Family Dinner:

Home for the Holidays,

Adele. What does Adele want to happen at the family dinner? Does she really not know about
Tommy’s sexual orientation? How does she react when Tommy tells her what he feels about her? How does she
show how well she knows Claudia’s foibles? What does she feel about Joanne’s intrusions into her affairs, and
Joanne’s intrusion into the Thanksgiving dinner?
Pieces of April,

The Chinese family. How do the Chinese family become receptive to meeting April’s needs?
How does she attempt at first to explain the story of Thanksgiving to them? How does she finally resolve
to tell that story?

Family Resemblances,

Yolande. How is Yolande different from the family that she’s married into? How does she
react to the birthday gifts? What’s the significance to the gift she gets from Philippe? How does she react
when Denis dances with her? How does she deal with Philippe’s anger? How are the family’s
interpersonal tensions evident in the birthday dinner? Is Yolande transformed by what happens during
the events of the story?

The Age of Innocence

Newland has a private dinner with the head of his law firm, Mr. Letterblair. What is the menu for the meal? They discuss Ellen and whether newland as her representative ought to advise her to sue for divorce from count olenska. letterblair says he doesn’t understand newlands position what reasons does he give newland for urging ellen not to divorce? why does he not understand newlands viewpoint? Why does newland give Letterblair a card to forward to Ellen to request a consultation? What is letterblairs reaction to this?
€¢ Complete a short paper discussing the films in the Family Dinner segment of the film schedule
€“ Three DVD copies of each film are available on non-print media reserve in MLIB

€¢ Discuss one (or more) of these themes in the films you write about:
€“ Dinner as gathering
€¢ How families, relatives and acquaintances gather for dinner where their interaction intensifies
€¢ How the need for gathering at dinner re-enforces family and social structure
€¢ How gathering for a special family dinner exacerbates conflicts
€“ Dinner as ritual
€¢ How ritual is important to dining €“ including the menu, seating, preparation, and etiquette
€¢ How ritual dictates and re-enforces family and social structure
€¢ How conforming to ritual or rebelling against ritual individuates members of the family
€“ Dinner as strife
€¢ How dinner facilitates tensions within a family or social group
€¢ How dinner gatherings create strife that otherwise wouldn’t surface
€¢ How dinner creates the occasion for resolution of conflict
€“ Character development
€¢ How encounter in close quarters for a lengthy, special meal with family brings a person to recognize having grown, having become different, and to recognize the need
for growth and distance
€¢ How the special family dinner serves as a catalyst for personal growth and transformation
€¢ How the occasion of the special family dinner shows how members of the family are growing away from what they used to be, and how other members of the family
strife to preserve the way they all are or were

€“ Heuristic Questions for each film can supply aIDitional ideas to consider
€“ Consult the Cast and Credits listings so that you can identify characters by name
€¢ In the Film Study Modules for each film

€¢ Make choices about what to discuss that best give you the opportunity to compose an essay based upon your most important insights, observations, and interpretations
€¢ Don’t waste time on plot summary
€¢ Don’t’ waste time saying who made the film, who stars in it etc.
€¢ Don’t waste time on an obligatory introductory paragraph or conclusion
€¢ Pay attention to sentence structure, and particularly to punctuation
Interesting/
Very Interesting (GRADING RUBRIC)

Discovers important nuances

Perceives the film-maker’s implicit
perspective on characterizations,
etc.

Understands how the film-maker’s
style and cinematic construction
imparts meaning and a world-view
Articulates a context for the films’
meanings and issues aIDressed

Submission conveys complexities,
with imagination and creativity
Can articulate nuanced
comparisons of the theme of food
as culture among the films studied
Can articulate nuanced
comparisons of the theme of food
as identity among the films studied

Can articulate nuanced
comparisons of the theme of
historical and social context of
food among the films studied