In Life Of Pi by (author) a different form of creulty than usual is found. As Piscine Molitar Patel tries to survive in the open waters of the Atlantic, he must also share his small life boat with a Royal Bengali Tiger named Richard Parker. Piscine(Pi) acts creuly towards Richard Parker at times so that he can exert his social dominance, a status needed in order for him to live.
When Pi Patel is shoved into the sea he looks to see what supplies. To his surprise there is a package of orange whistles that may as well have been the reason he survives. An adult royal Bengali Tiger, such as Richard Parker, would not be fightable. One bite or scratch would rip a teenage boy to shreds. Pi realizes this but he also knows he needs to be in control. So he conditions Richard Parker to be submissive. With his whistles, he blows a high pitched screech to show Richard Parker that he is in charge. Pi only gives Richard Parker food at certain points so that Richard knows he must rely on Pi. The creulty Pi shows for Richard is not because of an unconscious psychodynamic drive, but a calculated social dominance. Richard Parker, on the other hand, receives this creulty as motivation to not harm Pi; for Pi is the only thing keeping him alive.
Pi, however, is not the only one to use creuly to condition others. When Pi is 8 years old, Pi's father brings him to a tiger cage with the intent on teaching a lesson. The Royal Bengali, though not Richard Parker, is beautiful and daunting. A goat is released into the cage. Poor, 8 year old Pi Patel is forced to watch as a goat is mauled to death by a Tiger who had gone hungry for 5 days. Pi's father did not do this to torture his son, instead it was to motivate his son to not mess around with the tigers and consequently not be mauled to death like the goat.
Creulty, in this book, is a function to motivate. Pi's father motivates him and Pi motivates Richard. Throughout the book there are many more examples of this creulty conditioning, especially as Pi and his father train animals in their zoo.
Acts of creulty are not always sprung from the hands of cold-hearted people, but instead as (author) shows us, can be used to exert a social dominance or provide as a motivational tool to do what we need.
Reflection:
I would grade my essay as a 5 essay. Although I do have a few good points of analysis, I use a lot of paraphrase because I felt the need to explain exactly where my points were coming from. After reading the benchmark essays I realize that I don't need to explain the plot of the novel as much as I did. As a result, much of my essay is paraphrased. Instead I should limit my details and try to analyze more specifically rather than vaguely connect the book to cruelty. Some of my analysis is also quite superficial and I should have gone deeper into exploring Pi as a both a victim and a perpetrator, which Richard Parker could be seen as as well. My essay also contains quite a few grammar/surface errors, such as spelling cruelly wrong every single time, but I believe if I focus more and am more organized, these errors will be reduced very easily.
Peer Reflection:
http://phillipsmelissaapenglish2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/blog-4-open-response-essay.html#comment-form
I would also score your essay in the 5-6 range. Your essay demonstrates a great knowledge of the text you are analyzing, especially because of the quote and the specific details. I agree that there was some paraphrasing but it was not to prevalent. As for the actual analysis, I believe you could have developed upon why the Euells and others were motivated to discriminate against black people and how that motivation drove their cruelty as well as connect it to other aspects such as social or political dominance. You also could have talked more about what the acts of cruelty reveal about the victim as you have a very good part on the perpetrator. Overall it is a very well written essay, it just needs a little more development and connection back to the them of the entire book.
3x3:
Pi finds Identity-the"oridnary world" where Pi finds his talents
Storm breaks Boat- the beginning of the "special world" where Pi faces hardships unlike any other and learns the skills and principles it takes to survive
Richard saves Pi- the end of the special world when Pi is returned to the ordinary world with a new sense of life and new experience that help him cope with the changes since he has been gone
Revisions:
In Life Of Pi by Yann Martel a different form of cruelty than usual is found. First off Pi's father, a zookeeper must use a certain calculated cruelty to train his animals as well as his sons so none get hurt. Also, Piscine Molitar Patel tries to survive in the open waters of the Atlantic, he must also share his small life boat with a Royal Bengali Tiger named Richard Parker. Piscine(Pi) acts cruelly towards Richard Parker at times so that he can exert his social dominance, a status needed in order for him to live.
When Pi is 8 years old, Pi's father brings him to a tiger cage with the intent on teaching a lesson. The Royal Bengali, though not Richard Parker, is beautiful and daunting. A goat is released into the cage. Poor, 8 year old Pi Patel is forced to watch as a goat is mauled to death by a Tiger who had gone hungry for 5 days. Pi's father did not do this to torture his son, instead it was to motivate his son to not mess around with the tigers and consequently not be mauled to death like the goat. It is during this time with his father, in is normal home, where Pi is a victim of violence. Pi is still learning about how to work with such dangerous animals, a skill that will allow him to survive the shipwreck and turn him into the perpetrator.
When Pi Patel is shoved into the sea he looks to see what supplies. To his surprise there is a package of orange whistles that may as well have been the reason he survives. An adult royal Bengali Tiger, such as Richard Parker, would not be fightable. One bite or scratch would rip a teenage boy to shreds. Pi realizes this but he also knows he needs to be in control. He meets his road of trials and he must condition Richard Parker to be submissive. With his whistles, he blows a high pitched screech to show Richard Parker that he is in charge. Pi only gives Richard Parker food at certain points so that Richard knows he must rely on Pi. The cruelty Pi shows for Richard is not because of an unconscious psycho dynamic drive, but a calculated social dominance. Richard Parker, on the other hand, receives this cruelty as motivation to not harm Pi; for Pi is the only thing keeping him alive. This shows Richard Parker and Pi as both the perpetrators and victims, a balance attained through Pi's hard work and refusal to die at sea even though his family had. The journey of these two and the balance they attained on their small boat helps them save each other; Pi is able to do what he needs to provide and Richard keeps Pi company and reason to not curl up and die himself.
Cruelty, in this book, is a function to motivate. Pi's father motivates him and Pi motivates Richard. Throughout the book there are many more examples of this cruelty conditioning, especially as Pi and his father train animals in their zoo. Pi learns these skills throughout his life as he conquers his life in India, his time on the lifeboat, and his new life afterwards.
Acts of cruelty are not always sprung from the hands of cold-hearted people, but instead as (author) shows us, can be used to exert a social dominance or provide as a motivational tool to do what we need.
Reflection:
I believe that the hero's journey has helped me with being able to write this prompt but not necessarily to revise it. After comparing the hero;s journey to Pan's Labyrinth and Life of Pi, it is easy to see how most stories follow this pattern in some way or another. There are many elements from the hero's journey that I could have used in my essay to better show how Pi is a perpetrator and a victim, however, my previous essay did not set up these elements very well and is was hard to revise the essay so I could add in these elements. It would have been easier to incorporate both from the beginning which is a skill I will, of course, be working on. By knowing that stories follow this pattern it will help me organize and analyze.
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