For Friday 8/26, please read the Introduction and Chapter 1 in "Consider the Fork". Here are some suggested discussion questions to help you prepare for class: 1. The basics, including logos, ethos and pathos. Why did the author write this book? What information does she draw upon? Who is the intended audience? What clues do we see about the background of the author? 2. What does the author mean by direct versus indirect cooking? How did indirect cooking originate? 3. What were the first pots made of? Why was there a change about 4000 years ago? 4. How do we know what kinds of pots existed in ancient times? 5. When did kitchens begin to gravitate toward having a variety of pots? Why? 6. Which metals have been used for making pots? What is distinctive about each? 7. According to the author, what are the criteria of a good cooking pot? What recommendations does the author give us if we wanted to buy a set? 8. What does the author say about cooking rice? -------------------------------------------------------------- For Monday 8/29, please read chapter 2 in "Consider the Fork." 1. According to the author, why are kitchen knives so important? 2. Find a quotation in the chapter that typifies the author's pathos. In other words, look for the tone of the author's writing. For example, is it humorous or scholarly or something else? 3. Why do different kinds of knives exist (different shape or material)? How was "carving" in the past different from today? 4. How do Japanese and Chinese kitchen knives differ from Western ones? How does the author explain the role of the knife in accounting for the difference between Chinese and Western cuisine? 5. How did knives used in Medieval times differ from those used today? What started to change about knife attitudes in the 1600s? 6. At a few points in the chapter, Bee Wilson seems to have important lessons to convey to the reader on how to treat their knives. What are they? 7. What does the author have to say about knives and our teeth? 8. What concept in the chapter did you find most interesting? -------------------------------------------------------------- For Wednesday, 8/31 please read chapter 3 in "Consider the Fork." 1. Why do we cook our food? 2. Where is the Lake District? Why might it interest the reader that the author went there? 3. What were the major turning points in the history of how we heat or cook food, as given in the chapter? What sort of fuels are mentioned? When did the distinction between roasting and baking begin to blur? 4. How did the design of houses centuries ago influence how people cooked their meals? What is a "spit" in this context? According to the author, why can't we cook like Ivan Day? 5. What happens when a technology becomes largely abandoned? In particular, with the demise of open hearth cookery, what has changed or disappeared? 6. What were the challenges of cooking good food under earlier systems of heating (roasting, and coal buring stoves)? 7. According to the author, what is different about the traditional cooking technology of England versus other places mentioned in the chapter? 8. From the examples given in the chapter, what needs to happen for a new technology to succeed? ---------------------------------------------------------------- For Friday 9/2, please read chapter 4 in "Consider the Fork". 1. It has been said that cooking is both art and science. What aspects of cooking seem to be scientific? What about cooking is not scientific? 2. What are the goals of a cookbook author like Fannie Farmer? 3. In a kitchen, what quantities need to be measured? 4. How is the American way of measuring ingredients different from most other countries? How did the United States come to adopt this approach? How does Bee Wilson criticize it? [What are its advantages?] 5. Before we had measuring units, how did we measure ingredients? Find examples in the book. 6. Before we had thermometers, how did people measure the heat of an oven? To measure temperature more precisely, what did we need besides a thermometer? 7. Without clocks, how did cooks measure time? 8. Why is it difficult to achieve precision when cooking? Consider, for example, the "perfect" French fry on page 139. How do professional chefs deal with precision? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday 9/7 - Chapter 5 - Grind 1. Let's define the following words that appeared in the chapter. The page number where the word appears is given in parentheses. To divde up this task, I will assign each of you to tell us the definitions of some. bruschetta (148) celeri remoulade (171) celeriac (171) charlotte (163) consomme (150) curd (176) emulsify (176) grate (176) hollandaise (176) julienne (171) knead (160) Liguria (175) Madeira (157) mill (176) mousse (166) pate (174) pesto (175) poach (166) puree (176) quenelle (174) risotto (176) souffle (166) syllabub (163) timbale (176) trifle (163) 2. According to the author, what sort of food did wealthy people appreciate most in ancient and medieval times? Why? 3. Which foods most needed to have a change of texture in recipes? 4. What food-manipulating technologies were mentioned in the chapter? How did they change cooking or what foods could be prepared with ease? Which inventions do you think are the most significant? 5. What American invention suddenly appeared around 1870 (pp. 160-165)? How does our author criticize it? 6. What is the difference between a blender and a food processor? What opposition was there to the Cuisinart? 7. Go online and find the menu of a highly renowned or very expensive restaurant. Give a specific example of a signature meal, along with its price. What accounts for the high cost? How would this compare to the most expensive meal on offer, say, 200 years ago? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday 9/9 - Library ---------------------------------------------------------------- Monday 9/12 - Chapter 6 in Consider the Fork 1. Why have the spoon and fork become widely adopted in eating? 2. What are some design considerations for spoons? 3. What is the motivation behind Western rules of etiquette regarding dining utensils? In a formal setting, what foods can be eaten with your fingers? 4. Why did people initially reject the idea of eating with forks? When and where did forks begin to become into routine use? 5. What innovation made it more practical to dine with a knife & fork? According to the author, what is the difference between the common American and British ways of employing the knife and fork? Which way do you eat? 6. According to the author, how many prongs should a fork have? 7. According to Asian cuisine etiquette, what should you not do with chopsicks? 8. What does the author have to say about eating without utensils: its etiquette and hygiene? 9. Are there any interesting utensils not mentioned in the chapter? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday 9/14 - Chapter 7 in Consider the Fork 1. What was the kitchen debate between Nixon and Krushchev all about? 2, What does "fresh" food mean to you? How has the meaning of this term changed over time? 3. How does refrigeration work? Is the technology similar to something else you have heard of or used? 4. What do early attempts at making ice cream tell us about humanity? 5. What was Marshall's Patent Freezer capable of? Why does the author praise it? 6. Why was refrigeration less popular in Europe than in the United States? 7. What foods do we now eat more frequently due to refrigeration? 8. Besides refrigeration, what other technologies have been employed for preserving food? Which appear to be most promising? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Friday 9/16 - Chapter 8 in Consider the Fork - Kitchen 1. Why are people often reluctant to adopt new cooking technologies? 2. What does it mean to make a meal from scratch (or not)? Why might a family decide to routinely eat at home but not cook from scratch? 3. What does the author say about modern trends in cooking? Does she approve? What do you think of them? Which innovations are most likely to have a long-term impact? 4. In former times, how did the kitchens of the upper and lower classes look like, according to the chapter? How have kitchens evolved in the last 100 years? 5. How would you change the way that kitchens today are structured? 6. We are now ready to critique the book: What are the author's most important points that we should remember? What did the author do to advance her ideas? If she had more time and 100 more pages to write, what else should have been added? 7. Before we leave the world of food, I have a treat for you. Look over the restaurant criteria I posted to the class Web site. These come from the Mobil Travel Guide, now published by Forbes. Among the list of items in the checklists, which items do you think are most likely to keep a 1- or 2-star restaurant from earning a higher rating? What makes 5-star restaurants distinctive? What do you think of the criteria? Do they include the aspects you look for in a restaurant? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Monday 9/19 - Wings chapter 1 1. What truly qualifies as an airplane? What must it do? 2. When did people begin serious work on understanding the scientific principles that could be applied to flight? 3. Which people mentioned in the chapter did the most influential work? 4. At what point in history does it first become clear that the invention of the airplane is inevitable? 5. What ideas and skills needed to come together to create an airplane? What problems needed to be overcome? Consider why so many experiments failed. 6. What is the difference between science and engineering, as revealed by the chapter? What scientific principles were needed to understand flight? 7. How did aeronautical research get organized? When and where did this begin? 8. How did ordinary people become aware of flying machines? --------------------------------------------------- Wednesday 9/21 - Wings chapter 2 1. What time period was covered by the chapter? 2. What obstacles or setbacks did the Wright brothers have to overcome? What did they learn along the way? 3. Why is it not so absurd for bicycle mechanics to have invented the airplane? What accounts for their success? What was unique about their approach, where others failed? 4. If the Wright brothers had been unsuccessful, who else had the next best chance to succeed in flying? In other words, who else was making substantial progress? 5. What was the response from governments to the development of the first flying crafts? 6. What was the response from the general public? 7. What role did Octave Chanute play? 8. What lessons can we learn from the chapter? What surprised you the most? ------------------------------------------------------ Friday 9/23 Wings chapter 3 1. In early aviation, what were the criteria for success? What were the technological priorities? Give examples. 2. By 1909, approximately how many successful airplane pilots were there in the world? If you wanted to get into the aviation world at this time, what ingredients would you have needed? 3. Who were the most important aviators mentioned in the chapter from: a. France b. the UK c. the US, other than the Wright brothers What did they do? 4. In your opinion, of all the people described in the chapter, which had the most interesting or inspiring personality? Was anyone's work influenced by personality? 5. In the US, what was the difference between the Aero Club and the AEA? What was the most important contribution of the AEA? 6. What was the relationship between the Wright brothers and the rest of the aviation community? How did each regard the other? 7. During 1909, what was the public reaction to airplanes, particularly in England and France? How did the public react to major aviation events that took place that year? --------------------------------------------------- Monday 9/26 Wings chapter 4 (0. Do you notice a mistake on the first page of the chapter?) 1. What important lessons does the author present in this chapter? 2. Why was France dominant in the aviation industry during the peroid? 3. What kinds of evidence does the author use to support his points? Does he use primary source material? What does the author do to grab the reader's attention or interest? 4. During this time period, what problems were plaguing the aircraft industry? Find specific evidence in the chapter. 5. How does the author describe the market for airplanes before 1914? What did people do to drum up business? How international was it? 6. In your opinion, what was the most important technological innovation in aviation mentioned in this chapter? 7. What events of this chapter foreshadow the future? ------------------------------------------------ Wednesday 9/28 Wings chapter 5 - Into the fight (1914-1918) 1. If the author were here, what comments or questions would you have about this chapter? 2. Compile an outline of major concepts of the chapter. It should include, for example: how airplanes were used during the war (purposes) what is an "ace", the importance of such a title the allure and hazards of flight at least one interpretation or conclusion made by the author morale and propaganda air superiority aluminum Zepplins cultural impact of the threat of being invaded/bombed by aircraft NACA the challenges of ramping up airplane production 3. In what ways did the aircraft industry and methods of flying change as a result of the war? 4. Think about toys and posters depicting aircraft. When people are asked to name their favorite airplane of all time, why is the answer often a military plane? 5. During the war, which was in shorter supply, airplanes or pilots? Why? What data does the author give us? 6. How does the author contrast German, French, and British war plane research and production? 7. What does the author foreshadow about the post-war period? Did anything that happened in this chapter linger to the present day? 8. What about the chapter did you find most surprising? 9. On the class Web site, you should find photographs I took at the Flight Museum in Seattle. One portion is devoted to World War I aircraft. What technical challenge of the period did you find most interesting? ------------------------------------------------------ Friday 9/30 Wings chapter 6 1. What were the immediate effects of the end of World War I on the aviation industry worldwide? 2. What were the new technological challenges and priorities of the period described by the chapter? 3. In the years following the war, what was the purpose of military aviation? How were civilian planes used during the period? 4. Why was commercial aviation slower to develop in the US? What did the US do to catch up? 5. Why did Giulio Doulet and Billy Mitchell get into hot water? Who opposed them? 6. Why were Jimmy Doolittle and Sherman Fairchild mentioned in the chapter - what was their role in aviation of the period? 7. What are the most lasting legacies of 1920s aviation? 8. Who in the chapter would you describe as a professional or career pilot? When do you think this job title would have come into general use? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Monday 10/3 - Chapter 7 - Big Business (1927-1935) 1. What were some important manufacturers of airplanes? How did Ford get into and out of the industry? 2. How did engines change during the period? What design challenge(s) needed to be overcome? 3. How did airlines emerge? Give examples. 4. What problems occurred with air mail service during the period? How did the Roosevelt administration respond? 5. How did the press treat Charles Lindbergh? How does our author treat him? 6. If you lived in 1935, what would aviation mean in your life? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Wednesday 10/5 - Chapter 8 1. Your question goes here 2. Another question goes here, in case #1 is mentioned by someone else. 3. How did ordinary people get involved in aviation in the 1930s? What did leaders in aviation do or create to help popularize and support the industry? 4. Why did we not eventually see a plane in every garage? What obstacles were there to making the affordable household airplane? 5. How did the planes themselves change during the 1930s? What were the new priorities? ----------------------------------------------------- Friday 10/7 - Chapter 9 1. Think of a question for us. 2. Think of another one, just in case your #1 is mentioned by someone else. 3. Who were the most influential people in the chapter? What did they do? 4. Why was the United States a conducive environment for aviation innovation? 5. What was the market for flying boats? What were their advantages? 6. What were the most important technological features of 1930s airliners? Which models were "best sellers"? 7. Besides hardware, how else did aviation modernize in America?