Literaturespeaking topic

Proust's narrator dips a madeleine in his tea and the taste brings his whole childhood flooding back. Why does a smell or a taste hurl us into the past far more powerfully than deliberate remembering?

Proust, In Search of Lost Time, the madeleine scene

practice with this topic

Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.