The Life of Pi

Yann Martel

​Reality is how we interpret it. Imagination and volition play a part in that interpretation. Which means that all reality is to some extent a fiction.

Please review this ENTIRE lesson, slide by slide.

All of the learning tasks that you need to complete for you Life of Pi assessment are in this lesson.

Follow the individual directions. Chat if you have issues. Submit your work to you TEAMS notebook.

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​Instructions:

​In case you need it for some reason, the next slide has a LINK to the complete text of the novel.

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Please review each of the following questions--SLIDE by SLIDE.

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Type your response in the space provided. ​

I would take a screenshot or pic of each question upon completion for a personal record.​

​Learning Task #1:

Review questions​

Open Ended

Pi suggests that “When you’ve suffered a great deal in life, each additional pain is both unbearable and trifling.” (chapter one) Explain what he means.

Open Ended

Pi compares peoples’ problems with zoos with their problems with religion and suggests that “Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.” (chapter four) What might he mean?

Open Ended

Pi explains “in that elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge.” (chapter 5) How does this explain Pi’s character and nature?

Open Ended

Pi sees atheists and agnostics very differently (chapter 7). Why is this?

Open Ended

Pi suggests that “many people seem to lose God along life’s way.” (chapter 17) Why is this the case? Is this true of our community/ society?

Open Ended

‘Life of Pi’ was first published in Canada on September 11 2001. (chapter 11)

What contribution might the book make towards interreligious discourse in a post 9/11 world?

Open Ended

Chapter 22 holds a key statement in the novel – if we lack imagination (faith), we miss the better story. Explain what is meant by the phrase "better story."

Open Ended

Pi says “Bapu Gandhi said ‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love God.” (chapter 23) Why are the religious men so bothered by Pi’s practice of all three faiths simultaneously?

Open Ended

What position does Pi’s mother and father take to his beliefs? (chapter 27)

Open Ended

What is significant about the four photos that Pi has left of his life before the Pacific Ocean? (chapter 33)

Open Ended

Pi questions the purpose of reason. (chapter 37)

Why does he struggle with this?

Open Ended

Pi reflects “I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific, hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, sharks beneath me, a storm raging about me.” (chapter 40) Why doesn’t Pi simply give up?

Open Ended

Pi says that having “lost all hope” he “perked up and felt much better”. Explain this apparent contradiction. (chapter 49)

Open Ended

Discuss Pi's feelings related to fear. (chapter 56) Include your response to his feelings as well.

Open Ended

What does viewing the ocean at night teach Pi about his predicament? (chapter 60)

Open Ended

Pi says that he “descended to a level of savagery [he] never thought possible”. (chapter 66) What does this suggest about the human instinct for survival?

Open Ended

Pi longs to have “a long book with a never-ending story”. (chapter 73) What might be his reasons and what does this add to Martel’s message about the nature of stories?

Open Ended

What significance does Richard Parker’s presence take on after the encounter with the ship? (chapter 85)

Open Ended

Why has Martel chosen to make the wasted condition of Pi and Richard Parker coincide with the pen running out of ink? (chapter 89)

Open Ended

What is the significance of the cookies in chapter 98?

Open Ended

Why does the novel end with the insurance report?

Learning Task #2:

Figurative Language

Complete the following worksheet either on your own paper OR print and complete. Send the final product via CHAT.​

​NOW...

Consider each of the following statements.

Select 5 and respond to each with a brief statement of your opinion.

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(2-4 sentences). ​

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Thinking about it...

Open Ended

First Statement Response

Open Ended

Second Response Statement

Open Ended

Third Statement Response

Open Ended

Fourth Statement Response

Open Ended

Fifth Statement Response

Final Task: ​

​Respond to the following questions.

Consider each carefully.

Then select the BEST response for you. ​

Poll

Which of the following is the MOST important statement in the novel?

Poll

Which of the following BEST conveys the climax of the novel?

Draw

Circle the animal who is really in control in this scene.

Poll

Which of the following quotes from the novel is LEAST supported by the text itself? In other words, which of the four is the weakest theme?

Poll

Select the response that BEST captures your feelings about the novel.