Honors World Literature Pre-Course Reading Assignments ...

Honors World Literature Pre-Course Reading AssignmentsRequired:Life of Pi by Yann MartelImagine the movie Cast Away, except Tom Hanks is the sixteen-year-old son of an Indian zookeeper, and Wilsonthe volleyball is a hungry Bengal tiger. When the ship carrying Pi, his family, and a menagerie of zoo animals goesdown, the young man survives for months on a tiny lifeboat, battling despair, learning to live off the sea, and forgingan uneasy truce with his feline companion. This is no sappy, Disneyfied boy and his tiger tale; Pi’s account of hisordeal is alternately terrifying, darkly comic, mystical, and inspiring.All students will read Life of Pi. Students should annotate the novel while reading. The annotations willbe used for an in class essay.Students may choose from the following books:The Namesake by Jhumpa LahiriIn The Namesake, Lahiri discusses a variety of themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures,the conflicts of assimilation, and, most poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here Lahiridisplays her deft touch for the perfect detail -- the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase -- that opens wholeworlds of emotion. The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcuttathrough their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged marriage, Ashoke andAshima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts.The Alchemist by Paulo CoelhoBrazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of adistant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the wayhe meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-readEnglishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that ifa metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would bethe "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacherrelationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams."My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at amoonless night.For the second novelDirections: Select one project from the list provided below. All written assignments should betyped and at least two pages double spaced.Gifts: Create a gift box containing ten items that you deem extremely useful for characters inhelping them resolve or alleviate their conflicts in a novel. Provide a written gift card that fullyexplains how each item will help the character(s) in your novel.See second page for continued project ideas

Comic Strip: Create a ten panel comic strip that fully illustrates a significant scene in yournovel. Ensure that each panel includes written captions that explain the action, or that showsdialogue between characters in your selected scene.Dear Diary: Create a “Diary.” Assume the role of a character other than the main character andwrite ten days’ worth of entries where you reveal information that might be useful for the maincharacter if he/she were to find your diary.Map Quest: Draw a map that provides information about the setting of your story. Ensure thatyour map illustrates points of interest—all the places where the scenes in your novel take place.Provide captions that explain your points of interest.Rewrite the Ending: Imagine and rewrite a different ending to your novel by writing fiveadditional paragraphs.Snail Mail: Select two characters in your novel and write two letters from each character. Theletters will demonstrate your two characters communicating significant information to eachother from the scenes in the novel.Film Documentary: Create a film story board and film a five minute documentary that involvesa narrator and projects images that illustrate the significant scenes your novel.Any questions e-mail Laura.Foster@cobbk12.org