1. Thursday Looking Through Lenses: Our First Look Post-It discussion Finish reading Shaman for class tomorrow. Remember to Post-It as you read.

2. White Tigers How does the woman warrior develop? What does she learn to do? How does the warrior woman change after she gives birth? Why? "Night after night my mother would talk-story until we fell asleep," Kingston writes. "I couldn't tell where the stories left and the dreams began, her voice the voice of the heroines in my sleep" (19). What is the significance of this passage in relation to the novel itself? Why do you suppose the notion of the woman warrior figures so prominently in Kingston's imagination? Why does Kingston say, "My American life has been such a disappointment"?

3. What was the significance of the gourd? When was it used and why? When was the warrior’s level of tolerance for pain severely tested and why? How have childhood experiences affected the adult life of the speaker? Consider the importance of language in this section. For example, analyze the act the warrior woman's parents perform on her back, the "Chinese word for the female I," and the last paragraph of the section. Kingston writes: "Unlike tigers, dragons are so immense, I would never see one in its entirety" (28). How might this statement serve as a metaphor for something larger or more significant than dragons?

4. PostiveNegativeConfused