AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION/MRS. GROTY Summer Reading Assignment 2015-16 DESCRIPTION This summer you will be reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Because our first unit is about personal and historical journeys/myths, this novel will enable a greater understanding of the content you will encounter in August and September. DUE DATE This assignment will be due on August 17. Please be advised, this assignment will be your first major grade, therefore a zero will heavily impact your grade for the quarter. Key Concepts The Alchemist is written in a fable format. Generally speaking, fables use recognizable, simple characters and settings in order to illustrate a simple truth about life or human nature. The novel integrates ideas, philosophies, and themes of many faiths, historical periods, and novels. Many of these ideas concern the pursuit of truth, one’s intended destiny and the attainment of personal happiness. Coelho refers to these combined elements as one’s “Personal Legend.” He tells the story of Santiago in order to teach us how we may find and live out our own Personal Legends. Countless faiths and peoples have explored these ideas since ancient times in one form or another. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Christianity, Judaism, countless tribal cultures, in addition to ancient and modern philosophers, all attempt to define the idea of one’s Personal Legend (though they may call it by different names), and all subscribe paths to achieving personal fulfillment. Thus, although the legend is about no faith or philosophy in particular, it is about all faiths and philosophies. Alchemy is the medieval “science” of transforming rocks into gold. Alchemy plays an important part in the plot (literal level) of the story, but it also becomes a symbol, or allegorical device, in the legend (figurative level). Coelho is really using characters, events and symbols as tools to show us how to achieve spiritual alchemy. In other words, how do we find or recognize the “gold,” -- our Personal Legend-- in the “rocks” of the everyday, ordinary, simple details of our lives? As Santiago discovers, sometimes the “gold” is not faraway, not glittery, not exotic, and not complicated, but it may require a journey of courage, faith and perseverance to discover what it is and where it is hidden. Vocabulary Definitions and Use Directions: Define these words in your own words and use them in a sentence. Type out on a separate sheet of paper. ***Please note: You will have a vocabulary quiz the week of August 17-21*** 1. scabbard (37) 2. treasonous (129) 3. elixir (133) 4. brandish (112) 5. dialect (106) 6. flourish (145) 7. prognostication (111) 8. sirocco (146) 9. tether (151) 10. tracts (126) 11. centurion (158) 12. avidly (159) 13. scarab (161) 14. sacristy (163) 15. infidel (34) Before Reading Research Directions: Before you begin to read the Alchemist, do some background research. Pick at least 1 “topic for research” and write a 3+ paragraph essay about that topic (Please type). Topics for Research: 1) Who is Melchizedek? What role does he play in the Old Testament? 2) What are the Five Pillars of Islam (p. 54)? What is the Koran? 3) Explore the concept of Soul of the World as different religions and philosophies define it. 4) Research levanters, siroccos and other regional weather features described in the book. While Reading Comprehension/Inference Directions: In complete sentences, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. Be thorough in your responses. These are critical thinking questions, which means you will have to go beyond what is written in the story...you need to INFER. Your grade will depend on your thoughtful and insightful answers. Answers should be at least one paragraph in length. Please type. 1. Why does Coelho open with the modified myth of Narcissus? How does the new version differ from the original one? How does it change the myth’s meaning? What might the author be suggesting about how we perceive the world and ourselves? (Prologue) 2. The novel opens with Santiago thinking about his sheep. What does he observe about their existence? How might the sheep symbolize the way some people live their lives? How does his observation that they “have forgotten to rely on their own instincts” foreshadow what might be coming in the novel? (pg.3-10) 3. The old man tells Santiago a story about a miner and an emerald. How does it connect to Santiago’s situation? What does the old man mean when he says that “treasure is uncovered by the force of flowing water, and it is buried by the same currents?” What does this quote have to do with the story of the miner and the emerald? (pg. 10-25) 4. What point does the old man make in the story about the boy in the castle and the drops of oil? (p. 30-32) How might the old man’s story apply to us in our modern lives? 5. How does the King assist Santiago in recognizing omens? When does Santiago use this help? (pg. 25-33) 6. How do Santiago’s thoughts and perceptions about himself and the world begin to change on pages 42-44? Describe 3 things that Santiago sees now that he had never noticed before. 7. Write about at least one lesson Santiago learns when he is working at the crystal shop? Why do you think Coelho chose to have Santiago work in a crystal shop? (pg. 51-61) 8. The Englishman and his goals are described on pages 65-70. What is he looking for? Give specific examples from the text. (Quotes and page #’s) 9. Define the word oasis (p. 86) in your own words and explain what it has to do with the novel. 10. The oasis is described in great detail. How is its lushness, laughter and color reflective of what Santiago finds there? Give specific examples from the text (Use quotes and page numbers to support your answer). (pg. 87-104) 11. Explain how Santiago’s union with Fatima represents the Language of the World (according to Santiago on page 98). Why does Fatima accept that her new husband wanders the desert, as she explains on page 98? 12. What is the meaning of the two dead hawks in the oasis? How does this omen change Santiago’s status in society? (pg. 104-116) 13. During their trek through the desert the alchemist tells Santiago, “There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey” (125). What are some of the things that Santiago has learned on his journey through action? Use quotes to support your answer. (Minimum of 3 quotes/examples) 14. Why did Santiago have to go through the dangers of the tribal wars on the outskirts of the oasis in order to reach the Pyramids? At this point, the boy remembers the old proverb: ”The darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.” How does this apply to his situation now? At the end of the journey, why did the alchemist leave Santiago alone to complete it? (pg. 133end) 15. Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago “when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.” At the end of the story, how did this simple lesson change Santiago’s life? How did it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for? (pg. 133-end)