English IV
The Alchemist Questions
Mrs. Parker-Haas
Directions: Please type your answers to the following questions, in complete sentences. These
questions are intended to help focus your reading and help prepare you for your test. Questions are
due the first week of school. 50 points into the Summer Reading category, which is 5% of Semester 1.
Introduction – Page 33
1. What unfamiliar feeling arises in Santiago the first time he talks to the merchant’s daughter?
How does this feeling conflict with the reason he became a shepherd?
2. In what way is Santiago unusual for a shepherd?
3. To what is the old man referring when he speaks of our “Personal Legend,” and what is the
“world’s greatest lie”?
4. What further definition of a “Personal Legend” does the old man offer? What obstacles to
achieving our Personal Legends are illustrated through the story of the baker?
5. What is the “principle of favorability”?
Pages 33-68
6. Why is the candy seller Santiago helps in the market happy? What might this tell us about the
nature of Personal Legends?
7. What problems with his business does the crystal merchant face when Santiago first meets him?
8. What is the meaning of “Maktub”?
9. What language does Santiago say the sheep taught him that is more important than learning
Arabic?
10. What does Santiago observe about the merchant just as he prepares to leave?
Pages 68-104
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According to the Englishman, with which two words is the universal language written?
Compare how the Englishman and Santiago occupy themselves while crossing the desert.
What is the Emerald Tablet?
Define and describe the Master Work.
Pages 104-132
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How does Santiago feel about the prospect of dying?
How will the desert change for Fatima, once Santiago is gone?
According to the alchemist, what is “the only way to learn”?
What, according to the alchemist, must Santiago listen to above all else?
Pages 133-167
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What does Santiago’s heart tell him are his strongest qualities?
What is the one thing the alchemist says will make a dream impossible to achieve?
When speaking to the desert, how does Santiago define love?
How does human action affect the Soul of the World?
How does Santiago’s prayer differ from all previous prayers in his life?
Where does Santiago find his treasure?
Did you like this book? Why or why not?  not a trick question…I really am interested!