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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the main character named after?

2. What was the response of Pi's father to his request for Christian baptism and a prayer rug?

3. When Pi got back into the lifeboat in Part 2, who did he see look out from under the tarp?

4. As Pi was in the lifeboat, what animal floated by and got into the boat?

5. Which of the following does Pi discuss as a strange living arrangement of animals?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Part 2, Chapter 41, what is noted as having helped Pi stay alive after the shipwreck?

2. How are the zebra and the orangutan anthropomorphized in Part 2, Chapter 45?

3. The zebra and Orange Juice are killed in Part 2, Chapter 47, and symbolize what?

4. In Part 2, Chapter 51, readers see Pi's persistence pay off as he finds food and water. How did Pi find the food and water?

5. In Part 2, Chapter 50, Pi says, "How true it is that necessity is the mother of invention, how very true." What does this quote reference?

6. How did Satish Kumar influence Pi's studies?

7. How is the zebra like Pi in Part 2, Chapter 46?

8. How do Pi's parents view him in Part 1, Chapter 27?

9. Who is the character introduced in Part 1, Chapter 2?

10. What did Pi and Richard Parker kill and eat in Part 2, Chapter 53? What is it's symbolism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How do Pi's religious views shape his view of his ordeal?

Essay Topic 2

Pi's ordeal involves his faith in God, his faith in himself, and his will to survive. Discuss each of these, using specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

In the early chapters, there are different descriptions of animal behavior. Choose one, and compare and contrast it to a later animal behavior or event in the book that has the same characteristics.

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