Katherine Huang's LIT SEMINAR

For my lit seminar I was assigned the chapter “Waiting Between the Trees” from which I chose the passage from lines 10 to 17 on page 247.

“I think this to myself even though I love my daughter. She and I have shared the same body. There is a part of her mind that is part of mine. But when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since. All her life, I have watched her as though from another shore. And now I must tell her everything about my past. It is the only way to penetrate her skin and pull her to where she can be saved.”

I stated that the theme of this passage was "like mother. like daughter." It is a theme that reoccurs throughout the story with different mothers and daughters. No matter the difference in upbringing, generation, economic status, and a language barrier, there is no match for the traits that permeate through blood. Also, there is a common goal among the mothers to save their daughters from similar mistakes and heartache.

Overall, I was super happy with the way my lit seminar turned out. The majority of students participated habitually and had very insightful things to say. I only had time to ask one of my questions, which is as follows:

Since childhood, Ying Ying has had the innate ability to predict events in the future: her reluctant first marriage to the watermelon man, the gender of her firstborn, her indifferent second marriage to St. Clair, the death of her ex husband before even reading her aunt’s letter, to finally, the eventual failure of her own daughter’s marriage.Do you believe Ying Ying’s ability to foresee the future to be a curse or a blessing? Please give specific examples to back up your argument.

My answer was that the telepathic skills were a negative. Ying Ying has a tendency to remain passive and let forecasted events befall her, sometimes even molding her actions around them, as she believes her life is in the palms of fate. Often times people (especially superstitious people like Ying Ying or people with OCD) have an ability to MAKE themselves see certain things or carry out certain actions that they believe it is necessary. Who knows if the visions were actually real or not? The point is, Ying Ying became so blind-sighted by them and obsessed that they had no choice but to come true. I was very impressed with the class responses to this question.

The majority of the class believed her skills to be negative or neutral toward negative, with a similar reasoning that Ying Ying tends to enforce her own predictions. "It is better to be ignorant because ignorance is bliss" (max?) exclaimed one student. Since the majority of Ying Ying's predictions are negative, why bear the bad news? If someone is going to die soon, would they really want to know when or how? A particularly insightful observation was that Ying Ying's obsession with the events she forecasts is very similar to traveling in a "light tunnel" (doug?) Even if good fortune were to come Ying Ying's way she'd be too focused on her doom to realize it, grab ahold and perhaps change her destiny for the better.

I had a total of three questions. Here are the two others I didn't get to:

1. The menacing shadow of a failed marriage is looming. This time, it’s Lena. In order to help her daughter deal with the denial and grief of ending matrimonial bliss, Ying Ying must confront the skeletons of her own failed marriages. Do you think Lena’s failed marriage could possibly be a disguised blessing, as it is allowing Ying Ying to finally rediscover her “tiger spirit” and save her daughter from a similar life that is lacking chi? (My answer is kind of mixed in with the question.)

2. From wild and arrogant gold to cautious, stealth black, Ying Ying has evolved through the stages of the tiger as she has triumphed and taken missteps in her life. Now, she claims to be a “tiger spirit,” unseen and fragile like a browned leaf. Do you think Ying Ying will ever revive her former spirit? If so, which side of the tiger would she be, gold or black? Please support your opinion with textual evidence.

In conclusion, the seminar was a lot of fun. Everyone was definitely really attentive and prepared for discussion. If you feel like answering one of my questions, leave a comment with the number of the question you chose. Thanks!