It's a tool, not a magic wand

"Did that really happen?" is a common question as students read Life of Pi. A quick recap:

• Pi finds no conflict between science and religion; he double majors in biology and theology
• He also feels no need to pick one religion; he is a faithful Christian, Hindu, and Muslim.
• While on his way to Canada with his former zoo-keeping family, the ship sinks, and Pi is the sole survivor
• ...accept for the tiger, hyena, orangutan, and zebra also in Pi's lifeboat.
• After a few animal battles, it's just Pi and the tiger.
• Using his knowledge of animal behavior, Pi manages to train the tiger.
• Pi goes blind.
• Pi and the tiger talk to each other.
• Pi bumps into another blind man lost at sea. When this man tries to kill Pi, the tiger kills the man.

And we haven't gotten to the strangest part of the story yet. As you might imagine, a person like Pi who
undergoes such experiences might have a unique worldview.

This is what Modern Lit students explored today. With their Nooks for quick reference and the ability to access notes they've made, they created posters to represent Pi's worldview.
Worldview is deep stuff. Not at all concrete. They were, like Pi, adrift in unknown and confusing waters. The Nooks, however, were not magical devices that pulled them through. I really do want these students to struggle as they grapple with sophisticated ideas. If it's easy, why bother, right? What I don't want is for students to give up the struggle because they can't find that darn passage or quickly figure out a word's meaning.

As this assignment required them to be constantly referencing the book, I watched students search parts of the text using key words and look up definitions for unfamiliar words. While I think these features are useful, it only matters if the students can easily use them without prompting. This certainly seemed the case today. The entire class was completely engaged and conducting meaningful discussions along the way.
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