Michael Pollan, "Playing God in the Garden"
and:
For more assignment ideas involving this essay, please
visit the Pollan link-o-mat.
Pollan's Mode of Argumentation
With this essay, Michael Pollan has analyzed the controversial issue
of genetically modified foods, yet his writing does not take the form
a conventional investigative report. What is Pollan doing with his writing?
For your first paper I want you to analyze the language and structure
of Pollan's essay. Where is his essay exposition and where argument? Where
does he seem more neutral, and where more opinionated? Why do you think
he might have chosen to write this way? How effective do you think Pollan's
style of writing is in getting his point across?
Your paper should not primarily be an agreement or disagreement
with Pollan's stance on the issue of genetically-modified foods. I am
not interested in your judgement of his politics so much as your analysis
of his writing.
Craig Eliason, Rutgers University, Fall 2000
The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 1)
In his essay “Playing God in the Garden,” Michael Pollan says that
genetic engineering overthrows the old rules governing the relationship of nature and culture in a plant. For the first time, breeders can bring qualities from anywhere in nature into the genome of a plant—from flounders (frost tolerance), from viruses (disease resistance) and, in the case of my potatoes, from Bacillus thuringiensis, the soil bacterium that produces the organic insecticide known as Bt. The introduction into a plant of genes transported not only across species but whole phyla means that the wall of that plant’s essential identity—its irreducible wildness, you might say—has been breached. (404)
Hence, biotech is something new and unprecedented in the world of growing vegetables. As Pollan shows, debate exists around the safety of genetically modified produce. Make an argument about whether agriculture should incorporate biotech crops into the food chain, or if we should refrain from biotech and instead use other farming methods, such as organic or conventionally grown food (which involves pesticides). What kind of farming is best for humans to pursue and consume, and why? What are the advantages of biotech, and what are its potential dangers? What might the benefits of organic growing be? Quote from Pollan’s essay where appropriate to support your project, or argument, and be sure to express your opinion while not using personal pronouns. Instead, give evidence from the text to “back you up.”
(Suggestion: Try to avoid merely summarizing Pollan’s main points, but instead focus on having a project, or argument, and use his points as support. A way to avoid too much summary is to give no more than a couple of quotations in each paragraph.)
Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005
From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.
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Abram and Pollan: The Relationship between Humans and the Natural World
"We are human only in contact, and conviviality, with what it not human."
In "Playing God in the Garden," Michael Pollan discusses Monsanto's New
Leaf Superior, a biogenetically- engineered potato that is toxic to potato
beetles. What relationship should humans have to the natural world? Is
it possible to have a "convivial" relationship with "what is not human"
in the age of technology?
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Pollan and Gould: Biotechnology and the Evolutionary Process
In "What does the dreaded 'E' word mean, anyway?" Stephen Jay Gould provides
an extended discussion of what the word "evolution" means in the life
sciences. In "Playing God in the Garden," Michael Pollan discusses genetic
engineering and the invention of the NewLeaf potato. For this essay, I
would like you to consider the relationship between genetic engineering
and evolution as Gould defines it. Does genetic engineering disrupt the
evolutionary process Gould describes? Does it participate in that evolutionary
process? Does Gould's argument suggest that we should be concerned about
genetic engineering or that there is nothing to worry about? That is,
does the definition of evolution used in the life sciences put to rest
the concerns Pollan has raised about genetic engineering or does it heighten
those concerns? Write an essay where you consider the relationship between
evolution and genetic engineering.
As with your previous drafts, you will want to make certain to cite from
the assigned readings, demonstrating your command of the readings and
your mastery of the conventions of citation.
Richard E. Miller, Rutgers University, Spring 2000
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Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser
In "Global Realization," Eric Schlosser examines the phenomenon of globalization, paying particular attention to the McDonald's corporation, while in "Playing God in the Garden," Michael Pollan contemplates the latest trend in agriculture, the development of foods genetically engineered by biotech companies. Skeptical of the growing influence of multinational corporations, both authors address the ways that these corporations influence everything from our culture to the very nature of the planet. Are these authors suggesting that this progression is inevitable? Can we criticize the effects of globalization without acknowledging its advantages? Can we celebrate the advantages of globalization without acknowledging its detrimental effects? Develop a project in which you assess proper response of the general public to this increasing influence of corporations on our world. Remember to address the complexity of the issue-we should not make simple, unrealistic suggestions. What larger conditions would have to be changed in order to implement the kind of changes you suggest?
Molly Burke, Rutgers University, Spring 2005
From Identity and Agency.
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Michael Pollan and Jonathan Boyarin
Pollan’s use of the phrase “Playing God in the Garden” suggests that the author perceives the practice of bio-engineering as rather more than a threat to one’s physical well being.
How do Boyarin’s “sense of loss” and Pollans’ implied reservations regarding the impact of “bio-tech” foods reflect a shared concern with the issue of identity?
Things to think about:
What do we mean by “identity”?
How is one’s identity established?
Is one’s identity a reflection of a) one’s community or b) one’s profession or c) something entirely different?
What lies behind our instinctual resistance to genetically engineered foods?
How do we balance the need to “belong” with our desire for individual expression?
How do the two authors complicate each other’s definition of community.
What does the term “marginal” suggest about Boyarin’s perception of himself?
Monika Krishan, Rutgers University, Fall 2005
From “Identity” Lies in the Eye of the Beholder.
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The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 2)
In his essay “Work Rules,” William Greider says that most people have a “shared powerlessness” (219) in working for someone else. He goes on to say that the way to correct this powerlessness is for people
to “own” their own work. That is, individually and jointly, they own the place where they work. They accept responsibility, collectively, for the well-being of the firm. They authorize the managers who direct things, but all participate in the rule making and other important policy decisions. They share the returns from the enterprise and agree upon the terms for sharing. None of these structural changes exempts anyone from the harrowing competition of capitalism or the demand for effective practices and productivity. (219-220)
In other words, the responsibility of employee ownership, according to him, can improve the quality of people’s work lives, including their wages. In Michael Pollan’s “Playing God in the Garden,” different kinds of workers are depicted, from farmers to biotechnology lab technicians. Do the farmers who Pollan talks to “own their own work”? What about the Monsanto employees? Greider suggests that “eliminating the artificial dividing line between master and servant would open…possibilities for individual fulfillment” (226); is such a “dividing line” apparent in Pollan’s text? Make an argument about whether work, in farming, might represent a master-servant divide, and how to remedy such an imbalance in society. (Feel free to disagree with Greider and suggest that there is no dividing line.)
Note: Try to quote from both Greider and Pollan, in the same paragraph. When doing so, you may find it easier to give a Greider quotation first, and then one from Pollan.
Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005
From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.
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The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith (Assignment 3)
Toward the end of Eric Schlosser’s essay “Global Realization,” he says that in the German town called Plauen, “every Wednesday night, a few hundred people gather at The Ranch for line dancing” (517). He adds, “For a few hours the spirit of the American West fills this funky bar deep in the heart of Saxony…and the old dream lives on, the dream of freedom without limits, self-reliance, and a wide-open frontier” (517). But does the McDonald’s Corporation truly encourage self-reliance in the various countries where it opens? How would William Greider view the way that McDonald’s does business? What, if anything, might McDonald’s have in common with biotech companies?
If we assume that biotech farming and fast-food franchises both function according to a certain model of work, explore whether they operate under the model of a master-servant divide, or if they encourage self-sufficiency and independence (the worker-as-owner model). Should biotech and globalization—as seen through the actions and practices of the McDonald’s Corporation—change so that people benefit more? If so, how might this change occur? Make an argument about the responsibilities that biotech companies and fast-food chains have in providing food and employment for many of the world’s people.
You must quote from all three texts—Michael Pollan, Greider, and Schlosser—in this essay; provide quotation from more than one author at a time in your body paragraphs, to make connections. You also need to have a project.
Note: To avoid repeating what was said in Paper #2, use original quotation.
Danis Banks, Rutgers University, Fall 2005
From The Master-Servant Divide and Forecasting Errors in Faith.
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