AP English Summer Reading Assignment

1. The different texts mean that a different person is talking. The italicized text is the author
speaking and the normal text is Pi speaking.
2. Pi was named after a swimming pool, the Piscine Molitor, so it may foreshadow that there might
be something involving swimming or water.
3. Though animals in the wild are free from cages or closed spaces, they are still subject to social
classes within their species and the necessities to survive. All of what they need to do is not really
freedom since they have to constantly respond and face the dangers of their environment.
4. Pi shows that he is determined, as he changed his name to avoid humiliation and bullying. He was
determined to write his name on the chalk board at every class and made sure his classmates
knew his new name.
5. Atheists speak with faith and theists speak with faith as well. Atheists speak with faith in
reasoning and theists speak with faith in their religion.
6. The point of the episode was to establish that one should be cautious about things, as they may be
dangerous. In the same chapter, anthropomorphism is discussed, so the episode also may have
had the point that it is dangerous to give good characteristics to vicious animals.
7. Mr. Patel (Pi), is a man of many faiths or an open-minded person since he has many artifacts from
different religions, which is quite strange.
8. It is something so great that it cannot be described with qualities and even though humans try to
tie it to something, it is much more than that.
9. He is trying to make the point that God belongs to everyone and not to just one person.
10. He likes that Christianity shows love through Gods reincarnate, Jesus, who suffered for human
sins. Christianity allows him to connect and go to God, while Hinduism allowed him to connect
with other beings. He also compares Christianity as a religion in a rush compared to Hinduism,
which is smooth and placidly flowing.
11. He likes the practicality of being able to talk to God through praying anytime. For example, Mr.
Kumar started praying during their conversation out of nowhere.
12. When he was returning home on his bike, he felt at one with the world and all living things and
described it like being in heaven. Later, in Canada, he sees Virgin Mary outside in the snow. This
may be significant due to him being in multiple religions and shows how he has many faiths, as to
see or feel these events.
13. The imam calls Christians and Hindus idolaters. The priest says that there is only salvation in
Jesus. The pandit says that Christians know nothing about religion and the imam says that the
Christians strayed away from the path of God. The pandit says that Islam and Christianity are
idolatry. The priest says that Islam does not have any miracles. The imam says that Hindus have
slavery, support the caste system, and worship dolls. The irony in this scene is that these three
religious men are insulting each others religion instead of trying to explain the benefits of each
respective religion and are too busy fighting to do this.
14. The writer did not know Mr. Patel was married until he saw his wife. I believe that Mr. Patel does
not like to brag about or show off the important things in his life, as the author had said in the
chapter. Also to note, Mr. Patel did not brag about his story or tell anybody until the author asked
him about it.
15. Mr. Kumar the atheist believes in science, while Mr. Kumar, the Muslim, believes in God. These
two men are from different backgrounds and the meeting of them shows that religion and science
can co-exist together.
16. Pi has a great deal of knowledge on animal behavior. With this knowledge, he is able to
understand and relate to animals. He knows that animals are not evil creatures that kill things for
no reason, but that they do what they do for a reason. For example, an animal will attack or run
 away from a person if it invades its territory. Another example is that animals do not escape from
the zoo for no reason, that there is always a reason that causes them to escape, like an abusive
relationship or predator being too close. This may be useful for him in the future. Pis religious
views are without a doubt, strange, as he tries to follow three different religions. He is able to see
the good in each religion and accept it despite that the religions may contradict or clash with each
other. As evidenced earlier, he had experiences that belonged to two different religions
(Christianity and Hinduism). Maybe this religious view may be able to help him stay sane and
give him hope.
17. Pi was going to survive, possibly being the only survivor of the ship sinking.
18. He was faced with many dangers, like being on board with a tiger, being surrounded with sharks
in the water, surviving the ship disaster, and there is no explanation to why he survived and only
God would know why.
19. He describes her with a halo of light around her and describing her as lovely as Virgin Mary.
20. Pi usually does not judge animals, but he characterizes the hyena as an ugly, ungraceful, and
disgusting creature.
21. He was accidently named after the hunter who captured him.
22. The hyena kills and eats the zebra. The hyena later kills Orange Juice. Richard Parker kills the
hyena.
23. He described Richard Parker as a work of art and a great creation. He says things like, His
presence was overwhelming, yet equally evident was the lithesome grace of it. Wavy dabs of
black circled the face in a pattern that was striking yet subtle, for it brought less attention to itself
than it did to the one part left untouched by it, the bridge, whose rufous hustle shone nearly with a
radiance.
24. Fear is a powerful and merciless opposition in life. It is incredibly strong and if one does not
stand up to it, it will consume you.
25. He felt bad for killing it and it was the first time he killed something. He is proud of his victory
that he caught the dorado because he went against fate, the natural world, and all the odds against
him.
26. Pi was shipwrecked for 227 days.
27. He uses the whistle to tame Richard Parker, as Richard Parker hates the noise that the whistle
makes and lays on the bottom of the lifeboat.
28. The storm is the worst one to happen to him, as he loses the raft and his food supply.
29. If Pi did not have Richard Parker, he would be lonely and have no hope.
30. Pi does not know what is going on around him and his current state.
31. Pi becomes bitter and describes something dying in him and never coming back to life.
32. He decided that he would have rather died looking for his own kind than live on the carnivorous
island at the cost of spiritual death.
33. Richard Parker was the only thing keeping him sane and gave him hope and he worked hard to
tame him, but left without acknowledging him.
34. He refutes claims made by Mr. Okamoto. For example, Mr. Okamoto said bananas did not float,
but was proven wrong when they did float. Another example would be how Darwin was not
believed by his peers. He makes points about how Christopher Columbus believed what he saw
and about what Mr. Okamoto would do if he was in the dark.
35. Richard Parker would represent Pis other side, which is an animal-like personality that kills and
eats to survive. The zebra is one of the Chinese sailors. Orange Juice is Pis mother, as described
like Virgin Mary. The hyena is the cruel Frenchman cook.
36.I believe the story with animals is the better story. It was more entertaining to me and covered up
the harsh and gruel realities that Pi may have faced on the lifeboat. The animals covered up the
cruelness that a human could show and made it seem as if it was natural for them to do what they
did.