Life of Pi

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is an example of a paradox in Life of Pi?

A) The contrast between Pi’s religious beliefs and his ability to kill for survival

B) Pi’s fear of the ocean and his desire to explore its vastness

C) Pi’s simultaneous desire to protect himself and keep the tiger alive

D) Pi’s use of animals to support his philosophy in religious studies

2. Who are implied to be the most dangerous animals in the zoo, according to Pi’s father?

A) Tigers

B) Humans

C) Hyenas

D) Orangutans

3. Who is the fictional author in the novel likely based on?

A) Yann Martel

B) Francis Adirubasamy

C) Moacyr Scliar

D) Piscine Deligny

4. Which of the following best describes why the narrator’s credibility is questionable?

A) Pi’s stories contain vague details and incoherent actions.

B) Pi’s journey is fraught with hallucinations, intentional asphyxiation, and trauma.

C) Pi, even when interviewed years later, appears to be experiencing a psychological crisis.

D) Pi boasts excessively about the power of his language to capture reality.

5. Which statement best describes Pi’s reflection on religion and its connection to zoos?

A) Like religion, zoos provide generally good places for creatures to be.

B) Both are artificial constructs that limit the true nature of living things.

C) Zoos and religion are both places the creatures desire to escape.

D) Zoos and religion both bring much-needed order to a chaotic world.

6. In contrast to his father and Mamaji, how does Pi believe one can achieve spiritual enlightenment?

A) Through reason

B) By dreaming

C) In nature

D) With observation

7. How is Indira Gandhi’s government demonstrative of Pi’s philosophy on religion?

A) It exemplifies the notion that human progress is not always progressive.

B) It exhibits the social hierarchy Pi uses to compare animals and religion.

C) It signifies Pi’s need for flexibility and freedom in religious practices.

D) It demonstrates the ideology that individuals are always becoming more enlightened.

8. After the sinking of the Tsimtsum, how does Pi explain having both the will to live and the desire to die?

A) Survival is an extension of logic.

B) Survival is not a rational desire.

C) Survival is driven by religious fervor.

D) Survival supersedes religious belief.

9. Given Pi’s second version of his story, what might Richard Parker represent in the story?

A) The symbolic representation of a fierce and unpredictable world

B) Pi’s drive to fight for survival and continued strength

C) The unsettling presence of terror and boredom

D) The primal instincts awakened in survival settings

10. What best describes how Pi approaches his fate on the lifeboat with Richard Parker?

A) He relies on his religious ideologies to see him through a difficult time.

B) He creates a plan to organize and confront his fate head-on.

C) He develops self-pity, submitting himself to his inevitable fate.

D) He abandons his religious ideologies and develops practical strategies.

11. What is likely Pi’s reasoning for disguising the second version of events by replacing people with animals?

A) He cannot recall the true nature of events because of his trauma.

B) He has no concept of reality due to the deterioration of his physical state.

C) He uses distancing language to remove personal responsibility from the situation.

D) He fabricates his second version of events as his first version is more likely.

12. What does Pi’s name symbolize?

A) Structure and order

B) A cyclical nature

C) Transcendence and chaos

D) A mathematical constant

13. What best summarizes Pi’s justification for having two versions of his story?

A) He emphasizes the subjective nature of truth and challenges fact-based reality.

B) He explains the power of storytelling to shape the perspectives of individuals.

C) He highlights the importance of collecting multiple perspectives.

D) He describes the complex relationship between humans and animals.

14. What best describes Pi’s decline of humanity aboard the lifeboat?

A) He behaves as a predator by attacking the animals.

B) He takes on animalistic and feral qualities.

C) He acts out of hunger killing fish for food.

D) He develops hallucinations and lapses in memory.

15. How is Pi’s proclivity for religion best described?

A) As ritualistic

B) As frivolous

C) As profound

D) As shallow

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Given Pi’s second version of events, what might the algae island represent to Pi? What reasons support your answer?

2. Faith plays a significant role in the novel as Pi faces insurmountable odds. What is Pi’s reaction to his circumstances adrift at sea? In what ways does Pi remain faithful despite his hardship?