_The Alchemist _

Prereading research topics 4-20-22

Supersoul sunday interview with Paulo Coelho

- Started realizing stuff around when he payed attention of his own life
- He realized he was alive, and a lot of things going outside his childish
world
- Was 3 when he realized he was alive
Oprah Prime Phrallel Williams
- He connected on who helped him on his journey
- You have to be not afraid to dream
- When he read it , it became clear to him

Research thing
- Research levanter and sirocco. How will knowing about the regional
weather features described in the book add to a greater understanding of
Santiago's journey?

Levanter - a strong easterly wind in the Mediterranean region.

Sirocco - a hot wind, often dusty or rainy, blowing from North Africa across the
Mediterranean to southern Europe.

I think the weather will prevent santiago from going to continue his journey and the winds
we prolly maybe lead him to something. Depending on what part of the mediterranean it
could lead to the Pyramids or a historical land mark.
1. The Alchemist is written in a fable format. What is a fable, and why would
Coelho use it to tell his story? Generally speaking, fables use recognizable,
simple characters and settings in order
to illustrate a simple truth about life or human nature. What are common
 fables that we have heard as children? Find five that you think your peers
would remember.
Teaches a moral or life lesson and its to do narrative format tousie and the hare
and lion and the mouse
2. Coelho states that “simple things are the most valuable and only wise people
appreciate them.” Produce a written or artistic response (or bring
something to class) which depicts
something that is “simple” yet valuable to you. Be prepared to explain
specifically why/ how the item is valuable.
A stuff frog could mean different things, the stuff could mean something different to
another person.
3. Coelho will open with the modified myth of Narcissus. It will be important
to understand the this myth before we hear Narcissus mentioned in the
novel. Please research this myth and be ready to explain it simply to your
classmates.
The myth is about a man who is like i am beautiful and moral is don’t narcissus
because youll miss alot. The lake he fell in gets human features. Rejection is
hard
4. What is alchemy? What processes were involved? Who performed it and
why? Who were the famous alchemists of the medieval period?
Alchemy s a study how to change basic substances and how all the changes are
to magic and science. The process is by skinning it off the surface, mostly in
ancient civilizations. Example the Issac newton
5. Who is Melchizedek? What role does he play in the Old Testament? How
might a character like this affect the protagonist, Santiago?
Melchizedek was a pries and king connected to ruling jerusalem , a known
figure and may help santiago in a form of a prophet
6. What are the Five Pillars of Islam? What is the Koran? How might these faith
guidelines affect a story? The koran is like the bible but for the islam faith
and the five pillars of Islam is faith,prayer, alams giving, fasting and
pilgrimage . It might mean it would make him go on a journey
7. Explore the concept of Soul of the World as different religions and
philosophies define it.
Religion is trusting worshiping a higher power and going off ones faith and
while a philosophy is wanting to know the reality of why we are here. The soul
of the world is a power in the universe and connecting to it.
8. Research the tribal ways of the Bedouins of the Sahara.
Most of Jordan's population are Bedouins and nomads and part of their culture
to be good with hospitality. They have total loyalty.
9. What are the basic theories of Freud’s or Jung’s dream analysis theories?
There will be many dreams mentioned in the novel. What should we
consider about Santiago's dreams? The dreams are the idea it's like your
subconscious saying yo i want this. Jung's dream theory is the dream of the
phys attempt to tell the individual something.

11. Geographical Locations (Ask Mrs. Jewell to print a map)

He will start in spain and somehow ends africa, to egypt and then to
jerelusm
○ Andalusia Al-Fayoum (oasis in Egypt)
○ Tarifa
○ El Cairum
○ Salem (Jeru”salem”)
○ Nile
○ Tangier
○ Coptic Monastery
○ Ceuta
○ Mecca
○ Sahara Desert

CHAPTER ONE
● While Santiago sleeps, he has a disturbing dream. We do not learn exactly
what the dream was.
● desire to see girl again
 ● When he wakes, his flock begins to stir, and Santiago talks to the sheep
about a girl he met the year prior.
● - talking almost like he is a god
● - talks about jacket
● - giving everything a purpose
● - going to tell them
● santiago imagines he could kill his sheep one by one, and each one would

be none the wiser until he killed it. He feels troubled by his thoughts, and

that night has the same troubling dream he had the year before.

Santiago meets an Old Woman

and
Old Man 4/27/20
22

What does Santiago learn from the Old Woman?

Santiago learned from the women that is gods way to speak and is the
language of the soul
What was he supposed to "take" with him after their interaction?
He was supposed to take wisdom and
travel to egypt

pages 14-17
Santiago and the
Old Woman) What is the wisdom she
shares with Santiago? She
cant make his dreams come
true , only he can. The
journey is better than
 The gypsey is given in negative light in the book
- She asks for his treasure even tho he doesn’t have it ye
She analyzing his dreams

Read first part: pages 17-26 (Santiago and

the Old Man); stop, discuss, and take notes.

What does Santiago learn from the Old Man?

The old man tells Santiago learns from the Old man the worlds greatest lie “ At a
certain point in our lives, we lose control and late fate control our day to day lives.
What was he supposed to "take" with him after their interaction? That this
man was the sign to start his old personal legend. Don’t settle, Your journey
doesn’t have to start young
. In his dream hes seen the treasure through children
What is the wisdom the Old Man shares with Santiago?
Everything in life has a price and his flock is the price

Pages 27- 44 5/3/22

He decided not to tell the baker about his journey because he didn’t want to mess it
up.
Santiago is scared to go on this journey and thinks he should just be a shepherd
Black : stone yes
White : stone no
Last thing you should rely on is the rocks
Keeping laser point on something but knowing how to multitask. The oil could be
your soul, faith, values and gut

Page 44- 60 ------- 5/9/22

Interactio
ns with the crystal merchant

-The Principle of Favorability

“Beginners luck, because life wants you to achieve your

personal legend”
This is because there is a force that wants Santiago or whoever to realize Santiago's
personal legend. It makes you want pursue something

The Dream of Travel (The Dream of Mecca)

The merchant admitted that he also had a dream to travel to Mecca for his religious
pilgrimage like how Santiago dreamed of going to the pyramids. but he was too afraid
that if he did realize his dream, he wouldn’t have anything to live for which makes
sense.

The merchant told the boy that

he admitted he has gotten used
to his way of life and didn’t want
to change

"Beauty is the great seducer of

men" (58). Explain importance.
I think that the beauty is someone's goals and eventually you’ll lose hope
or lose interest
- Santiago saw the omens and suggested the crystal merchant sell tea along with
the crystal. The idea was a huge success and eventually santiago was able to
make more money

"Sometimes there is no way to hold back the river" (61)e.

’This could mean that sometimes our goals and emotions become so intense that it just
gushes over and it can lead to good or bad”

- The sheep taught him that there was a language in the world that everyone
understood: the language of enthusiasm
- The language of things accomplished with love and purpose. And as part of a
search of something believed in and desired -
- He realize that he could always go back to being a shepherd or selling crystal,
but this might be his only chance to follow his personal legends he did not go
back to spain

Lessons remembered from the Old King

Realization about the Old King (65-67)

As santiago is getting to leave the crystal man and go back to Spain, the crystal
man is like your not going back and then eventually santiago reflects on what
the old king said “ I am always nearby when someone wants to realize their
personal legend. The old king had told him what could cost to go over to the
suppliers warehouse and find out if the pyramids were really that far away.He
also is like but my sheep. Like he needs to get over his sheep and find his
treasure

-He realize that he could always go back to being a shepherd or selling crystal, but this
might be his only chance to follow his personal legend so he does

Interactions with the Englishman

Englishman's search for an alchemist

While joining a caravan through the desert, he met an Englishman who discussed
omens and coincidences
He really did try to befriend an alchemist to ask questions about that and the
elixr of life but he said the alchemist only cared about themselves.
- his metaphor about the alchemists’ purification of the metals
and leading to a purification of themselves seems pretty significant. It’s like the
alchemist can turn anything into gold, but really it’s a metaphor for improving
yourself so that you can create something valuable no matter what you do.

"When someone makes a decision" (70)

When someone is making a decision, he’s really only just guiding into a strong current
that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.
It’s almost a sense of wanting something so bad that you continue to do it.

Umim and Thummim

In this part Umum and thummim aka the two yes or no rocks he has; the englishman
goes on and on about how the rocks were a good luck omen. And told santiago that it
was no coincidence that he (the english man) had met him with the rocks

The stones were the only form of divination permitted by god.

Priests carried them in a golden breastplate

The caravan through the desert

The bearded leader and his advice about desert travel

The man said the desert is a capricious lady and sometimes she drives men crazy

He serves Allah but will pray to him for he can win over the desert \

I've learned from the sheep, the crystal...now the desert

“Ive learned things from sheep , and i’ve learned thing from crystal , he thought. I can
learn something from the desert too. It seems old and wise.
The Magic of Omens
As the english mans talk about it and how they are all over the world

The Englishman's books

The englishman has a lot of books and always seems to be reading them but Santiago
prefers to hear the wind and look around the area.

Later in the book Santiago decides to learn more about the Soul of the World by
reading the Englishman’s alchemy books.

Soul of the World (83)

“The Soul of the World is nourished by people’s happiness.”

Be happy. Help others be happy. Spread happiness. Basically listen to Harry styles
when he says treat people with kindness. . The quote goes along with thr idea tha a
positive force of the world that works for the betterment of all things, both living and
inanimate. And that santiago's life was like a legend called the soul of the world

Elixir of Life and Philosopher's Stone

I was super confused at first when reading this because I was like oh Harry Potter? But
as I was reading , The english man had spent 2 years at university and then went on his
own journey. One being trying to find the Philosopher's stone.\

‘ He had already spent half of the fortunes left to him by his father, fruitlessly seeking
the philosophers stone”

As santiago reads the english mans books he sees that The Master Work has two
parts, a liquid part called the Elixir of Life that cures all ills, and a solid part called the
Philosophers' Stone that can transform any metal into gold.

"The boy was becoming more and more convinced..." (84)

The boy was becoming more and more convinced that alchemy could be learned in
ones daily life.

Camel driver: personal insights (87)

The camel driver is just happy to be alive because “ I don’t live either in my past or my
future, I am only interested in the present
 PG 86-90

- Santiago and the caravan go to an oasis

- Al-Fayoum, a desert oasis, amazes Santiago. The place appears larger than
many Spanish towns.
- The alchemist had seen many people
- “ the dunes were changed constantly by the wind yet these were the same sands
he had known since he was a child.”
- The oasis is surrounded by a couple of palm trees
- Englishman said it looks like a thousand and one night
- The oasis was considered neutral territory
- Englishman took a chrome plated revolver out of his bag

PG 92-100

- Santiago started to believe his beginners luck was no longer functioning

- At the oasis santiago had sleep in a tent with with 5 other young men about his
age
- The next morning, he regales his roommates with stories of his life as a
shepherd in Spain, but the Englishman interrupts him to ask for help finding
the alchemist.
- The pair searches all day for the alchemist’s tent and they cant find him which
sucks
- . Santiago asks an old man about the alchemist, and the old man replies that
even tribal chieftains can’t meet with him.
- Santiago decides to ask one more person before giving up, and approaches a
young woman at a well
- This is where we meet Fatima
- She explains that the alchemist communicates with desert spirits and lives in
the south of Al-Fayoum.
- Meeting fatima was love at first site for Santiago
- The next day, Santiago returns to the well, hoping to see Fatima again.
- The Englishman explains he waited all day for the alchemist.
- When the alchemist finally arrived, the Englishman asked how to turn lead into
gold. The alchemist only responded that he must “go and try.
- The dude was super upset

PG 101 - 118

- Santiago waits at the well and as soon as the englishman leaves Fatima
comes
- He says “ I want you to be my wife, I love you ”
- I have crossed the desert in search of a treasure that is somewhere near
the Pyramids and for me the war seemed a curse but now it’s a blessing ,
because it brought me to you
- The dude is down bad for her
- As the war drags on and the caravan remains in Al-Fayoum, Santiago
meets Fatima at the well every day.
- Santiago tells Fatima about his Personal Legend which leads him to the
pyramids, but he says he wants to stay in Al-Fayoum with her.
- One day, Fatima tells Santiago that she has been waiting for him her
entire life, but insists that he continue on to Egypt after the war to
pursue his Personal Legend. She says if they are meant to be together,
they will meet again
- After this conversation, Santiago seeks out the Englishman and discovers
he has built a furnace. The Englishman explains that he has abandoned
his fear of failure and will attempt the Master Work.
-
- Santiago watches a pair of hawks attacking each other and has a vision of
armies riding through the oasis.
- Santiago remembers Melchizedek’s advice to heed omens, so he tells the
camel driver about his vision
- .The camel driver takes Santiago’s warning seriously because he believes
that all people can understand the Soul of the World.
- told the camel driver to forget about the future and pay attention to the
present.
- The seer told him that God will occasionally reveal the future to
someone, but only so it can be rewritten.
- That entire sentence goes back to the idea that we don’t have to let fate
rule our life
- Santiago to warn the local tribal chieftains of approaching armies.
Santiago doubts the chieftains will take him seriously, but the camel
driver explains that they deal often with omens.
- The guard goes inside the tent and emerges with a young Arab dressed in
white and gold. Santiago explains his vision to the Arab, and the Arab
asks Santiago to wait as he goes back into the tent
- The chieftains sit at the back of the lushly decorated tent on silk pillows,
eating, smoking hookahs, and drinking tea
- They question santiago and why the omens would choose him
- The tribe’s merchants bought the man and delivered him to Egypt,
because they thought that anyone who believed in dreams could also
interpret them. The man was Joseph, and he saved Egypt from famine by
interpreting the Pharaoh’s dreams.
- The old man says that the tribe believes in this tradition, which means
they must take messages from the desert seriously.
- He says he will reward each man in the oasis for every ten enemies he
kills,
- if Santiago turns out to be wrong, they will kill him
 - Santiago leaves the chieftains. Outside, a horseman in black carrying a
sword knocks Santiago to the ground.
- The man on the horse asks who dared read the flight of the hawks.
- The horseman asks Santiago why he defies Allah’s will, and Santiago
replies that Allah willed his vision to occur.
- then Santiago says he is following his Personal Legend, the horseman
explains he needed to test Santiago’s courage, and that Santiago must not
give up on his goal.
- he horseman tells Santiago to find him the next day after sunset if he
survives the ensuing battle.
- Santiago asks the horseman where he lives, and the horseman simply
points south before riding away.
- We learn that the mysterious horseman is the alchemist.
Fatimia
- As soon as Santiago approaches her, he notices her beauty, and he feels
instantly in love with her. Once the two begin speaking, the delay at the oasis
allows them to become friends, and Santiago even starts to worry that one day
he will have to leave. He comes to recognize the time as a part of his journey
rather than an obstacle, suggesting that fate predestined the delay
-
- The love affair between Santiago and Fatima moves very quickly,