Discussion Points of the Second Meeting

Homework Sheet Discussion for An Appetite for Life - The Biography of Julia Child - 1^st Regular Meeting

To start the discussion, we shared how we summarized the section.  We summarized the first section of this book as Julia Child’s family history as far back as her great-grandparents and the description of her childhood and schooling.  This section also explained her personality, her physical appearance and her relationships with her family and friends.  In this section we also learned about her early career.   

The second part of the discussion addressed the words we didn’t know the meanings of.  We looked up the meanings of the following words in the dictionary:  funicular (p. 32),  antimacassars (p. 18),  effete (p. 5), arias (p. 33 ),  raconteur (p. 5),  primogeniture (p. 53),  verdant  (p. 40), and gamine (p. 34).

Next, we discussed the “I wonder” section.  I noticed that I had more questions than anyone else, but that would make perfect sense if you knew me.  Rabbit wondered if the John Alden who was mentioned in the reading (when Julia made a mean comment to her aunt about indentured servants) was the same John Alden that founded the town of Alden, Iowa (Rabbit’s hometown).  Further research concluded that the person who founded the town of Alden is Henry Alden, not John Alden.  The question is whether Henry Alden is a descendent of the John Alden (of Mayflower fame) who was mentioned in the book.  There was a question on the meaning of Julia’s quote at the beginning of page 30.  “Why languish as a giantess when it is so much fun to be a myth?”  Some possible meanings that were suggested are “cherish your tallness instead of being sad about it”, or “why not be popular or well-known for your tallness (uniqueness) rather than dwell on it."  I wondered how much she really cared about fitting in.  To me, fitting in didn’t seem to bother Julia but later the author quoted Julia expressing how she struggled to be pretty like the other girls and had difficulties attracting boys.  when she did worry about fitting in.  I was also confused about Julia’s voice.  I always thought her voice was deep but in this book it states that she had a high-pitched voice.        

We then moved on to what we liked about the reading.  We liked her childhood stories – how adventurous she was.  We also liked that she was independent in a time when most women’s goals were just to get married.  Most women back then (and even today) in Julia’s situation (she was older – 28; no other males interested in her) would have said ‘yes’ to any marriage proposal, but she said ‘no.’  We liked how she kept a diary and later updated the diary entries with her new relevations.  I liked the story of how she promised her dad she wouldn’t smoke until she was 21.  So the minute after her 21^st birthday she smoked!   I liked how Julia’s mother, Caro, was mad at her own father because he “wore out” Caro's mother by having ten children.  I also liked how Julia said that she had a minor in academics but a major in socializing!  I thought it was comical how the McWilliams family built their house with tall doors and tall handles.  Another member thought it was funny that her husband, Paul, initially thought she had an interest in food and cooking but she was just always hungry!  Rabbit liked the part where Caro’s friend said to her, “You read more books and know less than any woman I know.”  Someone also pointed out that it would be interesting to live in a time when Caesar Cardini invented the Caesar salad.   Another member like the indented paragraph on the bottom of page 43.  It gave a good description of Julia's height, voice and personality.  WE also liked the passage that compared her childhood tears to mechanical tears because she had a weak tear gland.  We also liked when she compared herself to a pregnant raincloud and how her heart is no softer than a rock.  Another member noted that this was a time when all the theories of cooking and eating were based on science.  A member noticed in this section that the magazines had conflicting views of the woman’s role in the household, so you can see that womens’ rights were slowly starting to change.  We all agreed that this book was written in great detail.  We liked how it would mention a company or a place back then, then state what it is now.

The main thing that we didn’t like was how the author’s writing jumped around so much.  Even within a paragraph the ideas seemed disconnected.  Rabbit noted that she did not like the introduction because it seemed like an unusual spot to begin the book.  Another member noted that the author seemed to assume that we already knew quite a bit about Julia.  Several members didn’t think it was necessary that her family history went way back to her great-grandparents.  One member didn’t like how the professor’s grades were.   Dead to the World criticized the study which concluded that the college graduates of Vassar, Wellesley and Mount Holyoke were one inch taller than their parents.  We agreed that this would have been proven true of all colleges in the world if the researchers would have included more colleges in their sample.  On average, we are taller today than the generations that came before us (because of better health, the growth hormones in the meat we eat, etc.) 

There were several things we were surprised at.  Romantix was surprised that Julia’s paternal grandfather lived to be almost 93 years old.  This seems like a long time to live in those times.  I was surprised that she didn’t perform so well in her French classes at Smith (given her later career.)  However, I took Spanish for four years in high school but it really didn’t help me speak the language.  I believe, to learn a language well, you have to be immersed in it - constantly being forced to speak it like if you were to visit another country.  I was absolutely shocked at how the triple murder/suicide was viewed by the town.  According to the newspapers, the man was brave.  I do not think he was a hero at all but a coward.  If he was brave, he would have not killed himself and would have punished himself by going to prison.  We were also surprised that Julia did not grow up cooking with her mother or even the hired cooks.  One member was surprised that, when she graduated college, they stated she did not need a job because she is from a wealthy family.  It makes you wonder what the purpose of college was back then.  The faculty seemed to informally evaluate the students on their ability to marry (the President of Smith was quoted - “not the brighest class that ever graduated from Smith but you were the marryingest class”).  I was surprised that it was implied that the only reason Caro married John McWilliams was so that her children would live longer than her side of the family.  A very weird reason to marry someone.  I was surprised that her father did not attend her graduation.   The reason he was absent was never stated.  Another member was surprised at how fearless she was and how she was okay with all the girls dating and eventually getting married.  She was comfortable not being like the rest of her friends.

The next section of the homework sheet dealt with our feelings or emotions.  I don’t think anyone quite knew what to put down for this section, so I shared what I wrote.  I feel like I should get out and do more and live life to the fullest like Julia did.  I also wish I was more outgoing like Julia – a leader everyone knows and loves. 

Then we talked about how each of us could relate the concepts of the reading to our lives or to our previous knowledge.  I wrote that I like to cook and eat like Julia did.  I could also relate to her college life – the partying, there always being something to do and constantly being distracted from my homework by other floormates (or distracting other floormates myself!)  Rabbit could relate to Julia when Julia went to her 5^th year Smith College reunion where all her former classmates were married with children.  Rabbit felt the same way at her 15^th year high school reunion.   Another member stated that she followed her destined path just like Julia did – Julia was destined to go to college (particularly  Smith).  Another member stated that she feels like life and how you turn out depends alot on chance.  Like Julia was lucky to be born into a weathly family so this made it easier for her in many ways.  We started talking about menstruation and the belts women wore years ago.  When Julia attended camp, she and the other campers were afraid of getting the "curse".  Romantix remembers her mother telling her how she had to wear the maxi pad belts just like women did back then.   

The next part created confusion.  After I explained what this section meant, we shared our goals (what we plan to do after we learned a lesson from the reading).  I plan to be more active – physically and socially.  I also plan to enjoy life more.  Another member said that she wanted to learn more about the 1900’s.   Dead to the World stated that she wanted to visit the Smithsonian where Julia Child’s kitchen is located.

To sum the discussion up, we shared what we learned from the first reading.  We learned about Julia’s family and her colonial and pioneer heritage.  We also learned about what California was like in the early 1900’s.  We learned she had a very active childhood and also had a great personality, so, therefore, was well-liked.  The interesting thing we learned is that she didn’t like to cook but loved food because she was always hungry.  We learned about her KBS and Smith schooling.  Someone noted that they realized how tall she really was (Julia was taller than they had originally thought).  Another member added that she discovered Julia was an athlete.