Gustavo Arellano's essay, "Let White People Appropriate Mexican Food—Mexicans Do It to Ourselves All the Time," presents the argument that it is morally defensible for white people to appropriate Mexican food. While there are valid points in Arellano's essay, it is important to critically evaluate the argument and consider different perspectives.
One aspect of Arellano's argument is that cultural exchange and borrowing have been a part of human history. He points out that Mexicans themselves have appropriated and transformed food from other cultures. This observation highlights the fluid nature of cultural influences and the fact that culinary traditions often evolve through interactions between different communities. From this perspective, it could be argued that it is natural for white people to appreciate and incorporate Mexican cuisine into their own culinary practices.
Furthermore, Arellano argues that cultural appropriation can serve as a form of validation for marginalized cultures. He suggests that when white people embrace Mexican food and make it mainstream, it can help elevate the status and recognition of Mexican culture in society. This argument implies that cultural appropriation can be a means of cultural appreciation and promotion, rather than a harmful act of exploitation.
However, it is important to acknowledge that cultural appropriation can have negative consequences. Cultural appropriation often occurs within a context of power imbalances, where dominant cultures borrow elements from marginalized cultures without proper understanding, respect, or acknowledgement. This can lead to the commodification and exploitation of cultural traditions, as well as the erasure of their historical and social significance.
Additionally, cultural appropriation can perpetuate harmful stereotypes and misrepresentations. When elements of a culture are taken out of their original context and stripped of their cultural meanings, it can contribute to a shallow and distorted understanding of that culture. This can reinforce stereotypes and reinforce power dynamics that marginalize the cultures being appropriated.
In light of these considerations, it is necessary to exercise caution and sensitivity when engaging with cultural practices and traditions. While appreciation and cross-cultural exchange are important, they should be done with respect, understanding, and recognition of the cultural origins and significance of the practices being borrowed. This means acknowledging and learning about the history, values, and experiences of the culture in question, and actively supporting and uplifting the voices and perspectives of the communities from which the cultural practices originate.
In conclusion, while Gustavo Arellano presents arguments that suggest the moral defensibility of white people appropriating Mexican food, it is important to critically examine the complexities of cultural appropriation. Cultural exchange and borrowing have long been a part of human history, but it is crucial to consider power dynamics, historical context, and the potential for harmful consequences. Cultural appreciation should be conducted with respect, understanding, and an emphasis on promoting inclusivity and equity.
Highlights from Gustavo Arellano’s Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America
The Cosmic Burrito
According to food writer and Los Angeles Times culture critic Gustavo Arellano, Mexican food has been assimilated and celebrated in the United States for 125 years. Tacos and burritos are America’s comfort food.
The celebration of Mexican food in America has caused a worldwide appetite for Mexican food, from Dubai to Australia, which has its own Taco Bell, called Taco Bill’s, which specializes in fish tacos.
Arellano observes that for over 100 years, many Americans who are anti-Mexican in their prejudices are unaware of the contradiction between their racism and their undying love of Mexican food. They compartmentalize, loving the food yet inexplicably disliking the people who make it, turning Mexicans into negative stereotypes while having a relentless desire for Mexican food.
Tortillas are the preferred food of NASA astronauts, so there is now the “Cosmic Burrito” and variations of Mexican food pop up all over America, including the muchaco, a taco made with ground beef and pita bread at the Taco Bueno restaurant chain.
Hot Cocoa Comes from Mexico
Arellano observes that traditional desserts made with cocoa and vanilla to make chocolate and vanilla desserts, including hot cocoa, come from 1700s Mexico when the Virgin Mary statues in the cathedrals had offerings of various chocolate and vanilla desserts. This vanilla was cultivated to perfection and copied by the Europeans in Pico de Orizaba, a vanilla region in Veracruz, which is in eastern Mexico.
As early as the 1500s, Spanish conquerors fell in love with Mexican foods made with corn or maize, which were made into various forms of masa cornmeal.
The Spaniards become obsessed with tortillas and tamales, the latter being a convenience food perfect for traveling with.
The Spanish invader Cortes demanded Mexican food in his court, and according to Arellano, this is the first documented case of cultural appropriation.
Moreover, the Spaniards introduced the Mexicans to wheat flour, which brought flour tortillas to the Mexican diet.
This is our first known case of fusion.
Chile Con Carne (soon to become Chili)
Arrellano observes that the first chili made with hot peppers and meat was around 1870 in the San Antonio region, not Texas, but pre-Texas: Tejas.
Chile became so popular that by the 1880s, you could already find it advertised in Hawaii and Washington D.C.
The world doesn’t understand how good Mexican food is. They take it for granted. This is one of Arellano’s main points.
Now Chile Con Carne is just “Chili.”
Tamalero
Tamales started to spread throughout America in the 1890s and were sold by European, Indian, and Arab immigrants who were often called “Mexicans.” These immigrants who sold the tamales on the streets were called Tamaleros, AKA “The Hot Tamale Man.”
They became part of American popular culture and folklore.
World Domination of the Taco in the 1950s
As big as tamales and chili were for about 70 years, they would be replaced by the world-dominating taco starting in the 1950s.
Arellano contributes this growth to a place in Orange County called Irvine, the birth of Taco Bell, founded by Glen Bell.
We now have many tacos including:
- The soft-shell taco
- The taco dorado (hard shell)
- The taquito (flautas)
Tacos have exploded all over the world, including Sweden, Japan, and South Africa.
Birthplace of the American Taco and the Gateway Drug Argument
While Glen Bell popularized the taco, the birthplace of the American taco comes from downtown Los Angeles on Olvera Street, a tiny taco stand called Cielito Lindo, circa 1931.
The second place is in San Bernardino, the Mitla Cafe, established in 1937. The restaurant served hard-shell tacos packed with beef and shredded cheese: taco dorado con carne molida.
Glen Bell noticed the popularity of Mexican food among the white consumer base in the San Bernardino area, and he copied Mitla Cafe when he started various taco ventures before settling on Taco Bell.
The owners of Mitla Cafe and Gustavo Arellano defend Taco Bell with its phony “Mexican food” because it’s the “gateway drug” to real Mexican food.
We can call this the Gateway Drug Argument for your essay.
Challenges to Authenticity
In his book, Taco USA, Arellano tackles some challenges to the idea of authenticity in Mexican food:
- Since the 1980s, many white chefs have become Mexican food “experts,” writing cookbooks, opening Mexican restaurants, and having TV shows featuring Mexican food.
- There was a type of food from New Mexico called “Southwestern Cuisine,” which could often be pretentious “gourmet” dishes with some loose connection to Mexican food. Other times, the food is very good, featuring local ingredients like hatch chilies. The enduring food from Southwestern Cuisine is the breakfast burrito. The craze started to die in the 1990s.
- Tex-Mex, a fusion that since the 1930s features fajitas and chili has been criticized as being inauthentic, “the lowest common denominator of Mexican food.” However, the actual term Tex-Mex wasn’t coined until the 1960s.
The Great Burrito Rivalry
Gustavo Arellano adores the legendary Manuel’s Special at Manuel’s El Tepeyac Cafe in Boyle Heights.
He compares the burrito to an encounter with God. The burrito is 5 pounds and filled with grilled chicken, carne asada, machaca, beans, rice, guacamole, and sour cream.
The rival to Los Angeles for burritos is San Francisco, the Mission District, a place called “El Faro,” the Lighthouse. These are called Mission Style burritos.
“Tracing the delicious history of San Francisco’s mission style burrito”
“Why are Restaurant Burritos Better Than Homemade?”
Holy Grail Mexican Food Destinations
- Arellano says his favorite burrito is the chile relleno burrito at Lucy’s Drive-In on Pico Blvd and La Brea in Los Angeles.
- His favorite tamales are at Pasquale’s Tamales, a trailer in Helena, Arkansa, owned by a third-generation Sicilian family.
- His favorite lamb chicharrones are Angelina’s in Espanola, New Mexico.
- He loves the Taco Acorazado (Battleship) at Alebrije’s Grill in Santa Ana, CA. He says the tortillas alone are a miracle.
Not All Cultural Appropriation Is Alike: To Agree Or Not to Agree with Gustavo Arellano
The college students in my critical thinking class and I live in Los Angeles where some of the best food in the world is in our very backyards. I don’t want my students or me to take this for granted. I want us to do a deep dive into the Los Angeles food world, particularly Mexican food, the most popular cuisine in the world. So for our final essay assignment, we read Gustavo Arellano’s article “Let White People Appropriate Mexican Food--Mexicans Do It to Ourselves All the Time” and we write an essay that supports or refutes Arellano’s defense of cultural appropriation.
Arellano defends cultural appropriation by explaining three things. One, that since the beginning of time, restaurant owners have copied their competition; two, social justice warriors aren’t helping anyone when they patronize Mexicans by painting them as helpless victims when in fact Mexicans steal in the food industry just like everyone else; and three, what some might call appropriation or stealing can be in fact the healthy human impulse for cross-cultural pollination, evidenced by the fact that many of Mexico’s most famous regional dishes incorporate the food and ingredients from Spain, France, and the Middle East.
Arellano’s argument forces us to question the very idea of authenticity. What is authenticity? In the context of Mexican food, authenticity is the traditions of regional Mexican cooking that bring labor-intensive cooking techniques, geographical richness, and time-tested rituals to produce some of the best food in the world. But authenticity is more than food. It is family and culture. I urge you to watch The Taco Chronicles on Netflix. When you see families in different parts of Mexico making carnitas, canasta, asada, pastor, barbacoa, guisado, suadero, cochinita, cabrito, birria, and pescado, you will find that the geography and family traditions make these dishes authentic. But just as importantly, these foods are so good that they are a miracle from God. Look at the love the community lavishes on the local taquero, the man selling tacos on the street corner. He is bringing love to the city, and he is appreciated for it. Look at the entire communities gathering together to make these authentic dishes and you will see that food is rooted in family and culture. What is most beautiful about this notion of authenticity is the expression of love for others by bringing them the food of the gods. There is a reason in Mexico why the taco is called madre.
When we watch The Taco Chronicles, the sense of community combined with the making of the best food in the world wins our hearts and our stomachs. Any notion of violating this authenticity rightfully angers us and we are disinclined to agree with Arellano’s support of cultural appropriation. However, if you read Arellano’s book Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, you will get more context for Arellano’s defense of cultural appropriation. Arellano would never want us to violate the authentic regional traditions of Mexican cooking. Instead, he is arguing that the splendor of regional Mexican cooking spread to America by bringing food that is both desirable and affordable and that some, not all, of the magic of authentic Mexican cuisine became accessible to the American masses. Moreover, this Mexican food changed American culture for the better. Full-flavored Mexican food replaced the tasteless pablum of “American” food. Americans speak with their money and they spend so much money on Mexican food that they have made a statement that they want Mexican food in their culture.
Is Gustavo Arellano defending all forms of cultural appropriation? Clearly not. If you read his articles and watch the Netflix series Ugly Delicious, “Tacos,” you will see that Arellano has contempt for “soulless” Mexican food, “Mexican” food chains that bastardize good-tasting Mexican food, food chains that disconnect the food they sell from the workers and from the Mexican culture; you will also see that Arellano has a healthy contempt for white-washed tourist food--phony overpriced Mexican food that has no spice and has been altered to appeal to the most infantile tastebuds. These counterfeit “Mexican” restaurants aren’t serving Mexican food at all. Rather, they are shamelessly serving overpriced tasteless codswallop. They are an abomination of Mexican food and the very idea of cross-cultural pollination.
However, there are defensible iterations of cultural appropriation. Stealing recipes from Mexico and elsewhere and bringing affordable street food to America doesn’t hurt anyone and in fact brings the nectar of the gods to more people for affordable prices. Recipes are stolen all the time. Just don’t take aqua fresca and call it “spa water” on your Tiktok channel, as Gracie Norton did, which is a form of racial plagiarism.
Some will argue that if some white ladies from Portland go to Mexico and steal taco recipes from grandmothers in Mexico City, those grandmothers are entitled to a cut of the action. But in reality, millions of recipes are stolen every day in the restaurant industry and any kind of compensation through accurate and detailed accounting is an impossibility.
Another defense of Gustavo Arellano’s claim that cultural appropriation is a good thing can be found in Netflix’s Chef’s Table Pizza series. Specifically, there are two chefs, Chris Bianco and Ann Kim, who break the rules of tradition to show that there is a place for creativity and improvisation in making superior pizza that violates notions of tradition and authenticity. In fact, Italian pizza experts have visited Chris Bianco’s Pizzeria Bianco in Pheonix, Arizona, and have proclaimed that his pizza is superior to the traditional pizzas of Italy. In the case of Ann Kim, she puts kimchi on her pizza and serves Korean mung bean pancakes and her restaurant Pizzeria Lola is so famous that to meet demand, she opened three other restaurants: Hello Pizza, Young Joni, and Sook & Mimi. Incidentally, her most recent restaurant Sook & Mimi features handmade tortillas made in the tradition of Mexico.
When we see successful restauranters such as Chris Bianco and Ann Kim make delicious food that is based on both authenticity and creativity, we see that making authentic food, or not, is not an either/or proposition. It is possible to do both. Again, this notion of combining authenticity with cultural cross-pollination supports Arellano’s defense of cultural appropriation.
Clearly, not all forms of cultural appropriation are alike. Some types are an abomination. Others are a celebration. The purpose of this assignment is to use our critical thinking skills to distinguish the good from the bad and to find nuance, shades of gray, and complexity.
Just as the best tacos have a complexity of flavors, the best essays have a complexity of ideas.
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Sample Theses That Refute and Defend Gustavo Arellano’s Argument
Refutation
Gustavo Arellano is a prestigious, beloved Los Angeles culture writer. Unfortunately, his argument that attempts to ease the collective white conscience to steal Mexican food is a sad, unconvincing affair. His argument is crippled with egregious moral, legal, and logical fallacies. He knows all too well that American history is rife with white people exploiting Mexicans’ hard work and ingenuity. To defend whites because “everyone steals” is a childish remark that fails basic moral teachings, specifically the infantile notion that two wrongs make a right. Second, if Arellano wants us to take him seriously, he must give us a more narrow definition of cultural appropriation. There is no moral equivalence between a Salvadorean husband respectfully learning the finer points of making Jahuacatas from his wife who hails from Michoacan and the white El Torito manager who hires a Mexican worker, steals the worker’s recipes over a period of two months, and then unceremoniously fires the worker. A third most regrettable error on Arellano’s part is how he conveniently ignores the atrocious fact that the majority of white stealing of Mexican food is done in the cynical service of making money by white-washing and in effect destroying delicious food to make it palatable for philistines, tourists, and other types of phony people who fancy deluding themselves into “going out and getting some ethnic food.” The bad scenarios described above are more than just bad; they are abominations of the tastebuds and the soul, and for Arellano to omit these abominations from his argument is a form of intellectual dishonesty for which I cannot forgive.
Defense
I feel bad for the above writer who has morally excoriated Gustavo Arellano for his supposed moral failings. This writer’s spiritual purity and moral self-righteousness have blinded him from the gustatory pleasures that result from Arellano’s “free-stealing” philosophy. By “free-stealing,” I refer to a degree of healthy chaos that exists in the food industry. Recipes are flying from one town to another; variations are infinite based on quirks, available food, cross-cultural pollination, and a synthesis of cooking techniques from the many cultures that inevitably converge in great cosmopolitan cities such as Los Angeles. Moreover, the relevance of Mexican cooking makes it the most popular, fastest-growing cuisine in the world. Contrary to the above passage which attempts to put a big stink on Gustavo Arellano and which would have us believe that Mexican food is pure, sacrosanct, and unchanging, real Mexican food is constantly evolving through ruthless stealing, borrowing, mutations, and respectful homages to its sacred origins. Thank God, Gustavo Arellano acknowledges the vibrancy of Mexican cooking and its complicated, sometimes morally questionable origins, for finally, a food writer has exposed the truth about the wonders of Mexican food. The above writer, on the other hand, gets a medal for moral self-righteousness but loses points for being a boring, propaganda writer for the Cult of Authenticity.
Refutation
Gustavo Arellano is gung-ho about white people stealing from Mexicans for three reasons. One, since Mexicans steal, everyone else should be able to. Two, stealing Mexican food is great for popularizing Mexican food throughout the world. Three, dishing up substandard debased Mexican food is a great “gateway drug” to getting people hooked on real Mexican food. All three of his reasons are so ludicrous and asinine as to strain credulity. For one, that Mexicans interacted with other cultures, some who colonized them, and created amazing food is not morally equivalent to privileged classes of people today stealing Mexican food and exploiting Mexican workers. For two, while it’s true that stealing Mexican recipes popularizes Mexican food, this popularization for at least 99% of the time is a disrespectful corruption of true Mexican cooking. So Mexican food has been watered-down to suit the tastes of tacky tourists. Am I supposed to celebrate that fact? I think not. Finally, Arellano would have us applaud the serving of crappy food as the “gateway drug” to real Mexican food. Arellano’s reasoning is based on the optimistic and fallacious assumption that the tasteless hordes will get one taste of abysmal phony Mexican food and want to pivot to something more authentic when in fact the evidence proves otherwise. Look at the popularity of Taco Bell, El Torito, and other shambolic soul-crushing food chains and you’ll see that the masses are quite content with eating phony soulless Mexican food and have complete disregard for the real thing. One last thing I must mention is that Arellano's argument is hypocritical and disingenuous. What do I mean? You won't see Arellano eating and praising Mexican food from white establishments or food chains. He himself goes to hole-in-the-walls owned by Mexicans and other ethnic people and finds his favorite foods from these delicious remote places. These are the places he celebrates in his columns. In other words, Arellano can't even put his money where his mouth is. So while I will read Gustavo Arellano’s cultural criticism, I will index his defense of white people stealing Mexican food in my Rejection and Nonsense File.
Your Essay Assignment:
Do you agree or disagree with Arellano's defense of cultural appropriation?
Summary of the Essay's Main Arguments
- We are all rapacious creatures whose drive for success makes us to some degree cutthroat and ruthless. The more ruthlessly we steal a recipe the more we affirm the greatness of that recipe. Mediocre food isn't stolen. Only great food is. The theft of Mexican recipes is a tribute to its greatness.
- "Stealing" is actually the natural human inclination for cross-cultural pollination. Such pollination enriches culture and in many cases actually changes culture for the better.
- To treat Mexicans as helpless victims whose delicacies are being stolen is to patronize them and to "rob them of human agency" (free will). In fact, Mexicans have been "stealing," or rather cross-pollinating, for thousands of years. Their history is rife with taking foods from other cultures such as Spain, France, and the Middle East, and making these foods their own.
- From the Netflix series Ugly Delicious, "Tacos" episode, we find that respectful inspiration from the original dish is an acceptable form of cultural appropriation.
Some Caveats, Stipulations, or Conditions We Can Use from Ugly Delicious, "Tacos":
- Taking shortcuts is an abomination and degrades the original version of the food such as tortillas.
- Offering stereotypes of Mexican food is an abomination and shows ignorance of the depth of ingredients and creativity from the treasures of Mexican cooking. Don't play "Jingle Bells" on the piano when you should be playing Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
- Making tourist food or white-washing food to make it bland for mass appeal will make you money but it is an abomination of authentic Mexican food.
- Taking agua fresca and rebranding it as "spa water" is a form of racial plagiarism so egregious that I doubt Gustavo Arellano would defend such an act of shamelessness and arrogance.
What are the two opposing sides of this argument?
The Great Debate: Innovation Vs. Tradition:
On one side, Gustavo Arellano’s side, is the argument that great food evolves through stealing and that stealing is a sign of the food’s greatness. Another side of food greatness is constant evolution and constant innovation. People are open to experimenting with foods and not tied to traditions and absolutes. Mexican food, moreover, is not a monolith. There is diversity based on regions and innovations, so there is no such thing as One Kind of Mexican Food, no One Burrito, No One Taco, etc.
On the other side, the Cult of Authenticity, is the belief that food should be unchanged. Food is iconic and rooted in tradition and attempts at changing the food is equivalent to “blasphemy.” Also, when the food is taken and changed it accounts to the loathsome act of cultural appropriation. Which side are you on?
Use the Toulmin Argument Model with a Counterargument-Rebuttal Section
From a design and structure standpoint, you are learning to write an argumentative essay in the tradition of the Toulmin Model, named after philosopher Stephen Toulmin. In the Toulmin Model, you address your opponents’ views in a counterargument-rebuttal section.
What is Cultural Appropriation?
According to the Origin of Everything “What Is Cultural Appropriation?” video, there are many definitions of cultural appropriation, and we cannot use cultural appropriation as an argument about any debate concerning authenticity unless we are clear with our terms.
There are egregious, ambiguous, and benign forms and examples of cultural appropriation, so we cannot lump them all together as cancel culture (group shaming someone or an organization for committing some unforgivable sin or other) would have us do.
Egregious or Really Bad Forms and Examples of Cultural Appropriation
- Elvis Presley imitating soul music while he gets rich and the African Americans he stole from remain on the margins.
- A white guy putting on blackface and putting on a negative stereotype minstrel show under the name “Jim Crow.”
- Hollywood showing a pattern of hiring white actors over ethnic actors to play ethnic roles.
- Anytime the dominant culture steals something from marginalized culture for entertainment and profiteering purposes and obscures the original meaning, sacredness, and context of the thing that was stolen.
- Rachel Dolezal (shown below), a white woman, using a tanning bed and hair extensions to pass as black, lying about her racial identity, and using her identity as a “black woman” to be an authority on race, and even get a job at the NAACP, and edging out real African American women for the job. In putting on her charade, she became the consummate “wannabe.”
Controversial examples of cultural appropriation
Some actions are more controversial. For example, can a white writer assume the identity of an ethnic person in creating a narrator or character for a novel?
Such a controversy has become huge in recent times with the best-selling novel American Dirt, by Anglo writer Jeanine Cummins (shown above). Some argue that a writer of any race should have artistic license to create any character they need to fulfill their artistic vision. Others accuse Jeanine Cummins of cultural appropriation and as a guilty party of this act, Cummins, as a white woman, cannot create an authentic experience about a Mexican mother who goes across the United States border with her son, and in fact is exploiting human suffering to make a buck. We read that some have accused, as cited in The Guardian article “Publishers defend American Dirt as claims of cultural appropriation grow,” of Cummins making “overly ripe stereotypes” from “the white gaze” and others say that the novel, cultural appropriation or not, is just bad writing, sensationalistic and formulaic, a cheap thriller.
Defending Cultural Appropriation
New York Times Student Editorial Contest Winner seventeen-year-old Maggie Strauss defends cultural appropriation in her essay “‘Cultural Appropriation’ Is Critical to Human Progress.”
Strauss makes the point that not all cultural appropriation is alike. How we judge instances of cultural appropriation should be partly based on intention or motive. She concedes that many fashions take from different cultures, and sometimes this influence is done in good taste, but other times it is based on shallow stereotypes. As she writes:
“These fashion statements were clearly not designed to offend or degrade the cultures that influenced them. However, that is not to say that everyone who draws inspiration from different cultures is doing it with the right intentions. Issues arise when imitation is based on a shallow and offensive stereotype, which is just blatant racism.”
Syncretism
Strauss argues that cultural appropriation from a broad definition is inevitable and part of natural human progress. This broad definition of cultural exchange is called syncretism. As she writes: “From a historical perspective, the term that is typically used to describe the adoption of certain practices from one culture to the next is syncretism. Without syncretism, human progress would be next to impossible.”
We can’t put ourselves in boxes
An Irish person shouldn’t be forced to wear only Irish clothes, eat Irish food, and drink Irish beer. Such a boxing in is absurd and contrary to human nature. We are creatures who freely engage in cultural exchange. For cancel culture to lump all cultural exchange as some horrific sin of cultural appropriation is extremist and disconnected from reality.
But what about when white women go to Mexico, take recipes from the Mexican streets, and return to America to create a successful Mexican food eatery?
Review of Gustavo Arellano’s Arguments Against the Cult of Authenticity
(Pro Tip: The following arguments would make an excellent body paragraph outline for Essay 4)
- In spite of some phony white chefs who wrongly anoint themselves as ambassadors of Mexican food, mainstreaming Mexican food is on balance a good because it exposes more people to the greatness of Mexican food and encourages cultural respect and cultural celebration of Mexican contributions.
- Much of the purity cult behind the notion of authenticity is from whites on the Left and Right who don’t understand Mexican food or the Mexican people.
- Letting social justice warriors dictate what is authentic can lead to food totalitarianism and absurdly narrow, reductionist definitions of authenticity.
- The lines are blurred between innovation, cross-cultural synergy, and cultural appropriation, which has occurred since the beginning of time and is an inevitable part of how food evolves into amazing dishes.
- It’s absurd to reject Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex food when we consider that these fusions are about embracing the greatness of Mexican cuisine and that no food is good or bad per se; rather, how a chef executes the dish determines whether it’s good or not. It’s all about execution. A bad taco could put you in a bad mood for a week. An exceptional taco could “change your life” and inject your brain’s amygdala with euphoric endorphins.
If we have any questions about the authenticity of Tex-Mex, this Eater YouTube video titled “How the World’s Most Authentic Tex-Mex Is Made” should quell those doubts:
How the World's Most Authentic Tex-Mex is Made — Cooking in America
8 Rules for Elevating Your Argumentative Thesis
Introduction
I’ve been reading journalist Gustavo Arellano’s articles for almost two decades now. He is always truthful, gut-punching, surprising, edgy, funny, smart, and relevant. When I think about his writing, it occurs to me that Arellano often incorporates many of the 8 Rules for Elevating Your Argumentative Thesis.
As we prepare for our essay, let us do a study of them:
Rule #1: Write a claim that means something to you on both an intellectual and visceral level.
If your claim is perfunctory or listless or weak or just plain boring, it is going to show up in your writing. You have to find an angle that you care about both intellectually and viscerally (from the gut). It is impossible to fabricate authentic passion for your topic, that is, unless you are a person of remarkable talent and acting skills. If that is true, you are the exception, not the rule.
Rule #2: Write a claim that is debatable.
If your claim is debatable, then you have the opportunity to test it against opposing views. This testing of your claim forces you to do an intellectual deep dive, which by necessity elevates the sophistication of your writing rigor. In contrast, a thesis that is too obvious and factual will be boring because you will be lecturing down to your reader something that is self-evident. For example, writing a claim or thesis that patience is necessary for a healthy marriage is, while true, so obvious that to read through such an essay would be a slog through a compositional snoozefest.
Rule #3 Write a claim that is modified through the use of conditions or caveats.
A caveat is a condition you place on a proposition. For example, if you are arguing for fighting Covid-19 through contact tracing, you might argue for contact tracing with some caveats in your thesis such as this:
“Provided we have measures to protect privacy and invasive government snooping, contact tracing is essential for fighting Covid-19.”
You are arguing for contact tracing if certain conditions are met. By placing conditions in your thesis, you are elevating your writing’s sophistication.
Rule #4: Gain credibility for your claim by using a concession clause.
In Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky’s From Inquiry to Academic Writing, Third Edition, we read that “Part of the strategy of developing a main claim supported with good reasons is to offer a concession, an acknowledgment that readers may not agree with every point the writer is making. A concession is a writer’s way of saying, ‘Okay, I can see that there may be another way of looking at the issue or another way to interpret the evidence used to support the argument I am making.’”
Some examples of concessions that we place before the thesis:
“While it is true that . . .”
“While I agree with X that Y, it is also important to consider.”
“Yes, some studies have convincingly shown that __________; however, a closer look reveals that _________________”
Rule #5: Be sure that important terms in your claim are clear and explicitly defined to your reader.
Never assume your reader understands terms you might be putting in your essay. If you are using terms like “Cult of Authenticity,” “cultural appropriation,” or “hegemony” in your thesis, you will want to be sure to define those terms in your introduction; otherwise, you will alienate your reader.
Rule #6: Be okay with having a working or tentative thesis at first and then making your thesis more definitive as you progress deeper and deeper into the topic.
Good writing is about the process of discovery, the surprise of discovery, and the writer throwing away preconceptions in his or her passion for finding the truth. Therefore, at the start of the journey, the thesis is going to be “iffy” or tentative; as you clarify your thoughts on the topic, your thesis will become more crsytalized. For example, I grew up hearing people stigmatize Tex-Mex as phony food, but it wasn’t until I did a deep dive on this topic for my English 1C Critical Thinking class that I learned that Tex-Mex has a deep history in the land of Mexico and Texas and that there are amazing chefs who have made Tex-Mex and exquisite art form.
Rule #7: Use the Three Means of Persuasion to make your argumentative thesis more effective.
According to Aristotle, there are Three Means of Persuasion that a speaker or writer can use to persuade his audience:
The appeal of reason and logic: logos
The appeal of emotions: pathos
The appeal of authority: ethos
Logos, the use of logic in your argument: Smoking will compromise your immune system and make you more at risk for cancer; therefore, logic, or logos, dictates that you should quit smoking.
Pathos, the use of emotion in your argument: If you die of cancer, you will be abandoning your family when they need you most; therefore an emotional appeal, or pathos, dictates that you quit smoking.
Ethos, the use of credible sources in your argument: The surgeon general has warned you of the hazards of smoking; therefore the credibility of an authority or expert dictates that you quit smoking. If the writer lacks authority or credibility, he is often well served to draw upon the authority of someone else to support his argument.
You would want to use logos, pathos, and ethos all together if you were trying to persuade someone to quit smoking. To neglect one would be to compromise your argument.
Rule #8: Having mapping components following your thesis gives you and your reader a clear roadmap of where your essay is going.
A thesis should always have a clear direction that shows you and the reader the direction of the essay or the organizational plan. For example, if we argue that it is morally wrong to watch professional football. Here is an argumentative thesis with mapping components:
"While I am a lifelong football fan who has enjoyed the suspense of close games over the years, I am convinced after reading Steve Almond’s anti-football manifesto that I can no longer patronize the game I once loved because it is morally and intellectually bankrupt evidenced by its bloodthirsty violence, misogyny-fueled domestic abuse, parasitic taxpayer trickery, exploitation of the underclass, high risk of permanent brain trauma, and narcissism-inducing toxic masculinity."
Notice the essay's direction is indicated by the claim's mapping components:
- bloodthirsty violence
- misogyny-fueled domestic abuse
- parasitic taxpayer trickery
- exploitation of the underclass
- high risk of permanent brain trauma
- narcissism-inducing toxic masculinity
Many of these points are elaborated in Ashan R. Hampton's video "Write a Good Thesis Statement":
Sentence Fragments
Sentence fragments are incomplete thoughts presented as dependent clauses or phrases.
A dependent clause or a phrase is never a complete sentence.
Types of dependent clauses:
Whenever I drive up windy mountains,
Because I have craved pizza for 14 months,
Unless you add coffee to your chocolate cake recipe,
,which is currently enjoying a resurgence.
Phrases
Enamored by the music of Tupac Shakur,
Craving pesto linguine with olive-oil based clam sauce,
Flexing his muscles with a braggadocio never seen in modern times,
Lying under the bridge and eating garlic pepper pretzels with a dollop of cream cheese and a jug of chilled apple cider,
To understand the notion of Universal Basic Income and all of its related factors for social change in this disruptive age,
Running into crowded restaurants with garlic and whiskey fuming out of his sweaty pores while brandishing a golden scepter,
Examples
I won't entertain your requests for more money and gifts. Until you show at least a modicum of responsibility at school and with your friends.
I won't consider buying the new BMW sports coupe. Unless of course my uncle gives me that inheritance he keeps talking about whenever he gets a bit tipsy.
I can't imagine ever going to Chuck E. Cheese. Which makes me feel like I'm emotionally arrested.
I am considering the purchase of a new wardrobe. That is, if I'm picked for that job interview at Nordstrom.
Human morals have vanished. To the point at which it was decided that market values would triumph.
No subject
Marie Antoinette spent huge sums of money on herself and her favorites. And helped to bring on the French Revolution.
No complete verb
The aluminum boat sitting on its trailer.
Beginning with a subordinating word
We returned to the drugstore. Where we waited for our buddies.
A sentence fragment is part of a sentence that is written as if it were a complete sentence. Reading your draft out loud, backwards, sentence by sentence, will help you spot sentence fragments.
Sentence Fragment Exercises
After each sentence, write C for complete or F for fragment sentence. If the sentence is a fragment, correct it so that it is a complete sentence.
One. While hovering over the complexity of a formidable math problem and wondering if he had time to solve the problem before his girlfriend called him to complain about the horrible birthday present he bought her.
Two. In spite of the boyfriend’s growing discontent for his girlfriend, a churlish woman prone to tantrums and grand bouts of petulance.
Three. My BMW 5 series, a serious entry into the luxury car market.
Four. Overcome with nausea from eating ten bowls of angel hair pasta slathered in pine nut garlic pesto.
Five. Winding quickly but safely up the treacherous Palos Verdes hills in the shrouded mist of a lazy June morning, I realized that my BMW gave me feelings of completeness and fulfillment.
Six. To attempt to grasp the profound ignorance of those who deny the compelling truths of science in favor of their pseudo-intellectual ideas about “dangerous” vaccines and the “myths” of global warming.
Seven. The girlfriend whom I lavished with exotic gifts from afar.
Eight. When my cravings for pesto pizza, babaganoush, and triple chocolate cake overcome me during my bouts of acute anxiety.
Nine. Inclined to stop watching sports in the face of my girlfriend’s insistence that I pay more attention to her, I am throwing away my TV.
Ten. At the dance club where I espy my girlfriend flirting with a stranger by the soda machine festooned with party balloons and tinsel.
Eleven. The BMW speeding ahead of me and winding into the misty hills.
Twelve. Before you convert to the religion of veganism in order to impress your vegan girlfriend.
Thirteen. Summoning all my strength to resist the giant chocolate fudge cake sweating on the plate before me.
Identify the Fragments Below
Identify the Fragments Below
I drank the chalky Soylent meal-replacement drink. Expecting to feel full and satisfied. Only to find that I was still ravenously hungry afterwards. Trying to sate my hunger pangs. I went to HomeTown Buffet. Where I ate several platters of braised oxtail and barbecued short ribs smothered in a honey vinegar sauce. Which reminded me of a sauce where I used to buy groceries from. When I was a kid.
Feeling bloated after my HomeTown Buffet indulgence. I exited the restaurant. After which I hailed an Uber and asked the driver for a night club recommendation. So I could dance off all my calories. The driver recommended a place, Anxiety Wires. I had never heard of it. Though, it was crowded inside. I felt eager to dance and confident about “my swag.” Although, I was still feeling bloated. Wondering if my intestines were on the verge of exploding.
Sweating under the night club’s outdoor canopy. I smelled the cloying gasses of a nearby vape. A serpentine woman was holding the vape. A gold contraption emitting rose-water vapors into my direction. Contemplating my gluttony. I was suddenly feeling low confidence. Though I pushed myself to introduce myself to the vape-smoking stranger with the serpentine features. Her eyes locked on mine.
I decided to play it cool. Instead of overwhelming her with a loud, brash manner. Which she might interpret as neediness on my part.
Keeping a portable fan in my cargo pocket for emergencies. When I feel like I’m overheating. I took the fan out of my pocket, turned it on, and directed it toward the serpentine stranger. Making it so the vapors were blowing back in her face.
“Doesn’t smell so good, does it?” I said. With a sarcastic grin.
She cackled, then said, “Thank you for blowing the vapors in my face. Now I can both enjoy inhaling them and breathing them in. For double the pleasure. You are quite a find. Come home with me and I’ll introduce you to my mother Gertrude and her pitbull Jackson. I’m sure they’ll welcome you into our home. Considering what a well-fed handsome man you are.”
“Thank you for the compliment,” I said. “I would love to meet your mother Gertrude and your mother’s pitbull Jackson. Only one problem. My breath smells like a rotting dead dragon. Right after eating spicy ribs. Which reminds me? Do you have any breath mints?”
“I don’t believe in carrying breath mints. On account of the rose-water vape. That cleanses my palate. Making my breath rosy fresh.”
“Wow. Your constant good breath counteracts my intractable bad breath. Making us a match in heaven.”
“I agree. Totally. You really need to meet my mother. Because she’ll bless us and make our marriage official. Since we really need her blessing. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
“Now let me smell your breath. So I can identify the hot sauce.”
“Why must you do that?”
“So I can use the same hot sauce on our wedding cake, silly. To celebrate the first night we met. Capisce?”
“Capisce.”
She approached me. Affording me a view of her long, tired face. Covered in scales. Reptilian. Evocative of something primitive. Something precious and indelible from my childhood lost long ago. I wanted to run from her, but I could not. Some mysterious force drew me to her, and we inched closer and closer toward one another. Succumbing to a power neither of us could fathom.
Comma Splice Review
Identify the Comma Splices Below:
It’s not a question of will there be chaos or will there be destruction, it’s a question of how much?
MySpace was disruptive in its time, however, it’s a dated platform and to simply mention it is to make people laugh with a certain derision surely it’s a platform that has seen its time, another example is the meal replacement Soylent, its creator made a drink that says, “You’re too busy to eat,” so drinking this pancake batter-like concoction gives tech people street. I may laugh at its stupidity, instead I should admire it since the product has made millions for its creator. It’s proven to be somewhat disruptive.
To be sure, though, Facebook redefines the word disruptive, it has rapidly accrued over 3 billion users and will soon have half the planet plugged into its site, that is the apotheosis of a greedy person’s fantasy, imagine controlling half the planet on a platform that mines private information and targets ads toward specific personality profiles.
One of the scary disruptions of Facebook is that billions of people have lost their personal agency, what that means that people have unknowingly been manipulated by Facebook’s puppeteers to the point that many Facebook users suffer from social media addiction, moreover, these same users prefer the fake life they curate on social media to the real life they once had, in fact, their previous real life is just a puff of smoke that has faded into the distance, many people no longer even know what it means to be “real” anymore, having lost their agency, having succumbed to their Facebook addiction, they have become zombies waiting for their next rush of social media-fueled dopamine, what a sad state of affairs.
