Solving the Mystery of The Alchemist
The Alchemist is surprisingly not literally about alchemy. Your job is to figure out why the author decided to give
his novel this title. In the activity below, try to figure out the cryptic message of “the alchemist”.
Part 1. Answer the following questions before you begin: (You may use the internet/dictionary for this part)
1. What is alchemy?
2. How is alchemy viewed these days?
3. Based on the author’s insistence that we think outside the box, how do you think he wants the reader to view
alchemy?
Part 2. Complete the following chart.
Define the following terms in their
original meaning. (You may use the
internet for this portion of the chart.)
Philosopher’s Stone:
1) Bullet point below first,
words, phrases, or ideas we
might associate with gold.
2) THEN bullet point what you
might consider in life to be
“golden” in the first box based
on your word associations.
Elixir of Life
1) Bullet point words, phrases,
or ideas we might associate
with immortality.
2) THEN bullet point what in
Generalize. In other words,
make your answers for this
section applicable to everyone.
The Englishman is literally
looking for the Philosopher’s
Stone and the Elixir of Life.
Consider the following questions:
What do you think the author is
asking you to search for by using
this metaphor? In other words,
what is everyone’s Philosopher’s
Stone? How do we transform
things into “gold”? What is
life you might always want
in existence.
Philosopher’s Stone
Gold:
Elixir of Life
Golden:
Immortality:
Eternal existence:
Part 3. Interpersonal Questions:
1. How are YOU an alchemist?
2. What does a Philosopher’s Stone or Elixir of Life mean for you personally?
everyone’s Elixir of Life? How
do we make things “immortal”?