 words with images and supporting links |
3/3, 3/19 |
|
40 |
Research (1) Research into some aspect of cookbook publishing—its history, transformation, new publishing strategies and trends, business/industry issues, publishing tool |
500 – 700 words with images and research from formal sources such as articles found in university research databases or reputable online sources. |
3/21 |
|
60 |
Scholarly Article Discussion and Presentation (Group) Choose an article or chapter from the bibliography section (still under development) and write an informative summary of its perspective/argument on cookbooks and/or food culture. |
1500 words bringing in links to illustrations or other external references that might help support your description. |
3/26 (you will present on 3/26 and 3/28) |
|
10 |
Blog Comments Demonstrate that you are reading and interacting with your group members posts. |
Must have some substance. Not just “cool post.” |
Weekly |
|
200 |
Total for Content |
These points will also include your mastery of the WordPress tool itself, which we’ll be working on in class over these weeks.