Atwood's reading "Dancing Girls" shows some experiences and thoughts of foreign students living in a city and how their cultures mixed. The author tries to explain how difficult it can be for students to study in a place away from home, because of several circumstances such as where to stay or how abundant or limited opportunities will be when they finish their majors in the future. All of that is clearly expressed by a chronologic pattern found in the lecture. It is important to remark the different attitudes taken by Ann and Mrs. Nolan toward the new person in the building, and the ambition of Ann's hard work, because she believed it would give her rewards.
When the Arabian man arrived to the building Ann and Mrs. Nolan had different points of view about him. For instance when Ann first saw him she hoped he would be better than the man from before. Then when she bumps at him standing very serious in the doorway, she almost assures that he was a foreign student who had just quit school. Mrs. Nolan on the other hand thought he was a very nice man, but then she noticed the seriousness of the man and immediately felt insecure. Because of all his scars, the man was considered strange by Mrs. Nolan.
It is easy to understand the way Ann feels about the Arabian man because that's how she sees herself if she quits school. Mrs. Nolan is a very insecure woman, especially in this situation because her kids live in the same building than the other people and particularly the Arabian man who looks very mysterious.
Ann's ambition was all about her major because she wanted to be a good urban designer in order to make some changes in the world. She has the support of her parents, and also the responsibility to satisfy them and herself by finishing her career. She fervently believes that if she studies hard enough she will earn the rewards of hard work.
It is clearly inferred that Ann wanted to be someone in the world and not just stay in her native town and get married.
