Inner/Outer Circle Discussion Questions

We had a circle discussion on the basic ideas of the third sixth weeks (the stories that we had read and their main concepts). Any of us students could contribute at any point, but we had to keep the discussion going and sort on on-topic. Everybody had to come up with five discussion questions... and so, here are mine. They make more since if you've seen/read what I'm talking about, so do, I would recommend anyone of these books/movies. :)

1. In both Life of Pi and Big Fish, the main protagonists go on “life-changing journeys”. Though Pi did not choose to go on the journey and Edward Bloom did, it cannot be denied that they both sort of “found themselves” during their adventures. Do you think these journeys  (whether or not they were true) were the character’s way of growing up and maturing? In Pi’s case, how did his attitude change from the beginning to the end of the book?
2. One of the most emotional parts in The Little Prince is the scene in which the Little Prince departs this world, having been willfully bitten by the poisonous snake. The author was very much sorrowed by T.L.P’s departure of soul from body, and feared that he has lost him forever. However, the Little Prince assured him that all was well, and though he was afraid he was sure he would be with his flower once more. The wisdom of the child kept him strong while the grown-up’s prevailing fear of death brought  him sorrow. Why do the child and adult think differently? What changes does age bring to our way of thought?
3. In the beginning of the poem “Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny (by Lisel Mueller)” it states “Jenny, your mind commands kingdoms of black and white, you shoulder the crow on your left, the snowbird on your right”. The crow is a black bird generally associated with evil, while a snowbird is white and pure. What effect does this theme of “grey” have upon the poem? What do you think it means?
4. One of main themes in “Big Fish” is the “love of family”. The father/son relationship between Edward/Will had always been strained because of Edward’s love of tall tales, and they didn’t speak to each other  for three years. Why did this “love of tall tales” lead to their estrangement? Do similar relationships exist in real life?
5. Possibly the main theme in all of these works is the theme of storytelling, and the concept of believing “the better  story”. In Big Fish, Edward Bloom embellishes his life stories with tales of fantastical adventures, and in the end immortalizes himself through them. In Life of Pi, many people feel that the first version of the story is “the better story” and choose to believe it. What does this theme of  “the better story” have to do with fairy tales, and the poem “Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny”?