You need to use Almerico at least 3 times to explain your thesis in relation to the narrative stories you tell. Make up stories about someone making a hungarian dinner, and another about american dinner culture.

Combining modes of writing: supporting quotations with narrative writing.

In First Notes on Essay 1 I wrote about keeping narrative and expository support separate at the paragraph level.  This is the easiest way to approach essay 1.  However, it is possible to combine narrative/descriptive support with the expository use of quotations from the reading.  In other words, showing and telling at the same time.

For example, lets say Im writing my paper with a thesis that states the preparation of elaborate meals is very much part of my personal identity; that I completely relate to the ideas expressed in Almericos essay.

To SHOW that idea and develop the narrative part of the assignment, I tell a story about making French cassoulet with my sister for a family holiday dinner.

A few years ago, my sister and I made cassoulet, which is a hearty, rustic white bean stew that includes enough fatty pork and rick duck to make a big toe tingle with the onset of gout.  Our cassoulet called for saucisse de Toulouse, a sausage named after the city in southwestern France.  Toulouse is made from coarsely ground pork with onion, garlic, and white wine, and it is not readily available in Tacoma, we soon learned.  Fortunately, we tracked some down through Don and Joes Meats in Pike Place Market.  As I drove home from Seattle with the Toulouse sausage, I pondered why people spend so much time, energy, money, and creativity on eating and cooking (Almerico).  In addition to the fresh sausage, I bought one pound of pork shoulder, two fresh ham hocks, a couple nice pieces of pancetta and prosciutto, two ounces of salt pork, six confit duck legs, and 16 ounces of frozen rendered duck fat.  Why did I drive to Seattle and spend so much money?  According to Almerico, the relationships between the foods people eat and how others perceive them and how they see themselves is remarkable.  Thats why I was doing it.  I see myself as an accomplished foodie and I wanted my family to see that as well.  Thats why my sister and I took 3 days to prepare a cassoulet to serve our family for our holiday dinner.

In the above example, you see elements of narrative and descriptive writing: setting, action, conflict, sensory impressions.  These SHOW or illustrate my thesis.  I also used Almerico to relate my actions to her essay and emphasize that preparing elaborate meals is part of my identity.  Rather than separate narrative/descriptive and expository paragraphs, I combined the two modes.

The trick is to integrate the supporting quotations seamlessly into your narrative.  I ask the question why did I drive as an internal transition that relates back to the first quotation that begins with pondered.  Then I quoted Almerico again to help explain my motivations and further explain my thesis.

Hope this makes sense.  Combining the modes of writing at the paragraph level is an option for essay 1.