1. Holes by Louis Sachar. I read this in 4th grade, and it was the first real book I willingly read completely on my own.
2. Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I gave a presentation about it to my 8th grade English class.
3. Coach Carter by Jasmine Jones. I'm a huge basketball fan, and reading this book was really enjoyable. I read it before the movie came out and when I ended up seeing it I remembered how much I liked the book
4. Eragon by Christopher Paolini. A good friend of mine recommended this to me on a summer vacation, and I finished it in about 3 days.
5. Pet Sematary by Stephen King. I read this book on a boat in the summer of my freshman year and I got goosebumps while reading it. This book introduced me to a whole new genre of books, and I now love reading scary stories.
6. Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. I love to play and create videogames, so this book was very fun for me to read.
7. Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I read this story as my required reading this summer and I absolutely fell in love with it. I would look forward to reading it most days, and it was very difficult to put down
8. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. I love mystery/action filled books and Dan Brown is one of my all time favorite authors.
9. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. This is by far my favorite book by one of my favorite authors. It was intense and always kept me interested, and was very fun to read.
10. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. When I initially began reading this book I thought it would just be a pointless story about war but it ended up being my favorite war story of all time. It was in great detail and it was fun to discuss in class.
11. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I read every book in the series, and I loved that the good guy didn't always win. It was refreshing not being able to predict the ending, and each book was fascinating to read.
12. Hatchet by Gary Paulson. I am deeply interested in survival skills, and this was the book that first got me really interested in the wild and survival.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Animal Instincts and the Vicious Food Chain
Life of Pi begins in an unusual manner in an Author’s Note that explains his relentless craving for inspiration and the travels he took in search of finding new ideas to write about. It is in these travels that he meets a man named Francis Adirubasamy who offers to tell him a story that will, “…make you believe in God.” After some skepticism the author decides to listen to the story and it is explained that the story itself will not be told through the eyes of the author or Francis, but through those of Pi Patel.
Pi’s life growing up is very different than other teenagers. He, like our author, has a tremendous craving for knowledge and educational opportunities that is satisfied by his mother’s large collection of literature and his extensive school curriculum and connection with his teachers. His family runs a zoo so he is provided with a staggering amount of intelligence and appreciation for all types of animals, most notably the Bengal tiger.
One of the most crucial themes depicted throughout the novel is the reality and brutality of the food chain and what life is like outside the comforts of your town, village, or even cage at the zoo. We are constantly presented instances in which true animal instinct takes over, and how creatures are willing to do just about anything to survive. We are first presented with this idea on the zoo when Pi’s father releases a live goat into the domain of a hungry Bengal tiger. The true danger of what wild animals are willing to do to survive is clearly observable in great detail. While this is the first instance in which we view the reality of the real world, the most powerful occurrence of this theme is after Pi’s family’s ship of zoo animals has sunk and Pi finds himself on a boat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger. As hunger lingers the true survival instinct of the animals takes over and the food chain begins to transpire. The hyena consumed both the wounded zebra and the orangutan. Shortly after, Richard Parker, the name given to the Bengal tiger, eats the hyena. Pi quickly realizes that because it is only he and the king of the food chain left on the boat he must establish himself as the dominant beast in order to survive. Pi must act carefully and intelligently as he needs to establish dominance without doing anything so rash that the tiger just decides to maul him there and then. It is appropriate to call the relationship that transpired a master-animal bond. This almost friendship helped them work together to survive on a boat in the middle of the ocean, catch fish, and ends up saving Pi’s life from a potential attack form another stranded human.
There is no doubt that the bond formed between Pi and Richard Parker saved both their lives as they found a way to live and operate together as opposed to selfishly overcoming their own personal setbacks. Animal instincts are a huge part of both people and beasts, and while it is necessary a lot of the time, the ability to control the intensity and irrationality of it, in the case of Pi and Richard Parker, can end up being a life saver for you and others. (555)
Pi’s life growing up is very different than other teenagers. He, like our author, has a tremendous craving for knowledge and educational opportunities that is satisfied by his mother’s large collection of literature and his extensive school curriculum and connection with his teachers. His family runs a zoo so he is provided with a staggering amount of intelligence and appreciation for all types of animals, most notably the Bengal tiger.
One of the most crucial themes depicted throughout the novel is the reality and brutality of the food chain and what life is like outside the comforts of your town, village, or even cage at the zoo. We are constantly presented instances in which true animal instinct takes over, and how creatures are willing to do just about anything to survive. We are first presented with this idea on the zoo when Pi’s father releases a live goat into the domain of a hungry Bengal tiger. The true danger of what wild animals are willing to do to survive is clearly observable in great detail. While this is the first instance in which we view the reality of the real world, the most powerful occurrence of this theme is after Pi’s family’s ship of zoo animals has sunk and Pi finds himself on a boat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger. As hunger lingers the true survival instinct of the animals takes over and the food chain begins to transpire. The hyena consumed both the wounded zebra and the orangutan. Shortly after, Richard Parker, the name given to the Bengal tiger, eats the hyena. Pi quickly realizes that because it is only he and the king of the food chain left on the boat he must establish himself as the dominant beast in order to survive. Pi must act carefully and intelligently as he needs to establish dominance without doing anything so rash that the tiger just decides to maul him there and then. It is appropriate to call the relationship that transpired a master-animal bond. This almost friendship helped them work together to survive on a boat in the middle of the ocean, catch fish, and ends up saving Pi’s life from a potential attack form another stranded human.
There is no doubt that the bond formed between Pi and Richard Parker saved both their lives as they found a way to live and operate together as opposed to selfishly overcoming their own personal setbacks. Animal instincts are a huge part of both people and beasts, and while it is necessary a lot of the time, the ability to control the intensity and irrationality of it, in the case of Pi and Richard Parker, can end up being a life saver for you and others. (555)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
