Life of pi
April 21
No school
Beneficial
April 22
Discussion
Survival video
Apply discussion to video
Author backstory
Read: author’s note, Read/listen chapter 1 and 2
Homework- chapter 4
SLO- 1.1, 1.2,
2.1
23
D.E.A.R- chapter 4
Symbolism and referential
Questions-
Use of metaphors
Discussion of religion, territory
Setting
1.2, 2.2, 2.3,
Homework- chapter 5, 6
24 d.e.ar- chapter 6 homework- chapter 7-8-9 animal symbolism
Hindu Islam,
Christianity, courage,
(1.2 (2.1), (2.2)
(5.2).
Chapter 9-22
25
Portfolio
April 28
Dear-
Communal questions – chapter 9-22
Homework
23-25
April 29
Dear
Homework
Quiz religion
30
Dear
Read 28-36
-comprehension questions in groups- inform
Introductionthesis statements
Homework
May 1
Dear zoomorphism
Homework
May 2
Portfolio
May 5
Hmwk
Animal symbolism
Chapter 37-44 questions
In Medias
Res/reverse chronological order
Literary terms
44-46 homework
May 6
Ch 47-50
Discussion questions- animal eco system
Introductions
Response to photos- personal response
May 7
Tsimtsum animal on a boat-kinaesthetic activity personal response in class reading
Chapter 51-55
8
Quiz- chapter
51-55
Supporting paragraph- finding evidence
Evidence from the text- why is this important/how does it prove your thesis
May 9
Portfolio
May 12
Reading day
May 13
Reading day
14 reading
15 visual
May 16t
PD day- no

Supporting paragraph outlines school
May 19
No school
20 21
Symbolic visuals presentations
22
Presentations video
May 23
Portfolio- last day
Video?
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
My desk
Miranda
Emily M Erika
Brittany K Karlijn
Alyssa
Zach
Ty
Charia
Holly
Mariah
Myco
Seating Plan
Front Board
Donovan
Karisse
Owen
Brittany B Kayla
Riley M Kelita
Morgan
Laura
Majer
Cole
Emma
Door
Spencer
Cory
Riley S
Braden
Martin (side)
Emily E Ariel
Life of Pi- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZEZ35Fhvuc
Group Discussion- survival
1.
When we think of the idea of survival, what emotions or feelings come to mind?
2.
What type of securities/comforts/crutches do we cling to when we go into survival mode?
3.
What fuels a person to try and survive?
4.
Think of current video games, sports and news stories. Do these fight or flight reactions occur in a lesser way? Why?
5.
What are possible/realistic reactions to fear?
6.
What tactics or skills do we use to face our fears to ensure survival?
7.
What are some long term effects that occur after one survives the inevitable?
Video games- what is the purpose? Mind craft, Halo, Conker’s bad furday, Supermario, floppy bird
War, sports, horse shows,
Reality TV- survivor

News stories- sinking ferry, missing Malaysian plane
Weaknesses-
Comfort? What fuels them? For Pi, its religion and zoology
Flashback, current events- emotional distress , loyalty, friendship, survival, fate, Hope, Fear,
Friendship
Religion, change http://vimeo.com/27612768 -relate the discussion to the video “I shouldn’t be Alive”
Author’s story
Yann Martel said in an interview, “The theme of this novel can be summarized in three lines.
Life is a story. You can choose your story. And a story with an imaginative overlay is the better story.”

Born 1963 in Spain

The child of diplomats- he moved often

Raised in Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Alaska, and Canada.

Earned a degree in philosophy

As an adult, he has lived in Iran, Turkey, and India

Worked odd jobs to survive and fund his travels

Spent 13 months in India visiting mosques, temples, churches, and zoos

Read a variety of background texts before writing Life of Pi

Life of Pi was published in 2001 in Canada
 Received many awards including Man Booker Prize, and Hugh MacLennan’s prize for fiction

Became an international best seller- sold over three million copies

Writing a book examining the evil expressed during the Holocaust; the two major characters are a monkey and a donkey
Life of pi audio
Chapter 1- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzGokur41yA
Homework: listen to chapters 3 and take notes
Wednesday, April 23


11:30: library-grab text

-blog reflections- grading
 Author’s note

Fables

Context of the setting

Animal symbolism

Chapter 4

Homework- chapter 5/6
Read: Author’s note
Function of final sentence on page xi? What does the note tell us?
What is its significance?
Characters:
Piscine (Pea-seen) Molitor "Pi" Patel, Richard Parker, Mamaji (Pi’s father’s business contact),
Gita Patel (Pi's mother), Santosh Patel (Pi’s father), Ravi Patel (brother) fable:
brief, elementary moral story inverse or prose in which the characters are often simple peasants or animals demonstrating human foibles.
Examples: “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and “The Tortoise and the Hare”
Lesson?
Role of fables in The Life of Pi ?
observations about the human role in nature.
The lessons of survival transform an adventure and coming-of-age tale into a meaningful fable.
Role of the backstory?
 ie swimming, name
Activity- What fables could be made from the events shaping Pi’s life so far? Provide 2
Why did Pi and his family leave India for Canada
Indian Emergency 1975 -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzN7VEHUZDo
Indian Emergency 1975-1977:

The Indian Emergency - 25th June 1975-21st March 1977

21 month period,

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the
Constitution of India

Indira Gandhi power to rule by decree, suspending elections and civil liberties.
 dramatic turn in the Indian political affairs.

The democracy was brought to a grinding halt and all the fundamental rights and legal remedies protected by the Constitution of The Republic of India were suspended. Indira
Gandhi tried to defend the emergency on the grounds that she was trying to protect the
State and the Indian people. Nevertheless, her emergency rule faced immense criticism and is undoubtedly one of the most controversial periods of the political history of
Independent India.
Animal symbolism- Sloth
Animal:
Reference from the novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common characteristics/traits/habits:
Natural Habitat:
Common symbolism
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain?
Homework: Read ch. 5 and 6
Thursday, April 24

Clarify- Holly- Ghandi and the Emergency Act were not good. Her government tried to claim that they were helping but rights were being violated. Pi’s family left to avoid the civil unrest in
India.
Poll Everywhere:
Pi does not agree with people who “think animals in the wild are ‘happy’ because they are ‘free’
(ch. 4, p. 15). Why?
Why did this book become a universal best seller?

Universal lessons on life

Basic idea of survival. The tools gained through experience allow for him to be in survival mode for so long
Chapter 4- What is Pi saying about zoos? What is Pi saying about religion?
"I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both."
 no one understands biological life OR religion

Pi's thought here underscores the relationship between his two main obsessions, both of which he ends up living from the inside.
Chapter 5
Repetition – How would this be of assistance when one is trying to survive?
Defining the main character
What might be significant about the name Pi?
What qualities does Pi show in choosing to change his own name?
Chapter 6- purpose?
Read chapter 7 (six pages) go get the book
– Define: agnostic
"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."
This chapter ties back to chapter 1


Pi discusses his respect for religion and science but his lack of respect for agnostics and living in doubt.

Survival?
Activity- class Brainstorm- pull from the text
What does the book tell us about Mr. Kumar?
Consequently, what does this say about Pi?
Group questions:
1.
Define: communist, contrite, avowed, carrion
2.
What do animals represent to Mr. Kumar? How does his views on animals differ from Pi’s.
3.
Why does Mr. Kumar call the zoo his ‘temple”?
4.
Why does Mr. Kumar not believe in God?
5.
How are atheists like believers, according to Pi?
6.
What problem does Pi have with agnostics?
Martel uses Part One—the account of Pi’s childhood and his formative influences—to foreshadow the trials and tribulations he will face in Part Two. How do the skills and lessons learned through these beginning chapters help someone who would be in survival mode?
Independently Read chapter 8- responsibility and caution
Call students for missing assignments
Homework- read 9-22
Questions will be on the Blog- will have time on Monday to work on them
Questions Chapters 9-22

1.
Define: Patriarch, -
Vigilance- action or state of keeping watch for danger and difficulties, relates to how Pi’s father tells him to act around zoo animals
Anarchy- relates to Pi’s father and mothers relationship regarding the lesson about zoo animals
Ascendancy- occupation of positrion of dominate power or influence…the lion tamer is mentally better than the lion
Cantankerous- bad tempered and uncopperative…describes higher ranker lions who do not cooperate
Omega- last or lowest ranking…omega lion-lowest in the pack who does what others say.
Ganesha- Hindu God of wisdom and prophecy…relates to praying for obstacles
Kaaba- muslim shrine..pray towards it
Kristna- God who tracks anything…food, amials, plants….pray towards that.
Lakshmi- hindu goddess of fortune and prosperity
Murti- image that expresses a define spirit…Pi follows three religions and Hindu is one of them
Simpatico- likeable…relates to God of wisdom and good luck
Virgin Mary of Guadalupe- 1500s someone saw a vision of the virgin mary…Pi saw his vision in Canada
Bhajan- Huindu devotion song expressing love for the Gods
Brahman- unchanging reality from Hinduism
Finite- having limits or bounds…because he is religious he is limited
Fundamentalists- supporter of type of religion that believes in literal scripts
Samskaram- hindu ritual of acceptance…brought my family
Sanctified-to make Holy…Pi was looking at multiple religions
Cassock- long garment worn my clergy men in church. Related to Christianity
Defiler- to make foul, dirty, or unclean
Tantamount- equal, amounting to the same thing
Usurpersthose who overtake things by force
Imam-
the prayer leader of a mosque
Esplanade- long level open area
Incredulous- unwilling or unable to belive
Secularnot relating to the church
2.
According to Pi, why do zoologists “commonly say…that the most dangerous animal in a zoo is man”?
-
Pi’s father- people think animals are cute BUT they are dangerous because we harm and interact with them…

3.
What animal does Pi’s father believe is “even more dangerous than us”?
-animalus anthropomorphicus…animal seen through human eyes. (animals being cute).
4.
Pi’s father thinks that it is important that Pi and his brother, Ravi, know how dangerous animals can be. What does Mr. Patel do to show his sons how dangerous tigers are? What theme of the book does this episode emphasize?
Life lesson of goat and lion…animals are dangerous…beauty is not what it seems
5.
What is “flight distance”?
Minimum distance that an enemy must stay away in order
6.
How can a zoo keeper minimize an animal’s flight distance?
Stake their territory
7.
The author of this book, Yann Martel, spends a lot of time explaining both the human and animal experience of a zoo. Why do you think that Martel goes into such detail explaining how zoos work?
Foreshadowing- teraches him to react around animals
8.
What, according to Pi, does “an animal hate above all else”?
-
Security… animals hate the unkown.
9.
Even though, as Pi has explained, lions are dangerous, circus lion tamers are able to control them relatively easily. How can they do this?
Establishes the ring as his territory
10.
What, according to Pi, accounts for most “hostile and aggressive behavior” among animals?
-result of social insecurity…
11.
What is the tone of the narrator’s language as he describes the religious objects—does he sound pleased or disapproving?
-
Pleased…he is influenced by all and not discriminatory towards any
12.
Pi begins his discussion of religion with an examination of Hinduism, the first religion he practiced. Using Pi’s explanation as a basis, describe, in your own words, the concept of
Brahman nirguna.
Brahman niguna- top level of religion… rely on spirituality
13.
As opposed to Brahman nirguna, what is Brahman saguna?
Saguna- God at the highest has no
14.
Although Pi goes to a Christian school, he knows very little about Christianity. What are his first thoughts about the religion?
-reputation for judging… based on love…feels it is rushed…you could be lost or saved…
15.
It is a natural thing for people to compare new concepts to what they already know. Pi’s first religious experiences were in the Hindu temple. Now, he has been exposed to
Christianity, and this new religion is difficult for him to understand. What is it about
Christianity that confuses Pi so much?
16.
In Father Martin’s opinion, what does it take to be a Christian?
-
To love…understand context…
17.
If Pi loves the fact that Hinduism is so broad and that it takes into account the existence of God in all living things, what does he like most about Christianity?
-
About love and not violence…wants to embrace the mystery

18.
What is ironic about Pi’s reaction to becoming a Christian?
-
Did not understand the story…thought the god was weak…flaws of being Christian.
19.
Pi tells us that “we are all born like Catholics,” by which he means we have no religious bent, but are in a kind of Limbo. What does Pi say made him a Hindu?
His aunt took him…felt loyal before he took tehm…idea of faith…
20.
What does the Muslim man do that makes the greatest impression on Pi?
Religion is about the beloved….about the Gods and stay faithful to them…
Monday
1.
Chapter comprehension- questions?
2.
Question presentation- Spend 10 minutes researching your answer to the question. Relate the question to how it might assist Pi in a moment of survival. What lesson could be foreshadowed from the experience?
1.
Kayla- Patriarch, vigilance, anarchy
Braden- Ascendancy, cantankerous, omega
Majer- Ganesha, Kaaba, Kristna,
Erika - Lakshmi, Murti, simpatico,
Martin- Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, Bhajan, Brahman,
Brittany B- Finite, fundamentalists, Samskaram
Holly- sanctified, cassock, defiler
Cory- tantamount, usurpers, Imam
Emily E- esplanade, incredulous, secular
2.
Mariah
3.
Morgan
4.
Donovan
5.
Karlijn
6.
Karlijn
7.
Brittany K
8.
Karisse
9.
Ariel
10.
Miranda
11.
Riley M/
12.
Emily M
13.
Laura/
14.
Cole
15.
Myco
16.
Alyssa
17.
Riley S
18.
Owen/
19.
Emma
20.
Ty

Board work-
1.
Compare and contrast the ways Pi comes to know Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam.
2.
Read:
Chapter 23, 24, 25
Tuesday- April 29
Quiz (chapter 23,24,25)
1.
Define: secular
2.
What does ice cream seem to symbolize in this chapter?
3.
How does Pi’s life change after word gets out that he has been practicing several different religions?
Chapter 22, 23, 24
Summarize Pi's confusion regarding the role of faith and meaning in the world.

22 briefly suggests that the atheist is closer to faith than the agnostic.

23 describes the time all of Pi's religious teachers met him at the same time, with his family, and had a nasty argument over which faith he followed and which was better. o Comments on the conflict between the ideals promoted by religion and their practices. They are all supposedly paths of love and paths of truth, but when their representatives meet, they squabble like spoiled children- What can we relate this to from the book thus far? (territory)

24 describes how Ravi teased Pi for his attempt to follow multiple faiths.
The next four chapters (25-28) all detail various attacks upon religion.

25 speaks in general terms about the need to defend God from the inside.
Religion
1.
Briefly outline each religious man’s argument for his own religion and against the other two.
Although each religious man fights for Pi, what does Pi want for himself?

Read Chapters
Homework- 26-27 (maybe)
Wednesday
Read- 28-36
Group discussion –chapters 28-36 (15 minutes)
Introduction/thesis creation- look at possibilities (15 minutes)
Zoomorphism
Thursday

Group discussion –chapters 28-36 (15 minutes)

Zoomorphism

Movie- differences/similarities (32 minutes) o Note the animals at the beginning of the movie…what might each symbolize or foreshadow? o What are important characteristics that man and animals must have in order to have understanding of one another? o Symbolism o …Story that might make you believe in God…

Introduction/thesis creation- look at possibilities (15 minutes)

Part one- Purpose? Thoughts? themes? Thematic statements
Irrational- deprived of mental clarity
Rationale- reasonable

Homework- chapter 37-44

Monday, May 5
Individual activity- 20 minutes
2.
Define: In Medias res and Reverse chronological order. Which term best explains the narrative in “Life of Pi”. Why?
3.
Several literary devices are used in “Life of Pi”.
In Chapters 37-40, find an example of simile, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, and metaphor. Describe its function.
Questions- class
1.
How would you describe Pi’s state of mind in chapter 37? Give evidence from the text.
2.
How does Pi view his family members? What character traits do they have?
3.
How does Pi prove to be “the next goat”?
4.
Describe the ecosystem on the lifeboat.
5.
What great loss does Pi many times lament?
6.
What important item does Pi manage to save for future use? How might this prove useful?
7.
These are difficult chapters to read due to the graphic detail of the carnage. What do you find more horrific? What does Pi seem most upset about?
8.
Who or what might the zebra represent?
Food chain
Animal symbolism- Sloth
Animal:
Reference from the novel:
Physical characteristics:
Common characteristics/traits/habits:
Natural Habitat:
Common symbolism
What do you think Martel used this animal to represent? Explain?
Tuesday

Group discussion
1.
Based on the food chain, what reasons can you give for the odd occurrences on the boat?
2.
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.
3.
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 getting eaten. But I didn’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. 133-134).

Homework collection- have out on desks
Personal response http://londonbridgehome.weebly.com/uploads/8/6/5/0/8650477/personal-response-totext_supprt_and_examples.pdf
Read: 46-48

Homework
Create two introduction paragraphs for the novel thus far.

Use the thesis template builder worksheet

use a hook from the book
Chapters 49-50
Wednesday-
Personal response: (Give your first impression of the challenges Pi is now facing.) Imagine you are in Pi’s position: What would you be thinking? Doing? Feeling?
Importance of the words on the boat?
Tsimtsum

The name of the ship comes from the Kabbalist concept of tsimtsum

Kabbalah is an ancient wisdom that reveals how the universe and life work. On a literal level, the word Kabbalah means “to receive.” It's the study of how to receive fulfillment in our lives.
 relates to a space in the universe where both the physical world and free will exist.

God withdraws himself to make room for the creation of the universe
 when God allows an empty space that of without his presence and can reveal a limited aspect of his light--a sliver of finite light to indicate his infinite light that is beyond our comprehension.

When God vacates a space, it allows space of the human world and free will, but this doesn't mean that God has left the world.
 sinking of the ship may symbolize God withdrawing from Pi to make room for Pi to develop as an independent creature

Tsimtsum is necessary for creatures that are to become independent so they can freely choose a relationship with God four levels of human activity (knowledge, selfless action, selfish action and ignorance
Animals in a lifeboat activity (ch. 50)

Diagram/ tableaux

Read 51-55
Thursday-
Visual helps represent the odds that Pi will stay alive/ array of circumstances against him.

Quiz

Visual assignment explanation

Debate o should Pi stay on the boat with Richard Parker? Why or Why not? (argument and reasoning)
Monday
What was the noise Richard Parker made caught Pi off guard? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeUVut0iXvY
What was plan number 7
Reading

Despite despair, Pi realizes the responsibility he has to keep himself alive. Pi’s fear was dominated by survival (208).

Reflection of events(suffering), prays,

He is becoming a MASTER of his environment (practicality)

Emotionally/spiritually- recovering- he is finally able to see the natural beauty around him…attempts to make sense of his suffering in a religious context o "With just one glance I discovered that the sea is a city." (Chapter 59) o "For the first time I noticed—as I would notice repeatedly during my ordeal, between one throe of agony and the next—that my suffering was taking place in a grand setting." (Chapter 60)

Fishing- When Pi's own skills fail him—and he thinks Richard Parker will eat him as a result—nature and/or God suddenly provides, giving him flying fish to feed the tiger.
This is another example of things working out for Pi, but it comes at a price: he must become a killer and give up his vegetarianism.
Theme: Ends justify the means, innocence and experience, man vs. Nature
"I was now a killer. I was now as guilty as Cain." o Pi is filled with these thoughts of guilt after killing a flying fish. It is the first thing he has ever killed. In

o killing he adapts to his circumstances (he must kill to live), but he remembers the moral importance of his actions.

Whistle use- Pi continues his practice of taming Richard Parker, but he notices that the lifeboat is becoming more and more like a zoo; he may be taming the tiger, but he is still trapped himself.
Prusten http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeUVut0iXvY
Homework:
Supporting paragraph outline
Pi’s survival practices

Biological/ practical focus of keeping alive

Spiritual- daily prayers
Boils- shows the hostility of nature. If he was not in his ‘cage’ (lifeboat), he would not survive.

Zoo reference. Life has come full circle. Started out in a zoo and now is caged in a zoolike atmosphere
Crosses the ocean because of a current that follows the equator

Seems like practical knowledge, and it is, but it also indicates a deeply religious orientation: Pi cannot choose the course of his journey (life). He can only accept it and adapt to it.
Pi kills turtles and notices that life is growing on his raft

Symbolic- adapting to life like a seagoing creature

Religious parallels- “like hanuman”- Pi acknowledges how animalistic he has become

In contrast- the next few chapters remind us how different Pi still is from Richard Parker
Hunting turtles, conquering predators, claiming territory, protecting one’s self

Symbolic of Pi’s next transformation: his decision to consciously triumph over Richard
Parker. Pi makes himself into a tiger tamer. In doing so, Pi conquers the fear which had reduced him to immobility earlier in his story.
"It was rights I needed, the sort of rights that come with might." (Chapter 70)

Pi thinks this as he sets out to bend Richard Parker to his will

larger reflection on political philosophy. Early in the novel, Pi's religious sentiments made him wonder why everyone could not simply get along.

Now he knows: sometimes force is necessary.

Pi wishes he had a book

Reference to religious scripture to raise his spirits and allow him to escape reality

"My greatest wish—other than salvation—was to have a book. A long book with a neverending story. One I could read again and again, with new eyes and a fresh understanding each time. Alas, there was no scripture in the lifeboat." o Pi's thought here marks several points. First, it is another stage in his development in his new niche; he has time and energy for leisure. Second, it marks his ongoing character that he thinks of this sort of book as scripture (a holy book). Third, it is a kind of structural loop, for Pi ends up telling/writing this sort of story himself.
Attempts to elevate his spirits

Religious rituals

Singing his mother happy birthday

He is trying to rid himself of the despair he feels but is unable to do so
Cleaning up after Richard Parker
 Reinforces Pi’s and Parker’s positions in the hierarchy
Chapter 75-76

Emphasizes the severity of Pi’s situation: divided by power and will.
Tuesday
Ch. 66- What did the sound of a banana being opened remind Pi of?
Analyze chapter 74 and 75. What is the purpose of the two chapters?
Supporting paragraph- what evidence do you have for your thesis. o Give 3 examples from the book…how do they help argue your thesis statement
Homework- up to and including 89
Wednesday
Read 92-94
Travelling brainstorm
3 rd
supporting paragraph outline
Thursday- write up 3 paragraphs

Homework- Read to end of part 2
Thursday-
Blog- analysis notes will only be up until Monday.
Symbolism worksheet
Analysis- 80-94
Battle for survival- Richard Parker and Pi go head-to-head to establish dominance. The winner represents consistency, resiliency and courage. Ideas of miracles presented. How do miracles play into the idea of survival?
Idea of mastery suggested- contained water
 opposing this idea, Pi has no control over the wild water. Only fate is keeping him from being killed by the wild water/ animals beauty of the world protects Pi’s sensitive soul chapter 85-86- Taken together, these two chapters show the difference between man and beast, and the wonders of zoomorphism. Pi can see the beauty of the storm, which the tiger cannot—but Richard Parker does not realize that they were not saved and so balances Pi out.
Cloth soaked in seawater- a desperate escape from reality. Pi suffocates himself to hallucinate
Rotting lamb in floating refrigerator- symbolic of religion. Pi has lost his innocence.
Pi’s pen running dry-
Pi's ability to use words—to plan, tell stories, conduct rituals, and praise God— have kept his spirits alive. That ability is gone now, symbolizing spiritual death.
Blind man
 as a metaphor for Pi's entire cursed voyage: blind beings moving through the sea without any clue of who they are speaking to or where they are going, and telling gentle stories only to lure the innocent close by so that they can be killed.

On a simpler level, it is a sign of how far gone Pi is that he thinks Richard Parker is talking and, once again, how extreme their situation is that the stranger is killed.
Pi cries, and his vision comes back. He admits that he eats some of the stranger's flesh.

This chapter blends the literal and the symbolic

If crusted salt and lack of nutrition caused Pi to go blind, then crying and meat (human flesh) should correct it.

On the symbolic level, though, only by weeping for his loss can Pi see this man clearly.

"I will confess that I caught one of his arms with the gaff and used his flesh as bait. I will further confess that driven by the extremity of my need and the madness to which it pushed me, I ate some of his flesh."
(ch.91)
Earlier in the novel when Pi kills a fish for the first time, he is consumed by guilt. Now he can eat human flesh and make excuses. Something in Pi really was killed by what he went through.
The island

Like the encounter with the blind killer, this chapter is deeply symbolic.

According to Pi's survival guides, an island should be his salvation—an oasis, even an Eden.

Instead, it is a perversion, a hell on earth in which the fruit of the tree of knowledge shows evidence of eating humans, a great sin.
"The island was carnivorous."

This single line sums up Pi's horrific line of reasoning that follows the discovery of human teeth hidden in the tree's fruit.

It also sums up the horrific nature of Pi's larger discoveries: that within each of us, no matter how gentle, there is a killer.
Pi’s unnatural mind needs to return to God- it is a form of escape. Pi does not share the thoughts that haunted him after he left the island, only the claim that he turned to God.
Richard Parker returns to the jungle after being caged for the majority of his life- Though Pi is at last rescued and might weep for joy, Pi says he weeps because Richard Parker left him "so unceremoniously."
Pi has become so attached to Richard Parker, his cage-mate, that he expects him to act human, in turn, and say goodbye.
Analysis Chapter 95-98
Mr. Tomohiro Okamoto and Mr. Atsuro Chiba from the Japanese Ministry of Transport's Maritime
Department make their way from California down to Tomatlán, Mexico

The fact that these men drove over a thousand miles to get answers about why the Tsimtsum sank shows the intensity of the human need for meaning.

The fact that it is an incorrectly folded map that confuses them shows how fate and random chance control our destinies.
The interview begins in English and often switches to Japanese

The shifting languages and mundane details, like Okamoto being tired and Pi wanting a cookie, show the many difficulties in the human search for the truth.
Mr. Tomohiro Okamoto and Mr. Atsuro Chiba praise the story aloud, but doubt it in private

As the men hide their true feelings behind a foreign language, keeping what is most important to them private, so Pi keeps his cookies private. His priorities were changed by this voyage; he is more purely biological than they are.
Chapter 99 - This chapter shows how important stories are in making sense of the world and how people judge the truth of them. In everyday life, people judge the truth of stories against their (very limited) knowledge of the world. In a divine world, people judge them by intrinsic quality.

"'I know what you want. You want a story that won't surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won't make you see higher or further or differently. You want a flat story. An immobile story.
You want dry, yeastless factuality.'"
Here Pi shows that he understands his inquisitors from the Japanese Ministry of Transport's Maritime
Department better than they understand themselves. He has lived that sort of story on the lifeboat; they have not.
"'So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?'"
Pi's question to his inquisitors from the Japanese Ministry of Transport's Maritime Department sums up the central importance of stories in his world. Humans cannot know the ultimate truth of the universe.
What we can do is choose the better story.
Things to think about
The number four is unlucky in China and Japan, but for the Hindu it represents the true name of the religion: santana dharma. Four also represents the four aims of life: righteousness, wealth, desire and salvation and the four levels of human activity (knowledge, selfless action, selfish action and ignorance). The number five is the symbolic of the human body and the planet earth in Hinduism.

How does this information change your beliefs regarding the occurrences on the lifeboat?
The concept of Tzimtzum relates to a space in the universe where both the physical world and free will exist. God has withdrawn from this space in order to begin creation. In another view,
Tzimtzum is when God allows an empty space that of without his presence and can reveal a limited aspect of his light--a sliver of finite light to indicate his infinite light that is beyond our comprehension.
When God vacates a space, it allows space of the human world and free will, but this doesn't mean that God has left the world.
The ocean becomes another character and a metaphor.

Is there a religion that hasn't used the ocean to express some facet of humanity?
Gandhi said, "Everyone has faith in God though everyone does not know it. For everyone has faith in himself and that multiplied to the nth degree is God. The sum total of all that lives is
God. We may not be God, but we are of God, even as a little drop of water is of the ocean."

The ocean becomes a test of Pi's faith and like Richard Parker can be beautiful, but dangerous and not all of the danger is from intentional attempts to harm.
Pi
Piscine’s nickname, Pi, has a symbolic relationship with the mathematical pi (p). The ratio of the circumference (circular) of a circle to its diameter (linear) is pi. The correlation between the linear journey to North America and the cycles of doubt and faith are experienced by Pi.
Mathematical relationships are calculated and explained logically and rationally by the irrational number pi. Unbelievable experiences and irrational events are explained logically and rationally by Pi. Neither Pi nor pi can be confined by logic or taken to a coherent ending point. Pi is sixteen when he is shipwrecked, and pi is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. Pi even uses pi (p) to work out the circumference of the algae island.
Algae Island
The island itself is symbolic as a Garden of Eden. It offers temporary salvation to Pi, but he must leave the island Eden once he discovers the black “forbidden fruit” on the twisted branches of the
“Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” His illusion of the island is shattered. There is a kind of heaven and hell associated with day and night. By day the meerkats eat without having to kill and show no fear, even of Richard Parker. At night, the island becomes carnivorous and the ecosystem feeds on itself.
Tsimtsum
The name of the ship comes from the Kabbalist concept of tsimtsum, where God withdraws himself to make room for the creation of the universe. The sinking of the ship may symbolize
God withdrawing from Pi to make room for Pi to develop as an independent creature. Tsimtsum is necessary for creatures that are to become independent so they can freely choose a relationship with God.
Orange
Orange is the color of survival. The whistles, life jacket, lifebuoy, tarpaulin, and Richard Parker are orange. Richard Parker begins to lose his luster, Pi loses the life jackets…only one whistle left.
Animals
The animals in Pi’s lifeboat symbolize human traits and may also represent people. hyena - French cook,
cowardliness orangutan - Pi’s mother,

maternal instincts zebra - Chinese sailor,
exoticism tiger - Pi, animal nature meerkats - mirage, meekness
Pi’s Story
The lifeboat ordeal is a metaphor for the human condition. We aspire to higher things (religion, justice, salvation), but we are entrenched in our own basic animal needs. These aspirations and needs are brought together in the lifeboat. If the aspirations are grand, the journey will be perilous.
MOTIFS
The motif of the reconciliation of science and religion as equal ways to understand the world stems from the concept of pi - using the irrational to explain the rational. Throughout the book science and religion, two seemingly opposite areas of study, intermingle and complement each other. The two Kumars represent these concepts, and even they come together to marvel at the zebras in the zoo. Next, Pi’s knowledge of science and his faith combine to effect his survival.
And the adult Pi ends up with degrees in both zoology and religious studies.
Tuesday May 20, 2014
Read – 95 to 98
Read 99-homework
Work period
Wednesday, May 21
Presentation list: If we get through all of Thursday’s presenters, we will continue at the top of Friday’s list. Be prepared!
Everyone will hand in their essays Thursday at the beginning of class. You will discuss the symbolism in your presentation and discuss how it relates to the main presented in your essay.
Thursday
Cole N
Owen
Kayla
Donovan
Karlijn
Friday
Ty
Karisse
Riley S*
Spencer
Laura
Riley M Emma
Brittany K
Morgan
Ariel
Alyssa
Myco
Emily M
Zach
Braden
Miranda
Kelita
Mariah
Holly
Martin
Cole H
Cory

Brittany B
Read 100
Discuss 99
Emily E*
Erika
Class discussion:
1.
What do you think really happened to Pi and to the other members of the Patel family?
2.
Why doesn’t Mr.Okamoto and Mr. Chiba believe Pi’s tale?
3.
How did you react to Pi’s interview by the Japanese transport ministers?
4.
How does the grown-up version of Pi contrast with his little-boy scenes?
Writing question: Based on the information in Part 3, how is Tsimtsum relevant to the book as a whole?
Author blurs the idea between fact and fiction
What did the author do?

He created an imaginary situation to delight his readers

He also introduced the novel with the author’s note which laid the foundation of the novel’s central theme: story telling is a way to get around telling the boring, upsetting, or uninteresting truth.
 With the Author’s Note and Part three, the author is able to give them impression that this entire book is a work of nonfiction.


These bookends do not fool the reader but they give us the ability to suspend our disbelief and invest ourselves more fully in the story we read in part 1 and 2. Tsimtsum
Work period
Thursday, May 22 present
Friday, May 23
Present
Author blurs the idea between fact and fiction
What did the author do?

He created an imaginay situation to delite his readers

He also introduced the novel with the author’s note which laid the foundation of the novel’s central theme: story telling is a way to get around telling the boring, upsetting, or uninteresting truth.
 With the Author’s Note and Party three, the author is able to give them impression that this entire book is a work of nonfiction.

These bookends do not fool the reader but they give us the ability to suspend our disbelief and invest ourselves more fully in the story we read in part 1 and 2. Tsimtsum
NEXT WEEK WITH TRISH- watch film, have an additional portfolio day
Links
Survival scenario http://www.whiteman.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-130408-063.pdf
https://donnellywikiofgreatness.wikispaces.com/file/view/Life+of+Pi+Unit.pdf
http://hmhtrade.com/bookclubs/discussion-guides/life-of-pi-by-yann-martel-teachers-guide/ http://englishteachinglifeofpi.weebly.com/lesson-plan-1-contextual-history-of-india.html
http://englishteachinglifeofpi.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/7/0/13701409/life_of_pi_enotes-217dyga.pdf
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/08/03/life-of-pi-tomislav-torjanac/ photos symbolization