"No Bamboozlement Here": Teaching Yann Martel's Life of Pi across the Curriculum

In Chapter 3 of Moby Dick, Ishmael, in a "towering rage," questions his landlord concerning Queequeg, the savage "purple rascal" harpooner, he has yet to meet. "What sort of bamboozling story are you telling me?" he nervously asks after learn- ing that Queequeg is peddling shrunken heads- and on the Sabbath, no less (Melville 811). Yann Martel makes use of the same mellifluous warn- ing in the Life of Pi "Author's Note" foreshadow- ing young Pi's life that is filled with bamboozling questions. While visiting India, the note's narrator recalls a friend's warning that Indians speak "funny English," using words like "bamboozle" (Martel vii). Martel's narrator persona makes good use of the word disputing expensive train fare. "You're not trying to bamboozle me, are you? . . . There is no bam- boozlement here" (viii). Thus Life of Pi is set in motion with this comical allusion, the first of many Mel- ville references.Because of its broad topical scope, Martel's novel presents an extraordinary opportunity to en- gage students and faculty in an exciting, diverse adventure. The 2013 Academy Award-winning movie version, the universal lure of tigers, the od- yssey of survival, and the combination multidi- mensional interlocking metaphors provide a rich platform for collaborative teaching. From A to Z, astronomy to zoology, students may select from numerous exploratory cross-curricular options. Dif- ferentiated learning is achieved because students are allowed to work in discrete personal interest areas while simultaneously executing close read- ing in search of connectivity clues concerning Pi's search for the nature of life. The appeal for students, beyond the special effects of the 3D movie, is the novel's expansive application to virtually every high school department. Students connect with Pi's search for the nature of life through whichever cur- ricular framework seems most meaningful to them, applying diverse interests, backgrounds, and capa- bilities to solve the novel's bamboozling intricacies. Motivation is enhanced, especially if the puzzle piece a student selects, researches, and subsequently presents to the class yields personal enlightenment and intellectual discovery.Pi as a Unit: Designing and BuildingSerendipitously, Life of Pi has been taught col- laboratively in our school since 2005-06. The initial joint effort, conducted in a twelfth-grade English class and a Comparative Religions elec- tive, consisted of a few shared class meetings and team-taught discussions after the teachers discov- ered they had assigned the same novel. That year's classes were significantly enhanced because Hindu, Muslim, and Christian class members were enthu- siastically receptive to comparative analysis of Pi's creative practices combining all three. Muslim students were particularly motivated to share the compassionate, peaceful nature of Islam in response to their negative experiences following 9/11. More- over, Pi's teacher-friend, Satish Kumar, an atheist, and a devout Sufi Muslim baker by the same name provided additional dimensions to discussion (Mar- tel 25). Pi's personal condemnation of agnosticism (64) completed the philosophical spectrum.After 2006 the unit expanded and evolved, driven mostly by collaborative efforts by English, history, and math faculty. The unit has been modi- fied, tailored, and expanded every year since, as new ideas and projects have been generated.Table 1-labeled Catalogue-is just that. Each year's selection of Pi unit components from the table depends on many variables including fac- ulty relationships, interests, capabilities, and class composition. A list of prospective student projects is tailored every year to facilitate individual stu- dent research and presentation development, one of several cross-curricular unit activities. Presenta- tions are limited to 15 minutes, include audiovisual components, and explain how the topic connects to the book. (Some students found and developed top- ics not on the list based on their own discoveries in the novel. …