Leigh Roberts

RE 3150

Young Adult Literature and Canonical Text Unit Project

Essential Questions:What is something that you are fighting for/would fight for?

When have you been an underdog and fought for something/someone when it seemed like all obstacles were against you? What lessons are there in that?

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.5 Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.7 Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.9 Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.

Learning Goals:

1. Students will be able to make connections, comparing and contrasting between the canonical text The Old Man and the Sea and the young adult story Life of Pi.

2. Students will be able to determine themes in the texts and apply them to their own lives.

3. Students will learn about the three world religions mentioned in Life of Pi.4. Students will practice using context clues in order to determine meaning of

vocabulary words.

5. Students will be able to see how the themes in both of these stories have transcended time and will decide what themes are “timeless”.

Themes: Survival: in both books this theme is at the forefront just in the nature that

both the main characters are literally fighting for their lives. The books address not just a physical survival but also a surviving of the character’s minds and emotions as well, and in both books the reader can see all of these types of survival fade.

Endurance/Perseverance: Both Pi and the Old Man progress as the stories go on and as their situations become more challenging and they have to adapt and keep pressing on.

Religion: In Life of Pi, Pi is a devout follower of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam and these religions are central to the story and a vehicle for students to learn about world religions.

Hope: In both of these stories, there are points when it is doubtful that the characters will survive, but both main characters stay hopeful throughout the books.

Luck verse Hard Work: This is a topic that both main characters discuss because though they are both hard workers, they have experienced a lot of “bad luck”, especially Pi, and then “good luck” that they survive at all.

Empathy: The reader develops empathy throughout the reading of these books, as both main characters face struggle after struggle.

Innocence: Especially for Pi, the reader can clearly see his loss of innocence throughout the story. (i.e. his Hindu vegetarian perspective, to being a violent fisherman/hunter)

Strength: Both main characters display a lot of strength and courage in their journeys.

Relationship/Friendship: This is a topic that is lacking in the books, and it the importance of relationship is especially evident in the way that it is absent. In the Old Man and the Sea, his relationship with the young boy is a sweet friendship and contrast to Pi and Richard Parker’s relationship in Life of Pi.

Coping Mechanisms: This theme is in the forefront in the way that the main characters use different thoughts, schedules, or their hope to cope with their situations.

Suffering: Both characters really struggle and suffer in the stories, and the way that they are written lend themselves to letting the reader see the struggling happening in the characters’ minds.

Purpose: Both characters exercise their perseverance in the way that they are purposeful and have a purpose in mind for their survival.

Loneliness: In the nature that the stories follow and the characters being essentially alone for the majority of the book, the reader can see the conflicting loneliness in the character’s stories.

Man verse Beast: Both main characters have situations throughout their stories where they are head to head with different animals, which is the bulk of the stories.

Necessity verse invention: Both main characters have to exercise their creativity and are inventive in the way that they problem solve.

Life of PiMartel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.

Grade Level: 7.2

Synopsis:The first half of the book introduces us to Pi, the main character and describes his life in India. He is a unique boy, in that he is a devout member of three faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. This becomes a big piece of the book as his family is not totally supportive and he has to figure out how to incorporate all three religions into his life. His father is the owner of a zoo, which Pi loves and spend a lot of time there. At about the middle of the book, Pi’s family decides to sell the zoo and head to Canada. They load a ship with many of their animals to sell in North America. On the way there, the ship sinks unexplainably, and Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with a tiger, a zebra, an orangutan, and a hyena. As the story unfolds, Pi has to do what it takes to stay alive and develop his role as the alpha on the boat while losing his innocence, where he ends up with just himself and the tiger, Richard Parker. While the story seemingly ends well, the reader is still left with a big question, and the book leaves you with a decision to make about how to interpret the ending.

Rationale:This text is a good one to use in a middle school classroom because it not only would work well in a language arts classroom, but would be a really good tool to use in social studies to teach world religions, as well. This is a coming-of-age story where Pi does a lot of growing up over the course of the book, and this theme as well as a loss of innocence, religion, and survival would all be themes that I could see students really getting into.

Content for Life of Pi:Vocabulary:Abiding, Adrift, Adversity, Afflicting, Amenable, Amicably, Amply, Animals, Apoplectic, Askance, Aspiring, Attrition, Audience, Aversion, Bask, Bengal tiger, Bizarre, Bond, Buoyancy, Callous, Canada, Cargo, Carrion, Challenges, Chromatic, Coherence, Compelling, Complications, Compulsion, Conjures, Consecrated, Conundrum, Credible, Cryptic, Dangerous, Delusion, Deportment, Depravity, Desalinated, Dilated, Diligent, Dire, Discernment, Disfiguring, Dramatic, Drift, Dyspeptic, Elicited, Emaciated, Emotional, Empathy, Entailed, Epic, Erratic, Exemplary, Feral, Fitful, Forbearance, Forlorn, Formidable, Gastronomic, Gelatinous, God, Graphics, Guttural, Harrowing, Hazards, Hovel, Hurdle, Hyena, Illustrious, Imperceptible, In situ, Incessant, Incongruously, Incongruously, India, Indiscriminate, Indolence, Ineffectually, Infernal, Injunction, Insouciant, Intensity, Invigorating, Iridescent, Lethargic, Lucidity, Ludicrous, Marooned, Marred,

Menacing, Menagerie, Multitude, Obscurely, Obtuse, Odyssey, Olfactory, Oppressive, Ordnance, Petulant, Pi, Piety, Pivotal, Placidly, Plausible, Poignancy, Preceding, Profusion, Protruded, Purveyor, Putrid, Radical, Religion, Remonstrations, Reprieve, Revulsion, Richard Parker, Rote, Sanguinary, Secular, Sentient, Sequence, Spirituality, Sullenly, Supplication, Survival, Sustenance, Tempest, Throe, Tragedy, Turmoil, Unerring, Unremitting, Visualization, Voraciously, Waterlogged, Zoology

Historical Background:Teach a mini lesson on the history of the Union of India and how Pondicherry enters it.Indian Emergency of 1975- President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, suspending elections and civil liberties. Is referred to as “one of India’s darkest hours”.

Other Content:Context Clues: Sources of information outside of words that readers may use to predict the identities and meanings of unknown words. Context clues may be drawn from the immediate sentence containing the word, from text already read, from pictures accompanying the text, or from definitions, restatements, examples, or descriptions in the text.

Introductory Activity:Before we begin reading the first of our two books (Life of Pi first), I would put the students into table groups of four or five students each. Then, I would instruct the students that for the remainder of this unit, when they are in language arts, they are going to be stranded and they will need to rely on various supplies to save their lives. As a group, they will be given a certain amount of “money” and a list of supplies and survival gear that is worth different amounts. In their groups they will need to decide what to buy with their money and how much. Things they can buy will include: cans of fresh water, emergency rations, blankets, flares, nets, oars, compass, etc. (the list Pi gives of materials he finds in the lifeboat on p. 182-184). Students will make their decisions as a group and then explain their choices to the class. Throughout the reading, you will revisit their lists as they have to go through their supplies each day. Towards the end of the unit, students can “run into” other lifeboats in the class and trade for materials and supplies. Eventually, students will be “eliminated” as they exhaust all of their supplies, until there is only one group left.If there is extra time on the first day, students can decorate their group’s desks to look like a lifeboat.

Learning Activities:

Pi’s Journal:Like Pi keeps a journal throughout his journey, students will be asked to and will be given time to journal after each reading day. Students will write down vocabulary

words that they are unfamiliar with, responses to the readings, and two or three times a week I will give them a prompt to journal about. Prompts will have questions that put the students in Pi’s perspective and ask the students what they would do, what they would be feeling, or how they would react in different situations throughout the story. I will collect their journals throughout the week to make sure that they are keeping up with the readings and are comprehending the themes and material. Students will keep up their journaling through the The Old Man and the Sea unit as well.

Context Clues:As Life of Pi has so much vocabulary, students will be recording words that they are unfamiliar with in their journals, but there is only so much that we can cover and stop and look up while still making the reading and the story flow. While we are beginning the book, students will learn about how to use context clues to determine the meaning of words that they do not know.

Students will work in partners for the lesson and I will instruct them that they are going to be detectives for the duration of this lesson.

BALDERDASH Next, I will put sentences on the board that will include a word that students

will likely not know the meaning to

World Religions: After we read chapters 16-19 as a class, where Pi discovers his three

religions that are woven throughout the book (Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism), we will learn more about these three religions as a class and discuss what they mean and how they add to the reading. As we read these chapters in class, I will highlight the following quotes for a class discussion that follows these chapters:

“But religion is more than rite and ritual. There is what the rite and ritual stand for. Here too I am a Hindu. The universe makes sense to me through Hindu eyes… That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression, is the same thing. The finite within the infinite, the infinite within the finite. If you ask me how the Brahman and atman relate precisely, I would say in the same way the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit relate: mysteriously… The paths to liberation are numerous, but the bank along the way is always the same, the Bank of Karma, where the liberation account of each of us is credited or debited depending on our actions.”

“Their religion had one Story, and to it they came back again and again, over and over. It was story enough for them.”

“This Son, on the other hand, who goes hungry, who suffers from thirst, who gets tired, who is sad, who is anxious, who is heckled and harassed, who has to put up with followers who don’t get it and opponents ho don’t respect Him- what kind of a

god is that? It’s a god on a human scale, that’s what…This Son is a god who dies in three hours, with moans, gasps and laments. What kind of a god is that? What is there to inspire in this Son? Love, said Father Martin.”

“I couldn’t get Him out of my head. Still cant. I spent three solid days thinking about Him. The more He bothered me, the less I could forget Him. And the more I learned about Him, the less I wanted to leave Him.”

“Christianity is a religion in a rush. Look at the world created in seven days. Even on a symbolic level, that’s creation in a frenzy. To one born in a religion where the battle for a single soul can be a relay race run over many centuries, with innumerable generations passing along the baton, the quick resolution of Christianity has a dizzying effect. If Hinduism flows placidly like the Ganges, than Christianity bustles like Toronto at rush hour.”

“’It’s about the Beloved,’ he replied. I challenge anyone to understand Islam, its spirit, and not to love it. It is a beautiful religion of brotherhood and devotion…It felt good to bring my forehead to the ground. Immediately it felt like a deeply religious contact.”

Discussion Questions:1. Based on how Pi describes Hinduism, summarize what this religion means.2. Based on how Pi describes Christianity/Catholicism, summarize what this

religion means.3. Based on how Pi describes Islam, summarize what this religion means.4. How has Pi blended all of these religions together? Has he lost some of their

core essence along the way?5. Do you think Pi can be a follower of all three religions? Why or why not?

Next, we will learn what each religion believes and general background knowledge for each of the three major religions that Pi presents:

Hinduismo Based on the belief in a supreme spiritual force known as Brahman as

recorded in sacred texts, including the Upanishads. Hindus believe that to unite with Brahaman, they must first pass through many lives, being reborn into new forms. To move closer to Brahman they must make improvements in each life.

o Dominant religion of India and Nepalo Daily Morality

Karma Dharma

o Texts No official book of Hindu Sruti

Smriti Verdic yajna

o One billion followers Third largest world religion

o Described a more loose world religion Less definition More of a mindset

Christianityo Based on the belief in one God and the teachings and life of Jesus as

described in the New Testament of the Bible. Christians believe that Jesus was the Son of God and was sent to Earth to save people from their sins.

o Monotheistico World’s largest religiono Eternal life given to those who believe in Christ’s power to forgive sinso Text

Bible Old Testament New Testament

o Believe in second coming, return of Christ

Islamo Based on belief in one God, Allah, as revealed through the prophet

Muhammad. The Muslim sacred text is the Quran. Muslims follow five major acts of worship known as the Five Pillars of Islam.

o Monotheistico Purpose

To love and serve Godo Prophets

Abraham Moses Jesus Muhammad

o Denominations Sunni Shia

o Where it is most practiced Indonesia South Asia Middle East Sub-Saharan Africa

o Revelationso Five Pillars

Testimony Prayer

Alms-Giving Fasting Pilgrimage

o Mecca Muslims must make the journey once in their lifetime Walk seven times around the Kaaba Walk seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah Spend a day in the desert at Mina Day in the desert praying and worshiping God Symbolically stoning the Devil in Mina

Religion Investigation:Have students examine the debate between the three religious leaders in chapter 23. Where are leaders getting their facts? Are their arguments factual or biased? Have them look up the claims that the leaders make and be able to defend their findings.

Foreshadowing:After the students finish reading the book, have them look back through the novel for excerpts of foreshadowing that might have hinted towards Pi’s alternative ending. Students will work in their table groups and be asked to compile their excerpts.

Moving Guide for Pi:Have students research information from what Pi will need to know as he moves to Canada. Students will create a pamphlet to function as a “moving guide” for Pi, or another young adolescent who was moving from India to Canada and what they need to know about cultural difference.

Life Science/Oceans/Safari:After the students have read to the point where Pi is in the lifeboat at sea and they are introduced to all of the animals aboard, we will spend time watching clips from both the documentaries, Oceans and Animal Planet: Safari to get them thinking about the theme of man verse beast and get them in the right mindset to be thinking about what Pi must be feeling. As a class, we will discuss what they would be feeling and thinking if they were Pi at that moment, and knowing what we know about these animals in the boat and threats in the water, what they would do if they were Pi.

Animal RightsBased on information from the documentary, excerpts from the reading, and outside research, in groups, students will compile a poster advocating for animal rights in their community and information for why and how other students should get involved.

Measuring the Boat:

As a class, students will measure and mark the dimensions of the boat on the floor with duct tape, to help visualize what it would have been like for Pi. Students will all sit in the boat and we will read the book aloud on this day.3 ½ ft deep. 8 ft wide, and 26 feet long

Alternative Ending:When Pi tells the ending of the story to the reporters that is with people instead of animals, have the students write a creative ending the story where the reporters do not like that ending either, and Pi tells one more ending, which the students will write and share with the class.

Video Viewing Guide:After finishing the book, we will watch the movie version of Life of Pi as a class and take a few days to stop and discuss it throughout. The main focus and goal of this assignment is for the students to compare the two portrayals of the story and to analyze the director and producer’s choices in adapting the story for the screen.

Discussion Questions:Format: Discussion questions will be conducted in various formats. Students will be in their table groups for the entirety of a unit, so most of discussion will be conducted with the teacher asking the class in the front, table groups discussing their responses, and then groups coming back together and sharing their conversations and views. For some of these questions, students will be asked to journal their responses and then be given the opportunity to share their responses with the class.

1. Pi says, “Academic study and steady, mindful practice of religion slowly brought me back to life.” (p. 3). What brings you back to life?

2. Who do you think chapter 2 is about?3. Chapter 3 is about how Piscine got his name. How did you get your name?

Who were you named for?4. What do you think of Pi’s dad? What kind of character is he?5. “Animals are territorial. That is the key to their minds.” (p. 21) What do you

think this quote means? How do you think we will see this play out in the story?

6. Do you think that Pi is living in his brother Ravi’s shadow? Have you ever felt like you were living in someone’s shadow? How did you deal with it?

7. What do you think that the chapters in italics mean? Why did the author choose to distinguish them with italics?

8. What does Pi love about Mr. Kumar? 9. “Religion is light.” Based on our study of religions, why does Pi say this? What

about religion really is light?10. “Doubt is useful for awhile. We must all pass through the garden of

Gethsemane.” (p. 36) Discuss this quote. What is Pi mean by this? Do you agree or disagree?

11. “The most dangerous animal in the zoo is man.” (p. 36) Do you agree or disagree? Discuss.

12. “You are never under any circumstances to touch a tiger, pet a tiger, to put your hands through the bars of the cage…” (p. 42) Do you agree with Pi’s dad “scaring” him and his brother to be careful around the animals? Was it necessary? Or do you agree with his mom’s approach?

13. His dad sacrificed the goat for the sake of his sons learning a lesson. Does this make it ok?

14. Does Pi have a healthy fear of animals or a legitimate fear?15. Pi’s lesson from his dad was one of the most valuable lessons he has ever

learned. What is the most valuable lesson that you have ever learned in your life?

16. Social rank is central to animal life (Ch. 13). Is this true for human life as well?

17. At first, Pi did not tell his family about all of his religions. Why do you think he did not?

18. How has Pi mixed and blended all of these religions together?19. What does Pi like and admire about each religion? What draws him in?20. Can someone have more than one faith? Pi’s community and family says no;

what do you think?21. “Teenagers always hide a few things from their parents, isn’t that so? All 16

year olds have secrets don’t they? (p. 81) Is this accurate? Why or why not?22. Pi feels like his brother pushes him around. Do you think his brother is a

bully? What is bullying? 23. Why does Pi’s family associate modernity with a lack of religion?24. How do you think Pi feels about moving? What will Pi have to adjust to?25. In Chapter 36, it alludes to the ending of this story being a happy one. What

are your predictions?26. The ship just sunk. If you were Pi, what would you prioritize doing first?

What would you be most concerned about?27. Pi says that the daylight brings hope (Ch. 45). Why?28. In Chapter 46, Pi spends his first few nights on the boat. The first night was a

physical struggle; the second was an internal struggle. Which do you think is worse and why?

29. What does it mean to have a will to live? Is it going to be necessary for Pi?30. Pi starts to acknowledge his family’s death. How does he reach this point?31. Pi says that when we’re almost totally defeated our attitudes change, like we

have got nothing left to lose (Ch. 49). Do you agree?32. What do we know about Hinduism that is conflicting with his situation in

having to kill animals and live on a boat with Richard Parker?33. “Necessity is the mother of invention” (Ch 50). What does this mean?34. In Chapter 53, Pi comes to terms with his death. What’s on your bucket list?

What do you want to do before you die?35. If you were in a lifeboat with a tiger, what do you think your best chance of

survival would be?36. Do you think that taming the tiger is a good idea? What would you do?

37. Pi cried over having to kill a fish, but then becomes a master vicious, fisherman. Is he becoming desensitized?

38. Pi says, “I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time.” (p. 242) Why do you think this is?

39. “I descended to a level of savagery I never imagined possible.” (p. 249) Discuss Pi’s decaying morality.

40. In Chapter 70, Pi starts drinking turtle blood. Is this a good idea? Is Pi loosing it?

41. Discuss how Pi thinks hunting whales is a heinous crime but hunting sharks isn’t. Is there a difference?

42. What do you think about Pi’s alternative ending? What do you think is the real ending? Back it up.

Monitoring Student’s Understanding:I will assess students learning throughout the reading through group discussions and through assessing their journals.

The Old Man and the SeaHemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.

Grade Level: 8.1

Synopsis:This book is a story about an older fisherman named Santiago, fishing in the Gulf Stream. He is going through an 84-day period of “bad luck” without taking in a fish. His friend is a young boy, Manolin, used to fish with him but now just helps look out for him and take care of him, and these two characters have a really sweet friendship. The story follows Santiago’s fishing trip where he catches an 18-foot long marlin and the fish pulls him out to sea while the old man has to struggle to kill it, pull it in and then defend it from the sharks. In the end of this short book, the old man returns with nothing but the fish’s skeleton and passes out from exhaustion. What he does have though, is a great story, some credit and respect from the village and the young boy waiting for him, glad to see that his old friend is alive.

Rationale:This story would be well received in a language arts classroom of middle schoolers because of the way that old man is portrayed as a hero and overcomes obstacles and fights for something, which I think is something that kids really could get behind. Everyone loves an underdog, and I think what both The Old Man and the Sea and Life of Pi do so well is get the reader to dream and root for something to happen that would be impossible in the natural world, and I think that though this book was not written for young adults, it is a book full of themes that young adolescent readers love.

Content for The Old Man and the Sea:

Vocabulary:Gelatinous, Gunwale, Imperceptible, Interminable, Iridescent, Malignancy, Maw, Oakum, Pectoral, Phosphorescence, Placid, Plankton, Resolution, Shank, Skiff, Sustenance, Taut, Tentative, Tern, Thwart, Timid, Treachery, Undulation, Vertebrae, Myriad, Tempered, Dispersed, Commenced, Burnished, Attained, Filaments, Coagulated, Ceding, Plummets, Carapace, Conscientiously

Historical Background:Ernest Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea in Cuba in 1952 where the book takes place. In the 1950s, Cuba was relatively stable and pre-revolution and was a popular destination for tourists and celebrities (such as Hemingway).

Introductory Activity:What do you use as your escape? Throughout The Old Man and the Sea, the Old Man uses baseball (the Yankees and Joe DiMaggio) as a way to escape his situation. As a class, we will watch highlights from DiMaggio’s career and talk about why the Old Man was so infatuated with him. Students will be asked to journal about what they use to escape situations in their life or what they use to cope. Student will be asked to bring in whatever this is (family photo, journal, running shoes, guitar, etc.) and present it and explain it to the class.

Learning Activities:

Creative Writing:Students will write a creative writing piece on what would happen if Pi’s boat and the Old Man’s boat met out at sea. Students will be graded on their creativity in how they choose to tell this story.

Timeless Themes:Students will learn and discuss what themes are timeless and why. They will be asked to apply themes from the books to their own lives and discuss in their table groups what themes remain though these books, though they were written in different times. Students will have to find these themes in movie and television clips from their lifetime, and clips addressing the themes from television or movies from their parent’s generation and bring both of these clips to class.

Compare and Contrast:Students will fill out a Venn diagram that compares and contrasts themes from the two books. Students will fill out another Venn diagram comparing and contrasting Pi and the young boy. After the students fill this out on their own, then we will fill one out as a class on the board.

Photo Collage:On page 36, the Old Man says that he was born to fish. What were you born to do? Students will make a photo collage answering this question.

Timeline:Students will create a timeline for both The Old Man and the Sea and Life of Pi. Timeline should highlight themes that they find throughout both books and key scenes that help to illustrate these themes. Students will be asked to write a brief analysis on key ideas that they find that are woven throughout both stories that they see on their timelines of important events.

Journaling Quotes:The Old Man says some meaningful quotes towards the end of the book. Students will be asked to free write about different quotes from the book as intros to the day or as we come to these quote. Quotes include:

o “Full of resolution but he had little hope.” P. 76o “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not

defeated.” P. 78o “But I must think, he thought. Because it is all I have left. That and

baseball.”

Examining Photos:This photograph is said to be the town and beach that inspired Hemingway’s setting for The Old Man and the Sea. Have students discuss whether or not this is what they pictured when they read the book. Give them the opportunity to find pictures of what they imagined while they read.

Dinner Party:

Each student will be assigned a character from one of the books, Hemingway, or Martel. They will be responsible for researching information about their character and knowing facts and details about their life and motives. Students will come to class dressed as their figure and will act in character as though our classroom was a “dinner party”. Students will talk to one another and ask questions trying to figure out who everyone is. Some students might be duplicates or even animals/mammals from the stories.

Discussion QuestionsFormat: Discussion questions will be conducted in various formats. Students will be in their table groups for the entirety of a unit, so most of discussion will be conducted with the teacher asking the class in the front, table groups discussing their responses, and then groups coming back together and sharing their conversations and views. For some of these questions, students will be asked to journal their responses and then be given the opportunity to share their responses with the class.

1. What deductions can we make about the Old Man’s past?2. How does the Old Man fictionalize his life?3. The boy takes care of the Old Man and looks out for him. How is his

character similar to Pi’s?4. Why is the young boy so hard on himself?5. Does the Old Man use baseball the way Pi used his religion to escape his

problems and situation? What do you use as your distractions or a way to escape, cope?

6. “Que va, it is what a man must do.” (p. 25) How is the Old Man’s maturity different from where Pi is?

7. How are Pi and the Old Man’s views of the sea different? (p. 27-28)8. Compare and contrast the differences in the way that Pi and the Old Man fish,

use fishing in their lives, their processes for fishing.9. “He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was

by himself.” (p. 35) Is the Old Man going mad?10. “I was born to fish.” (p. 36) What was Pi born for? What were you born for?11. The Old Man keeps saying, “I wish the boy was here”. What can we gather

from this statement? What does this tell us about who the Old Man is?12. “Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before

this day ends.” (p. 45) What does this say about man verse animals? How is this similar to Life of Pi?

13. The longer the Old Man is in the boat, the more he starts talking to himself. How is he similar to Pi in this way?

14. The Old Man is at sea in September. When was Pi at sea? When does the Old Man say is a good time to be sailing?

15. How is the Old Man’s time so different because he is completely alone, compared to Pi who had Richard Parker?

16. The Old Man keeps letting his mind wander to baseball. What do you let your mind wander to?

17. On page 58, the Old Man starts getting more comfortable. When did you see Pi get more comfortable?

18. On page 59, the Old Man starts to think of the fish as his friend, though he has to kill him. How does Pi do this too?

19. The Old Man’s signature phrase seems to be, “If the boy were here”. What was Pi’s signature phrase? What is your signature phrase?

20. How does the Old Man show fear? How did Pi?21. The Old Man starts seeing black spots, while Pi goes temporarily blind. Why

did this happen?22. Did the Old Man ever accept failure? Did Pi?23. How are the Old Man and Pi different in their knowledge of the sea and

sailing?24. He was “full of resolution but he had little hope.” (p. 76). Did this ever

describe Pi too? How so?25. The Old Man says that not hoping is a sin (p. 79). Did Pi think this too? How

does this connect with Pi’s religious/spiritual views?26. “He sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind.”

(p. 88). Did Pi reach this point too? How so?27. How do characters in both books deal with grief?28. What was Hemmingway trying to convey that was different than what Martel

was trying to accomplish?29. Do you think that either of these books had happy endings?

Monitoring Students Understanding:I will assess students learning throughout the reading through group discussions and through their continued writing in their journals

Final Project/Assessment: Interview—Students will interview their parents, grandparents, or someone

from a few generations ahead of them and interview them about what their life was like when they were a young adolescent. Have them extract themes from their interview and similarities comparing their own story with an older person. Students will then be asked to compare their interview and their own stories with themes from Pi’s life and the young boy from The Old Man and the Sea. Students will be able to choose what medium they want to present their findings (i.e. an essay, photo collage, art work, speech, movie, etc) depicting the themes that remain and are timeless that they have found through their interview, Pi, and the little boy from the story.

Sources:Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India)http://www.ldonline.org/glossary#C