Life of Pi

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Author’s Note-Part 1, Chapters 1-12

Reading Check

1. Which country controlled Pondicherry during its colonial period?

2. Who tells the author about Pi?

3. What is Pi’s double major at the University of Toronto?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What connection is made by Pi between the two subjects he studies at university?

2. What psychological and physical obstacles did Pi overcome after his journey from India?

3. How does Pi feel about zoos and their impact on animal life?

Paired Resource

Pondicherry, India

• This article describes the history and demographics of Pondicherry, India.
• Facts in the article might spur connection to the themes of Survival Amid Chaos and Religious Belief and Practice.
• What four former French colonies comprise Pondicherry? What religious affiliations are present in Pondicherry? How was Pondicherry impacted by The French East India Company? When was Pondicherry eventually returned to India? How is the colonization of India represented in Life of Pi?

Part 1, Chapters 13-36

Reading Check

1. What religion is Pi raised to be

2. lieve in?

3. Who is introduced as Pi’s wife?

4. What is the name of the ship Pi’s family sails on?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Pi explain the connection between social hierarchy in the animal kingdom and hierarchy in religion?

2. What motivated Pi to convert to both Islam and Christianity?

3. Why do Pi’s parents have concerns about his religious fervor?

4. Why is Pi’s father worried about Indira Gandhi’s decision to declare a state of emergency?

Paired Resource

Indira Gandhi’s Emergency    

• This article explains Indira Gandhi’s Emergency and draws comparisons to modern day India.
• Topics in this text connect to the themes of Survival Amid Chaos and The Power of Storytelling.
• What was the reporter’s experience with Indira Gandhi’s government? How did the Indira Gandhi government make attempts to silence the media? What was Indira Gandhi found guilty of? What was Indira Gandhi’s response to her guilty verdict?

Part 2, Chapters 37-60

Reading Check

1. What does Pi land on when he is thrown overboard by crewmen?

2. Why is Pi unable to communicate with the crew members who throw him into a lifeboat?

3. Though Pi claims to be “equipped with the latest weapons of technology,” what does he conclude it is no match for?

4. What does Richard Parker decide to kill aboard the lifeboat?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Pi afraid of the hyenas on his lifeboat, and what does he do about his fear?

2. How does Pi find solace in Richard Parker’s presence on the lifeboat?

3. What is Pi’s survival strategy aboard the lifeboat with Richard Parker?

Paired Resource

“The Psychology of Survival”

• This article explores real-life survival experiences to explain the essential elements of survival in extreme circumstances.
• Shared themes include Survival Amid Chaos.
• How were Thai football players able to use their experience in football to aid them in survival? What are the keys to surviving extreme circumstances? What did the football players do while trapped in the mine? What day do psychologists claim to be the most significant in a survival situation? What parallels can be drawn between the Thai football players and Pi’s strategy and experience?

Part 2, Chapters 61-85

Reading Check

1. What are the flying fish evading when they pass by Pi’s lifeboat?

2. How many days does Pi determine he will likely live?

3. What is Pi feeding Richard Parker when the tiger accidentally bites him?

4. What emotions does Pi describe as being trapped between?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What religious practices begin to erode in Pi and why?

2. What does Pi determine to be essential for his survival and how does he attempt to maintain these essential attributes?

3. How does Pi experience a rapid decline in his humanity aboard the lifeboat?

Paired Resource

“How to Survive Being Lost in the Ocean, According to Science”

• This 4-minute video explains how to survive being lost in the ocean according to science.
• This connects to the theme of Survival Amid Chaos.
• What strategies could be used to find freshwater sources while stranded in the ocean? How does the information in this resource apply to Pi’s dilemma? Which pieces of advice might have been realistically useful to him?

Part 2, Chapters 86-94-Part 3, Chapters 95-100

Reading Check

1. Where is the castaway who attempts to eat Pi believed to have originated from?

2. What shore does Pi’s boat reach after departing from the island?

3. What do the reporters claim is a botanical impossibility?

4. What does Mr. Okamoto believe to be the reason behind the Tsimtsum’s sinking?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Pi describe the island? What religious connection does Pi make with the island?

2. Why does Pi decide to leave the island?

3. What happens to Richard Parker, and why is Pi upset about it?

Recommended Next Reads

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

• This novella is about a man who awakens one morning to discover he has been transformed into a monstrous vermin.
• Shared themes include Survival Amid Chaos and The Power of Storytelling.
• Shared topics include animalistic qualities in man, isolation, and human behavior.
• The Metamorphosis on SuperSummary

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

• This novel is about a man who makes it his life goal to capture a giant fish.
• Shared themes include Survival Amid Chaos and The Power of Storytelling.
• Shared topics include perseverance, respect for one’s opponent, and allegorical works.
• The Old Man and the Sea on SuperSummary