Friday 25 May 2012

Tori's 2nd text quarter


Novel Study ~ Quartering the text ~
Tori Armstrong Quarter #2
Life of Pi
Yann Martel

1.Skeletal plot (Point form only- keep this short but insightful)
a) Pi and his family run into the pandit, priest and imam all at the same time while on a walk at the beach
b) Pi receives a prayer mat from his parents then is baptized with the presence of his parents
c) The author finds out Pi has a wife named Meena and two children named Usha and Nikhil
d) Pi tells the story of when both Mr. Kumars meet
e) Pi's father decides to move the family to Canada and sold several zoo animals but is shipping some over in a cargo ship
f) The huge ship starts to sink and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat with a tiger, zebra and hyena
g) We find out the tigers name is Richard Parker

  Conflict or “tension” eg person vs person, or (internal) person vs self; Is this important to the novel’s theme or purpose? Circle one  and explain:
yes or  No
The tension in this part of the text is person vs person and person vs self. Pi is battling all his thoughts while in the boat as well as trying to survive with the animals in the lifeboat. He's faced with constant conflict trying to find a way to survive.

2.Setting (When & where does various parts of your novel take place-how are theses places important to the character or the theme of your work?):
The setting at this beginning of this quarter is still happening in India, when they run into Pi's three religious leaders at the beach. As well as when he got his prayer mat he would use it in their back yard. The rest of the quarter is happening on the cargo ship where Pi is faced with the struggle to survive. He searches the cargo ship for a way out and ends up losing his family. When he finds himself stuck in a tiny lifeboat with a hungry hyena and sharks swarming around his character must change. He learns to change from a naive little boy loving animals to trying to figure out how to survive. This is where the theme of religion is tested.




3. Characters (Know your character types and why this is important to your novel! (Eg. Are they round/flat-why?/static/dynamic-why?) How many characters do you meet in this quarter or do you find more about their personalities?
We are continuously learning more about Pi as his love for religion grows. He expands his love for God and is learning more and more about each religion. In this quarter we do finally find out who Richard Parker is, the Royal Bengal Tiger. Pi finds him to be calm and safe when the hyena is so very dangerous, he sees Richard as safety.

4.Point Of View~ Circle one!: 1st person    3rd person/limited   omniscient   or    omniscient  

The novel is viewed from first person while Pi is telling the story from his view as a child and growing up. Pi telling all his feelings and emotions during the distress of the ship sinking. But every now and then a small chapter or paragraph is from the authors point of view when he meets Pi. Telling what the inside of his house and what his family is like.

5.Notables on writer’s style and structure!
a)
b) “Animals were sedated, cages were loaded and secured, feed was stored, bunks were assigned, lines were tossed and whistles were blown.”
c)“It made a sound like a monstrous metallic burp.”
d) “Mother chuckled. 'Last week he finished a book called The imitation of Christ.'
'The imitation of Christ! I say again, I wonder how far he'll go with these interests!' cried father.

Themes: Record words and topics related to themes contained and developed in your novel:
Survival
Religion
Love for animals

Personal Response to this quarter: what you thought or felt, related to, did not relate to; how universal is the experience that your protagonist goes through?

I couldn't relate to much in this quarter but I really enjoyed the suspense while Pi is in the lifeboat. Mostly because he's grown up all his life with animals in cages but now he's faced with them head on. The experience he goes through is really not universal because it is not even close to an ordinary day to day kind of thing to happen.


No comments:

Post a Comment