MATTHEW  ISOM

I'd like you to write a 500-750 word paper on the following prompt.  While most of you will probably type a standard paper, it is acceptable to present your ideas in other digital formats, such as Prezi or PowerPoint presentations, Xtranormal videos, blogs, and the like.  If you choose one of these other formats, just be sure that you discuss as many ideas as you would in a 500-750 word essay.  

 

Prompt:

 

“Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon or not at all" (Julia Child)

When Julia Child returned from France after WWII, she was a changed person.  Never again would she be satisfied with bland cuisine or bland living.  She followed the "carpe diem" philosophy, "living deep and sucking out all the marrow of life," as Henry David Thoreau put it.  I see an interesting parallel between her and us: she was an American who went to France and saw a different way of living, and all of us are Americans who have taken a virtual trip to France.  My question for you is:

The French view life differently than most Americans do.  They  have different set of values concerning what is important in everything from food, to music, to travel, and to language.  What are the strengths and possibly the weaknesses of living life the way they do?  You do not need to give equal time to both the strengths and the weaknesses.