Part 1: Chapter 11 Summary

Nafisi describes looking over, at a later time, the class notes she kept. The class initially had something of the structure of a traditional literature class, with Nafisi issuing probing and leading questions. But over time, the class found its own, more spontaneous rhythm. Nafisi notes that her students were most interested in "non-revolutionary" writers such as James Joyce, Nabokov, Woolf and Austen. There was a notable tendency for the class to strive toward unearthing beauty rather than an attraction to ideology.

Part 1: Chapter 11 Analysis

Nafisi seems to detect, in the evolution of her class discussions, a tendency toward seeking out eternal truths of beauty and human nature, rather than politics or religion.