Due Monday March 26th
Minutes: David,
SAT Vocabulary: Concord, Equitable
Reading Assignment: Finish book
Homework Assignment:
Due Tuesday March 27th
Minutes: Tiffany, Lawrence
SAT Vocabulary: Holistic, Ineffable
Reading Assignment:
Homework Assignment: Please develop five sentences from the final section of the book that you would like to ask Frank Bruni, we will be pooling our ideas together and voting today on the best questions.
Due Wednesday March 28th
Minutes: Victor, Thomas
SAT Vocabulary: Polarized, Propensity
Reading Assignment:
Homework Assignment: What is poetry? Why might one use poetry instead of other forms of expression? What makes poetry difference than other forms of expression? Have you ever written poetry? Why or why not?
Due Thursday March 29th
Minutes: Shadman, Isaac
SAT Vocabulary: Sedulity, Quell
Reading Assignment: Read and print “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop
Homework Assignment: Please identify four examples of imagery.
Due Friday March 30th
Minutes: Calvin, David
SAT Vocabulary: Pragmatic, Rhetoric
Reading Assignment: Read and print “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
Homework Assignment: Please identify four examples of imagery.
Have you been able to keep in shape by eating the way you did as a food critic?
ReplyDeleteDo you think that becoming a food critic helped keep you in shape because it gave you a larger incentive to eat smaller portions and exercise more?
Even though you learned to control your weight did food still mean the same to you as it did growing up?
If someone asked for your advise about loosing weight, what would you tell them?
Do you think that if you had not become a food critic you wouldn't have been as successful at losing weight?
Since swimming was working so well for you, why didn't you just stick to it instead of letting it go when your mom pressured you? (and yes the pressure from, your mom and moving and all changed things but swimming was a natural way to keep weight down no?)
ReplyDeleteDid you ever have an overweight boyfriend? If so, did that make you obsess less over your weight?
How did you force yourself to eat small portions of high quality food as a food critic but pig out for many other foods growing up?
Did a restaurant owner ever force you to try much more food than you wanted as a critic?
After quitting being a food critic, did you manage to keep weight off?
What city did you enjoy living in the most and why?
ReplyDeleteWhy did you pursue a career in literature rather than in the field of food?
Do you see yourself in the future regaining weight or do you believe you will be able to maintain a steady weight?
What do you think prevented you from being a successful food critic?
After this experience as a food critic, can you bring yourself to consistently check your weight?
Lawrence Lim, Period 9:
ReplyDeleteHow did you come to realize that you were gay?
Did you have any particular lesson in mind when writing Born Round?
Why did you keep training with Aaron instead of giving up again, even though he pushed you so hard?
Why did you find it hard to keep yourself motivated to limit your eating and exercise more?
Was there any one moment where you changed from food-obsessed to being determined to become and stay healthy?
Are you still exercising now or have to found a new method to not gain weight?
ReplyDeleteDo you think people would have like you to be thinner or do you think your weight right now compliments you best?
Did you ever have any other experiences with diguises after the incident with chodorow?
Who the person that most inspired you to go on in life?
If kids didn't laugh at you when you were younger do you think you would've tried losing weight?
Dionis Wang period 4
1. "I didn't lie to my self the way I had in the past" (347). Have you been able to stay honest with yourself now that you are no longer a food critic?
ReplyDelete2. "I ate less than Harry...I ate more then Adelle"(337). Does it seem like your change in eating habits has made the rest of your family more aware of their weight?
3. How do you keep yourself as motivated as when you were with Aaron?
4. If you could redo your life, what would you do differently?
5. "I had to figure out how to dine repeatedly in a restaurant from which I had been officially barred" (312). Was if just Chodorow who had this reaction? Did many other restaurants react similarly?
Fawn Wong period 9:
ReplyDeleteHave your experiences with food affected the way you see the world now?
Besides yourself, who do you think helped you lose weight the most?
Why does it seem that the females in your life play a more important role than the men?
Are you happy with the way you look now?
Have you ever gave into food since you wrote this book?
George Triantafillou Period 4:
ReplyDeleteDo you want kids?
What do you miss most about Italy?
How are you keeping your weight down now?
What is your current weight?
How did you feel being a semi celebrity?
1. Is it difficult working on the editorial board because you're a homosexual?
ReplyDelete2. What encouraged you to reveal your sexuality to the public?
3. How did you overcome your bullimia?
4. Instead of restraining your diet or exercising, why did you choose to be bullimic?
5. Did the many diets that you and your mom tried work?
-Caroline-
Did you accept that you were gay right away?
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about people's constant struggles with dieting today- do you think they should just be themselves or fit into society?
How has being a food critic made you feel about eating?
Was it fun to dress up in different outfits to fool the restaurants?
Do you still lie to yourself?
Do you know how to cook any of your grandmother's foods? If yes, which ones?
ReplyDeleteWhy did you name your book "Born Round"?
Have you ever brought home your boyfriend?
Do you like your current job more than your food critic job?
When you go into a restaurant now, would you pretend you were a food critic and let that info 'slip' to the chefs?
1. How did you eat from the minibar so unabatedly during your work on the campaign trail ––“They cost me close to two thousand dollars over the course of the campaign” (222)––such that you spent so much money?
ReplyDelete2. Was your salary able to cover the expenses of eating so much? Did you ever struggle with having the money to purchase food?
3. Did the necessity to exercise nearly every day become too difficult at times?
4. Did the cost of living dramatically decrease from your job and your restraint in constantly eating?
5. Did any other relapses occur such as the one described prior to your encounter with Terry?
Do you think Abigail and Jared were good friends by pointing out your purging?
ReplyDeleteDo you believe that your perspective on your weight has changed now as opposed to when you wrote the book?
You state that you would bring companions with you to a restaurant as part of your "schemes" so you don't seem like a food critic while being able to sample all the foods. Which "scheme" did you feel you enjoyed the most?
Which instructor did you feel was the most helpful: Ari, Cathy or Terry (even though you only had him for a short while)?
In the last few lines of the book, you say " I took another bite of the dessert, just so I didn't seem to be avoiding it. But I stopped there. Somehow, I'd learned to do that. At least for now." (347). Have you so far still been able to keep self control over this matter?
Tiffany Period 4
DeleteIf you weren't focused on your wait, would you have eaten at any possibility (ex. on the campaign trail or as a restaurant critic)?
ReplyDeleteAfter visiting some of the top restaurants in New York city, would you prefer restaurant food or your mom's/grandmother's cooking? Why?
What lessons have you learned from your eating adventures and how have they carried over to your current job/lifestyle?
Have you reach an ideal image of yourself?
Who or what was your greatest motivation in losing weight?
Jerry D. PD9
Can you cook for yourself? If so, what kinds of foods?
ReplyDeleteDo you continue to workout daily to stay in shape?
Are you able to "taste and trash" foods still?
Are you the sibling who is in shape?
Do you feel being a restaurant critic is what motivated you to become in shape?
My questions don't focus on a specific part of the book I hope that's okay....
ReplyDelete1. How did you become a non-bulimic so quickly when other people find it hard to do?
2. Did you ever completely make amends with Harry?
3. What do you regret most about your life?
4. What is your favorite restaurant?
5. What are your political views?
Did you enjoy your job as reporter besides eating?
ReplyDeleteIf you never took the job for reporting for George W. Bush how might your life be different?
How do you keep yourself in shape now? Do you still taste and trash?
What is your current weight?
How often do you eat out now? On occasions, do restaurants still give you special treatment?
1) Looking back, do you feel that going to Yale would have been the better choice to make?
ReplyDelete2) When your mother and grand-mother passed away, did the Bruni tradition of hosting all of the holidays remain?
3) Have you ever felt inferior to your brothers, especially Harry, because of your weight?
4) Did loosing weight, when you grew older, mean the same to you compared to when you were younger?
5) Do you regret taking all of those weight loss pills such as the Mexican Speed?
1. While in Italy, did you feel more self-conscious being around a lot of skinny people, while America has more fat people? Did you feel like you stood out more?
ReplyDelete2. Did you feel self-conscious talking about your sex life in a book?
3. What is the strangest story of someone using your name to get a better deal at a restaurant?
4. While writing this book, did you inform your family members about how in depth you were talking about their weight history as well as your own?
5. Even after you left your job as a restaurant critic, did restaurants still try to identify you or give you special or solicitous treatment?
1. Which one of Chodorow's restaurants scored the highest in your opinion? If you have been at one of his restaurants after the completion of Born Round, do you think the taste, technique, and decor improved since your last visit?
ReplyDelete2. When you first started to workout, how intense was the pain and exhaustion? How often did you feel like giving up?
3. After your Men's Vogue photoshoot, were you in any other photoshoots? Were there any private photos taken that revealed your most up-to-date appearance to the restaurants you reviewed?
4. As an author, how did you feel when you were writing Born Round?
5. Who has made the most important impact on your life?
-Jessica Ma. Pd. 9 :)
Wilson Lin, Period 9
ReplyDelete1. Which family member influenced your life the most?
2. How did it feel to be able to restraint yourself from finishing a meal at the end of the book?
3. Among the restaurants that you wrote about, which one would be your favorite?
4. Are you still bullemic like when you were a child?
5. Do you still receive better treatment at restaurants because you are a former critic?
Mushfiq Hossain period 4
ReplyDelete1. Did anyone motivate you to keep going forward and maintain a healthy wait?
2. When you were insulted by others, such as your brother, this this further cause you to work harder or hurt your self esteem and cause you to work less?
3. Besides eating what else did you enjoy about being a restaurant critic?
4. Out of curiosity what were all the methods in which you progessed to lose weight?
5. Being homosexual did you feel more of an urge to lose weight?
1. How would you prefer people discuss your weight? Bluntly or euphemistically?
ReplyDelete2. How does it feel to be impersonated by others to receive special treatement?
3. Which is more important to you when in a restaurant? The atmosphere and experience or the food itself?
4. After eating at places such as the French Laundry, which do you prefer? Fast food and takeout, or a five course meal at a restaurant? Why?
5. Do you believe that there is a correlation between the amount of table manners you show and the amount of enjoyment you have during a meal? Why or why not?
1. How have you been doing with your weight since the book was published?
ReplyDelete2. Do you believe that perfection exists? one that can be obtained?
3. Do you think todays society has romanticized the idea of bulimia?
4. What are some of the responses you have recieved to your book?
5. How do you currently deal with stress?
1. When did you decide you wanted to become a journalist? Why did you choose the field of journalism?
ReplyDelete2. Looking back, do you regret quitting swimming? If you had a chance to go back in time, would you have chosen to continue swimming?
3. Is there a personal reason why you focused so much on your weight? There are many other aspects of yourself that you could have focused more on, such as your writing ability and achievements you have achieved such as becoming a reporter in "The New York Times".
4. Are there any notable restaurants that you remember from your critiquing career? (They can be either good or bad)
5. If you could sum your food critic career in a few words, how would you describe it? Do you regret taking the job or did you enjoy it very much?
~Rebecca Chang (Period 9)
THIS IS FOR OLIVIA ZHONG (PERIOD 9)
ReplyDelete1.If you could see your mother for one last time, what is the one thing that you would like her to say to you? What would you like to say to her?
2.Was there ever a time when you just fell apart and felt that you can’t continue to lose weight anymore?
3.“He kept scrolling through the images…said he was doing a lousy job,” (the entire paragraph on page 307). Did you ever feel compelled to give them a rating that they don’t deserve just because you feel bad for them?
4.After your visits to Wild Salmon, Chodorow wrote you a letter. How do you think he felt when he realized you still got into his restaurant unnoticed? What do you think went through his mind?
5.If your nephews or nieces were struggling with their weight like you were years ago, what advice would you give them? Would you recommend them your book, Born Round?
Joanne Yang
ReplyDelete1. Do you feel differently between the death of your grandmother and mother?
2. Even if it didn't work out, do you think you gained anything from being a fruitarian?
3. How do you find so many people to eat with?
4. Isn't it frustrating to give yourself a new "identity" every time you review and eat at a restaurant?
5. Have you changed since the end of the book?
Mindy Qiu (pd 4)
ReplyDelete1. There are people that only know the current you, (ex. your nephews and nieces) do you sometimes wonder if they would still treat you the same way if they know the old you?
2. Now that Leslie is grown up, does she still remind you of your mother?
3. Besides gaining weight, does binge eating affect your body in any other way? (ex. High blood pressure or diabetes)
4. You suggested the main reason why your weight is under control is because you know when to stop eating now. What advice would you give to people who is still having a hard time refraining from eating too much?
5. Do you believe that in our society being skinny is better than being heavy? If not , why did you try so hard to lose weight before?
1.As a critic what was your favorite restaurant to eat at?
ReplyDelete2. Would you change anything in our life if you had chance to?
3. Did you support Bush?
4. Who did you like better, your mother or your grandmother?
5. What is your father's job?
1. Has coming out earlier helped you focus on more important things in college and later on in life?
ReplyDelete2. Have you tried to talk to other members of your family about their weight, if they're having problems with it?
3. How do you work out and keep off your weight?
4. Do you still "eat like an italian"?
5. Do you still have meals or days where you pig out again like you used to, or have you controlled your compulsiveness?
Jimmy Yan Period 9
ReplyDelete1. Which restaurant in New York for eating seafood would you recommend?
2. Do you know how to cook yourself?
3. What do you think about your weight right now?
4. Why did you quit your job as a food critic, did you like it or no?
5. What motivated you to lose all that weight, and which diet worked out the best?
Thomas Lim Period 9
ReplyDelete1. Do restaurant managers still gawk at you when you go out to eat with your friends?
2. Can you cook? And if so, what is your favorite dish to make, and what is your favorite dish to eat?
3. If you could go back in time and change one element of your life, what would it be?
4. Do you still think that you are too fat? If so, have you learned to accept it?
5. Do you think that being gay caused you to be even more insecure about your weight, as it is a common stereotype among men to be extremely judgmental of others?
1. If your mother and grandmother were alive, which resturant would you have brought them to dine?
ReplyDelete2. Did you ever over eat again?
3. Did you manage to build a long time relationship with anyone?
4. What is your weight now?
5. If there was anything you could change in your life, what would it be?
Is there anything you wish you could've told your grandmother before she passed away?
ReplyDeleteHow fast did you come to terms with the fact that you were gay?
Now that you aren't a food critic, how often do you eat at restaurants/out?
What is a food/dish you have never tried but want to?
What do you feel is the most important step in a persons decision to lose weight (admitting, committing, etc)
1. How much do you weigh now?
ReplyDelete2. Do you think it's the government's responsibility to control people's weight?
3.Does coming out make you more comfortable about how people view your weight? Is there any relationship between your sexual orientation and your weight?
4."That statement probably didn't sound odd to Leslie and Erica, the way it did to me-their memories didn't go back to my mid thirties and to who I'd been then" (Bruni 336). Do you think your new image is your greatest motivation for staying fit? If not, what is?
5. Do you still occassionally lie to yourself about the food you're eating?
1. Are you comfortable about your weight now?
ReplyDelete2. When did you realize that you were different?
3. Did your sexual orientation have any effect on the way people portrayed you?
4. Do restaurants still give you special treatment?
5. How does it feel to tell people you were once overweight?
~ Sabrina Bari
Elvin Shoyfer, Period 4
ReplyDelete1. If you had the choice, would you still wish to be born into a food-loving Italian family? Would you attribute it as a cause of your struggles with food over the course of your life?
2. Are you interested in having children?
3. Would you feel that you were ahead of your own time in terms of your weight problems? In other words, would you be more comfortable growing up in today's (2000's, 2010's) society where weight is one of the most common issues that all people face, as opposed to growing up like this just like you did, feeling all alone for most of your life?
4. Do you ever eat food for the sheer pleasure and feeling of fullness and satisfaction, like you described your eating from the early stages of your life?
5. Do you feel like you can ever relapse and fall back into the same pit you escaped, entering a new cycle of bulimia and weight problems? How stable do you feel you are now?
1) If you had to live off of just one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
ReplyDelete2) Do you prefer your job now as a New York Times political writer to the New York Times head food critic?
3) What do you currently view as your dream job or are you content with you have right now?
4) Is obesity the government's responsibility? Why or why not?
5) What is your opinion on the job Sam Sifton is doing, the person who succeeded you in the critic's job?
Thought it would be cool just to put in the link to Frank Bruni's blog and to his most recent article that happens to relate to food.
Deletehttp://bruni.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/red-meat-blues/?ref=dining
1) Do you still have trouble with over eating anymore?
ReplyDelete2) Do you think of your weight as something so important anymore?
3) Why did you stop being a food critic?
4) What do you think of all the times where you threw up or took pills now that you can look back?
5) What advice would you give to someone currently having problems with their weight?
- Jessica Lei Period 9
1) If you were born into a family of less excessive eating habits, do you think your own relationship with food as an adult would have been different?
ReplyDelete2)If you ever adopt children, would you incorporate them into the Bruni style of feasting or do you think it is much too superfluous?
3)What advice would you give to people who are trying to manage their weight healthily?
4)Where did you come up with the idea to write this memoir? How do you think your grandma and mom would have reacted?
5)How do you feel about the shrinking frame of models and celebrities through the recent decades?
Keiran Carpen, Period 9
ReplyDelete1)What influenced you to become a bulimic
2)Have you ever felt that you have been judged by other people because of your weight? Were you the biggest judge of your weight?
3)Were there any scenes in the book that you struggled to share with the world because they were to personal or emotional?
4)Have you ever felt that the precautions that some restaurants took in order to please a food critic (you or someone else) were unnecessary and absurd? Do you have any amusing restaurant stories that aren't stated in the book?
5)Did you intend on writing this book to people with insecurities?
1)How often did you puke when you were a bulimic? On a daily,weekly basis?
ReplyDelete2)Were you ever discriminated against jobwise because of your weight?
3)In writing the book, did you overcome your insecurity?
4)Did you like being pampered by restaurants?
5)Do you know how to cook?
In your opinion, what was the most effective method of weight loss that didn't cause other illnesses?
ReplyDeleteWould you still consider adopting children?
Do you still have any regrets involving your mother?
What do you think of yourself as a food critic?
Did your mother ever teach you how to cook your favorite foods before death?
Mike 4th Period
This may be a little late...
ReplyDelete1) Tom was the last person you mentioned being in a relationship with. Are you still together with him?
2) Considering all the restaurants you have been to, are there any that you could recommend above others?
3) You say that you do not like having to spend time making your food, but considering all of your experiences being a critic and all would you ever consider going into the culinary business?
4) When you were trying to lost weight after starting your new job, why did you not try to take some sort of swimming class considering it is good exercise and you were good at it?
5)You mention towards the end of the book that you were losing all of you good eating habits and were not fitting into jeans you used to be able to. Did you change that decline to stay at your 'dream weight'?
Sorry, this is really late, but these are my five questions!
ReplyDeleteI would really love to ask Frank Bruni:
1)What went through your mind as you wrote all these thoughts that you kept so bottled up in your mind? Did the words flow out of you or was it difficult to let it out?
2)Are you happy about yourself right now, seeing how different you are from what you used to be, physically and mentally?
3)If you could tell yourself (the Frank Bruni from the college days) something... what would you say? In other words, what would you tell someone that was in the position you were in years before?
4)Why did you quit your job as a food critic?
5)Did you ever have moments where you felt you binged, since you've written this book? If so, did you feel the urge to purge?
-- Tiffani Ren