Life of Pi is a coming of age story the literary term for this type of story is a Bildungsroman - a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. As you read this story, I want you to consider how Pi matures. His character development, the purpose of the tiger in his life, and how his life adheres to the paradigm of the heroes’ journey.

The hero’s journey for Males is circular the format is Land-Sea-Land; whereas, when he begins the initial journey he is weak ,and he gains strength over the sea experiences a death and rebirth then gathers a relic as proof of his journey and returns to land.

1. Ordinary World: This step refers to the hero's normal life at the start of the story, before the adventure begins. 2. Call to Adventure: The hero is faced with something that makes him begin his adventure. This might be a problem or a challenge he needs to overcome. 3. Refusal of the Call: The hero attempts to refuse the adventure because he is afraid. 4. Meeting with the Mentor: The hero encounters someone who can give him advice and ready him for the journey ahead. 5. Crossing the First Threshold: The hero leaves his ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure. 6. Tests, Allies, Enemies: The hero learns the rules of his new world. During this time, he endures tests of strength of will, meets friends, and comes face to face with foes. 7. Approach: Setbacks occur, sometimes causing the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas. 8. Ordeal: The hero experiences a major hurdle or obstacle, such as a life or death crisis. 9. Reward: After surviving death, the hero earns his reward or accomplishes his goal. 10. The Road Back: The hero begins his journey back to his ordinary life. 11. Resurrection Hero - The hero faces a final test where everything is at stake and he must use everything he has learned. 12. Return with Elixir: The hero brings his knowledge or the "elixir" back to the ordinary world, where he applies it to help all who remain there. Additionally, symbolic meaning is added to the story with the inclusion of archetypes (see the attachment on archetypes for more information). It will be helpful to note these encounters as they occur in the literature as they add further meaning to the message of the author. Activity: In a reader response journal (9.5 x 5” composition book) please note interesting words, character development, literary analysis that exhibits interesting use of literary devices and the effect that this use has on the development of the plot and archetypal symbolism as used throughout the story. Included in your reader response should be the answers to the analysis of the text that follows on the subsequent pages of this document. As part of your project, please develop a 3D visual that best represents the Life of Pi in some symbolic manner with a short 100-200 word rationale as to your characterization.

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Directions: In the literature section of your notebook, define the words in the word bank. Then for each literature term, fine an example in your novel. Quote the example on this sheet. Include the page number (follow the format as exemplified below). Then explain how that term is related to the plot of the book up to the point where you found it. allegory alliteration allusion archetype foreshadowing imagery motif personification pathetic fallacy symbolism theme voice

MLA Citation of the novel:

1. Term: ______

A. Quote and page #:

B. Explanation as to how this term relates to the plot of the story so far:

Analysis

Allegory is a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy. Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. How are the zoo and religion allegories?______

How is this an example of anthropomorphism? ______Analyze: Identify the literary devices and note the effect of the literary device on the meaning of the text. “The paperwork was colossal. Litres of water used up in the wetting of stamps. Dear Mr. So and so written hundreds of times. Offers made. Sighs heard. Doubts expressed. Haggling gone through. Decisions sent higher up for approval. Prices agreed upon. Deals clinched. Dotted lines signed. Congratulations given. Certificates of origin sought. Certificates of health sought. Export permits sought. Import permits sought. Quarantine regulations clarified. Transportation organized. A fortune spent on telephone calls. It’s a joke in the zoo business, a weary joke, that the paperwork involved in trading a shrew weighs more than an elephant, that the paperwork involved in trading an elephant weighs more than a whale, and that you must never try to trade a whale, never. ______Apply

My heart began to beat like a merry drum and blood started flowing through my veins like cars from a wedding party honking their way through town.______

The hyenna died neither whining nor whimpering, and Richard Parker killed without a sound. The flame-coloured carnivore emerged from beneath the tarpaulin and made for the hyena. The hyena was leaning against the stern bench, behind the zebra’s carcass, transfixed. It did not put up a fight. Instead it shrank to the floor, lifting a forepaw in a futile gesture of defense.______Then I pulled until I thought my arms would come apart and my head would explode. ______

Four flippers, boom and break, licked little lies on the edge of her tongue ______

Cook books simmered and sighed silently in the night ______

The comparison of the zoo to lessons that Pi learned in life throughout most of the book ______

Spiritual worry was alien to him; it was financial worry that rocked his being. ______

And so, when she first heard of Hare Krishnas, she didn’t hear right. She heard “Hairless Christians”, and that is what they were to her for many years. ______

While other mice dropped in the terrarium disappeared within two days, this little brown Methusaleh built itself a nest, stored the grains we gave it in various hideaways and scampered about in plain sight of the snakes.______

The italicized portions of Life of Pi are considered ______

The way the author writes in short terse sentences when he list items in the text. ______

An author’s word choice ______metaphor simile allusion voice conceit hyperbole consonance alliteration pathetic fallacy style pun diction

Comprehension

What is Pi’s full name?______

Considering how much Pi likes to swim, what astrological symbol does Pi represent?______

How does this name support him being a hero? ______

______

What two European countries colonized India?______and ______What is the specific city name in which the story is set?______What geometrical shape is Pi’s uncle?______How did his uncle become this shape? ______

______

The first sentence in the text is “My suffering left me sad and gloomy”. What philosophical precept does this describe?______

When Mr Kumar and Pi are discussing religion, he references religious thought as having light, what philosophical thought does Mr Kumars belief represent? ______

How is pathetic fallacy represented in the very important lesson he learns about tigers? ______

What is the significance of the use of the following simile: “My life is like a memento mori painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at my side to remind me of the folly of human ambition”.______

Beyond a means of income for his father, what is the significance of zoos to the author? ______

______

In addition to being a simile, the reference to a memento mori painting is also a ______(literary device)

What style is used to indicate that the author is speaking?______

What did Ravi mean when he told Pi that he was “the next goat”? ______What literary device is used when Pi is described as the “next goat”? ______

Identify the literary devices and the effect their use in the following quote: “Hes a sweet man. Every time I visit he prepares a South Indian vegetarian feast. I told him I like spicy food. I don’t know why I said such a stupid thing. It’s a complete lie. I add dollop of yogurt after dollop of yogurt. Nothing doing. Each time it’s the same: my taste buds shrivel up and die, my skin goes beet red, my eyes well up with tears, my head feels like a house on fire, and my digestive tract starts to twist and groan in agony like a boa constrictor that has swallowed a lawn mower.” ------