AP English Language and Composition Summer Reading Assignment 2015
Each student will read Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
Pi Patel is a 16-year old Indian boy adrift at sea for 227 days with only a dangerous Bengal tiger for a
companion. His journey, and survival through the use of his wits and sheer determination, is one that grabs
you and never lets go.
If you have questions about summer reading you may contact an AP Language/Composition teacher.
Lori Crook
[email protected]
Tricia Worster [email protected]
Life of Pi AP Study Questions
These questions are designed for you to 1) demonstrate having read the book, 2) showcase your skills in literary
analysis, 3) prepare you for the discussions and additional work we will do with this book for the first two weeks of
school. Please type your responses (they will be submitted online and scanned for plagiarism at school) and
answer in complete sentences. This is a significant grade.
1. What is the difference between the italicized and normal texts?
2. What might the origin of Mr. Patel’s name foreshadow?
3. Analyze the following quotation from Chapter 4. "Animals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity
within an unforgiving social hierarchy in an environment where the supply of fear is high and the supply of food
low and where territory must constantly be defended and parasites forever endured. What is the meaning of
freedom in such a context? Animals in the wild are, in practice, free neither in space nor in time, nor in their
personal relations."
4. What personal characteristics does Piscine exhibit by changing his name to Pi?
5. According to Pi, how are atheists similar to believers?
6. What is the point of the episode that Pi relates about the tiger and the goat in Chapter 8?
7. What can be inferred from the religious artifacts that the author sees in Patel’s house in Chapter 15?
8. Explain Pi’s concept of the Brahman nirguna in Chapter 16.
9. What is the point of Pi’s tale of Krishna and the milkmaids in Chapter 16?
10. What does Pi like most about Christianity? How does it compare to his own Hindu beliefs?
11. What impresses Pi about Islam?
12. What two intensely religious experiences does Pi describe in Chapter 20 and why are they significant?
13. In Chapter 23, the priest, the Imam, and the pandit meet and argue against the other two religions. Outline
each’s argument against the others then explain the irony of this scene.
14. In Chapter 30, the fictional author makes a discovery about Mr. Patel. What is it? Why do you think Mr. Patel
hadn’t mentioned this before?
15. What is the significance of the meeting of the two Mr. Kumars in Chapter 31?
16. Two major philosophies have been outlaid in Part One: Pi’s extensive knowledge about animal behavior and
Pi’s religious views. These are a critical foundation for the events in Part Two. Take some time to summarize each
at this point.
17. What important part of the plot does Chapter 38 provide?
18. How does Pi’s survival illustrate his belief in the triumph of faith over reason?
19. With what significant imagery and symbolism does Pi describe the arrival of Orange Juice, the orangutan?
20. How does Pi characterize the hyena?
21. How did Richard Parker get his name? (Chapter 48)
22. Briefly list who kills whom on the lifeboat.
23. Analyze the language Pi uses to describe Richard Parker. Use some quoted phrases.
24. Paraphrase Pi’s commentary about “fear” in Chapter 56.
25. Why, according to Pi, did he weep about killing the flying fish yet killed the dorado triumphantly? (Chapter 61)
26. How long was Pi shipwrecked? (Chapter 63)
27. How does Pi finally gain mastery over Richard Parker? (Chapter 72)
28. What is the significance of the storm in Chapter 83?
29. At the end of Chapter 86, why does Pi tell Richard Parker that he loves him?
30. What is the symbolic significance of Pi’s blindness? (Chapter 89)
31. What happens emotionally to Pi with the death of the Frenchman? (Chapter 90)
32. Why does Pi leave the island he discovers in Chapter 92?
33. Why does Richard Parker’s unceremonious departure bother Pi so much? (Chapter 93)
34. How does Pi defend the story of his survival when Mr. Okamoto challenges it as unbelievable? (Chapter 99)
35. If the first story is an allegory, who do each of the allegorical characters represent in the factual account?
36. Which do you think is “the better story” and why?