ghost story.

Once, way back when, when Castle Hall still served as a girls` dormitory, the night marchers would march their way through it each night. Story tellers say that the reason for this was because wherever a building had two doors on the opposite sides of it leading in and out and a long hallway connected the doors, the night marchers would march through there at night. That`s how the first floor of castle hall is built, with the doors to the classrooms on the sides of the hallway, which were dorms instead of classrooms back then. For one girl, it was her first day there and she had joined at an awkward time during the school year and she hadn`t known about the night marchers because she had just moved there from california. She moved in with her roommates and everything seemed fine, they were getting along so well, they made her first night there like sleepover to welcome her there. There was a total of 4 girls now living in the room and they were all eating candy and gossiping in their room when they started to hear footsteps. They froze for a while and just listened to them as they got louder and louder and louder, staring at the door. The girls were having so much fun that they forgot to tell the new girl all about the night marchers including the most important rule of all, when you hear the footsteps, no matter what you stay in the room. The girl whispered to the one sitting on her bed next to her and whispered, "What`s that?" "SSSHHHH!!!" the girl whispered back. Frustrated because she didn`t know what was going on, she said again without whispering, "What`s going on?" All the girls turned to her and put their fingers to their lips and said "SSSSSHHHH!!!" again. The girl was getting annoyed because none of the girls were telling her what was happening so she just decided she would find out for herself. She walked up to the door and just as she put her hand on the knob, the girls said in unicent, "NOO-" and just as the touched the knob she stumbled back and fell on one of the other girls` beds on the other side of the room. The girls just stared as she wiggled on the bed. She looked like she was tied down and was trying to escape ropes that tied her there, her hands swinging freely like there was an imaginary person she was trying to fight. She finally jumped off the bed as if she ropes that had once held her down became untied. Still sitting on the beds, all the girls turned there attention back to the door. When the sounds of the footsteps faded into the distance, all the girls turned to the new girl. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" They all asked, but it sounded more like an exclamation. "I-I-I.." the girl started, "I put my hand on the door and it felt as if a hand pushed my chest with such force that all the wind was knocked out of me. Then I felt cold hands around my kneck strangling me and pinning me to the bed. Their hands were so cold I got goosebumps, but no matter how hard I tried to free myself from their grasp, their hands seemed to get colder and squeeze tighter. The scariest part was the fact that there was nothing to fight. I tried to hit whatever held me down but all I could feel was my hand going through cold air, it felt like I was in front of an air conditioner. I felt so helpless because there was nothing I could do but endure the pain. Finally, whatever was holding me down, dissapeared and I felt the grip on my neck loosen and I jumped off the bed afraid it might try to pin me down again if I stayed." The girls were frightened because they had never had an actual encounter with the night marchers before. Figuring they should get some sleep because they still had classes the next day, they finally went to sleep. In the morning, the girl went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and while she looked in the mirror, she noticed that there were bruises on her neck. They were shaped like handprints. All her friends were terrified, but from then on, they knew to never disrupt the night marchers when they were heard marching down Castle Hall.

moderator: Shaman.

1. If Maxine`s mother was educated so well, then why does she still expect Maxine to become a housewife and slave? Doesn`t she want Maxine to get the same good education she had and recieve a medical diploma?

2. How long has it been since she last saw her father? It seems as if it wasn`t that long ago because she can still describe him and past events with him very well. However, it doesn`t seem like she misses him that much throughout the chapter.

3. How does Maxine know so much about her mother`s education experience? Had her mother described them to her at some other time not mentioned in the book?

4. Are any of the situations in this chapter imagined, like the white tiger chapter? Was Maxine making up or day dreaming any of these events or had they call occurred?

5. Why is her mother so willing to let others cheat off her paper? Why is authority and being liked so important to her?

6. Why did she exaggerate her story about her night in the ghost room so much? Does she want them to believe she`s more brave then she really is?

7. Does Maxine believe in ghosts?

8. Why would she give up all her training as a doctor and her whole life just to move to her husband? Does she really love him that much?

9. What makes the eaters so admired? Do the wierd things they eat represent their bravery?

10. Why are the villagers so cruel to stone the crazy woman?

11. Was the crazy lady really a spy?

moderator: white tigers.

1. On page 38, Maxine talks about seeing the family of the man she had just killed, crying and mourning the death of the man. She sees them but as the narrator, she doesn`t talk about any emotion feelings she had toward them. Does that mean she doesn`t feel even a little sorry for the family? Does that mean she doesn`t show mercy? Is she actually a cruel soul that doesn`t care about anyone besides herself? Is she just hiding her actually sympathies toward that family to make it seem like she`s a strong leader and man?

2. On page 41, Maxine says "Go now, before he is old enough to recognize me." She says this to her husband telling him to take her newborn son back to their home. Why didn`t she want the son to recognize her when she returned home? How could she manage to hid the baby from the army during the time she kept him with her?

moderator: white tigers.

1. On page 19, Maxine says, "...we failed if we grew up to be but wives or slaves." but on page 20, she also says, "She said I would grow up a wife and a slave, but she taught me the song of the warrior woman." The second quote is talking about how her mother says Maxine will grow up to be a wife and a slave. I read this quote and couldn`t help thinking how sad it was her mother didn`t believe in her. Why does her mother believe that Maxine can only grow up to be a wife and slave? Why doesn`t she believe Maxine could be a swordswoman or a heroine or live up to her full potential?

2. When Maxine was pretending to be Fa Mu Lan, the bird led her both up and down the mountain before and after her training. Is the bird some sort of symbol for events that happen later on in the book? Is it like a guardian for her? Was it only the messenger for the old man and woman?

3. On page 36, during the Fa Mu Lan story, some people talk about how she looks beautiful in her men`s armor before she leaves to form an army, but later on in the book she says that the soldiers never knew she was a woman. Who knew she was a woman and who didn`t? Weren`t some of the soldiers in her army from her village and if so wouldn`t they know she was a woman after all the commotion about her being trained on the mountain?