Life_of_Pi

Nick Crawford Williams Pre-AP English 2 14 August 2011 Novel Collection A. Great sentences 1. “If a man, boldest and most intelligent of creatures, won’t wander from place to place, stranger to all, beholden to none, why would an animal.” (pg. 16). 2. “Why make dirty what is beautiful, spoil what is perfect'” “Love. That was father martin’s answer.” (pg. 54). 3. “When push came to shove, he transcended his limited human frame with strength no man could have and weapons no man could handle.” (pg. 55). 4. “It was striking looking in an ugly sort of way, with a rugged, yellowish brown shell about three feet long and spotted (pg. 123). 5. “I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the pacific, hanging on to an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, a storm raging about me.” (pg. 107) B. Definitions 1. Zoology: Noun, A branch of science dealing with animals. My majors were religious studies and zoology. (pg. 3). 2. Sikh: Noun, A type of religion that believes in one God and is slightly different compared to Hindu. Some thought I was P. Singh and that I was a Sikh, and they wondered why I wasn’t wearing a turban. (pg. 20). 3. Atheist: Noun, A person who doesn’t believe there is a God. Mr. Kumar was the first avowed atheist I ever met. (pg. 25). 4. Agnostics: Noun, Somebody who believes that it is impossible to know if God exists. It is not the atheists who got me stuck in my craw but agnostics. (pg. 28). 5. Anthropomorphized: Verb, Someone who believes there is no way to prove there is a God. I would like to say In my own defense that though I may have anthropomorphized the animals tell they spoke fluent English. (pg. 34). 6. Qur’an: Noun, The sacred text for the religion of Islam. He was a hafiz, one who knows the Qur’an by heart. (pg. 62). 7. Geotectonic: adjective, Part of the large tectonic plates on the earth’s crust. Accelerated Geotectonic. (pg. 110). 8. Tamils: Noun, a member of a Dravidian people who live in southern India and northern Sri Lanka. They were both native Tamils. (pg. 68). 9. Tarpaulin: Noun, a large piece of material to keep items dry. I splashed my urine on the tarpaulin and over the locker lid to stake my claim. (pg. 172). 10. Gaff: Noun, A pole with a large hook on the end to catch large fish. Thus it would happen: sometimes more pricked than actually gaffed, a fish would burst out of the water in my face. (pg. 195). 11. Infernal: Adjective, extremely annoying or unpleasant. The heat was infernal. (pg. 241). 12. Winnipegger: Noun, A person who lives in the city of Winnipeg. Though I was only 16-were in a hurry to get going, were Winnipeggers at heart already, she lingered.(pg. 91). 13. Dappled: Adjective, area spots or patches of a different color. The sky was dappled with small, white, fleecy clouds. (pg. 215). 14. Dorado: Noun, a large fish almost like salmon. There were sharks too; they also leapt out of the water, not so cleanly but with devastating consequence for some dorados. (pg. 182). 15. Cataleptic: Noun, In a trance or unconscious. Orange juice had seemed practically cataleptic. (pg. 113) C. Figurative language 1. “Religion is darkness.” This is comparing religion to darkness. Metaphor (pg. 27). 2. “It pleased me that this pious baker, as plain as a shadow.” This is comparing the baker to a plain shadow. Simile (pg. 61). 3. “The sea clinked like small change in your pocket” This is comparing the sea to change clinking in your pocket. Simile (pg. 215). 4. “It was not wide, just one man’s voice but was as deep as the universe.” This is comparing a man’s voice to the deepness of the universe. Simile (pg. 62). 5. “The ship sank. It made a sound like a monstrous metal burp.” This is comparing the sound the ship made to a huge metal burp. Simile (pg. 97). 6. “The water was peaking and troughing like people dancing in a circle who come together and raise the hands and move apart and come together again, over and over.” This is comparing the water peaking to dancers. Simile (pg. 175). 7. “And I began to hear his hoarse roaring, that aaonh cry as rich as gold.” This is comparing a horse’s cry to the richness of gold. Simile (pg. 272). 8. “With just one glance I discovered the sea is a city” This is comparing the sea’s look to that of a city. Metaphor (pg. 175). 9. “They came like a swarm of locusts.” This is comparing how the fly fish came to a swarm of locusts. Simile (pg. 181) 10. “Some crashed into the side, sounding like firecrackers going off.” This is comparing the sound the fish made hitting the boat to fireworks going off. Simile (pg. 181). 11. “The sea sounded like someone vomiting” This is comparing the noise the sea made to someone vomiting. Simile (pg. 215) 12. “Every fish that hit me was like an arrow entering my flesh.” This is comparing the feeling of the fly fish hitting Pi to an arrow entering his flesh. Simile (pg. 181). 13. “I wept like a child.” This is comparing how Pi cried to that of a child. simile (pg. 285). 14. “The sea lay quietly” This is personification because the sea is not a human and it cannot lay quietly. Personification (pg. 177). 15. “The sea thundered like avalanches” This is comparing the sound of the sea to avalanches. Simile (pg. 215). D. Closing sentences 1. “My palms need to feel the heat of the hallowed flame whose blessings I bring to my eyes and forehead.” (pg.48). 2. “The battle for life was taking place there too.” (pg. 119). 3. “I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time.” (pg. 192). 4. “I would climb onto my bicycle and pedal that glory through the air.” (pg. 62). 5. “Something in me died then that has never come back to life.” (pg. 255) E. Somethings to remember 1. “In all this there are messages indeed for people who use their reason.” (pg. 82). 2. “It was a terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me life, my own, but at the expense of taking one.” (pg. 255). 3. “My thoughts swung wildly. I was either fixed on practical details” (pg. 111). 4. “There are no grounds for going beyond a scientific explanation of reality and no sound reason for believing anything but our sense experience.” (pg. 27). 5. “For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are brought face to face with your mortal end.” (pg. 162) F. Five abstract words 1. Hope 2. Religious 3. Perseverance 4. Courage 5. Desperation Perseverance shows the main idea of Life of Pi through Pi having to persevere to go on in life and make it to shore. G. Most memorable moment My most memorable moment in the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel was when Pi speaks of how in life you should conclude life’s events properly. Pi shows how he feels when he says, “It’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse.” (pg. 285). I chose this moment in the book because it is really how you should live your life. If you always end the events in your life the right way then you will never look back on moments with harsh feelings. You will never regret what you have said or done. When Pi says this he is not speaking about Richard Parker but also his family, he hopes that they had left this world without any regrets. I believe the last impression is just as important as the first. It is important to end gatherings well or they will never think of you the same as they first did. Even if at first you don’t think much of it you will later on. If you never see someone again you would like to leave them with a lasting impression to remember you. In life if you are left with words you should have said then that moment will haunt you forever. That is why in life you should end events properly.