1. What does Richard Parker symbolize?

2. Find your given extract in Chapter 92 by skim reading “I heard a growl. I turned. RP was observing me from the lifeboat…giving me a wide birth, he made for the ridge and disappeared into the interior of the island.” “I saw him coming back that evening, as the sun was setting…I feared that the defensive wall of my whistle blows was about to crumble and that he would attack me.” “The meerkats looked away…He was far away. There was no danger to me. At least for the moment.” “Just as I returned to life, so did Richard Parker…I worried that in this new condition he might not tolerate another male in his territory…as surely he would.” “One day I was on a walk in the forest. I was walking vigorously, caught up in my own thoughts…I had to step into the circus ring again.”

3. Richard Parker is referred to in Chapter 1 ‘Richard Parker has stayed with me. I’ve never forgotten him…I still cannot understand how he could abandon me so unceremoniously, without any sort of goodbye, without looking back even once. That pain is like an axe that chops at my heart.’ Ask a question of this paragraph

4. Explore the following paragraphs in differentiated pairs for: Content and ideas Language and structure Narrative voice and tone

5. Analyse the following extracts from Chapter 92 – RP and Pi on Algae Island “I heard a growl. I turned. RP was observing me from the lifeboat…giving me a wide birth, he made for the ridge and disappeared into the interior of the island.” “I saw him coming back that evening, as the sun was setting…I feared that the defensive wall of my whistle blows was about to crumble and that he would attack me.” “The meerkats looked away…He was far away. There was no danger to me. At least for the moment.” “Just as I returned to life, so did Richard Parker…I worried that in this new condition he might not tolerate another male in his territory…as surely he would.” “One day I was on a walk in the forest. I was walking vigorously, caught up in my own thoughts…I had to step into the circus ring again.”

6. Symbolism and Tableau Summarise what you think Richard Parker symbolises in your extract. Present a tableau to demonstrate this in your groups.

7. CSI What colour, symbol and image best symbolizes Richard Parker for you after exploring the many features of his character in Chapter 92?