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Article of the Week
English Language Arts – Mr. McMillan
Instructions: COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES using the close reading strategies practiced in
class. This requires reading of the article three times.
First Read: Skim the article using these symbols as you read: (+) agree, (-) disagree, (*) important, (!) surprising, (?) wondering
Second Read: Number the paragraphs. Read the article carefully and annotate the text in the margin.
Annotations should include:
o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main idea)
o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.
o Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.
o Observations about how the writer’s strategies (organization, word choice, perspective, support) and choices
affect the article.
Third Read: A final quick read noting anything you may have missed during the first two reads.
Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment. Answer the questions carefully in complete sentences unless
otherwise instructed.
Name:
Block:
Due Date: Friday, September 16, 2016
Cereal falls out of favor with millennials who say it's too much work
Few things are as painless to prepare as cereal. Making it requires little more than a
box of your favorite kind, a bowl and some milk. Eating it requires little more than a
spoon and your mouth. Americans spend $10 billion a year on cereal. The main
reason it is so popular, at least in part, is because it is so convenient. And yet, for
today's youth, cereal is not easy enough.
The New York Times recently published a story about the breakfast favorite, and
the most disturbing part was this: "Almost 40 percent of the millennials surveyed by
Mintel for its 2015 report said cereal was an inconvenient breakfast choice because
they had to clean up after eating it." The millennial generation was born between
the early 1980s and 2000s. Today, they are teens and young adults.
Choices Based On Lack Of Effort
The cereal industry, the article explained, is struggling. Sales have tumbled by
almost one-third over the past 15 years, and the future remains uncertain. The
reasons are largely those one would expect. Many people are eating breakfast
away from the home, choosing breakfast sandwiches and yogurt instead of more
traditional morning fare. Many others, meanwhile, are too busy to pay attention to
their stomachs. They are not eating breakfast at all.
But there is another thing happening, which should scare cereal makers more: A
large group of millennials is uninterested in breakfast cereal because eating it
means using a bowl, and bowls do not clean themselves -- or get tossed in the
garbage. Bowls, kids these days groan, have to be cleaned.
Notes on my thoughts,
reactions, and questions as I
read:
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Article of the Week
English Language Arts – Mr. McMillan
Cereal isn't the only food suffering from a national shift toward laziness. Coffee has
endured a similar fate. Even though many people say the "next big thing" is fancy
artisanal coffee, Americans still long for convenience above all else. "Convenience
is the one thing that's really changing trends these days," Howard Telford said last
year. He studies the coffee industry at Euromonitor, a market research firm.
Not Just Cereal But Also Coffee
Fewer than 10 percent of the coffee beans Americans buy are fresh whole beans.
More often they are buying ground coffee, which is easier to prepare.
Coffee pods are also becoming more mainstream. They come already ground and
produce a cup of brown caffeinated water with the push of a button. This is further
evidence of the country's desire for convenience. Between 2004 and 2014, sales of
coffee pods grew thousands of times over, according to figures from Euromonitor.
The popularity of delivery, meanwhile, speaks to the same desire for convenience.
About 1 in 7 restaurant meals is delivered today, according to Technomic, a
company that specializes in food industry research. But among millennials the
percentage is higher -- it's more like 1 in 5. The reason why convenience is
increasingly important isn't merely because people are lazy -- many actually need it.
Less Time To Cook, More Need For Convenience
Families are working more than ever. Almost two-thirds of households are
supported by two working parents today, according to the latest government figures,
which is the highest reading on record. The less time families have to prepare food
or sit down at restaurants, the more convenience matters. Fewer than 2 out of 3
dinners served at home were actually cooked at home last year. About 30 years
ago, about 3 out of 4 dinners were cooked at home.
But there is something different about the backlash against cereal bowls. It is
something more basic that seems to speak to a greater truth about American
households today.
In a 2014 survey, a majority of parents said they were asked to do chores around
the house as children. But when they were asked if they required their own children
to do chores, only about one-quarter of them said yes.
What Does This Say About American Society's Future?
Does this mean today's kids are being raised to think of ordinary responsibilities,
like doing the dishes, as unthinkable nuisances? Ultimately, cereal makers will
settle on a plan for selling more cereal. Most likely, they will accept the fact that
many people are eating cereal as a snack. They also may shift to portable
containers, which nearly half of millennials prefer, according to Mintel.
No matter the result, America's youth might have to deal with the consequences of
an age in which it is no longer worth eating a food when it means having to clean a
plate. Maybe Soylent, the meal replacement drink that can go anywhere, is the
future after all.
Notes on my thoughts,
reactions and questions as I
read:
Article of the Week
English Language Arts – Mr. McMillan
Multiple Choice Questions:
1. Re-read the section “Choice Based on Lack of Effort.” Based on this section, which of the following is MOST
likely to happen in the near future?
(A) Cereal makers will start to sell fancy coffee products along with cereal.
(B) Cereal makers will develop new packaging that can be thrown away instead of washed.
(C) Cereal makers will stop trying to get millennials to buy their cereal.
(D) Cereal makers will try to convince buyers that they should not eat yogurt for breakfast.
2. Based on the article, which of these statements is TRUE?
(A) Food trends are changing because people are more interested in convenience.
(B) Fewer children are given chores, so they do not know how to dishes.
(C) Food makers will soon go out of business because of the changing tastes of millennials.
(D) While millennials think it is too much effort to make cereal, they will make coffee from whole
beans.
3. Which is the BEST objective summary of the section “Less Time To Cook, More Need For Convenience?
(A) Parents work more now than they used to. Most children enjoy eating at restaurants more than
eating at home.
(B) Families do not cook at home as much as they used to. Today, more parents work and fewer
children do chores.
(C) Most parents no longer ask their children to do chores. Bowls of cereal have become less popular
for breakfast.
(D) Children should spend more time preparing food at home. Dinners at home can be less convenient
than restaurant meals.
Answer each question in complete sentences.
1. According to the New York Times, why is cereal an inconvenient breakfast choice?
2. What effect does this have on the cereal industry? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Article of the Week
English Language Arts – Mr. McMillan
Define inconvenient, write a sentence using this word, and draw a picture below to help you remember it.
Define nuisance, write a sentence using this word, and draw a picture below to help you remember it.
(
Newsela authors state, “No matter the result, America's youth might have to deal with the consequences of an age in
which it is no longer worth eating a food when it means having to clean a plate. Maybe Soylent, the meal replacement
drink that can go anywhere, is the future after all.” What would happen if home-cooked meals became a thing of the
past and people replaced them with quick, convenient “meals?” Think about family relationships, nutrition, etc.