B Y , J O D Y P I C O U LT

HANDLE WITH CARE

HANDLE WITH CARE

Charolotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow is born with severe OSTEOGENESIS IMPERFECTA, she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows; a lifetime of pain and hardship.Charlotte files a wrongful birthsuit against her OB/GYN for nottelling her in advance that herchild would be bornseverely disabled. And…thedoctor is her best friend…..

WHAT IS OI?

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a genetic bone disorder characterized by fragile bones that break easily. It is also known as “brittle bone disease.” The term literally means “bone that is imperfectly made from the beginning of life.” A person is born with this disorder and is affected throughout his or her life time.

HANDLE WITH CARE…QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER?

1. What if Charlotte had known earlier of Willow’s illness? Would she have chosen to abort?2. How disabled is TOO disabled?3. As a parent, how far would you go to take care of someone you love?4. What constitutes a valuable life or a life worth living?5. Why do you think Willow ended her life the way

she did?6. What does the term “slippery slope” mean? How

do we relate it to a wrongful death suit?

THEMES TO CONSIDER….

BREAKING: What is breaking? Who is breaking?

SACRIFICE & SUFFERING: Charlottes’s sacrifice? Willow’s suffering? Amelia’s suffering and

sacrifice?

MEDICAL ETHICAL DILEMMA: WRONGFUL BIRTH SUIT

SLIPPERY SLOPE

A course of action that seems to lead inevitably from one action to another with unintended consequences

Pg. 53

METAPHOR

  A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another

BROKEN HEART

Your heart is not literally broken into pieces; you just feel hurt and sad.

LIGHT OF MY LIFE

The person described by this metaphor isn't really providing physical light. He or she is just someone who brings happiness or joy.

RECIPES/HANDLE WITH CARE

The author inserts recipes throughout the book that highlight certain baking techniques, such as tempering, blind baking and weeping. These recipes are related to certain themes and are metaphors that help give the reader more insight into the story and Charlotte’s character.

FOR EXAMPLE….

Tempering: To heat slowly and gradually (pg. 16)

TEMPERING

Most of the time when we talk about a temper, we mean a quickness to anger. In cooking, though, tempering is about making something stronger by taking your time. You temper eggs by adding a hot liquid in small increments. The idea is to raise their temperature without causing them to curdle. The result is a stirred custard that can be used as a dessert sauce or incorporated into a complex dessert.

Here’s something interesting: the consistency of the finished product has nothing to do with the type of liquid used to heat it. The more eggs you use, the thicker and richer the final product will be.

Or in other words, it’s the substance you’ve got when you start that determines the outcome.

METAPHORS OF BAKING…WHAT WAS THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE???

Charlotte was a baker. She believed that the sum of the ingredients was so much more than it’s parts.

Think about this with Willow. She was so much more than just her moments of breaking bones, surgery and recuperation….

Why did Jody Picoult insert recipes with their baking techniques throughout the novel?

GROUP ASSIGNMENT

• Oral presentation to include:

• Name of baking technique/page number• Definition of baking technique• Reading technique to class• How does the definition and description help

give further insight into Charlotte’s character?• What does your group think about the hidden

meaning? What was the author’s purpose for inserting these baking techniques?