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AMDG
 Senior
Synthesis Summer/Christmas Reading
Life of Pi by
Yann Martel
Life of Pi follows
the harrowing adventures of a sixteen year old boy who loses his family in
a tragedy at sea and finds himself in a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan,
a wounded zebra, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger! It is a story of courage,
hope, faith, and intrigue. It also has a wicked twist at the end that should
leave you wondering what the story means and which will give us lots to talk
about when we begin our Senior Synthesis class together.
In order to assist you in
your reading and prepare you for our class discussions on this book, we have
prepared this study guide. You will be assessed on your reading of the novel
when you begin Senior Synthesis, either in the Fall or in the Spring. If
you are scheduled to take Senior Synthesis in the Fall, you should complete
the novel and the assignment below before coming to class in August. If you
are scheduled to take Senior Synthesis in the Spring, you may read the novel
at any point before classes begin in January, but you must have the assignment
below completed before classes begin for the second semester.
We recommend you follow
these guidelines:
- Listen to the following interview with
the author of Life of Pi, Yann Martel. You might jot down some notes as
you listen, focusing on why the author chose to write this novel and what
perspective he has on faith and religion. Follow the link below and click
on “Weekend
Edition - Saturday audio.”
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=878087
- Read through the questions below, taken
from the “Reading Group Guide” at the end of the novel. You
will be responsible for responding to three of these questions. It would
be good for you to have them in mind as you read the novel.
- Enjoy the book! (Some seniors in the past
have commented that Part One is slower than the rest of the book.
Hang in there! Once you get to the Pacific Ocean, this is a wild ride.)
- When you have finished, select three questions
that you wish to respond to. You must choose one question from
group one, and one question from group two. Everyone must respond to the
question in group three. Your responses must be type-written in
essay format. The recommended length for each question is ½ page,
single spaced. These responses should be completed and brought with you
to Senior Synthesis when the semester begins.
Group One [respond
to one from this group]
- Chapters 21 and 22 are very short, yet
the author has said that they are the core of the novel. Can you see how?
- In the Author’s Note, Martel wonders
whether fiction is “the selective transforming of reality, the twisting
of it to bring out its essence.” If this is so, what is the essence
of Pi and of his story?
- Pi’s full name, Piscine Molitor Patel,
was inspired by a Parisian swimming pool that “the gods would have
delighted to swim in.” The shortened form refers to the ratio of
a circle’s circumference divided by its diameter, the number 3.1415926…,
a number that goes on forever without discernable pattern, what in mathematics
is called and irrational number. Explore the significance of Pi’s
unusual name.
Group Two [respond
to one from this group]
- How do human beings in your world reflect
the animal behavior observed by Pi? What do Pi’s strategies for dealing
with Richard Parker teach us about confronting the fearsome creatures in
our lives?
- Besides the loss of his family and possessions,
what else did Pi lose when the Tsimtsum sank? What did he gain?
- Nearly everyone experiences a turning point
that resembles the transition from youth to adulthood, albeit seldom as
traumatic as Pi’s. What event marked your coming of age?
Group Three [you
must respond to this question]
- The first part of the novel starts twenty
years after Pi’s ordeal at sea and ends with the words “This
story has a happy ending.” Do you agree?
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