Fasting, Feasting Topics for Discussion
Discuss what you think the author really means by "fasting" and "feasting." What are the physical and emotional implications of each?
How do you think the story would have been different if it had been Uma who had gone to America instead of Arun?
Do you think Anamika and Aruna ended up having better lives than Uma did? Explain why or why not.
What commonalities do you see in the dynamics of both families? What things are vastly different?
Discuss the importance of everyday spirituality in India as opposed to the apparent lack of any spiritual substance exhibited by the lives of the Pattons.
Why do you think Mrs. Patton has not recognized Melanie's obvious cries for help when they are clearly
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7. Arun "ponders these omens and indicators" of life in Massachusetts—the objects that adorn the interiors and exteriors of the houses. What do these "omens and indicators" reveal to Arun and to us as his summer stay with the Potters proceeds?
8. What differences and similarities are there between the Indian and American families, between corresponding members of the two families (for example, Mama and Mrs. Potter), and between the their communities?
9. "I've always been aware of food as an obsession," Desai has said. What function does food play in the novel? How does food provide both "focus and continuity" in both societies?
10. What instances and images of imprisonment and entrapment occur in the novel's two parts? To what extent is entrapment of one kind or another envisioned as an inescapable fact of life?
11. What are the purposes of the various rituals, ceremonies, traditions, and routines—personal, social, and religious—that are observed in the novel's two parts? What are the consequences of ignoring tradition and custom and of disrupting established routine?
12. Arun takes up jogging, having recognized the American joggers' struggle "to free themselves and find, through endeavor most primitive, through strain and suffering, that open space, that unfettered vacuum where the undiscovered America still lies ..." Why does Arun partake of this American struggle?
13. How does Desai establish Mama
Explain the process by which the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch interacted with local Native Americans. To what extent to you think the interactions were motivated by religion, interest in commercial gain, or glory for self or country? Make sure you include as much detail as possible from the textbook and online resources. Interactions between the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch with Native Americans varied from place to place.
1. From the perspective of Native Americans, the Spanish and English empires in America had more similarities than differences. Assess the validity of this generalization.
10) Why did the ‘Lynch Mob’ go home? What main point do you think the novelist hoped to make by introducing this episode into the story?
Compare the experience of the French, Spanish, and English in colonizing the New World. What common perception of the region did they share? Discuss the differences in their relationship with Native
It is a known fact that every human being communicates through language, but perhaps a little known fact that we communicate even through the food we eat. We communicate through food all the meanings that we assign and attribute to our culture, and consequently to our identity as well. Food is not only nourishment for our bodies, but a symbol of where we come from. In order to understand the basic function of food as a necessity not only for our survival, we must look to politics, power, identity, and culture.
What were the common characteristics of all Native American cultures in the New World, and what were the important differences among them?
The actions of people in relation to “taboos” or forbidden behaviors often generates some of the tension in novels. Show how in different or similar ways texts in your study have employed this and other sources of tension to ensure the engagement of the reader.
In 1903, Jack London wrote his best selling novel, concerning the life of a sled dog that travels throughout Alaska, the Yukon, and the Klondike. Throughout this book Jack London uses personification to illustrate the dog’s viewpoint. London describes what adventures the dog encounters after being kidnapped from his Santa Clara Valley home to be taken to Alaska as a sled dog to help men pursue gold in the gold rush of 1897. Buck, is the name of this sled dog who experiences his primitive life style for the first time after many forays through Canada and Alaska. Due to the events in Buck’s life, he transforms from a domesticated, family pet to a primordial, wild beast.
Fasting and Feasting is a novel written by Anita Desai that narrates the story of the protagonist, Uma, and her family’s life. The novel is divided in two parts. Part one deals with Uma’s life in India until the tragic death of her cousin Anamika, and part two tells the story of Uma’s brother, Arun, as he spends his summer with the Pattons, a typical American suburban family. Throughout the novel, Desai explores the theme of family life and uses the novel’s two settings, America and India, to compare and contrast the values and customs that constitute each respective culture’s family life. At first glance, American and Indian families are foils of one another because of the relationships between the family members that composed them. As
Neither life nor culture can be sustained without food. On a very basic level, food is fundamentally essential for life, not simply to exist, but also to thrive. A means by which carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, nutrients, and calories are introduced into the body, food is a mechanism of survival. However, on a more abstract level, food is also fundamentally essential for culture by establishing its perimeters and dimensions and in shaping its authenticity and character. Food becomes the
Food, has a specific meaning to all of us; for some it is a form of nourishment, for others it is a cultural act,
Good afternoon Madam chairperson and my fellow students. The topic for our debate is “That Australia Should Reintroduce or Legalise the Death Penalty.” We the negative team, do not believe we should reintroduce the death penalty.
Food is looked at as nourishment, an instrument of solidarity, and a mechanism of community (Theres Nothing Like Church Food). Something that we take for granted everyday is a major support system for not only our bodies, but for our families and making the community in which we live in
Close your eyes and pretend you have a reset button for your mind body and spirit when things are not looking or feeling how you want them to. Now you have pressed that reset button making your desires a reality. But this is no scam or magic trick. So, what is the catch you might ask? The catch is simple, just one having patience. It is not what you have to do but more what you don’t have to do. Intermittent fasting is the sustainable lifestyle choice for maintaining health, discipline and spiritual fitness. Intermittent Fasting has been practiced since ancient times. Some religions like Muslim, Christianity, Buddhism and many more still practice Intermittent fasting. Even animals practice fasting in times of sickness to regenerate. Is
Food can teach how cultures developed their cuisine. Sometimes poverty forces people to utilize strange ingredients. Sometimes certain crops are more abundant than others, thus the brunt of their food composes of that crop. Necessity forces people to improvise their cuisine; in the earliest times, people cooked food to survive, not to entertain their taste buds. People can also learn how each culture savors its food. For example, the French eat their food quickly. People can also learn about the community through food, how families, schools, and religious institutions eat. Food is essential as it is “where culture and ecology intersect”, and the act of eating teaches people humanity. Someone can refer to this source’s many points on what food teaches to build an argument on how food is cultural