What is your madeleine ?

                                                  

In Marcel Proust's, "Remembrance of Things Past," readers are introduced to madeleines.
A madeleine is a small, spongy cake that leads you into a state of reminiscence. The introduction to the madeleine leads Proust's character into a magical moment where he revisits his past. The character seems to have an epiphany. One bite of this delectable treat and the journey begins. It is a magical ride into your past: the smells, the sounds, the sights, the tastes, and the touchable moments of those memories. Proust incorporates the five senses of our bodies to illustrate the magical moment. In the Pixar movie, Ratatouille, we see how a special dish stimulates the senses of restaurant customers, and even a rat! Everyone has a "madeleine." It may be in the form of a favorite dish, or a specific scent of a candle, or the sounds of a particular song that stimulates the memory that is "indexed" in our brains.

What is your madeleine?

VOCABULARY:
spongy (adjective)- soft and squishy, resembles the feel of a sponge
reminiscence (noun/verb)- the act of remembering past memories
epiphany (noun)- a moment when you see or feel something in a clearer manner
delectable (adjective)- very pleasant to taste or smell
illustrate (verb)- to explain with pictures
specific (adjective)- precise or exact
stimulate (verb)- to make something happen; to cause something to react
index (verb/noun)- file in an organized manner

VOCABULARY EXERCISE:
Please fill in the blanks with the appropriate word from the above vocabulary list.
1. Those chocolates that Peter gave you are _______________________!
2. After observing and touching the lung sample, the students decided that they would describe the lung as ______________________.
3. If you tickle your little brother, he will become very __________________________.
4. I don't quite understand the directions to the restaurant. Can you _______________________ them on this piece of paper for me?
5. Is there a _________________________ meal that you would like me to cook for your birthday?
6. It is fun to ___________________________ about our younger days as we get older.
7. Can you please _____________________ these papers into the student portfolios for me?
8. He stopped in his tracks, opened his mouth in surprise, and smiled.  He must have had an _________________________.

GRAMMAR POINT:
A pronoun is a word or phrase that may be substituted for a noun or a noun group. As long as there is prior conversation or the pronoun has an antecedent, you have the "green light" to use a pronoun.
For example: Mary went to the market and bought hamburger meat and buns, lettuce, one tomato, cheese, an onion, and ketchup. She bought nice hamburger buns and plans to toast them on the grill.
GRAMMAR ASSIGNMENT:
Please create 5 examples of using pronouns properly in the English language. Be sure to highlight your pronoun and the antecedent. You may also draw an arrow from the pronoun to its antecedent as well.