Quarter #4

Novel Study ~Quartering the Text~

Tori Armstrong Quarter 4

Life of Pi

Yann Martel

1.Skeletal Plot

a) Pi shares with the author that he spent 227 days in total as a cast away

b) Pi manages to forget time by keeping himself busy with prayers, feeding and chores

c) We hear about Pi's many months on the sea, living off his survival manual

d) Pi writes a book on how to train a wild animal at sea, describing his attempts to train Richard

e) Pi obtains his religious rituals

f) A storm robs them of most of their survival equipment

g) Pi finds a bottle and manages to put a message in and throw it back to sea

h) Pi loses his sight and his boat meets up with another man's boat

i) The other cast away climbs onto Pi's boat in attempt to murder and cannibalize him, although Richard Parker kills him

j) Pi rinses his eyes and his sight returns, he sees the dead man

k) Pi and Richard Parker dock on a small island where they recuperate and nurse back to health, then head back to sea

l)Later they land ashore on a Mexican beach, Pi sprawls out on the sand and Richard Parker embarks into the jungle

m) The Mexicans take Pi to the hospital and he is finally saved

n) Two men apart of the Japanese Ministry of Transport hear of Pi, the only survivor from the ship and decide to interview him

o) The men say they do not believe his story, so Pi repeats it using different characters

p) The reporters send their report to Yann Martel

2. Setting

  The setting is a huge part in how Pi’s character is developing in this part of the novel. The ship is starting to fall apart, a huge storm takes most of his belongings and they’re starting to run out of options. On the first small island Pi finds new things like fruit and different meat to eat, they regain their health there but still must head back to sea. Once upon shore in Mexico, the way it is described shows help is finally there. The hospital signifies he’s safe and civilization.

3. Characters

            In this quarter we meet the men in charge of the ship that Pi was on before it sunk. Richard Parker runs into the woods and Pi is a slightly changed character. He’s less naïve and gentle, he’s almost sassy now.

4. Point of View

            Pi is still writing the story but just near the end, we learn how Yann Martel, the author got a hold of Pi’s story. He tells how the Japanese reporters sent him Pi’s survival story.

5. Notables on writer’s style and structure

a) Are there similes or metaphors?

“The flat and endless Pacific rose like a great wall around us.”

b) Imagery or other visuals?

“Whereas elsewhere the forest canopy was uniformly green, these fruit stood out black against the green”

c)Is there unusual vocabulary or diction?

“At first light I was stirred from my slumber by the hullabaloo they made trooping down the tree.”

d) Is the novel structured with a particular idea?

“I turned to God. I survived.”

e) Is there dialogue?

“So the ship sank stern first?” “Yes.” “Not bow first?” “No.”

Record Themes

Survival

Love of animals

Believing

Religion

6. Personal Response

            I loved that Pi did get saved and survive, although we knew from the portions at the beginning speaking of Pi living in Canada that he would. I would have liked it better if Richard Parker hadn’t run off and they’d saved him some how. I found it interesting that the two men in charge of the ship didn’t believe Pi’s story until he used human characters to tell them. I would have liked if we found out how Pi got to Canada as well.