Sunday, February 9, 2014

TOW #18: Betty Crocker Gingerbread recipe


            While baking with my mom recently, I came to the realization that a recipe would be a very interesting text to analyze rhetorically. Consequently, this week I have chosen to analyze a Betty Crocker recipe for gingerbread cookies, which is one of my favorites. The author of this recipe is Betty Crocker, which is a globally known and respected brand of food products. The name Betty Crocker gives immediate recognition and credibility to any recipe that it is attached to. The intended audience of this recipe is generally common people, as it is fairly simple and easy to follow. Anyone who is interested in baking specifically would fall within the target audience of this text. As any good recipe does, this recipe gives the reader step-by-step instructions on how to take the list of ingredients and turn them into a finished product. Recipes are interesting types of types, being that they are extremely relevant and useful in daily life.
            An essential aspect of every good recipe is the organized and logical arrangement. This recipe lists the ingredients first, followed by the steps that need to be done in order to achieve the correct results for the recipe. An organized arrangement like this one is extremely crucial for a recipe, because if the steps are listed out of order the recipe will likely not be carried out correctly and the reader will not be able to create the desired food. This rhetorical device also generates an appeal to ethos. When the audience of the recipe sees the text being well organized, it immediately affords credibility. The author’s purpose in this recipe (and any recipe) is clearly to enable the reader to create a specific food product. I believe that this recipe is effective in achieving its purpose due in part to its well-organized arrangement. I can personally attest to the fact that is recipe achieves its purpose, as I have made and really enjoyed the gingerbread cookies several times. 

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