Select two Tuesday terms (any of the 50), one you had/have heard of and one you hadn't/haven't. Apply each to a specific chapter of Life of Pi. Write 150+ words about your connection between these Tuesday terms and Martel's novel, then read on your way to page 169 for Friday's forum. Thank you for your hard work and focus.
Quick example: Mimesis (It's not real, but it can be true)--The italicized chapters blur the line between invented fiction and touchable reality; this book epitomizes all the reasons we need to study Mimesis... Ambiguity (Literature speaks with a forked tongue)--The actual author, the author within the book, and all the characters, real and imagined, will speak with forked tongues. We, the readers, will negotiate through all of this Ambiguity to arrive at some epiphanies or insights...
Quick example: Mimesis (It's not real, but it can be true)--The italicized chapters blur the line between invented fiction and touchable reality; this book epitomizes all the reasons we need to study Mimesis... Ambiguity (Literature speaks with a forked tongue)--The actual author, the author within the book, and all the characters, real and imagined, will speak with forked tongues. We, the readers, will negotiate through all of this Ambiguity to arrive at some epiphanies or insights...
95 comments:
Chmela 2
Milieu a word I was unfamiliar with actually connects to this book fairly well. Pi in the book grew up at a zoo with parents who stayed away from religion. However, although his background should make him become an atheist and want to become a zoologist. On the other side we can tell that Martel grew up with French backgrounds by using such places as Pondicherry, a French name. As well as deciding to move Pi’s family to Canada, a partially French speaking country. I thought it was interesting all the connections there are between Pi and Martel within the book.
As we can already tell Life of Pi is part of the Canon. We know this based on popularity a well as what is happening in the book and by the author. Life of Pi has an interesting plot that takes a turn for the better in the start of Part 2. How Pi reacts and what he has to do helps make this book worthy of the Canon. The Canon is in sense only a library set aside for the world’s most popular and meaningful books. Life of Pi in the first 93 pages already deserves to be put next to Shakespeare.
I was familiar with imagery from previous classes. In Chapter 8, Pi’s father shows Pi and his brother that an animal is an animal, no matter how cute and cuddly and tame they may appear in an enclosure. He teaches this lesson by feeding a goat to the tiger in front of them. One instance of imagery in this section is in the description of the goat right before feeding. “Babu placed the goat on the floor; its flanks were heaving violently, its tongue hung from its mouth, and its eyes were spinning orbs” (p. 35). This description makes it easy for the reader to picture the panicked goat.
Mimesis was an unfamiliar term to me. I think that Chapter 17 demonstrates mimesis. In this chapter, Pi is introduced to the Christian faith. He sneaks into a rectory and watches a priest reading the Bible, and then later begins to learn about Christianity. He becomes filled with joy and runs home to tell his father that he wants to be a Christian. I think this demonstrates mimesis because this is something that could happen.
I have heard of closure before a term Tuesday. Closure is the wrapping or end of a story, like "happily ever after" or a cliffhanger ending. Chapter 100 is the closure for Life of Pi, it allows for the reader to decide what really happened, and decide what they believe in. Style is foreign to me, such as Pi Patel felt in Mexico after he landed, he does not fully understand what the people around him are saying, but he does recognize that they want to help him in a positive way. Style is the way that a author composes a work, it is the diction, flow, and aura that comes from reading a work. Martel uses the idea of comparing multiple religions as a style and developing religion into a theme within the book. Chapter 19 closely relates the unorthodox procedure of using short, but well-organized chapters to explain the similarites and differences of religion from the viewpoint of a small Indian boy.
*in a
Culture is one term that I knew for sure. Life of Pi shows a lot of examples of cultures, or in this
case, multiple cultures. Pi often talks about the culture of where he grew up. Most of the people
around him are Hindu, but Pi goes against his culture by being of three religions. By being of
three religions, he becomes of three separate cultures. Besides the religious culture that he talks
about, he mentions the general social culture of Pondicherry, India. One term that I did not know
was mimesis. Life of Pi shows mimesis by using metaphorical mimesis. It brings real life
religious values into its world. Metaphorical mimesis is a way of bringing intangible human
concepts into the literary world such as religious ideals and philosophical ideals. Pi often talks
about religion and the novel is, by definition, a religious novel. It examines the true meaning
behind religion and what each one means. Pi takes the best of the religions he likes and forms
his own set of religious ideals.
Narrative applies to all chapter thus far in Life of Pi, save for the chapters the author interpolates here and there. I will use my favorite chapter thus far, chapter 8, to explain. Pi and his brother, Ravi, are taught a lesson about the dangers of wild animals. Their father forces them to witness a tiger slaughtering a goat. Pi describes what he sees, what he hears, and how he feels about all of it. He articulates what he believes his mother felt, “If Mother, normally so unruffled, so calm, was worried, even upset, it meant we were in serious trouble” (32). It appears that Pi is showing omnipotence, but he’s simply speculating, in true narrative fashion.
Intentionalism was a new term to me: the theory that literature be judged in terms of the author’s intentions. This is an interesting concept with this book. Which author? We have the author, Yann Martel, but we also have the Author, who inserts himself in the book. We could sift through interviews of Yann Martel and try to grasp what his intentions were, or read the novel and assume what his intentions were. The Author’s intentions are likely easier to figure out, as he interjects commentary throughout the novel, outside research would be unnecessary. An interesting dilemma.
In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, I sense mimesis within his story. As we have discussed, some of his writing is true, but some is not, and it is tricky to decipher just when he switches between reality and fiction. Take, for example, the Author’s Note. How is one supposed to know that that really isn’t Yann Martel, the author, but instead the author that is telling Pi’s story? He mixes in reality with his literature, and it is amazing how well-crafted it is.
I also see the reception theory in progress as we proceed to read the book. We, as readers, have little to nothing resembling Pi’s background. We have not lived in a zoo, in India, or have moved to Canada for a better life. We have not chosen to follow such an interesting religion pattern. As readers that share such little connection, a deeper meaning may be easier to spot, and Martel’s intention may be captured better, because of it.
One of the Tuesday term that I do know is narrative/story and it connects very well with the book Life of Pi. This term is what the entire book is about because it is a story or an account of events and experiences. The book is literally about a man who is telling you a thrilling childhood adventure that the had experienced. A term that I did not know was The Literary Cannon, which connects with the novel because it was a very popular piece of work. It is a very important piece of literature for the time period. It helped bring the most diverse religions closer at a time when they were the most apart and corrupt. It seems like you can pretty much find all of the Tuesday terms within the books that we have read and that is what makes them so great. They have such diverse use of literary tactics that make them so enjoyable to read.
One Term Tuesday term that I was unfamiliar with was a paradigm shift. A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions. Throughout Life of Pi, Yann Martel is telling the story of Pi Patel as though he were another author hearing Pi tell him the story himself. He makes it seem as though Pi had told him the story and now he is taking Pi's word for everything that he says and making it seem realistic and true. This is very similar to the way that Kesey used Bromden to tell the story or be the narrator in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. One term that I was familiar with was culture. In the beginning of the book, the story takes place in India. Pi Patel practices three of the most prominent religions in India and the way that he and the rest of the characters act is a reflection of Indian culture.
This whole book is one large Paradigm Shift. What I mean by this is, the way people look at religion is altered by this book. It sparks controversy and understanding between the religions. Pi Patel has discovered God in more ways than one. He has fallen in love with God three different ways with three different religions. This sparks controversy because the religions all say that you can only worship one God and each religion is seen as having a different God. Pi reasons with people in chapter 23, he states that all religion is true and they all worship the same God.
The Closure of chapter 36 is a cliff hanger. The author was talking of how Pi and his family were now happy, hinting that there was more to come that wasn't so. As readers, we have grown to care about the characters and we have grown sympathy for the poor misunderstood boy who very strongly just wants to love God. It makes us worried for what might happen to him and his family.
Jeremiah Burkman P2
A term I have heard about and know about is imagery. Yann Martel helps me connect the ending of chapter 18 with imagery for me. He is describing how he worships Islam and the steps that he and the other followers carry out in order to show the religious respect to Islam. Martel describes which body parts are going where, how many times they are kneeling, and even the sweat that begins to show itself after awhile. This repeated word process translates into my mind as if I was there, watching their every move.
A term I have not heard of was Milieu. At the beginning of chapter 23, Martel tells his readers his religions he is practicing and the reactions of the people around him. The people of his community go behind his back to inform his own parents that their son is practicing religions other than Hindu. It seems like a dangerous disease the way they speak about it.
2 Williams
The term allusion had been taught to me in many English classes I had taken over my years of school. In Life of Pi Yann Martel alludes to the religions of Christianity, Hindu, and Islam throughout the book. However, he especially does this in chapter sixteen. “If you ask me how Brahman and atman relate precisely, I would say in the same way the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit relate: mysteriously.” In this passage Pi Patel tries to explain how Christianity and Hindu can be very similar.
I had heard of the term exposition before but never the term milieu—which really means the same thing. It is the background, setting, or social times in which something happens or occurs. An example of this is the author’s note at the beginning of the novel. Although it says it is the author’s note, this is a fictional author and he is providing the reader with his setting of where he is writing his book. “I had been in India before, in the north, for five months.”
In Chapter 23, the encounter between the three wisemen, Pi, and his parents occurred. Culture--a term I was previously familiar with--relates heavily here. In this chapter, the reader sees three different religious leaders coming together to discuss why Pi is practicing all three (Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity). Religion is a large portion of what makes up a culture, and these three specifically are the most prevalent in Indian culture. It is a cultural taboo to be a practicing member of three religions.
I would like to relate the term mimesis--a term with which I was not completely familiar--to the book as a whole. The mimesis maxim states “it’s not real, but it can be true.” With the author’s note and the italicized portions of the book, the story definitely becomes more believable. The reader is almost completely convinced that this is a true story, but we know that the story, in fact, is one of fiction. The author is not actually Yann Martel, but it would seem as if this is so. The author speaks with Pi, who acts as we would expect him to (survivalist, protects family, religious paraphernalia). These aspects certainly make the story seem true.
I am familiar with the term irony. Irony is something that is known to the audience but not the character. There are three different types of irony: verbal irony, dramatic irony and situational irony. Martel did a great job of using irony and other literary devices in Life of Pi. One example comes from page seven. "Fresh off the boat, are you?" This is ironic because Pi was in a boat for 227 days. I was unfamiliar with the term Milieu. Milieu is a person's social environment/ background. This connects with the book because Pi Patel grew up on a zoo and believed in many different religions.
2 Harris
Closure means that you will not be left in a cliffhanger. You will not be left wondering what is to become of things or why a certain outcome came about. This is one of the Term Tuesday terms that I had heard of before starting to learn about all of the different terms. This term also applies to the book Life of Pi. It applies to chapter 36 in particular, where the last line reads: "This story has a happy ending." This helps give me closure that whatever badness is to come in the following chapters, happiness will come after.
The next term I decided to use is Milieu. It means a person's social or environmental background. Meaning Pi grew up loving many religions and living in a zoo. So when he goes to college he studies religion and animals. Is this by luck? No it is because that is what he loves and knows best. The Author of this novel is from France, therefore there are a lot of french references in the novel. Like, some of the names and the places they go.
House 2
A term I was already fairly familiar with was culture (culture is to beehive what honey is to society). Throughout the first 93 pages, Pi’s culture--even multiple cultures at once--is quite evident to the reader. In chapter 23, Pi encounters all three religious leaders on the top of the hill. It is easy to observe that each religious leader has their own beliefs because of their background and culture. Each faith has their own beliefs; no religion beliefs the exact same as the other. When the three religious leaders meet they begin calling each other out for what they think is wrong in the others’ faiths: “”’Piscine, can this be true?’ asked the imam earnestly. ‘Hindus and Christians are idolaters. They have many gods.’ And Muslims have many wives,’ responded the pandit.” (67) The culture is essential to the plotline of the novel. A term I had not been exposed to previous of a Term Tuesday was mimesis (it’s not real, but it can be true). Starting with the author’s note, the reader is already questioning if this is a true story because the author’s note is supposed to be from the author (like Yann Martel). All of the italicized parts blur the line between fiction and truth.
The first connection I will make is to my own term Tuesday. Brandon and I had the term “culture” in our presentation and I find it extremely relevant to this novel. Set in India, Pi claims himself to three separate religions: Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, particularly around chapter 7. Culture plays a huge part in why Yann Martel chose these three religions for his main character. Not only are these three prominent belief systems in India, but in the modern world there was an ongoing battle of religions, most notably Christianity and Islam. By merging these three together, he shows how religion can coexist in one person, so it should be able to coexist in one society and culture as well.
My second connection is to the term “metafiction”. The definition of metafiction reads: “a style of writing that draws attention to the fictional nature of the work.” I am relating this term to Life of Pi because it is the exact opposite. All throughout the novel, especially featured in the author’s note, Yann Martel tries (and succeeds) to the make the novel seem so realistic and life-like that the reader believes the story to be true. He even goes as far as to write a fictional author’s note that resembles himself, so the reader believes the back-story and information is real as well. For this, I find Martel a genius.
Danny Eitreim
Period 2
Genre was a Tuesday term that I’m sure most of us already knew. Genre is fairly ubiquitous in all forms of storytelling. Life of Pi is a novel that bend and blurs the lines between genres. In the novel, chapter 41 almost reads like a traditional adventure story. Pi is trapped on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a dangerous animal. Tension is provided by the uncertainty of his situation. However, this chapter also has elements of other genres. Pi's telling of the story feels like a memoir and his appreciation for the beauty of the animals seems similar to a David Attenbourough documentary. I believe Yann Martel's goal in this novel was to produce something that doesn't sit squarely in the confines of one genre or another, it is a blend of the best of several genres.
Bricolage was a Tuesday term that I was not familiar with. It means something that is created from a variety of sources. I think this is a fair description of the Pi himself, especially in chapter 23. In this chapter Pi's parent meet his three religious mentors and realize what he has been doing. Pi is a bricolage of religious beliefs, synthesizing three religions into one spiritual system.
I was familiar with the word culture before taking this class. In Life of Pi, there are many cultural elements shown throughout the book. Chapter 35 especially displays the culture that the Patels are leaving behind in India. “For she was leaving India, India of the heat and monsoons, of rice fields and the Cauvery River, of coastlines and stone temples, of bullock barts and colorful trucks, of friends and known shopkeepers, of Nehru Street and Goubert Salai, or this and that, India so familiar to her and loved by her” (90). Indian culture is very different from that of Canadian culture, so the Patels will experience a culture shift once they arrive in their new home. Milieu is a word that I was not familiar with before taking this class. Pi grew up in a home that was not centered around religion, yet he went out and began to practice Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. In Chapter 23, Pi’s parents find out that he has been practicing three different religions, and they are shocked. Based on Pi’s milieu or social background growing up in a zoo, he should want to do something in zoology, which has opposite views of religion. Pi’s parents come to accept his practicing of the three religions even though it is looked down upon in society, which also creates a shift in their milieu or social environment.
Kuehn 2
One term I had heard before is narrative. A narrative is a story or account of events or experiences. The whole book is a narrative, but one chapter that embodies this term is chapter 31. This chapter is when Mr. Kumar and Mr. Kumar meet each other at the zoo. Pi narrates the events that happened that day, starting outside the zoo looking for meeting Mr. Kumar, and leading to the zebras.
One term I had not heard before is bricolage. Bricolage is a creation from a diverse range of available things. The first 93 pages of this book are an example of bricolage, bringing many little stories into one book. Chapter 4 is an excellent example of bricolage, because it is a collection of many different types of information. Pi talks about Pondicherry history, about his father’s past job, about the zoo, and about the animals. These topics do not seem to go together, but they are put into a cohesive chapter.
The Term Tuesday that I have heard of is mimesis. Chapter six relates to the term mimesis because the event in that chapter seems real but it is not. The author puts the italicized parts in the book to make the reader wonder if the book is real or even just that one thought. “He makes me the most zesty yet subtle macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had” (25). I can vision macaroni and cheese and smell the zest. Mimesis is an event that could happen but did not. This book is filled with parts where the reader has to remind themself that it did not happen, this book is fiction. This chapter is a simple idea because most people can make macaroni and cheese but there can be more harder situations to believe. But as an author I would start out small and easy. I would in a sense gain the reader’s trust.
Reception theory is important to Yann Martel. He wants a reaction. One chapter that he really wanted a reaction was chapter eight. This chapter was about Pi’s father teaching the boys about the tigers. Reception theory is a term I did not know but it means that the author knows how important it is for the readers to understand a situation or how they would look at a situation. In the book, many opportunities arise to explain the reception but our reception can be groomed by the beginning of the book or chapters prior.
A term Tuesday word I had heard of was irony. Irony is found in chapter 8 with the lesson Pi's father teaches him and his brother with the tiger. This is ironic because I know from prior knowledge that Pi ends up getting stuck with a tiger all alone on a boat and he has to fight to survive. It is ironic that his father just happened to show him the ferocity of a tiger when Pi ends up being stuck with that same animal on a boat. An unfimiliar term to me was bricolage. This is when something is made up of various things. Bricolage can describe Pi as he is made up of three different religions himself. This can be found through most chapter in our first section of reading.
Martel uses several literary devices in his book, Life of Pi. One term that he used that I am familiar with is allusion. Pi talks a lot about God and religion in this novel so it’s no surprise that he makes an allusion to the bible in chapter 5. When the pizza man asks for Pi’s name, Pi says “I am who I am”. This is exactly what God said to Moses when Moses was talking to the burning bush in Exodus 3:14. I term that I am not so familiar with that he used would be Mimesis. When I researched mimesis I found that it means mimicry or imitating something from another piece of literature. In chapter 17 Pi talks about how he did not understand why Jesus was sacrificed so that our sins could be forgiven. He explains what it would be like if he were put into Jesus’ position: “I have decided that the only way the lions can atone for their sins is if I feed you to them.” “Yes, Father, that would be the right and logical thing to do. Give me a moment to wash up.” By saying this, Pi is imitating something that happened in the Bible, therefore mimesis is used.
Culture is one of the term tuesday words I knew before it was presented. Pi is from India making his native religion Hindu. The culture I find the most interesting in this book is about the religion culture. He wants three religions to be a part of his life, Christianity, Hindu, and Muslim. These religious cultures should not be combined but Pi combines them and I find it very intriguing.
Paradigm shift is a word that I had no idea existed before term tuesday. The views of culture change the way society thinks. Religion is a main aspect in this book and I find this example to fit this word well. In our culture we are taught that you can only have one religion and that one religion your practice surmounts every other religion. If our culture tells us to only follow one religion we do so, but when we see someone, like Pi, follow three religions this becomes odd and we outcast them. Pi does not let his culture affect the way he thinks like the others. To me this is what makes him a hero of some sort.
In a book full of literary devices, I noticed how culture, a word I knew well, influenced the the plot of the novel. Culture is defined as the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. In this novel, we focus primarily on the section of religion in a particular nation. Pi chooses to pick Hindu, Christian, and Islam. These three are all present in India and it shows that all religions are somewhat similar in the way the think and operate. Religions can coexist with each other and it is evident in this novel even when his father disagrees with him saying he has to pick one or the other.
A word I was not familiar with was Bricolage. Sticking with the religious theme, I noticed that a bricolage is made up of various terms or ideas and so on. Through reading this novel, I have noticed that a bricolage is formed in Chapter 23 because he finally states that he is practising all three religions. He goes on to say that teenagers hide things from their parents and he is hiding his bricolage of religion. He doesn’t want to start anything even though he feels as if he actually can tie all three together.
A term that I had not heard of before but that relates to this book is intentionalism. The author, Martel, often will write about something that seems to have no value to the book, but he intends for you to find the message of this seemingly unimportant section. This book isn’t about a boy who gets stuck on a boat with a tiger, its implied that its about religion.
A term that I did have some prior knowledge about is canon. Canon is a group of works that is generally seen as valuable and worth your time to read. I think this term relates to the book because personally, I believe everyone should study this book. This book could possibly make people think and change for the better. So many people are sucked into their one religion and believe theirs is the only true one, and throughout the years, we have seen that thinking this way causes strife. Perhaps making this book a canon will make people want to read it and think about its message.
There is a cliff hanger on page 93, "This story has a happy ending." How would you know that the ending is happy? The one little sentence makes me think how could a tiger and a man have a happy ending together after the hardest survival in the ocean. Cliff hangers create questions and this one made many questions appear in my mind.
Ravi has permissive "Adventure beckons," and goes to find whatever makes him so curious. Pi and Ravi's parents do not want them to wander the boat because they could get into trouble. In this specific part of the book, bottom of page 101, has irony. Ravi is the one who goes off to discover but now Pi is going to see what the loud noise like an explosion.
Berndt 3
I am familiar with culture only because we see it in everyday life. Pi encounters it by showing that he is a part of not one but three religions. He is able to embrace what is thrown at him. The Indian culture normally practices Hinduism and that helps with his upbringing. But he takes it one step farther to embrace what he learns from different cultures such as the Christians and Muslims.
Mimesis was not a term I was familiar with. To me, it sounds like a science word. Pi’s encounters with his early life could have happened. Even though this is a work of fiction, Yann Martel is able to give it that realistic feel to the book. There are no high tech gizmos or a super being that exist in the universe. This story that Martel has created could very well happen. Pi’s life may just be being to change, but it will improve his life for the better I believe.
I have known what irony is since 7th grade when I first fully understood it. It is very ironic that he chose to use Mr. Kumar as the name for both of Pi’s mentors. The most ironic aspect of the Kumars is that one is Islam and very religious; he showed Pi the Islamic religion. On the contrary, the other Mr. Kumar is atheist and believes that religion is darkness; this gives perspective to Pi. The two Kumars are ironic of each other as they both contradict each other.
I did not know what mimesis was before our first term Tuesday. It is not real, but it can be real. Mimesis relates to the whole book because the story is a mimesis. He makes you feel like it is real because of the italicized chapters where he is talking to the older Pi. Those paragraphs also make you doubt the realness because they are very confusing.
Culture (special situations shared by a group of people) is a term that I know fairly well. It involves media, societal objects, and religions--which Pi practices three. The readers get a view into Indian culture and their religions.
The whole book is a big paradigm shift in a way (a shift in the way society views things). Pi practices three religions and changes the view of multiple religions. He shows the reader that there is more than one way to love God.
One term I had known before Term Tuesday was allusion. There is a lot of allusions in chapter 26 because Pi is referencing authors and book titles he was discussing with his mother about. He references many authors including Robert Louis Stevenson, Conan Doyle and R.K. Narayan. He also references the book Robinson Crusoe.
One term I didn’t know of before Term Tuesday in terms of how it relates to novels, is culture. There is a lot of culture in this book that we may not understand because the culture is way different in India than it is in America. Some of this culture is shown in chapter 3, when Pi is describing the pools that he had grown up swimming in. The pools around here are not dirty like he describes his pools, and do not have dead fish in them like he says of the Deligny pool. This difference is culture is shown many times throughout the novel, including with the religion of Hinduism and how prevalent it is through India.
Culture is a very important part to the story of Pi. For example, in Chapter 15, the first things that the author notices is the things that relate to Pi's stereotypical Culture. Also, there are the many mentions of spicy food (a staple of cuisine in Indian Culture). However, within this chapter, the author also is taken aback in some ways because Pi defies the culture he was born into. It is important to keep reading onward to see that Pi defied his country of origin's culture in order to, in a way, form his own.
Post-Colonialism is not only important in Life of Pi, but in Indian history as well. It is mentioned more than once that the British occupied India only a short time before the back story of Pi begins. It is also mentioned, when speaking of Mrs. Gandhi, that India is in a new era, and that Mrs. Gandhi is only the third Prime Minister of India. It is important to know the time period in which Life of Pi takes place to truly understand Pi and his family's actions.
Breitzman 3
A vocab word I was familiar with before this semester was imagery. Yann Martel uses imagery frequently throughout the novel, but the most memorable use of imagery came in Chapter eight of the book when Pi's father, Santosh, teaches Pi and Ravi the valuable lesson regarding the tiger. This scene in the novel allows the reader to create a very vivid picture of what Yann Martel is writing about.
A term I was not familiar with prior to this course was hermeneutics, which is the art and principles of interpretation. As readers, we are inclined to interpret what we have read based on our understanding. We are inclined to make predictions and inferences. In this book, we are allowed to interpret many things, like why exactly does Pi choose to worship three religions. Hermeneutics is a great way for us as readers to indulge deeper into what we are reading, and better understand the novel through symbols and ironic statements and instances.
Burch
Pd. 3
Hermeneutics: Reading Literature and Understanding Literature are Two Different Things.
A new term to me, hermeneutics emphasizes the difference between taking information in casually and taking information in intentionally. While reading literature is enjoyable and a worthwhile pastime, understanding literature takes reading to a whole new level. In the first chapter of Life of Pi, Yann Martel designates a page to explaining Pi’s thesis on the sloth. Reading the page would be boring; trying to understand the page makes it immensely interesting. “The three-toed sloth lives a peaceful, vegetarian life in perfect harmony with its environment.” Is Pi idolizing the lifestyle of the sloth? Maybe it is his spirit animal, seeing that Pi is vegetarian and attempts to live a harmonious life by practicing multiple religions.
Narrative/Story: Don’t Tell Me A Story; Narrate Me a Narrative.
Since we were 2 or 3 years of age, we’ve all known what a story was. A narrative is very similar, although much more artistic. It focuses on the telling, while a story focuses on what is being told. Life of Pi is most definitely a narrative. Even in the most dry portions (for me personally, the paragraphs detailing the animals and their cages), the writing is artistic and intriguing, proving Yann Martel’s skill as a composer of the English language.
One word I knew quite well before I had to teach it to the class was imagery. In the book, Life of Pi, my favorite imagery scene occurs when Pi was on page seventy eight, chapter twenty eight. Pi is outside praying on the prayer rug his parents had just bought for him. When he’s praying he is describing how beautiful he world is, and how in touch he is with the earth, his body, and his surroundings. Before being taught about the word milieu I had never seen the word before in my life. In Life of Pi milieu is actually not too hard to find. For example it clearly makes sense that Yann Martel must of had an unsuccessful novel, because he begins this book saying his other novel was sent to Bolivia, Oblivion, and began anew by going to India. Yann Martel also must have been digging deep into his own religious thoughts at the time considering this book features three main religions.
Many literary tactics are used by Yann Martel in his novel Life of Pi. I appreciate the irony and foreshadowing embedded in pages 34-36 when father is teaching his sons a lesson. He says, “Tigers are a very dangerous animal; you are never to touch, pet….” As a class, we know Pi Patel spent 227 days on a lifeboat with a massive tiger. He established a strong connection with this tiger, as he remembers him even as a 40 year old man. It is ironic that father warns Pi of the animal that changed his life.
Another tactic Martel uses is a bricolage of ideas to shape Pi Patel and his ideas. Pi is defined by three different faiths, as well as a close connection to animals and education. He holds Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism dear to his heart. This conglomeration of faith helps describe Pi Patel as a character of strong faith and an open heart. His knowledge of animals and their behaviors lend even more verisimilitude to Pi’s strong character.
The first term that I have heard is Ambiguity. Ambiguity is a term to describe someone who is indecisive or vague in description. I think that this word can partially describe Pi Patel on the topic of religion. Pi is a young man who chooses three different religions. Society looks at this decision and frowns upon it. Society would call Pi ambigious because of his lack in decision making. However, Pi would argue that he is not ambigious because he has simply chosen to practice all three religions. Depending on your perception of the novel, Pi could appear as an ambigious character. One term that I had not heard of before was critical authority. This term describes a character who is very controlling and demanding. This type of character also tends to find fault in people. I think that this term represents Pi's father in the novel. An example of these characteristics surfacing would be the lesson with the goat and the tiger. Pi's father took the authority among himself to teach his sons a valuable life lesson. He was afraid that one of them would become curious and stick their hand in a tiger's cage. To make sure that this unfortunate incident never happened, he showed his sons how dangerous tigers can be. Taking authority, Pi's father released the tiger on a goat and the outcome was shocking for the young boys. However, it shocked the boys enough to teach them a lesson that will stay in their minds forever.
3 Palmer
One literary term I am familiar with is allusion (the reader who reads most, gets most). This term greatly relates to the novel, especially in the first 93 pages, because of all the biblical/religious references. One that particularly stands out is in Chapter 5 when Pi thinks that “it is true that those we meet can change us . . . . even unto our names. Witness Simon who is called Peter, Matthew also known as Levi, Nathaniel who is called Bartholomew, Judas, not Iscariot, who took the name Thaddeus, Simeon who went by Niger, Saul who became Paul” (pg 20). This one sentence is filled with several different allusions which help enhance the reading and strengthen the authors writing.
A word that I was not familiar with, but hope to become even more familiar with is metafiction (nothing new under the literary sun). Life of Pi has many metafictional elements within the novel. Essentially it is fiction within fiction. The character Francis Adirubasamy is a fictional character who is telling a fictional story within this novel. It is like a story within a story.
A term I found applicable to a chapter so far, and that I am familiar with, is Imagery. In chapter 4 Pi is describing the zoo and the beings in it. I found this chapter to be amazing to read because it felt as if you yourself were actually walking through the zoo with him. He describes all of the animals, their noises, their movements, and even how they reacted as he walked by. He continued on to compare the zoo to a human hotel in a way-- something I had never pictured in that way before. At one point in this chapter, on page 15, it says “better to picture it in your head if you want to feel it.” When I did this, and I pictured it in my mind using his words, and his senses-- I could feel it. And that sentence proved to me that the author knew exactly how I would feel as I was reading that chapter. Another word which I had not heard of before was Translation Paradox-- which is making old writings easier to understand. In chapter 17 Pi begins to explore Christianity. And in doing so he is introduced to some of the Bible’s stories. He summarizes them in a confused manner, as he doesn't quite see how they make sense yet. But in a sense he “dumbs them down” enough for his brain to comprehend. Some of these stories were monumental and have been studied since they occurred, so to say they are important is an understatement. The way Pi restates them, even if he may have meant it in a negative way at first, makes you really rethink what Christ or what his disciples had really meant to do with their actions, and it makes you wonder why they did that. Perhaps with this technique, and getting to see a story from another point of view, you can understand it better and even believe in it’s meaning more than you had before-- at least I did in chapter 17.
An inherent problem that has plagued religion since it first spread across cultural barriers is translation. One would think that describing the nature of the divine would prove difficult when speaking to a member of a similar culture. Translating divine nature to an individual who does not share a similar language however… that seems impossible. Interestingly enough, it is my opinion that the translation paradox does not harm or impair Pi in his acquisition of multiple religions. I believe that through putting the foreign religions of Islam and Christianity in the context of his native Tamil (and presumably just as fluent English and French) he is able to blend them in an even greater sense. It also bears noting that just as Pi refused to adhere to a single religion (as the wise men implored him) he also refused to view the religious texts of Islam and Christianity in a linguistic vacuum.
The idea of “closure” is nebulous and vague (as most literary terms tend to be… a side note, but it confounds me how individuals who devote their lives to anything do not start tearing their hair out at the vagueness of it all. As stated in the Rig Veda: “Truth is one, and the learned call it by many names.”) and as such, is open to interpretation. The Author’s assertion on page 93 that “This story has a happy ending” ought to provide me with an inkling that closure will be provided. However, I (perhaps cynically?) do not take this statement as a foreshadowing to closure, but as hope mirrored from the reader through The Author.
The above comment (involving Translation Paradox and Closure) is written by Zeke Wieser.
A word that I was already familiar with prior to Term Tuesday is imagery. Life of Pi has lots of imagery already and we are not even a quarter of the way through the book. An example of this is when Pi’s father takes him and Ravi into the tiger’s den to learn the ultimate lesson. The boys have grown comfortable with animals, being that they have literally been raised in a zoo, and Pi’s father teaches them that despite how cute and cuddly the animals may appear, they can still rip you apart. Even though we are not there to watch the Tiger annihilate the goat we learn the lesson ourselves.
Another word from our Term Tuesdays that I was unfamiliar with is Paradigm Shift. Meaning: a change in the way societies view of how the world works. Pi grows up in a house that is nonreligious. However, Pi himself takes on a number of different religious. As religious people, we cringe at the thought of someone believing in three totally different religious that seem to contradict each other in multiple ways. On the same hand I believe that reading this book will cause people to reevaluate their beliefs. If all religions focus on a God and how we shall please them in order for them to take care of us in some way/shape/form, should we not please all Gods just in case? This book could literally change the way that society believes the world works with religions.
In Life of Pi, there are several different areas of the book that possess many of the terms we have talked about in the Term Tuesday presentations. There are two terms that I would like to discuss.
The first term is narrative, which is the term I knew of prior to learning about it on Term Tuesday. The book thus far has been mostly composed of narrative. Although most of the book is a narrative, I would like to discuss my favorite chapter in the book so far: chapter eight. In chapter eight, Pi shared a story about when he was a child. His family still resided in and owned a zoo. Pi’s father wanted to teach Pi and his brother, Ravi, a lesson about the animals. His father teaches the two about how dangerous the animals are.
The second term (the term that was non-existent to me until more recently) is Paradigm Shift. There is not a specific chapter where this term is used but, the fact that Pi believes (accepts) three different religions. Still to this day it seems kind of taboo to believe in more than one “god”. However, I think that this book could kind of break the stigma of having more than one belief, and accept that it is an ok thing.
One word that I have great knowledge of is irony. Irony is the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. Throughout Life of Pi, many examples of irony are used. In chapter 8, Pi’s father takes him and his brother to see a tiger eat a live goat. Pi sees how vicious tigers can be. This is ironic, because Pi ends up captive on a lifeboat with a tiger.
Before Term Tuesday E, I had never heard of the word paradigm shift. Paradigm shift is basically just a change in societies view of how the world works. We can see the use of paradigm shift in Life of Pi. In the novel, Pi practices three religions, which causes much controversy. Society views Pi as an outsider, because they can not understand how he can believe in three very different religions. Pi’s answer to society is he just wants to love God.
Style (everyone may have one, but a good one is very hard to come by)-- Style is one of our Term Tuesday terms that most people have heard at some point in their lives. In this work of literature by Yann Martel, his style of writing is unique and fascinating. He speaks in first person repeatedly, although he is telling a story of something he hasn’t personally experienced. In chapter 25, Martel discusses how “people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside.” I believe this leads into a term that I had never heard of before: Base/Superstructure (the foundations of literature are not literary). Martel often speaks about religions and the beliefs that Pi has. The foundation of his book is religions due to his consistent reference back to them.
Intentionalism is one of the terms that we have come across. I think it is fairly clear that Yann Martel uses intentionalism throughout Life of Pi. Yann Martel implies a certain meaning in the book, without directly telling us what it is. Everything about the 40 year old Pi is intentional, because Yann Martel is trying to show us how Pi has been affected throughout the ordeal. The reception theory is a term that I am unfamiliar with, however, quick research tells me that it has to deal with how we connect with the author. People who are more closely related to him due to similar circumstances are more likely to comprehend the meaning of the text. I think this definitely applies to Life of Pi because I am sure that I have missed implied meanings because I have not been through similar situations as the author. It is also possible that I do not understand the situations as Yann Martel does.
Before it was assigned to me for my Term Tuesday presentation, I was familiar with the term culture. Culture refers to customs, arts, attitudes, social institutions, and achievements of a particular group. Culture is particularly prevalent in Life of Pi mainly because a culture is presented that we are unfamiliar with. Pi lives in India, a culture that is composed mainly of Hindus. We get details and imagery about the customs of the Indian populace that are different from our own. However we do get a sense of culture familiarity as we encounter Pi’s Christianity. Because Christianity is very much so among us in our own culture, we recognize and relate to this more so than we would with his identification as a Hindu or as a Muslim.
One word I was unfamiliar with prior to Term Tuesday presentations was the essence of closure. It appears on page 93 that the author is attempting to give us some sort of inclination as to how the story will end by stating “This story has a happy ending.” Although we will not reach full closure until the whole book has been read, this phrase offers a small component.
always references certain people and what they are afraid of. The explanation of how each animal reacts to stimuli is his culture. He is inquisitive about his world and thus constantly changing his culture or what he thinks is normal. When really Pi is quite extraordinary in his observations. Reception Theory another term that I see in this book. We have preconceived ideas of India and what it looks like. Now when I think of India I have a much larger view of what it would be like. He also stretches the bounds of our thought not with one religion but three! He shows us what the inner workings of a zoo look like. When we the visitors only know the pretty shell that we want to see. Pi shows us that animals are trainable through repetition but so are humans. We are conditioned to see things a certain way until we don’t.
Narrative/Story (Don't tell me a story: narrate me a narrative): Chapter 36.
The story that Martel is spinning is meant to be just that: a story. It is Pi's narrative that is really meant to challenge us, and make us think and analyse. The simple plot that Martel recounts serves little more than exposition, and a true definition of the man that Pi has become.
Style (Everyone may have one, but a good style is very hard to come by): Chapter 37
Yann Martel's style is new. He will often leave something as a great mystery, such as the identity of Richard Parker, and then reveal it with little fanfare. He also will be very blunt at times, such as when he says, "The ship sank"(97). His use of foreshadowing is often thrown completely out of the window, as Martel reveals the end of the book on the last page of the first part.
Milieu was an unfamiliar term to me before term tuesday but is now a no brainer. Throughout the first 93 pages was all about Pi’s milieu. A milieu is someones social environment/background. Pi begins to explain to the readers about his family, and their background. How he is extremely religious, polyreligious at that, and how his parents aren’t very religious. Pi talked about his uncle, and how important he was to him, and also about his brother who was a jokester. Pi’s milieu is a big important part of this book.
Another no brainer for me was culture. Culture has also been a fairly familiar term throughout my life. Pi Patel experiences many different cultures considering he is polyreligious. Pi Patel talks about the three religions and the cultures that come with it, but also speaks about his social culture in India. In relation to his family’s culture, Pi Patel rebels against it and decides to practice three different religions. That is not only unheard of his Pi’s culture, but in all cultures around the world.
A term I was not familiar with was Milieu. This term is similar to culture, but not the same. Milieu is a person's social environment or background. The things that influence Pi’s social environment the most would have to be the zoo and his belief in three different religions. The different schools he attended growing up would also affect his social environment (professors especially).
A term I was familiar with was culture. At the beginning, this book was set in India and with its setting came the way the character acted. By watching the characters you could pick up on different things about the Indian culture that I had never noticed or looked into before. For example look at Pi and his belief in three different religions. Out of those three religions you can see how they agree and disagree with the Indian culture of the time. All three religions take part in molding Pi into who he is as a person.
Irony is frequent in Life of Pi. Irony is a term that I have always been quite familiar with. There are many examples of irony, but here are just two examples that really stuck out to me as I was reading. The first example that stuck out to me was in chapter 8, when Pi’s father took him and his brother to learn a lesson from a tiger. This is very ironic because Pi ends up in a boat with
just himself and a tiger for many months. Another example of irony is the two Mr. Kumars. It is ironic that one Mr. Kumar is very religious, and shows Pi the Islamic religion, and the other Mr. Kumar thinks that religion is darkness and doesn't believe in such a thing.
Paradigm Shift is a term I had never heard of before Term Tuesday. Paradigm Shift is basically the change of thinking one way to thinking another way. In this book, Pi changes the way he thinks by converting to three different religions. The way he was taught to think was the way of Hinduism, and he thinks freely because he is now poly-religious. He is not stuck to just one belief.
Ashley Guthmiller 6
A word I did not know was Paradigm Shift. Paradigm Shift is the changing of one way of thinking to another. This is shown in Life of Pi when it changes the characters, and the readers, way of thinking about religion and religious ideologies. This is specifically seen in chapter 23 when the three religious figures of Pi’s religions all confront Pi and his parents. They all started bashing on the others religions until Pi started quoting Gandhi and talking about how all of their religions are for the sake of loving God. Then the religious figures, along with the reader, go through a Paradigm Shift where they are more understanding about the other religions and they see them with a new perspective.
A word I did know was Closure. Closure is a sense of completion in which the audience feels all problems have been resolved. Although the problem in the story has not yet arisen, the reader is filled with a sense of closure while reading the end of chapter 36. This chapter is describing how Pi’s life is now, with his child and wife and how happy they are. The final sentence reads,”This story has a happy ending.” Yann Martel does a great job of using this technique before the problem arises.
A term that I'm very familiar with from previous classes is allegory. This book is full of allegories. One of the allegories is when Pi is confronted by the three "wise men" about his religion. This is an allegory because the situation itself is real but it also symbolizes how Pi is being torn in three different religious directions. This physical situation represents a symbolic struggle or problem.
One term i was less familiar with wasn't so much the term itself, as it was one of the explanations of the term. The Art of Fiction by Henry James states that a novel needs to have faithfulness to realism. Life of Pi is really really good at this. The author makes a point of spending 95 pages making sure you realize Pi is the only person who could viably survive this, and only because of growing up in a zoo. Not only that but the chapters of him theoretically talking to an older Pi and learning his story brings more realism into the picture and makes this story much more believable.
Mimesis: representation or imitation of the real world in art and literature.
Life of Pi is a realistic type story but is fictional. Believed the events could be real but they have never actually occurred. Giving a realistic feel to a story that is completely false.
Defamiliarization: technique of presenting to audiences common things in an unfamiliar or strange way, in order to enhance perception of the familiar.
When the cargo ship sank Pi says, “a mountain collapsed before my eyes and disappeared beneath my feet. All around me was the vomit of a dyspeptic ship.” He is explaining that the Tsimtsum has blown up with ship’s detritus surrounding Pi in the water. A shipwreck, not a mountain disappearance, is familiar--vomit from a ship is not.
The book Life of Pi is definitely a very allegorical book. An allegory is book or work of literature that can be interpreted to reveal a moral, religious or hidden meaning. Life of Pi is definitely a religious allegory. Pi’s whole life revolves around the three religions that he practices. This book is full of religious symbolism and religious references. Pi also intermixes his religions which shows the reader that different religions can co-exist peacefully. One term I did not know was mimesis. Mimesis is the representation or imitation of the real world in art and literature. Metaphorical mimesis is used constantly throughout the novel because of this books many themes dealing with religion. Religion is brought into real world situations in Pi’s life. Pi claims to be influenced by religion greatly. Pi says that religion makes him feel happy and refreshed. Pi brings the intangible concept of having three religions at once into a believable reality.
Life of Pi uses a vast amount of terms that we have learned over the past few months. One of my favorite uses of literary devices that i knew was imagery and I find it very enjoyable when an author has great imagery in his/her writings, Martel novel is no different. My favorite uses of imagery in the book so far is before the ship blew up. Martel describes the ship rocking and makes it seem as though an earthquake is happening. Pi sees the water that is on the ship and is fearful of his and his family’s lives. The fear of drowning in the ocean can almost be seen and Martel does a good job of displaying this and the ship itself. One term that I didn’t know was a paradigm shift and it seems that Pi goes through a shift in religious thinking through out the first part in the book. He changes his thinking about just believing in Hinduism and starts to mix Christianity and Islam into his religious thinking.
I seem to associate the term irony with the three religious leaders. The priest, imam, and the pandit, all argue and bicker about the negatives of each others religions. They say how it so bad to be practicing three religions and that it is impossible. Even though one of the sole morals in any religion is to be accepting of others. The fact that his parents are non religious adds to the already burning flame of irony. Both of these are textbook examples of irony. Another word I see fitting is the word culture to Pi. Although this might seem weird, I feel that the word really applies to him. He is explaining religions I have no prior knowledge to, and he is practicing three different religions at once. Not to mention he grew up in a zoo. What could be more culture than that? I feel as if I myself feels more cultured just reading this novel.
Imagery is a word that I am very familiar with. A picture becomes placed in your head from the writing of the author, usually very descriptive writings. Imagery can be used for beautiful, sad, cheery, or gruesome details. Where I felt an overwhelming amount of visions in this book is when Pi’s father takes them to the zoo and teaches them to fear tigers. In Chapter 8, I got a glimpse at what Pi saw through the vivid detail and intensity that Martel wrote with. Besides him talking about the tiger and goat, I also have a clear image when he talked about the only harmless animal, a guinea pig, it was some comic relief.
A very foreign term to me was bricolage. Bricolage is a diverse assortment of things that creates a whole. Pi himself, I consider to be a bricolage. I say this because he has agnostic parents, atheist role models, and himself is a practicing Hindu, Christian, and Muslim as it says in Chapter 23. He is also composed of many cultures: French, Indian, and Canadian. Pi is an assortment of things, coming together to make a whole.
Milieu is expressed throughout this novel, but I believe it is most presented in Chapter five. During chapter five the reader gets an inciteful look into Piscine’s social culture. Here the reader sees Piscine being made fun of by his fellow classmates because his name sounds like pissing. The reader then follows Piscine as he decides to put his foot down. He will no longer be made fun of, but instead he shall call himself Pi so there is no connection with his old nickname. When he does so his classmates actually follow in his footsteps and re-name themselves after math symbols. I believe Yann Martel also implements defamiliarization in the case of religion in Chapter seventeen. Yann Martel presents in a religion, something old and commonplace, in a new and vibrant manner. Accepting two religions, and then on to even three is an incredible concept and one I had not thought of before, nor I assume have many others. This is one example of Martel presenting a common idea in a magnificent manner.
I am familiar with intentionalism from previous English classes, especially Mrs. Sandro’s class last year. I felt we did a lot of in depth discussion of how the author has written a book in such a way to the point where they want us to judge the book a certain way and pick out certain pieces of foreshadowing, flashbacks, etc. For those who are not sure, intentionalism is the theory that a literary work should be judged in terms of the authors intentions. An example of this from the book would be the authors choice of Piscine’s name. The name means pool, but it also shares a derivation with pisces which means fish. This emphasizes the very strong swimmer that he is who is able to survive in the ocean after a shipwreck. He has a very odd name that kind of has the ring of an allegory to it almost placing Piscine in a position of being mythic character. For those unaware (I knew I was) of the meaning allegory, the definition states that it is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning. In other words, an allegory is a symbol. I used to have a very hard time understanding allegories. I had a hard time understanding allegories but with the help of my fellow classmates I now have a better understanding. Another way in which you can look to find both intentionalism and allegory is to take a look at the characters names because most often there is a reason why an author choose to name each character. Piscine shortens his name to Pi early in his life. Pi is a number that is equivalent to 3.141592653…. This number is a symbol of Pi’s long journey with all of it’s variations along the way.
A Tuesday Term™ I knew before learning it in class is culture. This applies to the story in many ways. Most notably, the main religion in India, where Pi lives, is Hinduism, but Pi follows not only this religion, but also Christianity and Islam. This is blasphemous to the leaders of the three religions. Another, much more minor way in which culture affects the novel is at the very beginning when Pi goes to an Indian restaurant in Canada and tries to eat the food with his fingers. The waiter looks at him funny and guesses he’s from a different country because in North America, the accepted standard is to eat with silverware instead of using your fingers.
A Tuesday Term™ which I knew to an extent but wasn’t completely sure of was the difference between a story and a narrative. This novel is a narrative. In the unitalicized sections, Pi is narrating from his point of view in the first person, and ownership is created in this way. The italicized sections feature the point of view of the author, Yann Martel, talking to Pi (and others). This is also written in the first person, creating ownership by Yann Martel.
I knew what the word imagery was before Ezra explained it more. Throughout the novel, Martel uses fantastic imagery whether it’d be going to the zoo and imagining each animal attacking you or on the lifeboat as the hyena runs a record 3200 meter race. I really liked the use of Martel’s imagery as I feel like I am actually with Pi. Some authors use very bland imagery but Martels would be zesty.
One word that I did not know was critical authority or the analysis of a piece of literature. Here is my critical authority on Life of PI: I think it is a really interesting book. I heard a lot of how boring people thought it was during the first part but I actually liked it. The aspects of Hinduism definitely did not make sense to me but it was neat how he compared the three religions. Even now as I am reading his journey through the Pacific on a lifeboat, you would not imagine there would be things to do but Martel sure does come up with stuff to write.
Andrews 6
A Term Tuesday term that I was unfamiliar with before being taught what it means is ambiguity. Ambiguity is a statement that has two or more possible meanings. So far in Life of Pi, there have been many things that have stood out as having more than just the written meaning, it’s as if Yann Martel is trying to tell us, the readers, something deeper. A Term Term Tuesday term that I was familiar with and have heard of often is irony. Irony is the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous of emphatic effect. What what I have read so far, Life of Pi is filled with small ironic statements. For example, at the beginning of the book we find out Piscine Patel is named after a swimming pool and we have been told that he spends 227 days on the Pacific Ocean.
Pliska 6
Milieu is a term that I would connect with the eighth chapter. Milieu means the location, setting, or surroundings. In chapter eight we really delve into the setting of Pi’s home. In this chapter we are taken throughout the zoo seeing all of the different animals. This chapter really gets the point across that Pi actually lived right next to a zoo. It is this chapter that establishes the background of animals in the story, making it a very important chapter. It is an interesting thought to have your surroundings consist of a zoo and all of it’s animals. Irony is another term, and I would like to connect it to chapter 23. Chapter 23 is the chapter in which the conversation between Pi and his family and the three priests take place. I am connecting irony to this chapter because I found it ironic that the three priests started arguing, and each was being ignorant. While a child was able to find peace and have the most wisdom out of the group.
I believe that in Life of Pi, Yann Martel is an expert in imagery. So far, the examples of imagery have been extraordinary. The one part that sticks out in my mind is the description of Mahisha’s attack on the goat. “Silence fell again, except for bleating and the click-click of the goat’s hooves against the floor. A streak of black and orange flowed from one cage to the next” (35). In the last sentence, Martell could have simply said the tiger moved into the other cage and had the same meaning. Instead, he describes a streak of orange and black, letting the reader know it is Mahisha without specifically saying it. He also describes it flowing which gives the visual of a graceful animal approaching its prey.
Another term that I realized was brilliantly used throughout the first 94 pages of Life of Pi was a paradigm shift. Before this semester, I was unaware of what it meant to have a paradigm shift in a novel. However, a paradigm shift was explained to me by the marvelous Nate Bennett in his term tuesday. This book changes the way authors can write fiction. By Yann Martel choosing to have the author have some of his own experiences, he changes the way authors can write fiction. This is the only book I know of where the author creates another author using autobiographical elements as well as fictional elements
One term I had heard of before Term Tuesday was irony. Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning. Many examples of irony are used in this novel. It is ironic how a deadly tiger is the reason why Pi feels safe on the boat in chapter 53. Having a dominant predator in the middle of the boat caused the hyena not to go after Pi. Richard Parker also gives Pi a reason to live. He has to provide for another living thing, Richard Parker, so he can not just give up. Richard Parker keeps him sane on the lifeboat. Pi is without anyone and Richard Parker turns into a companion.
A term that I had never heard of before Term Tuesday was paradigm shift. A dramatic change in society's views, change in the way societies view of how the world works. In Life of Pi, it talks about the country of India and their rituals. Religion is a big thing for Pi and he adopts three different religions, Hindu, Christian, or Muslim. This shocks everyone because that it is normal society does not view that as normal. Therefore this book may help society accept the views of people adopting multiple religions.
I was very familiar with the word Culture, we all have our own. Culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. Culture shows the way people do things or rituals within their family. In this section of the novel we find out a lot about Pi's past and his religion. For multiple chapters we learn how at first Pi questioned the idea of different religions and then became accostumed to them. He learned the way they do things through their culture.
The second word that I chose is a mileu. I found out that it shows a person's social environment. I think that this novel has done a great job so far of showing and telling the readers about Pi's environment. We can start to really feel how Pi felt when his father gave the goat to the tiger.
A Term Tuesday word that I knew before it was taught in class is Imagery. Imagery is expressed greatly in the book so far in our reading. It is used wonderfully in chapter 8 where Pi’s father takes his brother and him to the big cats house where he is going to teach his boys a lesson. Mr. Santosh wants to teach the boys to not put their hands into any of the cages. He has had Mahisha starved and has a goat placed into the cage next to Mahisha. When the trapdoor is opened and Mahisha runs to the goat imagery was great in my mind. I could see everything that was happening as I was reading it. Even though I did not enjoy this part of the book for it being sad that the goat was eaten, it is truly in my mind for the rest of the book.
A Term Tuesday word that I was not familiar with before it was taught was Critical Authority. I had know somewhat about it, but was enlightened with it after the term tuesday. Critical authority is the reader’s right to believe and criticize whatever they want to about the book. This can be seen in the book with the three wise men in chapter 23. Pi’s secret of having been practicing three different religions. The three so called wise men are not happy that Pi’s has been practicing different religions other than their own. The reader may not be happy with this along with the wise men, but they have the right to believe and criticize what they want to.
7 Ripperda
A term that I had prior knowledge of was narrative. The term narrative describes a written piece (fiction or non-fiction) of connected events. Unlike many of the terms, narrative applies to the entire novel, bar the italics. Chapter 3 represents a narrative. The chapter narrates Pi's back story and origin of his names, as well as other exposition elements.
The term that I lacked knowledge of prior to this class is mimesis. Mimesis is an imitation, a fake (but not necessarily untrue) representation of an event, or collection of events. Chapter 6 (as well as many other italicized chapters) represents mimesis. These chapters seem like a secret journal type entry that the author is giving to us. They feed us tidbits of information about Pi, that information allows us to develop Pi's character beyond what we would otherwise be able to.
Culture is one term that I am very familiar with. Culture connects very well to the Life of Pi, because Pi talks about his culture, and the cultures of everyone around him, quite a bit. Pi grows up in Pondicherry, India. The people in this town are mostly Hindu. Pi is different from these people because he belongs to three religions, making him a part of three different cultures. You can observe that culture is a huge part of the book after reading the first sentence of the book: “Academic study and steady, mindful practice of religion slowly brought me back to life.”
A term I have not been familiar with is Milieu. This term stands for the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops. This is portrayed in the book when Pi is stranded on the boat in the ocean. when he is stranded, it helps himself develop as a character and learn how to live on his own.
Since honors 9, we have been familiar with the term intentionalism. We have read novels with the intent of interpreting the book through the author's point of view. In Life of Pi, we see the authors point of view, giving us an insight to the main character. When Martel narrates the story in italics, we get further insight about Pi. A term I am not familiar with is milieu. This means the physical or social setting in which the story develops. In the book, Pi is stranded in the middle of the ocean on his life raft.He develops further because he has to learn to survive by himself as he is the only human on the raft.
I was previously familiar with the term 'style' when involving literature. Yann Martel, the author, shows his own personal individual style when he uses the italicized chapters in the novel. These chapters consist of the author interacting with Pi. Pi is telling the author his story in the regular chapters and in the italics, he is mentioning observations of Pi’s home. I did not know the word memises before the wonderful Term Tuesday presentations. Continuing on with the first examples, the italicized chapters are the instances where the author interacts with the fictitious Pi. The interactions did not actually happen but seem like they could have. It is an imitation of something that could happen, it is hard to tell whether these interactions are real or fiction. One must have a thorough understanding of the author’s intentions to be able to fully decipher what is real and what it not.
One word from our list of Term Tuesday vocabulary words I am familiar with is culture.
Maxim: Culture is to society what honey is to the beehive
The word culture relates to Pi because of his beliefs in the particular society he thrives. For example, he is seen odd due to his perception of religion.
A phrase in which I was not familiar with from our Term Tuesday list is descriptive style. This writing technique is present many times throughout the book, but I found that the most prominent section was the description of the zoo and all of the animals in it. The author allows the reader to visualize Pi prancing around the sidewalks, peering into cages, and fully enjoying the atmosphere.
A writer’s environment, social and physical, tends to have a significant impact on his/her works. Milieu is a person’s social environment. In literature it is not the origin of the author, but the origin of the story. And in the case of Life of Pi, the milieu is the vibrant flourishes of a reforming India; it is the bitter crispness of the safe haven of Canada; it is the vast openness of the rolling blue tides of the Pacific Ocean. Originally it was to be 1939, Portugal, a rather dull story overall as Martel later realized. But Martel found a story, pursued it, and produced a shimmering novel of an incredible story, told through incredible words (which brings me to my second term).
Imagery is a word, technique, and skill that I’ve heard about for forever. Pictures bursting with descriptions of exotic wildlife from far and wide: rhinos existing in harmony with tiny goats, orang-utans, ferocious striped beasts that reign with a majesty specific to tigers. I’ve said this book is written rather beautifully, and I will continue to say it, because it’s pretty true. The imagery in this book is really like no other I’ve ever read in any literature class ever.
Style (everyone may have one, but a good one is hard to come by)-- Martel’s narration style is both effective and intriguing. Having the main character reflect upon his childhood revoking adventure as an older adult provides the reader with an original perspective. You get the feeling of being on the adventure with Patel and Martel. Patel as he recollects. Martel as he records. Although the novel seems to jump around in subject matter, it is actually an intricately woven system of memories used fantastically to create a realistic example of storytelling.
Imagery (a picture is worth a thousand words, but usually doesn’t require as many)-- Martel gives the reader a varying palate of description which both is accurate and poignant. The images he uses cause the reader to feel as though they are participating in the story, rather than solely reading an autobiography.
I had previously heard of the term “culture”. Turns out that culture is the music, shared history, cuisine and practices of a group of people. In Life of Pi, there are many mentions of culture. Pi makes the author character copious amounts of spicy food, which the author covers in yoghurt to diffuse the heat. The history of Pondicherry is mentioned often, including the French rule and its reunification with India. There is also a lot of time devoted to religion, a major part of culture around the world, and especially in India.
I had not heard of the term “postcolonialism”. Post-colonialism is the response of authors to the end of the Imperialist Era. The book spends time talking about the history of the nation of India, like the instability of the nation after a period of time with a dictator and the religious tension between Christians, Muslims and Hindus.
One term I know quite well is imagery, it means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas to appeal to physical senses. Yann Martel uses it well in chapter 3. page 11. The way he uses Mamaji to describe the Piscine Molitor, “It was a pool the gods would have been delighted to swim in.” It was really helped show how much Mamaji was into swimming.
A term I did not know before term tuesday was paradigm. The author Yann Martel uses it to show great shifts in the book like from the religious side when all the religious leaders are fighting over who is right and that Pi can’t belong to all three. But, Pi believes that they all believe the same god and so on. I thoughts this was a great example of a paradigm shift of a sorts.
In the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel he uses allusion to tie the book to show that humans and animals are the same. There are multiple time within the 93 pages that we read where the author compared animals to humans and how animals show us how we actually work. For example he tells of us of morphism and how two different animals to life together even though they are different similarly humans of different beliefs and religions have to be able to get along for society to work. A term that I was unfamiliar of was bricolage. Yann Martel uses bricolage when he tells us that Pi is all off the religions. Pi likes different aspects of the religions so he incorporates them into himself, because there was no religion that he could do that had all of the beliefs that he liked.
Darrington 7
Yann Martel utilizes imagery throughout the novel frequently. Imagery is the creation of an elaborate description of an event of scene. When he is describing nearly everything he describes the setting vividly. Early on, he explains the pools with clear detail. “The water was so clean and clear you could use it to make your morning coffee” (pg. 11). He describes the zoo animals and their behavior, along with his introduction to three religions with precise detail. Another term that Martel uses is culture. Culture is everything that a society does, such as religions, traditions, songs, etc. Some examples of this include a look into three different religions and how they pray (Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam). Another example of culture in the book is the way Pi’s brother plays cricket, his uncle swims, and many people go to the zoo for personal enjoyment. He describes how the the Indian man uses his hands to eat, which is odd to the Canadian country he is living in now.
I needed four more words for my comment, so here's eleven.
I am very familiar with the term genre. I believe that all of us learned what genre is as soon as we could read. The way Life of Pi is written, is making it really hard to tell what kind of genre this book is. I understand that the actual book is fiction but I was very confused when an author note popped in and it wasn’t actually from Yann Martel.
I was not very familiar with the term milieu (not where the author, but the author’s work comes from). In Life of Pi is all about a man who came from India and was shipwrecked for days on end. Yes, Yann Martel went to India, but he was not from there. His story came from India, the characters came from India, the settings of where Pi goes, all from India. Yann Martel, is obviously not from India. The end.
Huizenga 7
Paradigm shift is a word I had not heard of before term tuesday. Paradigm shift is an alteration in the way of thinking. This term applies to the novel because of the way Pi changes his thinking by following three religions. He changes from his Hindu way of life to a poly-religious way of thinking about things. He compares these religions and lives accordingly.
Culture is a word that I had heard of before term tuesday. This applies to the novel because the author, Yann Martel, details some of the cultural differences between Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. Martel traveled to India in order to make the story accurate and more realistic. The story takes place in Pondicherry, a former French colony in India, and Martel does a fantastic job at using subtle details to show that it is still influenced by the former french rule. Martel uses his experiences in India to accurately depict this story.
Imagery is a term I had already heard of before in previous classes, and I think this book does very well in using this term wisely. In chapter 8, when Pi’s father is showing Pi and Ravi that animals are exactly that, animals, I feel as if the author does a good job in using imagery.
A term that I was unfamiliar with before this class is mimesis, which is basically saying that just because something isn't real, that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't true. Although this novel is a work of fiction, the author’s note and the italicized chapters help to bring an aspect of realness or at least truth to the story. Which leaves the reader questioning how real and how true the novel really is.
Irony is the term that I would like to point out in Life of Pi. The book is chalked full of irony. The first and foremost being pi's real name. Piscine. Piscine is in-directly related to pools, oceans, anything really that contains water. This is pretty ironic because of the grueling amount of time that Pi will spend on the water with Richard Parker. The other prevalent topic also relates to his name. Pi is his nickname and this is ironic because Pi is an irrational number. This is ironic because as the number is irrational some of Pi's life choices are irrational as well. Pi chooses to follow three different religions and he also aids Richard Parker on joining him on the life boat, which is pretty irrational if you ask me.
The second term is Paradigm Shift. I choose this because I didn't know the term prior to the presentation explaining it to me. I think this relates to Life of Pi because of Pi's shift from hinduism to three religions, then to almost completely doubting the existence of god, then back to the three religions in his life.
Irony is the term that I would like to point out in Life of Pi. The book is chalked full of irony. The first and foremost being pi's real name. Piscine. Piscine is in-directly related to pools, oceans, anything really that contains water. This is pretty ironic because of the grueling amount of time that Pi will spend on the water with Richard Parker. The other prevalent topic also relates to his name. Pi is his nickname and this is ironic because Pi is an irrational number. This is ironic because as the number is irrational some of Pi's life choices are irrational as well. Pi chooses to follow three different religions and he also aids Richard Parker on joining him on the life boat, which is pretty irrational if you ask me.
The second term is Paradigm Shift. I choose this because I didn't know the term prior to the presentation explaining it to me. I think this relates to Life of Pi because of Pi's shift from hinduism to three religions, then to almost completely doubting the existence of god, then back to the three religions in his life.
Irony is used throughout chapter 8 in Life of Pi. A few pages into it Pi tells us about how his father comes to the children to show them that the animals in the zoo are not safe. He shows Pi and Ravi the aggressiveness of Richard Parker when Father unties the goat in Richard Parker’s cage when Richard Parker hasn’t been fed in three days. This allows Richard Parker to be very aggressive and tear the goat to shreds eating it. Before Pi knew what was going to happen when his father showed him this he thought that something was wrong. He then proceeded to blame what he didn’t know on Ravi. After father showed him the lesson with the goat and Richard Parker; Ravi says to Pi the he will throw Pi into the lions cage. This is ironic because Pi ends up on the boat with Richard Parker in the middle of the ocean. Which is very similar to Pi getting thrown into the tiger’s cage.
Paradigm Shift is evident in chapter 25. This is where it becomes evident to everyone that Pi has been worshiping three different religions. This is absolutely not okay for the leaders of the religions they state that Pi must choose one of them and that he cannot continue to worship all three. This is a Paradigm Shift because you rarely have someone worship two religions let alone three. This was something new and not praised for at all and society has a hard time understanding that someone is serving three different religions.
Hillestad 7
Imagery (A picture is worth a thousand words—but usually doesn’t require as many)-- Imagery is a term that I knew before Term Tuesday. Martel uses imagery constantly throughout Life of Pi. Chapter 8 is a chapter that I remember mostly because of the imagery. When Pi is narrating the story, he used imagery to describe exactly what he is seeing and feeling and hearing. He uses it to describe the fear he is in after watching the tiger kill the sheep. It's the use of imagery that suck the reader into the story and makes you want to keep reading. A term I had not heard of before term Tuesday is Milieu (Not where the author, but the author’s work comes from)-- We know this book is written by Yann Martel, but the story is narrated through a fiction author. At the beginning of the story in the authors notes we are informed that this story comes from India.
Over the years of analyzing novels, I have been able to pick up a few terms. One that applies to my current novel (Life of Pi) is the term narrative. The whole book surrounds the idea of narratives: creating narratives, telling narratives, living narratives. The author begins the novel struggling to find a story that readers would love. Wandering through India, he meets someone who ultimately leads him to Pi Patel, a man with a great story to tell. Of course, the author jumps over this idea. He believes he finally found a narrative that people would want to read! He later interviews Pi several times, taking notes over Pi’s stories (to me, however, the stories seem to be completely fabricated).
Milieu is another literary term that applies to this novel. As I was unfamiliar with it at first, you might be, too. A quick synopsis, milieu is a person’s social environment and background. The beginning of Life of Pi focuses on Pi Patel’s personal background, particularly his religious beliefs. We are told about his spiritual journey to becoming a Hindu, Muslim, AND a Christian all at the same time. Additionally, we are told about the zoo Pi grew up on and how his relationship with animals shaped his own ethical views.
Like many other famous novels, there are numerous examples of irony in The Life of Pi. I found it extremely ironic that Pi, who has three religions, it more faithful to all three of them than most people are to their one single religion. It is also ironic that Pi understands that there is more to religion than simply going through the motions and rituals. When the three “wise” men start fighting over which religion he should chose, they look childish and anything but wise which is a perfect example of situational irony. Another excellent literary device used by the author is defamiliarization. He goes into extreme detail the different processes at a zoo and destroys any notion that the reader had of why zoos are bad. Zoos are almost overanalyzed to the point that the reader begins to overthink everything else that is brought up in the book. It catches the reader off guard and forces them to try and wrap their mind around very intellectually insightful topics about human nature.
One term I have been familiar with since elementary school is imagery. Imagery is the formation of mental pictures. Everyone creates their own picture in their heads and they are all different. In Life of Pi, I can vividly picture the zoo and Pi’s children and pets. I imagine it as this massive, sunny, loud zoo with various different animals. Martel uses imagery while describing every animal.
The term Tuesday I learned this year is Paradigm Shift. Paradigm shift is a significant change in the paradigm. Pi changes throughout the book by switching religions multiple times. He can not just choose one, so he eventually thinks he believes in all three. Also, a Paradigm shift can mean a change in societies view of how the world works. Some people are atheist, but they turn into religious people. Pi’s family is known to believe in Hinduism, but they never practice it. Society would first look at them as religious people, but then they would say they do not practice so they can not be believers.
One of the terms I know is imagery. Imagery is the author playing towards the reader's senses through detailed descriptions. A chapter this pertains to is chapter 46. Chapter 46 is made up of the hyena eating the zebra. The author writes about the hyena ripping off the skin like tissue paper, eating its stomach out, and pulling out its intestines. In my opinion, I was quite disgusted by the scene and the imagery. Of course, this was the intent of the author. The author wanted me to feel sorry for the Zebra and hate the hyena. He also wanted me to sense that the hyena is dangerous.
One of the terms I did not know until a term Tuesday was milieu. Milieu is the social environment or background. One of the chapters that I felt embodied this term was chapter 15. Chapter 15 highlights Pi's religious background. He was influenced by his culture and by his community. Everywhere he went, he experienced new religions and cultures as he ventured around his community.
Allegory is a term I am very familiar with. I learned this term within the first few years of high school in the basic English classes. Pi gives us many different allegory's within the book. One that stood out to me is when Pi was describing the torment he received for his name Piscine Patell. His peers and even teachers teased him with the nickname Pissing Patell. When Pi switched schools he had to the chance to reinvent his image per se. When Pi was asked his name he replied by writing Pi on the board and 3.14 after it.
Milieu is the term i was unfamiliar with. Pi gave us detailed descriptions of his life and what he enjoys such as the zoo and the religions he is infatuated with.
A term I have heard prior to the Term Tuesday’s is irony. Irony comes in the forms of situational, dramatic, and verbal irony. In chapter 8, Pi’s father gives him a lesson involving the fiercest animal at the zoo which is a tiger. This is clearly dramatic irony considering the reader knows Pi will be on the long journey with a bengal tiger.
A term I have yet to understand clearly is bricolage. This occurs when something is created through many different sources or ideas. This describes Pi when he is developing his religious ideals. Pi feels as though he sees himself as a part of 3 different religions being Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Obviously, this isn’t of the norm. Yet, a clear representation of bricolage.
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