The Air Jordan Retro 11 is one of the most popular sneakers of its generation. The “Retro,” in the title, articulates how the shoe has been re-released to the public since the first time Michael Jordan played his first game in the sneakers. This timeline aims to illustrate the evolution of the Jordan brand on its way to creating the infamous Air Jordan Retro 11. The shoe is the 11th installment of the Jordan brand, which has somehow withstood the test of time. When a customer purchases the Air Jordan Retro 11, they’re purchasing much more than a sneaker. They’re purchasing an artifact reflective of urban culture, championships, and most of all success. This timeline will highlight key moments in the evolution of Michael Jordan’s career, which ultimately lead to the evolution of the Air Jordan Retro 11. The shoe also captures Nike’s reasoning for endorsing Michael Jordan. When Nike decided to endorse Michael Jordan and design his first sneaker, they did so under certain conditions. Jordan had to either win Rookie of the Year, become an All-Star, or average 20 points per game, or Nike would sever the contract. Nike inserted this clause into the contract because they understood the effects of success. The accomplishment’s of Michael Jordan is the reason the Air Jordan Retro11 has withstood the test of time, and this timeline highlights those moments.
Blog Post #10: Personal Experience Is My Building Block
In my past English classes, we explored hidden/deeper meanings within assorted texts, ranging from short stories, books, and poems and graded on form, grammar, flow, and relevance but was never allowed to incorporate personal experience or thought. I always enjoyed the challenge of writing yet struggled with my grammar.
Likewise, in his essay, The Subject in Discourse, John Clifford poses the following critical questions for the education system and future educators, such as myself, should continuously consider:
What do us teachers of composition hope to accomplish? Are we intent on developing in our students the literacy skills and attitudes necessary to succeed in college and beyond, or do we hope to empower them with critical habits of mind, with a skeptical intelligence, with an awareness of themselves as potential actors in a sociopolitical context? Or, more pointedly, do we want to fulfill our contractual obligations to the university and the state by focusing primarily on rhetorical competence, syntactic clarity, and other communicative conventions highly valued in business, industry, and government; or do we dare to encourage oppositional thinkers, social activists, and resistant readers and writers?
It wasn’t until I wrote about personal experience in an online blog that I found my voice and the love for writing. Inferring from Peter Elbow’s essay, Some Thoughts on Expressive Discourse: A Review Essay, my “experience-based” writing was ultimately my “building block” in making the necessary connection between literacy and science, math, reading, language arts, social studies, music, art, physical education, etc. In other words, literacy instruction is vitally important to be taught in ALL content areas because literacy is the core to understanding, conveying, speaking, writing, and reading any subject.
Scientists explore and discover but I never realized writers do just the same. That is, until this class. In comparison, scientists use the scientific method in order to explain, describe, and inform via experiments while writers do the same through expository writing. In the same sense, the investigations and analysis of material culture are parallel to those performed by biologists/chemists/scientists searching for answers or a cure. Additionally, an article by K. Kris Hirst, further exposes the relationship between science and exposition by examining whether or not anthropology — the study of human societies and cultures and their development — is a science or a humanity.
When exploring a subject/topic with an emic approach, it is impossible to completely push aside all personal feelings and experiences. Therefore, traces of persuasion will always be found throughout the writing, regardless of how much and how hard expository writers try. Unlike expository writing sometimes, however, students can “discover the power of language” through rhetorical writing. Ann E. Berthoff continues in her essay, Learning the Uses of Chaos,
If we can make the composition classroom a forum, a culture circle, a theatre, a version of Tolstoy’s armchair aswarm with children questioning, talking and arguing – if the composition classroom is the place where dialogue is the mode of making meaning, then we will have a better chance to dramatize not only the fact that language itself changes with the meanings we make from it and that its powers are generative and developmental, but also that it is the indispensable and unsurpassable means of reaching others and forming communities with them. The ability to speak is innate, but language can only be realized in a social context. Dialogue…is essential to the making of meaning and thus to learning to write. The chief use of chaos is that it creates the need for that dialogue.
The relationship between exposition and rhetoric composition exist in the pedagogical process of what writing is for and what writing does: “helping students to read and write and think in ways that both resist domination and exploitation and encourage self-consciousness about who they are and can be in the social world” (The Subject in Discourse by John Clifford, page 872).
Blog Post #10
When looking for ways to discuss what expository writing really “is”, I made a search for a quick, and memorable explanation, to use as a springboard for my post. What a found was this dorky, internet gem:
Just as Mr. Heath’s song suggests, exposition is a form of discourse used to explain and provide the reader with information on a certain topic of interest. Unlike a persuasive essay, works of exposition have an entirely different set of goals, as well as ways an author might go about achieving them. Instead of using the paper as a means to support or defend claim, an expository essay should focus on using information to discuss central idea. For example, if the topic of the essay were the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the work should explain to the reader specifics such as why this is happening, and who is involved, but should be composed in a way that steers clear of personal biases or taking to any one side.
Additionally, the author is required to consider the audience to which he/she is writing, and to adjust the work accordingly. It is important to consider how much or how little in depth the information should go, as a means of helping the reader take away as information on the topic as possible. For example, if the work is aimed at informing drummers on how to tighten drum heads, including something such as the history of percussive instruments may weaken the exposition because the author is most likely already aware, or that information is a distraction from the central idea. Conversely, if detailing the history of percussive instruments, the author must be careful not to go too in depth with technical info, as may also be inappropriate for the audience at hand. Even Mr. Heath’s jingle about expository write seems to implement these concepts. Because he is aware that his audience is most likely un-informed on the subject, any dense information on the topic is eliminated, and the focus is instead to create a simple, absorbable work that explains the subject as concisely as possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpCzBdWdpTs
The more specific approach required of an expository writer may be more difficult to construct, but the medium also provides the author with freedom to express ideas in a more creative fashion. One of the hallmarks of this style is that the author is allowed to include details from their own life in addition to information found in traditional research. This is a major contrast to the typical, persuasive essays found in academia, which stress a removal of any personal experiences in a piece of writing. Once again, this is because a successful argumentative essay requires strong, peer-reviewed sources, whilst exposition’s purpose is to provide the reader with as much rich, useful information on the topic as possible. Writing through exposition can remove the stifling boundaries within typical essays, and encourages creativity and thought in addition to facts. This is why expository writers such as Prown are allowed to indulge on more abstract topics and can even cite their own former works. These style writers them to use their own observations as evidence. If working under a persuasive guidelines, how might one possibly prove a comparison of a teapot to a human breast, if they are not allowed to reference their own observations and senses? As a result, it’s rather clear to see how material culture studies have been shaped by the practice of expository writing. The freedom of the genre creates the opportunity to hypothesize and create evidence for innovative patterns of thought and rhetoric.
Blog Post #10: Explaining Exposition
Writing is universal; writing is substantial, it is strong. This method of communication is important. Because it is so comprehensive and unlimited in its entirety, in order to write effectively in order to achieve a goal or convey a message to a particular group the expansive category of “writing” has been divided into specific subsets. These subsets have been analyzed and defined in a way that makes them conducive to the teaching of writing. One type of writing, the type of writing that we as a class have been studying over the course of this past semester is called “expository writing”.
Expository writing is the kind of writing designated for description, information giving, or displaying knowledge concerning a specific topic or thing. Though this category is limited to those aforementioned qualities it is not restricted to a particular paragraph pattern—the author may choose to introduce as many categories as he or she likes without having to adhere to the five-paragraph essay form. Expository writing is not to be confused with creative writing. However, this is not to imply that expository writing exists only when human perception and experience is separate from the writing, because that is not true. The expository essay consists of factual information or understood observations and associations about a topic or subject.
The term “exposition” can be defined as a sweeping analysis of a concept or topic in order to explain or describe that concept or topic. The YouTube video composed by “Extra Credits” titled “Extra Credits: More Than Exposition” provides us with an amusing explanation of this notion of exposition.
Material culture studies can aid in the investigation of exposition in that this study provide us with examples and histories of a specific concept. This extends our research and allows us the ability to provide readers with a more detailed and comprehensive description of the focus of our essay. The study of material culture combined with exposition supplies writers with a broader collection of parts for his or her writing. Through material culture studies, writers may examine a popular object, like we have in class, or they may take into consideration the way a specific thing impacts us. In order to write about things, the author may employ exposition in order to analyze all aspects of their concept and its specific relation with material culture studies.
Blog Post #8: The Mac Book’s Coffee House
The prompt for this specific blog-post uses the phrase “greater good.” What exactly is the greater good when it comes to our consumption habits? Who or what exactly determines what is right or wrong. In the case of food, the amount of food needed for a singular person is derived from the amount needed to be healthy. In other cases, more often than not, societal norms create what’s right or wrong in terms of one’s consumption habits. Why do the majority of college females’ wear Ugg boots? Is it because they’re fashionable? Are they comfortable or is it that every other female on campus has a pair and she wants to fit in? When I purchased my Mac book, it wasn’t because I felt that Apple produced a superior product. I just wanted to be like all the other guys in Starbucks with the large apple beaming from the back of my computer. This might sound crazy, but people with Mac books in coffee houses look better than those who use other laptops, in my opinion. Is this a matter of advertising or a cultural perspective? Is my reasoning for wanting a Mac book insufficient for purchasing such an expensive laptop? 
The purchase of my laptop was by far one of the most important purchases of my life, even though many would argue that my reasoning for purchasing one was insufficient. Much like the baby carrier Lakiesha references, my laptop has allowed me to work more efficiently than had I never purchased it. While my Mac book doesn’t necessarily promote a closeness to a third party like the baby carrier does for a mother and child, it does facilitate communication through emails, and that has to be worth something. To draw a parallel from Sneezy Deezy, was the marketplace or advertising responsible for my desire for a Mac book? In terms of advertising, I would have to say no, because I haven’t seen many Mac book commercials; however, I must concede that the marketplace had everything to do with my purchase. If I never walked into a Starbucks, I probably wouldn’t own a laptop. I’m not too big on assertions towards what is right or wrong for other people to make purchases. People purchase things for different reason: because everyone else has one, wanting to be different, advertising, etc…, and in the end, its all subjective. So consume what makes you happy!
Blog Post 9: Prownian Description of the Gold Awareness Ribbon
This weightless object bears an equivalent color as that of the golden glow from the rising sun. Measuring 24 cm long and 2 ½ cm wide, a long rectangular object feels smooth on one side and rough on the other. A closer look reveals that this aureate fabric is formed with a satin weave in which the threads of polyester intersect to purposely create a smooth, lustrous surface and a dull, matte back.
Side stitching is noticeable on each side of the fabric’s width but on each end of the fabric’s length exists frays. With one simple pull on one of these frays, the fabric will quickly and easily unravel, which discloses the object’s delicacy.
Four tiny pin holes are visible on the fabric, two of which appear approximately 6 cm from each end indicating that these two tiny holes were created by the same pin. When metamorphosing the object to have the two pin holes from each end align, the fabric acquires varied symbolic shapes to which depends on the consumer’s purpose. The shape is now similar to that of the Ichthys yet without a profound loop and more fabric dangling below the pin. The position of the pinholes suggest that, unlike that of the Ichthys, this object is to be represented vertically.
Blog Post #7: The Culture Behind the Shoe
While doing research for my timeline project, I encountered the article Classic Campaigns- “ It’s Gotta Be the Shoes.” This article by Catherine A. Coleman does a wonderful job adding to the importance of our understanding of material culture studies exploring the culture behind Air Jordan brand.
In the article, Coleman begins by giving an overview of an ongoing debate about the Jordan Brand. When Nike’s advertising agency hired Spike Lee, an African-American film director, in the mid 1980’s to direct commercials for the up and coming basketball star Michael Jordan, they had no idea the amount of success and controversy it would cause. While Nike, Spike Lee, and Michael Jordan were successful as businessmen, critics of their business practices resulted in the trio being implicated in what came to be known as the “sneaker killings.”
A columnist for the New York Post, Phil Mushnick, was credited for sparking the debate about the questionable practices of Jordan, Lee, and Nike. Muschnick had paralleled Jordan to that of a drug dealer. Mushnick’s argument rested on the premise that Lee, Jordan, and Nike lacked social responsibility for endorsing sneakers at such a high price, which in turn caused young teens to commit crimes as bad as killing to acquire a pair. Spike Lee responded to Mushnick’s claim by calling his comment “thinly veiled racism.” Furthermore, Lee asked why Muschnick would single out three of the most important role models for young African-Americans. Lee argued that Mushnick’s logic implied that
“ poor whites won’t kill for a pair of Jordans, but poor blacks will. . . . It is crazy to think that all black kids who can’t afford the sneakers are resorting to selling crack to buy them. Any kid who is selling crack is not doing that just to sport a pair of Jordans.”
For the purposes of material culture, who is right or wrong is not as important as the debate itself. The argument at hand speaks directly to the culture behind the sneaker. The object of my timeline is the Air Jordan Retro 11, and even though Michael Jordan has been retired from the National Basketball Association for a little over a decade, sales from his sneakers are just as high as they were while he was still playing; the reasons for this these sales are some of the same topics of debate highlighted in this article.
Before researching the Air Jordan Retro 11 for my timeline, I was under the misapprehension that Air Jordan sneakers were still popular because of the accomplishments of Michael Jordan, but this has proved to be far from the truth. The popularity of Air Jordan sneakers is where marketing, Jordan’s accomplishments, hip-hop, and urban culture all meet together. An understanding of material culture allows one to study these various components and put them together to create what is—the success of the Air Jordan Retro 11.
Blog Post 10: Essay as exposition
In James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, he speaks about the condition of African Americans in the 1950-60s and much of the injustices they faced. The book is split into two essays. The first, “My Dungeon Shook,” is an epistle to his young nephew addressing the issues the author projects the boy to encounter being born in an era of civil strife. The second essay, “Down At The Cross,” details personal memories of the author’s life — from locally popular youth minister to a leading voice in the civil rights movement — and provides reflective insight to issues he’d faced. The book does not offer numbered facts nor does it urge its readers to view the civil rights era in any particular view. It is written as a personal, and sometimes emotional, account of the author’s life and explores areas in society that he perceives fault.
Fire Next Time is one of many examples of expository writing. That is, in this case, it collects experiential data and orders it to the culturally dominant mode of thinking, then it attempts to reason why the culturally dominant mode of thinking as such. Expository writing is a rhetorical mode concerned with informing its audience about a subject it covers. It is different from persuasive writing, though it can be persuasive, in that it is not attempting to convince its readers to believe in an argument the writer posits; rather, it encourages the readers to develop their own ideas based on the information presented. In many passages of “Down At The Cross” Baldwin asserts the misgivings of his younger self and reveals his later apprehensions to position himself within the circles of formidable civil rights leaders. He details his diverging opinions with many of his contemporaries in achieving racial and civil equality, yet he doesn’t charge them for seeking a disparate ultimate goal. Expository writing, in Baldwin’s case, utilizes personal views on the immediate world to address areas that need improvement.
I bought the book several years ago to explore a different voice of the sixties. I wasn’t necessary concerned about the content of the book, but I did want to read Baldwin’s exercise in explaining scenarios of oppression and the ways he elucidated these injustices differently from more common voices. I went on forums and relied on user ratings before I stumbled on a contemporary review touting the author’s essays as two of the most influential of its era. The book itself may represent an artifact of material culture in that it represents much of the thinking of it’s time. The civil rights movement sought to combat discontent with the present state of the nation and much of it had to do with injustices of the past. And similar to this notion, Baldwin, in his book, expresses those same feelings of discontent, while exploring how his younger self influenced the person he grew to be. Material culture analysis is concerned with forming thorough inferences about a culture through the the items they used. In this case, Baldwin’s work was a critical success, and with this accolade, we can assume that he was able to speak on behalf of many in his generation.
Blog Post #10: What is Exposition?
Exposition is the act of demonstrating the knowledge and expertise of the author on a certain topic. According to the online Oxford Dictionaries, “exposition” is “a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory.” It is derived from the Latin verb exponere, which means “to put out, exhibit, or explain.” An example of exposition is provided by the following sentence in the online Oxford Dictionaries: “The first edition of the Critique contained a lengthy exposition of the theory of the transcendental idealism.” In the same way, expository writing is about sharing information to inform and explain a topic to the reader by providing relevant details, facts, and information. This kind of writing generally tends to leave out personal opinions, although it may be subject-oriented because it is often based on the author’s experience. Also, expository writing aims to illuminate the topic for the reader and help him or her better understand the writer’s view. It is one of the most common writing styles, if not the most common, since it is present in virtually all textbooks and “how-to” manuals. There is an interesting video on YouTube providing a general definition for expository writing and then dividing this particular style into four possible essays based on topic selection: Definition, Process, Cause-Effect, and Opposing Sides. A Definition Essay provides a full explanation of a term or idea including examples and other key information. A Process Essay provides a description of how something works or an explanation of how to do something including instructions, narration, or a sequence of events. A Cause-Effect Essay provides a description or explanation of the connection between two or more events, exploring either the causes or effects of the events in question. An Opposing Sides Essay explains two or more sides of an argument by presenting opposing ideas with fairness.
The video is not only clear and informative, but it also makes an interesting connection between exposition and culture. Indeed, something like Greek mythology and literature can be investigated through the process of expository writing, which makes it more familiar to the reader or viewer. It also explains how certain work of arts are produced and describes the techniques used in the process, which is important as it gives an example of how one can understand the relation between a lifeless essay to practical use, science, history, religion, and other topics. This is the main reason why this video is so appealing and different from the other videos dedicated to expository writing: it makes a connection with material culture studies, as this specific writing style is the best one to give an expression to cultural study and analysis.
Then, the video defines the principal components of expository writing: a thesis and supporting ideas. A thesis must include a topic and the essay structure, while the support must include relevant details and examples.
In contrast, a persuasive essay is about convincing the reader of a certain idea or point of view. The main goal is to support one’s opinion with evidence and research. While persuasive writing promotes a personal opinion, expository writing is based on factual information. According to the online Oxford Dictionaries, “persuasion” indicates “the action or fact of persuading someone or of being persuaded to do or believe something.” It comes from the Latin verb persuadere, from per– “through, to completion” + suadere or “advice.” Therefore, the opposition between the two styles is quite marked. Even the components, although similar, differ dramatically in the body part of the essay. A persuasive essay requires something more than details and examples; the opinion of the author needs to be supported with reasons, arguments, and justifications. Furthermore, persuasion may incorporate a call for action from the readers in the conclusion of the essay, a trait usually absent in expository writing.
A good starting point to write an expository essay is to know the what and the how of a topic (Arola, Sheppard, and Ball 40). In order to write an effective essay, it is necessary to know the topic well, as expository writing is mostly based on the articulation and description of something. In the book “Writer/Designer: A Guide to Making Multimodal Projects,” the use of technology to enhance the students’ learning experience has become a common feature of the way in which the exploratory process is carried on. The authors Arola, Sheppard, and Ball recommend students to research what’s already been said about a certain topic before starting the essay and also to investigate how other authors have presented their ideas about the topic. Using associations and multimodal techniques of analysis is also essential in order to fully explore and present a subject.
Something that struck me is the relevance of the audience in expository writing. Indeed, it is important to know well not only the topic, but also the kind of people you are describing and contextualizing the topic for. A certain audience may require background information due to their unfamiliarity with the topic; a certain audience may find background information annoying as they are already familiar with the subject; and someone else may want specific and detailed material in order to further his or her knowledge. In order to know what to write, one needs to know who the audience is.
Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. – E. L. Doctorow
Multimodal Object Analysis
Impeccably round, but not a spherical structure, this disk-like item is smooth on its lower surface, the surface which rests atop the table it is presented on. The complete structure is approximately fourteen inches in diameter, with a radius of seven inches and a height of two and a quarter inches. The bottom surface feels gritty to the touch, although it appears completely level to the eye from afar; scant yellow specks adorn the foundation. Upon lifting the object to observe the entire foundation, the object is not rigid and inflexible. Rather, this thing is bendable; when picking up one half, the other half bends towards the ground. When ripping into the crisp exterior layer, the innards are like compacted gossamers. The lowest section of the circular substance is composed of a soft, fluffy, and apparently slathered with a golden substance material. The smooth material appears to have been molded, shaped, and distinctively crafted and created in order to comprehensively encompass its mostly flat but circular shape. When observing that the object is essentially flat, the flat aspect does not refer to the item in its entirety, but rather its inner most ring is the lowest and also the more horizontal segment of this thing. The outer segment is also a ring, this segment effuses from and is composed of the same spongy material which comprises the inner ring, yet this sector puffs up and surpasses the height of the lower material. The outer ring of material has been twisted upward and gathered into a dense, but also supple barricade to enclose the other pieces which constitute this rounded object. Atop the base infrastructure is a deep red, pureed sauce. This almost maroon concoction has been generously spread across the inner most layer, but it does not expand and encompass or intrude upon the second, elevated outer tier. So, the outer fence of material is not coated with the concentrated red paste. Atop the slab of red, slightly chunky coating, creamy off-white shreds are heavily scattered; these shards have been melted and consolidated into one singular gooey mass. However this smooth, velvety mass also does not encroach upon the outermost ring of dense, puffy material. About twenty-five other flat circular items have been strategically stratified onto the creamy, amalgamated mass. These rounded plates are deep red, oily and crispy, but they are not burnt. Their own outer edges are curved upwards slightly, almost working their way towards appearing as concave, but not quite. The object as a whole has been sliced into eight evenly chopped triangular pieces. One hemisphere of the object exists of four pieces; the other hemisphere exists of four other pieces. Even so, the pieces are still intact and have not been separated or pulled apart from the object. So, the object has been cut through in four different times. To the touch, the object is hot. The smells emanating from this object are appealing to the senses as well.
I can immediately observe this item and conclude it to be some sort of human food. I can deduce this because when approaching the object it makes my mouth water and my stomach rumble. I want to eat this object because it looks appetizing; I can assume that it is edible because when consuming this object it tastes delicious and fills my stomach in a satisfactory way. This round object is known under the title of “pizza”. This pepperoni pizza is quite a popular staple of the American diet. The pizza actually resembles a wagon wheel, with its rounded shape and its triangular sections existing as a parallel to the spokes of the wheel. One can make many connections regarding the semblance of pizza and the employment of many inventions used to make life easier. Considering the pizza as an abstract wagon wheel, one might inquire as to how society might associate the pizza with the wheel. The wheel is used for purposes of transportation. Could the pizza be used as a mode of transportation as well? Most likely this form of transit would not be reliable, nor would it be suggestible. But what about thinking of a metaphorical process of traveling as the way in which pizza moves? For instance, if one were to travel out of town or out of the country, pizza would be a sure way to find a sense of familiarity in an unfamiliar place, a sense of your home while inhabiting someone else’s, or a sense of America if you were missing your national ties. Also, pizza can transport us to a happier place by seeking emotional refuge inside of its warm, scrumptious layers of understanding. So, the pizza can exist as a figurative wheel, rotating around our own needs and carrying us back to wherever we may desire. Everyone can have his or own personalized “Pizza Wagon” whenever he or she may need it, so to speak.
Although not originally from the country of America, this cuisine can be found in every American town and also in most of America’s home refrigerators. In fact, the American people enjoy pizza so much that they have developed and created pizza-flavored food to imitate the delicious tastes and aromas which are invoked by the consumption of this scrumptious food. The Americanization of pizza may be a reason why Americans who are homesick could seek comfort in the pizza by its association with home. Americans have adopted pizza as one of their own main dishes. The pizza I relatively cheap to make—although not always cheap to buy considering where you purchase it from and if it must be delivered directly towards you—thus, increasing its popularity among all types of American consumers. The object exists as layers of fluffy buttery pizza crust which has been hand-crafted into its designated circumference size. The next layer is a red tomato sauce with several savory spices to add to the aromas it strongly emanates. Next follows a layer of soft and chewy cheese, followed by flavorful pepperoni slices which add a tang but not a bite. Consisting of simply this bread crust, followed by a layer of seasoned tomato sauce, then topped with a layer of delectable cheese and pepperoni slices, the pepperoni pizza is a simple favorite among children and people of all ages. Often making an appearance at parties, the pepperoni pizza can be dressed up or dressed down for the occasion. Some prefer a thin crispy crust; others prefer a thick buttery deep-dish style pizza. It can cater to everyone’s desires; it is completely adaptable. People have become so involved in their pizza over the years, that entire cities have become known for their specific type, or model of pizza.
There is New York Style thin crust pizza—which originated in New York City in the 1900s—this pizza has a thin crunchy crust, with a sauce/cheese ratio of about 1:2. Detroit style pizza is interestingly a square pizza (an abomination?) no, just strange to those who have come to know the popular round disk dish. This special type of pizza, the Chicago Deep Dish pizza is extremely thick and satisfying. This development was introduced in the 1940s and almost resembles a cheescake, as it is baked for a while in a deep dish cake or pie pan. Because the cheese will burn if placed in an in oven for the prolonged period of time that a deep dish pizza requires, the toppings of this pizza are usually assembled upside down. So, the cheese is on top of the fluffy crust and the sauce is placed on top of the cheese. In approxiamtely the mid point of the 1970s, now famous Chicago restaurants Nancy’s Pizza and Giordano’s Pizzeria introduced the world to a popular variation of the beloved deep dish pizza, referred to as the stuffed pizza, which is incredibly even thicker and deeper and consists of a broader topping density than any other developed style of pizza. To keep the cheese and toppings from sliding all over the creation, a somewhat thin layer of pizza dough is strategically placed above the tomato sauce with a hole around the size of a quarter in the crust—resembling a pie hole—in order to to allow the pressure and steam escape, and tomato sauce is added above the very top of the crust. The Neopolitan pizza is the very original pizza that exists as its own wagon wheel and departed from Italy and transpoted itself along with Italian immigrants in the United States of America. This primal pizza serves as the catalyst in the still raging American pizza fanaticism. It has become so important that the country of Italy has sought UNESCO heritage protection for the Neapolitan pizza. The pizza dough consists of wheat flour and the crust is very thin, crunchy but not burnt, and baked to perfection in a classic wood-fired oven. The pizza usually and should adhere to its promise of minimal toppings; these toppings typically consist of San Marzano tomato sauce, bufala mozzarella cheese, and basil; light on both the sauce and the cheese, this pizza is extremely specific and protected because too much sauce or cheese will burden the fragile crust and saturate it, making a soggy pizza. California Style Pizza uses a dough base similar to that of the aformentioned Neapolitan or New York style pizza and fancies up the drab base with a quirky and uncommon list of ingredients. This also popular style of pizza is generally credited to Chef Ed LaDou who introduced the world to a pizza that involved ricotta cheese, red peppers, mustard, and pate, that Chef Wolfgang Puck experimented with often and discovered a love for in about the early 1980s. Chef Puck instananeously hired another man named Chef LaDou to work at his newly opened shop called Spago in the year 1982 and then Chef LaDou proceeded to cleverly create a plethora of more innovative pizzas, including interesting varieties which called for duck sausage and smoked salmon.
In 1985, Chef LaDou created the first pizza menu for California Pizza Kitchen, including its signature barbeque chicken pizza, which spread California-style pizza to a national audience.
Many restaurant chains dedicated to the craft of pizza making, such as California Pizza Kitchen have taken up residence all over the United States. Many of these chains also offer a pizza delivery option. So, your pizza transports itself to you so that you don’t ever have to inconvenience yourself and leave your home. Calling in an placing an order increases the speed and convenience of your entire pizza experience. A few of the most well known American Pizza Chains include, but are not limited to: Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Little Caesar’s, Papa John’s, Mellow Mushroom and Pizza King (although these are sparse in the Southern regions of the United States). This short, makeshift documentary called “Dominos vs Pizza Hut – PIZZA WARS #1” explores the differences between two of America’s most prominent pizza places. Pizza has become so important that people research it, modify it, document it, and explore it. Thousands of other videos exist on pizza as well. It is of huge interest to the American people.
However, according to a poll and displayed in the appropriately selected “pie” chart (haha) below, most American’s prefer independently owned pizza restaurants to chain restaurants. Although some chain restaurants do not deliver, some do. This pizza often tastes extremely fresh because the dough is usually hand crafted; it does not come premade. Each pizza is usually made to order and each restaurant puts their own spin on their particular pie. Even so, some pizza efficianados would rather travel to their nearby Domino’s or Pizza Hut to purchase the cuisine, because they trust these bands and they know they can always rely on their pizza to look and taste the same. Pizza chains and independent pizza restaurants usually charge around the same price range for a large pizza; this price typically lands somewhere in the range of ninteen to twenty-five dollar price spectrum.
The pizza has also undergone some bastardization, which can be good or bad, depending on your respect for the art or your taste buds. Pepperidge farm developed Pizza flavored goldfish; when these hit the market, people went crazy; most kids love to snack on these. But what exactly IS this “pizza flavor”? Well, it usually incorporates the salty cheese taste of an actually pizza in a dust form which has been glued to the cracker snack. Also, the pizza bagel is a thing. As a child, I would eat these at least once a week. They’re simple, microwaveable bagel bites that pretty much mock the pizza form, everything about them is honoring the pizza pattern except for the crust is half of a bagel. So, have people manufactured these inventions to scorn pizza? Do these inventors despise the pizza but have decided to pilfer its flavors? It’s most likely that these inventors have contrived new innovations in order to put a spin on the extremely beloved food. If pizza sells exponentially, there’s a significant likelihood that amalgamations of pizza will produce a substantial profit as well. New creations provide consumers with options; it keeps the public interested and engaged.
When considering the significance of the pepperoni pizza, one must account for a comprehensive understanding which employs the use of all five senses. Utilizing one’s senses of sight and touch, it can be observed that the pizza will always come out of the oven hot, intending it to be consumed at a warm, temperate level instead of rigid cold, thus suggesting its ability to comfort its consumer, as food often does. The pizza consists of an abundance of circles. This repetition of circular shapes—including the overall shape and the shape of the slivers of pepperoni—can be attributed to human’s positive associations with rounded things. The object is often a circular one, although it is sometimes square–and heart-shaped for Valentine’s Day–round seems to be the preferred method of appearance and delivery. A round pizza is more convenient, in that the surface area of the cuisine when sliced is spread out across the surface in a triangular shape; this ensures that the top layer of cheese is less likely to slide off. When dealing with a square slice of pizza, the cheese is more likely to slide because the shape is restricted, and does not extend itself or diminish itself for accessibility. This object is edible and is therefore not a collectible, but a consumable. This warm object makes one feel pleasant, cheerful, and gracious for such a delectable disk of deliciousness. The disk-shape is safe and comforting–there is absolutely no sharp corners to abruptly scourge you or imply sharp rigidity to this object. Rather, this object invites you take it in–its smells, its sight. Its warmth is soothing, reassuring you that it will make you feel improved. If feeling emotionally heckled or physically frazzled, the pizza is always available to encourage golden optimism and desired reassurance.
