Food Glorious Food
Indroducing the anthology: comfort eating
Food is an emotive subject. We all need to eat but we have
different food preferences.
What is your favourite meal? Take a few minutes to describe it.
Have a full three courses.
Starter
Main course
and
trimmings
Pudding/
dessert
How has describing the meal made you feel?
Share the meal with the rest of the group and compare choices. You can then complete a class
survey on your preferences. You may be surprised how one person’s favourite meal is another
person’s least favourite!
© www.teachit.co.uk 2011
15512
Page 1 of 7
Food Glorious Food
Indroducing the anthology: comfort eating
Some people will not or cannot eat certain foods. Make sure you know what these terms mean by
un-jumbling the definitions:
Vegetarian
Someone who does not eat any animal products including dairy, or
wear leather shoes, or in any way use animal products.
Vegan
Permitted foods are those which can be gathered without harming
the plant: fruit, seeds and nuts.
Omnivore
Someone who has unpleasant reactions to certain foodstuffs, but
these are not life-threatening.
Fruitarian
Someone who does not eat meat. Some people in this category
will eat dairy, some will not. Likewise with fish.
People with food
intolerance(s)
Someone whose body rejects certain foodstuffs with potentially
life-threatening consequences.
People with food
allergies
Someone who does not rule out any category of foodstuffs on the
grounds of principle.
Discuss with people in the class and find out where classmates fit in to
this list. It is also interesting to find out why people decided to become
vegetarian etc. There are also people who do not eat some foods for
religious reasons, and who fast at certain times of the year.
When we are babies food is both comfort and nourishment. We form an
emotional bond with food and with the person who feeds us. This can
lead to comfort eating. What are your comfort foods?
Now look through the anthology and complete the table (no pun
intended!):
Text number and author
Comfort Food
Text 4, Jackie Kay
The soup her grandfather used to make
Text 5, James Berry
Text 6, John Agard
Text 17, Nigella Lawson
© www.teachit.co.uk 2011
15512
Page 2 of 7
Food Glorious Food
Indroducing the anthology: comfort eating
For your examination essay you will be comparing two texts of
your choice from the anthology which suit the set topic, or ‘steer’.
It is a good idea to practise doing this from the start. Choose two of the
above texts that you think will compare and contrast well. Read them
through carefully a few times. Then produce a comparison chart using the
table on the next page. The phrases in the first column are the phrases from
the bullet points in the examination question.
Before you consider any text in detail, read it as a whole and think about
who it has been written for and with what purpose. You will be
familiar with this framework from GCSE. You cannot evaluate detail like
‘word choices’ without some understanding of audience and purpose. Be
aware too that texts may have more than one audience or purpose. An
alphabet book, for example, may be for children who do not yet know their
alphabet, but there will also be an adult reading it with them; its purpose is
to educate but it will not succeed unless it also entertains.
Some of the terms in the framework are self explanatory. Others you may
know by a different name. ‘Figurative language’ is the same thing as imagery.
‘Sound patterning’ includes such things as alliteration, assonance,
consonance, repetition, rhyme, rhythm, but also how loud or quietly a text
would be spoken, pauses and other qualities of speech. Ask yourself whether
a text is meant to be read aloud, is spoken spontaneously, or read in silence
from a book.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2011
15512
Page 3 of 7
Food Glorious Food
Indroducing the anthology: comfort eating
Name:................................................................................................................................................................................
Comparing texts which present food as a comfort.
Frameworks
Text
Text
by
by
Word choices
Figurative language
Grammar
Sound patterning
Form and structure
Layout and presentation
Contexts of production and
reception
Once your teacher has seen your comparison chart, it is a good idea to share the chart with the rest
of the class. This could lead to a useful discussion and help you add more to your own chart.
Next, team up with someone who has used at least one text that you chose, and see if, by working
together, you can add to your charts. You will now have a useful essay plan.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2011
15512
Page 4 of 7
Food Glorious Food
Indroducing the anthology: comfort eating
How to write the essay
Your introduction should let the examiner know that you have chosen appropriate texts for the
steer, and that you understand what you have to do. You also want to be picking up marks from the
very first sentence. Which of these two possible introductions will impress the examiner most
favourably?
‘Grandpa’s Soup’ by Jackie Kay presents soup made by her grandfather as a comfort food,
because it was made for her by someone she loved. The comfort is in the memory as well as
the ingredients. John Agard’s poem ‘Glory Glory Be to Chocolate’ praises a food very widely
recognised as the ultimate comfort food: chocolate. He has researched the history of chocolate
just as Jackie Kay gives the reader her history of the soup. However, Agard’s poem is relevant to
all readers, whereas Kay shares a specific memory which may help the reader access their own
childhood comfort foods.
Comment on this introduction: In this essay I am going to write about two texts on the topic of food. Jackie Kay has written a
poem about the soup her granddad used to make her when she was little. John Agard likes
chocolate. I am going to compare these two texts and say how they are different and similar.
They both like the foods they talk about. Jackie Kay is Scottish and John Agard is from Jamaica.
They have both won a lot of prizes for their writing.
Comment on this introduction: © www.teachit.co.uk 2011
15512
Page 5 of 7
Food Glorious Food
Indroducing the anthology: comfort eating
The second introduction does not create a good impression. It is just a preamble which includes some
facts the examiner already knows, some of them taken from the contextualisations at the front of the
anthology.
Predictive openings (‘I am going to write about’, or ‘this essay will compare’) are a complete waste of
time. Saying you are going to do your homework does not get it done.
The first introduction actually starts doing the task. It isn’t really an introduction as such – it dives
straight in and looks at the task as a whole. The paragraph shows the examiner that you understand
the question and have chosen suitable texts, and it also reassures you that you have chosen good
texts for this steer, because you can already make some comparisons about the overall texts.
The Main Body
Because comparison is important, it is a good idea to look at the texts together. To keep it logical,
lead with your first point on your first text, then bring in the second text. The bullet points in the
question are important but you will not necessarily write something on every single one for every
text you work with.
Rather than writing a mechanical and feature-spotting response, use the bullet points and your
comparison chart as tools to help you to remember to discuss the techniques the examiner will be
rewarding you on, but for your main points, look for aspects of the texts you have chosen which link
together and link to the steer. You could look for three to four main points which will allow you to
compare the texts and bring in the bullet points.
Suggested main points:

Both poets describe their comfort food in detail (word choices, figurative language, sound
patterning)

Both texts draw on a particular language to present their comfort foods, Kay draws on Scots
dialect and Agard on bibilical language and the names of different sorts of chocolate (all the
above, plus contexts of production)

Both writers yearn for the food they describe and explain their reasons to the reader (all of
the above, plus form and structure, layout and presentation)

Both writers see their comfort foods as symbolising something deeper

Both writers use personal address; Agard speaks to the chocolate and Kay to her grandfather.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2011
15512
Page 6 of 7
Food Glorious Food
Indroducing the anthology: comfort eating
The Conclusion
The last paragraph of your essay should show the reader that you have finished. Try to draw together
the threads of your argument. Have you discovered anything about how these writers see comfort
foods overall. There is no point repeating anything you have already said, but this is a good space for
you to share what you have discovered about the topic and these two texts. You can add points you
have not yet had time to cover in the essay, and you could evaluate the texts by stating your own
preferences.
Preparing to answer the examination question
You will need to practise these skills so that you become accustomed to the question. As you study
the anthology, try to link texts together and invent your own steers.
The principal examiner makes sure that every steer is relevant to a small group of texts, so when you
are inventing your own steers, test them out by listing the texts you could use to address that steer.
As you study, keep a table like this in the front of your anthology:
Steer
Group of texts
It is vitally important to address the steer each time and not slip into material from previous
questions. Make sure every point in your essay relates specifically to the steer you are given.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2011
15512
Page 7 of 7