Discoveries can be a permeation of necessity and planning, yet have transformative ramifications. Discovery can be instigated through various necessities; however, extrinsic forces can unravel even the most pragmatic approach, leading to unexpected outcomes. Ang Lee’s film, Life of Pi explores the transformative nature of discovery through the tale of an individual and his necessity to survive. Simultaneously, Margaret Atwood’s poem, The Moment, explores the ramifications of discovery through the exploration of human ownership or lack thereof. Both texts insightfully display the notion of discovery. The transformative nature of discovery is critically analysed through the evolution of Pi’ perceptivity of his environment. This is instigated throughout the plot by the metaphorical representation of Pi’s primal being, Richard Parker, the adult Bengal tiger. The …show more content…
The audience is first introduced to Richard Parker in a low angle shot of him killing the hyena to instil the tiger’s dominance and power. This symbolic characterisation allowed Pi to censor his reality, and adapt to the primitive necessities required for his survival. This is surprising to even Pi himself, and the taming scene exemplifies his will to supress the tiger and his metaphorical primal instincts. Lee again uses a high angle shot to depict Richard Parker’s supremacy over the weak, primordial Pi furthering the notion of Pi’s inability to tame the tiger. This incapability to tame Richard Parker epitomises his loss of conscious control due to extrinsic forces, which is scary and frightening for Pi. He longs for a pragmatic approach to his situation, however this is unknowingly personified in Richard Parker. As he proceeds on his journey, he comes to the discovery that Richard Parker is an imperative aspect of his survival, and they come to a symbiotic
The fervent ideal-searching that entails scientific research is an endeavor that encompasses not only intellectual bounds but also the mental and emotional fixtures present in the mind of a scientific pioneer. Mere thoughts and notions become materialized tools and obstacles, and the journey that takes place within becomes the foundation by which scientific theory is ascertained. Wielding thoughts as stepping stones is crucial to the duty of the scientist, and even a degree of uncertainty must be harnessed for success and improvement. In this excerpt from The Great Influenza, John M. Barry pieces together a passionate study on the character of scientific research through the artful use of rhetorical strategies including syntax, hypothetical
In the passage from John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza, Barry makes us of an extended metaphor of scientific research as an unexplored wilderness, a motif of uncertainty, a comprehensible diction and admiring tone, and bookended explanatory paragraphs to characterize scientific research as a courageous pursuit to bring order from chaos. Throughout the piece, Barry develops the metaphor in a fashion which closely parallels the steps of the scientific method, giving the reader a better understanding of the work of scientists. In an effort to promote scientific research to the general public, he focuses on its positive aspects and the character traits of scientists. In order to appeal to a wide audience, Barry uses an extended metaphor to compare the seemingly abstract and unreachable concept of scientific research to the mentally attainable image of pioneers settling a virgin wilderness.
America’s present-day Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, has taken the nation by storm with her Pulitzer Prize winning book Life on Mars. The collections of poems revolve around a vast range of subjects regarding space exploration and her personal life. In the book, the poem “The Speed of Belief” is an elegy to her father whom worked on the Hubble telescope in the 70s. The poem is broken up over seven pages, each with its own structure that signifies a stage of grief. Smith’s elegy details how she personally went through the different stages of grief.
After this, Pi describes the killing of the cook/hyena surprisingly easy, this is the shadow self and survival instincts shining through as well. what does this say about pi? Has this changed him? Go into more depth, this seems a little rushed. Concluding
Discoveries can be fresh, meaningful and extremely influential in the emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual realms. This compels individuals to introspect, whilst formulate anew their perceptions and values towards the world, leading to an altering of individuals understandings on themselves and others. Discoveries can be influenced by one’s personal, cultural and historical context, leading to a challenging of previously formulated perspectives. Additionally, the experience of a discovery, whether it be positive or negative, can be intensely meaningful and paramount for an individual. Furthermore, discoveries can be triggered by the uncovering of fresh and unique information that challenges one’s predilections.
When people read southern authors, sometimes readers who aren’t used to the southern culture could find themselves feeling uncomfortable, shocked, or even offended by the derogatory use of language in these specific works. We most certainly find the use of degrading words and labels in the work Revelation by Flannery O 'Conner. Ruby Turpin uses these terms throughout the entire story, even at the end of the story after she’s had her epiphany, Mrs. Turpin continues the use of these descriptive nouns, probably because she has no other terms to use because she can’t get rid of her bad habits. Her growth is showed more in her thoughtful attitude than in her not so thoughtful choice of words. Mrs. Turpin is full of arrogance, hatred, and racism
Discoveries often offer up new understandings of ourselves and the world we live in. To what extent is this reflected in your core text and at least one other text of your own choosing? Through discoveries, we can learn new things about ourselves and the world around us. This is effectually conveyed in the poetry of Robert Frost.
In a rather sad way, he realizes his mistake of devoting basically his whole life to schooling and lacking the social communication skills, through the use of education. A case of this is seen with his questioning who will remember him, “Who besides my dissertation director and a few faculty members, would ever read that I wrote negatively (for that is how this idea first occurred to me): my need to think so much and so abstractly about my parents and our relationship was in itself an indication of my long education.” ( ) The previous statement above can be similar to the story of Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” were similar to Richard is stubborn in his idea of not celebrating Christmas, or in Richard’s case not embracing his family and his cultural heritage. Typically, a person can’t change someone’s viewpoint without a radical idea; a negative can’t be replaced with a much stronger positive force. The negative experiences that Richard’s experience has far more supremacy, then the positive experiences on the given negatives are harder to resolve and in turn he usually associate his family and culture in a rather bad light given these events in
Life of Pi is a movie about Pi, a shipwreck survivor, and his epic journey of discovery and faith. It is based on Yann Martel’s novel with the same name, and the movie, directed by Ang Lee, makes use of magical realism to convey many themes related to life and spirituality. Many significant symbols are also used to showcase the characteristics of magical realism. In particular, water and the carnivorous island were two important symbols that represented the theme of spirituality in Life of Pi.
Not everyone can stand eating or drinking unpleasant substances, survive while being blind, and live next to carnivorous creatures. Pi on the other hand withstands all this misfortune for nearly a year. Additionally, another theme that comes to mind is that survival instincts result in some
Self-discovery is driven by the willingness of individuals to make connections with places and people. This is evident in Tara June Winch 's novel "Swallow the Air" as the protagonist discoveries are seen through her connection with the people and her identity. Similarly, the same can be said for James Cameron 's film "Avatar" as Jake the protagonist discoveries is 'visualised through his connection with the land and how this affects his identity. In both of these texts, we can identify how both Tara June Winch and James Cameron interprets the concept of self-discovery in their text.
In the story, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the main character, Pi, is changed as a person after he must kill a flying fish in order to survive. Through this, Pi’s religious morals changed as well as his personality overall. When Pi first tries to kill the fish he continues to hesitate, and has a hard time committing the action to take the life away. As stated in an excerpt, “Several times I started bringing the hatchet down, but I couldn’t complete the action… A lifetime of peaceful vegetarianism stood between me and the willful beheading of a fish” (Martel 87).
People go on physical journeys every day, but few go on mental and spiritual experiences. After people have gone through these types of experiences, it has changed their lives in a magnitude of ways. Consequently, in this story Pi’s life has changed so much he struggles to deal with these changes. He was in such a low spot he became closer to God on many occasions. When he was about to lose his faith something keeps him faithful.
In essence, for everyday survival, it 's often better to maintain the important boundary between animals and humans, but through Pi 's story and relationship with Richard Parker, Martel shows us that staying open to what connects humans and animals, and all creatures, can provide an equally important key for staying alive. The Life of Pi, emphasizes the intensity of a predator-prey relationship, and it also reminds humans of their inner animal: we can all be dangerous to our fellow creatures. However, despite this, all animals have the potential and even a desire to connect beyond mere survival, looking for companionship and empathy across species
Like I said in the last paragraph, tigers represent courage, wisdom, and bravery. These characteristics sum up Pi’s personality and actions throughout the story. For example: he is considered courageous and brave because, not only did he make the most out of being stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he shared his lifeboat with a large Bengal Tiger for 277 days. And of course he may have been in fear that he would get eaten or attacked by Richard Parker, but that didn’t stop him from overcoming this obstacle and compromising. And instead of hiding in a corner of the boat shaking in fear he wanted to make sure Richard Parker knew he was the “alpha” and it was his boat.