Life+of+Pi

The “Life of Pi”, written by Yann Martel is an excellent choice for a group independent reading project because it tells the story of survival of Pi Patel and a Bengal tiger. The story tells about how the boy and the tiger live together. Also, the story remains entertaining throughout, as told by many reviews. Also the book seems appealing to our group as the cover has a colorful tiger, which makes the book seem mysterious to us. The cover is the most beautiful piece of work I have ever seen. It is a beautiful tiger that we would love to have as a pet. Furthermore, the story, as reviewed by many people, is an amazing read. Hopefully our group will enjoy reading the “Life of Pi.”


 * APPROVED

Week 1**

Discussion Review Paragraph:

First group book meeting on the life of pi we concluded that there were too many unnecessary descriptions with a large usage of big words. Some themes that we thought of were religion and self-righteous. Some foreshadowing like swimming is starting to come into mind because he will be stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Also his dad was showing Pi and his brother Ravini a lesson about how animals are dangerous, and the mirror in the zoo behind the curtain. So far, religion has been a huge discussion topic in Pi’s life. Other things we thought about were his name, Pi, about how his adventure doesn’t end just like his name. Math is more for a god than the Gods we believe in, because we know that mathematics is real and everything that it has created. Unlike believed Gods, nobody really knows if they actually existed.

Discussion Questions: 1. Do you know anyone who was named after an inanimate object? (Nicknames) 2. Can you see any themes this early in the book? 3. Pi fainted after first seeing running water; have you ever been that astonished by something? 4. Did you notice any foreshadowing? 5. Why do you think Pi is so quick to change his religious beliefs?


 * Week Two**

Discussion Review Paragraph: For the second meeting we talked about what we would do if we were in Pi's situation. We discussed how

Discussion Questions: 1. Who is Richard Parker, and why is he relevant in Pi’s childhood? 2. Why did Pi’s father wish to leave to America with his entire zoo? 3. Whatever happened to the boat, why did it start to sink in the first place? 4. Like Pi in this situation being scared to death on the boat of everything around him, have you ever experienced a situation that you were scared to confront? 5. How did Pi not die yet of hunger or dehydration after 3 days of being stranded out on a boat without eating the zebra like the hyena?

During this book meeting we discussed what we would do if we were in Pi's position. We agreed that we would all be equally scared. Furthermore, we decided that it was nearly impossible that he survived on the boat for so long with the deadly animals. Also, we said that it was impossible for him to not suffer from a mental/nervous breakdown as he lost both of his parents. we also talked about our situation when we were scared to confront the world.


 * Week Three**

Discussion Questions: 1. What would you do if you were on an island alone? 2. What would your reaction be if you found a human tooth on an uninhabited island? 3. Would you ever sleep among meerkats? 4. What would your emotional status be when you finally realized how alone you actually were. 5. How would you feel knowing you found food and water? Would you be extremely pleased or would you die of shock?

Discussion Paragraph: This week we discussed about how lucky Pi is to find the Island they recovered on. He was lucky to stock up on food, water and fill his stomach. It was mysterious because at night his feet would burn on the sand. It is kind of confusing because it wouldn't burn during the day. He soon realized that it was not just him but the Meerkats also slept in the trees. He then joined them. Before he left the island he discovered a human tooth inside each piece of fruit.


 * Week Four

Discussion Questions: 1. Would you think of making the solar stills? 2. Would you think to use the shoe as bait? 3. How would you keep your morale up? 4. Would you attempt to create any tools for survival? 5. Would you keep track of your days at sea?

Discussion Paragraph: Today we discussed the different methods of survival we would have used if we had found ourselves in Pi's situation. Methods of obtaining drinking water included Pi's method (solar stills), collecting rain water, drinking urine, and taking water from plants. Tools we would have attempted to create included spears, bowls, gun powder. We also wondered if we would have the heart to kill animals for food and if we would need to do so in order to survive. He had a bond with the tiger after having spent the entire boat ride with it and having related it to Richard Parker from back home.

Week Five: Questions: 1. Did you like how Richard Parker bounds off into the jungle? 2. How did Pi get from Mexico to Japan? 3. Would you believe Pi and his crazy story? 4. If you were Pi would you have told everyone about what you believed happened. 5. Why was Pi being interrogated from a shipping company instead of the Japanese government?

Discussion Paragraph: Today for the final book club meeting, we discussed about how we didn't like richard parker just getting up and leaving Pi alone in mexico and alone in the ocean to get to Japan. it was extremely shocking how it took Pi 227 days to get lost at sea, go to a stranded island in mexico, and travel across the ocean to japan without dying. Pretty unbelievable if you ask me. we also talked about how we kind of believed how is his has to be true. We concluded that it had to be true, because people don't just lie about things like that. all together we didn't really enjoy the book that much. although we had many good reviews it wasn't as good as we expected it to be. even though we didn't like it, we didn't hate it either. there were a lot of boring scenes, along with a lot of exciting scenes too.**