English Modern American Literature Part 4 Name

English Modern American Literature Part 4 Name: The Life of Pi : Study Guide : CHAPTERS 37 - 47

Vocabulary: Use the contextual cues to predict the meaning of the highlighted vocabulary word.

1. “All around me was the vomit of a dyspeptic ship” (ch. 38, p. 101).

dyspeptic:

2. “The stage is vast, the lighting is dramatic, the extras are innumerable, and the budget for special effects is absolutely unlimited” (ch. 38, p. 102).

innumerable:

3. “I was a spectator safely ensconced in his seat” (ch. 38, p. 103).

ensconced:

4. “Only rain, marauding waves of black ocean and the flotsam of tragedy” (ch. 41, p. 107).

flotsam:

5. “They were using me as fodder” (ch. 41, p. 110).

fodder:

6. “The sea briefly imitated every land feature—every hill, every valley, every plain. Accelerated geotectonics. Around the world in eighty swells” (ch. 41, p. 110).

geotectonics: 7. “The sea, so immense, so breathtakingly immense, was settling into a smooth and steady motion, with the waves at heel; the wind was softening to a tuneful breeze; fluffy, radiant white clouds were beginning to light up in a vast fathomless dome of delicate pale blue” (ch. 41, pp. 110–11).

fathomless:

8. “Oh, enough of this dissembling. Let me say it plainly: I love you, I love you, I love you” (ch. 42, p. 111).

dissembling:

9. “Orange Juice had seemed practically cataleptic. My guess was she was dying of shock” (ch. 43, p. 113).

cataleptic:

10 “The look was nearly the typical look of a hyena—blank and frank, the curiosity apparent with nothing of the mental set revealed, jaw hanging open, big ears sticking up rigidly, eyes bright and black—were it not for the strain that exuded from every cell of its body, an anxiety that made the animal glow, as if with a fever” (ch. 43, p. 115).

exuded:

11. “Its thick neck and high shoulders that slope to the hindquarters look as if they’ve come from a discarded prototype for the giraffe, and its shaggy, coarse coat seems to have been patched together from the leftovers of creation” (ch. 43, pp. 115–16).

prototype: 12. “The colour is a bungled mix of tan, black, yellow, grey, with the spots having none of the classy ostentation of a leopard’s rosettes; they look rather like the symptoms of a skin disease, a virulent form of mange” (ch. 43, p. 116).

ostentation:

virulent:

13. “In fact, a hyena’s catholicity of taste is so indiscriminate it nearly forces admiration” (ch. 43, p. 117).

catholicity:

indiscriminate:

14. “From nearer in the blackness I began hearing loud expirations and groans and grunts and various wet mouth sounds” (ch. 44, p. 119).

expirations:

15. “The victim bore its suffering patiently, without showy remonstrations” (ch. 45, p. 120).

remonstrations:

16. “This jerky and incessant motion was making me feel queasy” (ch. 45, p. 121).

incessant:

17. “Simians are the clearest mirrors we have in the animal world” (ch. 45, p. 122).

simians: 18. “But it seemed to me highly improbable, if not totally incredible, that when brought together these frugivorous tree–dwellers and carnivorous savannah–dwellers would so radically carve out their niches as to pay no attention to each other” (ch. 45, p. 122).

frugivorous:

19. “And surely a hyena would smell of a predator to an orang–utan, a reason for being vigilant when a piece of durian has been dropped to the ground accidentally” (ch. 45, p. 122).

durian:

20. “It looked incongruous, floating there in the water, so odd in its shape compared to the sleek, slippery design of fish” (ch. 45, p. 123).

incongruous:

21. “It was a placid explosion of orange and red, a great chromatic symphony, a colour canvas of supernatural proportions, truly a splendid Pacific sunset, quite wasted on me” (ch. 46, p. 124).

chromatic:

22. “Once or twice it reared its head straight up, as if appealing to heaven—the abomination of the moment was perfectly expressed” (ch. 46, p. 126).

abomination:

23. “There was blood everywhere, coagulating to a deep red crust” (ch. 46, p. 127).

coagulating:

24. “Everyone in the vehicle finds it a strange and formidable place” (ch. 47, p. 129).

formidable: 25. “That is the plain empirical truth” (ch. 47, p. 130).

empirical:

Study Questions : Using the information from Chapter 37, answer the following:

1. How would you describe Pi’s state of mind in this chapter? Give evidence from the text.

2. How does Pi prove to be “the next goat”?

Study Questions : Using the information from Chapters 38 through 47, answer the following:

1. Describe the ecosystem on the lifeboat. 2. What great loss does Pi many times lament?

3. What important item does Pi manage to save for future use? How might this prove useful?

4. These are difficult chapters to read due to the graphic detail of the carnage. What do you find most horrific? What does Pi seem most upset about?

5. Who or what might the zebra represent? Questions for Essay and Discussion: Pick ONE of the following discussion questions to answer.

1. How might the animals aboard Pi’s lifeboat be metaphors for people in Pi’s life? Or, give the attributes of the animals on the lifeboat and compare them to people or types of people in the world.

2. Discuss the significance of Pi’s statement: “Had I considered my prospects in the light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten. But I don't recall that I had a single thought during those first minutes of relative safety. I didn’t even notice daybreak. I held on to the oar, I just held on, God only knows why” (ch. 40, p.107). Vocabulary: Give the dictionary definitions for each of the following vocabulary words