(1) Choose an unhealthy Korean food and discuss it.
(2) Choose a healthy Korean food and discuss it.
I asked MA-Class to write a pair of contrasting short-essays based on these prompts, in the "Staying Fit" unit.
I was curious about choices for #1.
"There are no unhealthy Korean foods."
Those were the words of a genuinely-befuddled 7th-grade student. This is not a student who uses sarcastic excuses to avoid work or something, as some do. No, he was quite serious.
In the short discussion that followed, it seemed that no one in class was willing to concede that any "Korean food" could be unhealthy. Finally, we agreed that fried-chicken was unhealthy. That is Western food, they said. True. But, I said, given its popularity, we could -- by this point -- dub fried-chicken a defacto Korean food (especially this variety).
Result: I think almost all the students chose fried-chicken for #1. All or almost all chose kimchi for #2. Groan.
I was curious about choices for #1.
"There are no unhealthy Korean foods."
Those were the words of a genuinely-befuddled 7th-grade student. This is not a student who uses sarcastic excuses to avoid work or something, as some do. No, he was quite serious.
In the short discussion that followed, it seemed that no one in class was willing to concede that any "Korean food" could be unhealthy. Finally, we agreed that fried-chicken was unhealthy. That is Western food, they said. True. But, I said, given its popularity, we could -- by this point -- dub fried-chicken a defacto Korean food (especially this variety).
Result: I think almost all the students chose fried-chicken for #1. All or almost all chose kimchi for #2. Groan.
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