MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN RESEARCH PROPOSAL How Food Contributes to
MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN RESEARCH PROPOSAL How Food Contributes to the Meaning in Movies RHETORIC 105 March 5, 2018 (Image courtesy of Google images)
How does food add meaning to movies? Food contributes to the message, audience impact and meaning of film. This subject interests me because I am a big movie buff. I enjoy watching movies and dissecting them for deeper meaning. Also, who doesn’t like food? To intersect food with movies is a topic that I am eager to research. Before research, I didn’t realize that food in movies is such an important aspect in films. Not only does food send messages (Image from Google images) that relate to the film, it is an avenue for advertising. Food/Movies/How/Why/Who?
Research Plan My Research plan will include PRIMARY and SECONDARY sources: PRIMARY SOURCES: personal accounts of people who place foods in films. These people are food stylists and branding agents. SECONDARY SOURCES: scholarly books and articles about food films, messages in films, how food impacts and plays a role in film; Search terms: food in film, food styles, food messages in film, why food adds meaning to film, why are foods influencers I will check out 1 book from library, 1 source that does not support my thesis, ½ of my sources will be scholarly, only 1 web source, database articles (images courtesy of Google images)
RESEARCH CHALLENGES With a realistic view, I hope the path to support my thesis, ( that is currently a working thesis), does not lead to an informative paper. I hope to prove an argument, supporting a deeper and more challenging question. I hope that there are contradicting viewpoints that I will come across that will allow me to “stumble” onto new topics that will allow new research to unfold. My plan is to address scholarly, secondary sources first, and then find credible primary resources within the confines of the research system at U of I. I see difficulty in seeing limited sources that add substance to my paper.
Source #1: (Secondary Source) Nevana Stajcic. “Sticky: Introduction to Food Communication. This source is candid as it explains how food is not just essential to people’s lives, but to how we view ourselves and others. The author also demonstrates how food plays a big role in all social and political issues and has exploded in media and in culture. This source analyzes the role of food in families and in relationships as well. The author showed different cultures and how food is the main source for communication. Since this source is scholarly, I will use it to support the role food plays in communication. There are many sources, footnotes and quotes that I can use to add credibility to my paper. As this source supports the communication aspect of food, I can use it to support the connection to food in films and why playwright and writers choose to include food as they do in film. I hope to find specific stories that will add color and interest to my paper. (Google image)
Source #2: (Secondary Source) How Food Contributes to the Meaning in Movies: An Annotated Bibliography Anne L. Bower, Reel food: essays on food and film. This source focuses on the ways food is used to show messages that would not otherwise be noticed. In this conglomerate of essays, each author highlights a genre or a film and shows how food sends or shows a message. The approach of this book is to argue that films are not all that they appear to be. Each author attempts to relay a message of cultural identity, assimilation, or interpersonal conflicts, all through food. The source uses a variety of sources and examples to prove its intent. It is a reliable source because its many contributors all magnify the message behind food in film. This source is credible as there are many examples of message through food and uses citations to add credibility. I can use this source to support my thesis because it shows ways how food, in various forms, adds dimension to cinema other than as just a prop. The contributors are all experts in the field so this is a scholarly source. (Google image)
Source #3: Ronald D. La. Blanc, “Love and Death and Food: Woody Allen’s Comic Use of Gastronomy. ” This source shows how Woody Allen, the famous actor and playwright, uses food, through imagery, to tell a story within a story. The essay notes the connection and symbolism Allen uses in his films, by using tone and innuendos as represented by food. The source believes that the underlying message of Allen’s work is deeper than showing relationships of humans to food, but more to contrast periods of time in films with an extremely cerebral undertone. Since the source is a literary professional, I feel he is scholarly and credible in his analysis. This essay represents a connecting approach that definitely supports my thesis of showing how the connection between food and films is more than just spaghetti and meatballs. I will use his concept of connect food to time periods to find motif to the films and show playwrights brilliantly use food as a medium for communicating many different messages. (Image from Google images)
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