Before telling the author his story (Life of Pi), what does Mr. Adirubasamy say it will do?
make him die
make him a genius
make him believe in God
make him want to write
How are direct quotations different from indirect quotations?
direct quotations aren’t someone’s exact words
indirect quotations require quotation marks
indirect quotations don’t require quotation marks
direct quotations involve rephrasing a quote
According to Piscine (Life of Pi), why does death stick so closely to life?
biological necessity
kinship
dependence
envy
What device is the author using by assigning human characteristics to life and death?
personification
hyperbole
simile
oxymoron
After whom or what is the narrator Piscine Molitor Patel named?
a three-toed sloth
a family friend
an Indian zoo
a Paris swimming pool
What is Piscine’s father’s former job that is somewhat analogous to being a zookeeper?
hotel manager
school teacher
swim instructor
minister
Along with zoos, what does Pi note is “no longer in people’s good graces” (p. 24) due to “certain illusions about freedom” (p. 24)?
democracy
school
religion
taxes
When he changes schools, Piscine takes refuge in a Greek symbol (pi) to avoid being
“pool boy”
“Molitor”
“Ian Hoolihan”
“pissing”
After what sort of ordeal would Pi—as he describes in Ch. 1—eat with his fingers and faint at the sound of a “noisy, wasteful, superabundant gush” (p. 8) from the water tap?
Pi would probably eat with his fingers if he had been deprived of both a regular supply of food and eating utensils. Similarly, his act of fainting at the sound of water could be the result of going without water for a period of time.
Pi would probably eat with his fingers if he wanted to show disrespect. Similarly, his act of fainting at the sound of water could be the result of trying to annoy people who had been mean to him.
Pi would probably eat with his fingers to show respect for his host's customs. Similarly, his act of fainting at the sound of water could be a way to honor his host's beliefs in resurrection.
Pi would probably eat with his fingers if he could not find any utensils. Similarly, his act of fainting at the sound of water could be the result of not being able to find a drinking cup.
What group--animals in the wild, animals in a zoo, or humans—are the least “free”? How is each of these groups more or less free than the other two? How are their levels of freedom similar? Be sure to give reasons for your conclusions based upon
Life of Pi and your own experiences.
Animals in a zoo are less free than both animals in the wild and humans. I know I am more free than animals in a cage because I can leave my home and go out into the world. Animals in the wild are also free to move around outside of cages. Clearly, caged creatures are less free.
Animals in the wild, animals in a zoo, and humans are all caged. It is just the size of their cages that are different. Wild animals are not free because they are caged by their hunger, weather and other environmental conditions, and other predators. Animals in a zoo are free from the worry of how to get food, but they obviously cannot run freely. Humans are caged by limits to their intelligence and by how they must compete with other humans for jobs and power. All three groups are limited by their own abilities and by their environments. In fact, freedom itself can be a kind of cage where there are so many decisions to be made that an individual becomes paralyzed by indecision. Clearly, freedom does not really exist.
Although many would argue that zoo animals have much less freedom than wild animals or humans, Pi’s assertions about the relative lack of freedom inherent to each group are believable. As Pi points out, animals in the wild are bound by an “unforgiving social hierarchy” (p. 20). Due to the fact that these animals are in a constant fight for survival, they are not really “free.” Similarly, we modern humans have an inability to simply walk away from our lives and live “freely” without suffering severe consequences to our own well-being and the well-being of our loved ones. Humans commonly aren’t in daily fights for survival like our wild animal counterparts, but the limits to our freedom can be seen as relatively similar. These constraints on wild animals and humans could be viewed as the figurative bars that keep us locked into certain patterns of behavior that philosophically resemble the cages that constrict zoo animals. Zoo animals, as Pi points out, could be seen as having more freedom than wild beasts or adult humans because they have their survival needs taken care of by others. Surely, if nothing else, Pi’s ideas about the relative “freedom” of these three groups raise some interesting philosophical questions regarding what it means to be “free.”
The character in Life of Pi teaches us that animals in the wild, animals in zoos, and humans all have limited freedom. Pi explains that he grew up thinking the zoo was paradise. He discusses the ritualistic habits of zoo creatures. Pi remembers the alarm-clock precision of the roaring lions and the howler monkeys, the songs that are birds’ daily rites, the hours of day at which various animals could be counted on to entertain him. He defends zoos against those who would rather the animals were kept in the wild. He argues that wild creatures are at the mercy of nature, while zoo creatures live a life of luxury and constancy. Clearly, zoo animals are more free than either wild animals or humans.
Which sentence is
written correctly?
us members rob commented has got to be open to people outside of are group he mentioned to us
Us members, Rob commented has got to be open to people outside of our group he mentioned to us.
“We members,” Rob commented, “have to be open to people outside of our group.”
“Us members,” Rob commented, “have to be open to people outside of our group.”