Nikki Bann Literary Seminar

I felt that my literary seminar on Friday went very well. I enjoyed leading the class discussion and was interested by all of the new ideas and thought processes brought up by the class. Many people made comments about the passage I hadn't even considered. I think the biggest discussion during my seminar was over what the magpies represent. Alyson made a connection between my seminar and Sofie's saying that when the peasants finally spoke out against the birds, it was like they were waking up from a dream. Liz also commented that the magpies represented An-Mei and her daughter Rose who were floating in a dream. Ashley connected the passage to history class, that the peasants rebelling against the magpies were like the peasant rebellions in the French Revolution. Kate thought that the magpies represented the men and the peasants represented women, because the magpies were in the sky, and higher above like the men were higher than the women in social status. Shaun added onto this, saying that once the magpies all died, they were on the ground and equal to the peasants, representing the women rising in social status. Madeline took a different approach in saying that the magpies represented all the other wives of Hu Tsing, who tormented An-Mei's mother. All of these points made a very good discussion. Overall, I was very happy with the turnout.