But now it is time to figure out what your focus will be, and how you will use ideas and evidence from the book to write an 8-page essay about it.
Today you will be working individually to brainstorm a focus question and then an outline. Here are the two documents you need to complete:
Note that you do not need to complete all of the first one - just the parts you find helpful. But you must submit whatever you have on it, plus the outline worksheet, to turnitin.com. Hopefully, you will be able to do that by the end of the period. I plan on responding to them on Saturday, so if you need to complete it later in the day or early Saturday, please be sure to get it to me.
The key here is to come up with a clear question, and with clear topics (sections) to help answer it. You will use sufficient evidence in each of those sections to support your ideas.
Here is a sample outline, without detailed evidence:
- Question: Who are Pi's teachers? In what ways does he learn from them? Which one(s) is the most effective? Why?
- Direct instruction
- Pi's father teaches him about fearing animals
- Religious leaders teach him about faith - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
- Mr. Kumar (biology teacher) and Mr. Kumar (Muslim mystic)
- Indirect instruction
- Richard Parker - fear, survival, training
- God - faith, love
- Personal ingenuity / reflection
- Changing his name
- Combining multiple religions - just wants to love God
- Lifeboat and supplies - how to use them - be creative
- Plan for dealing with Richard Parker
- Wonder at the natural world
- Faith in God
- Telling his story
- Seeing "the better story" as more important than "dry, yeastless factuality"
- Thesis: Although Pi learns about animals and religion from a variety of sources, he is ultimately his own best (most effective) teacher due to his ability to see beyond facts and appreciate "the better story."
As you can see, this essay does everything it needs to do: it includes all parts of the book, it is organized into clear topics, and it makes an arguable assertion.
Now it is your turn! Good luck with it! Please feel free to email me with your questions!
