21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Activity Sheet

This activity is 10-15 mins.

10 mins for preparation and 5 mins oral discussion or presentation
From your group brainstorm the given task

Answer the Question below

From the text “we ate the children last” and” Life of Pi” describe the author and explain why did he
wrote this type of text using the information below by an illustration using the given materials.
Compare the two text based on the background and experiences of the author.

Biography
Yann Martel was born in 1963 in Spain to Canadian parents who were part of
the diplomatic corps. As a result of their
work, he was exposed to many diࠤerent cultures as a child, something that
would show in his work later in life. Martel's
family eventually returned to Canada, and he attended high school and
college there. He majored in philosophy, but was
not sure what his path in life would be, trying various jobs, including
landscaping and working in restaurants. Eventually,
Martel decided to devote himself to a writing career.
Martel traveled the world, visiting countries like India and France, to gain
inspiration for his writing. He met his partner,
English author Alice Kuipers, in 2003, and they had a son, Theo, in 2009.
Martel continues to write, and was the writer-inresidence
at the University of Saskatchewan.

Books
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Activity Sheet

After university, Yann Martel wrote several books, one of short stories and
the other a feminist novel, both of which were
commercial ࠤops, and decided to travel the world to experience life and gain
inspiration. After traveling in India in 1999,
and reading Moacyr Scilar's Max and the Cats, Martel was inspired to write his
most famous novel, Life of Pi, a novel about
an Indian boy, Pi, and his survival at sea with a tiger on a lifeboat. The novel
won him the Man Booker Prize in 2002.

Inspiration
At 33, he found himself descending into a not-so-midlife emotional crisis. His
淊鹍 rst two novels had 耀‱opped. He remembers
this period of his life as an intense struggle, full of restlessness and
despondency.
He had the seed for an historical novel in mind, set in Portugal in 1939. But
writer's block had overwhelmed him. The idea
withered and disintegrated in a pile of crumpled notes. It felt forced and dry,
'a lifeless and wordy construct'. In his Author's
Note, Martel recalls, 'The discovery is something soul-destroying, I tell you.'
Revelation
It's funny how life sometimes takes us in unexpected directions. In 1997,
Martel traveled to India in search of inspiration.
He wandered aimlessly across India.
From the elevation of Matheran, a small town outside of Bombay, visitors
have a remarkable view. From the train station,
you can see the big city in all its glory, amid the surrounding plains.
Martel reminisces fondly on the time he spent in Bombay (the city changed
its name to Mumbai in 1995, but Martel still
refers to it by its old name). Maybe it was culture shock. Or else the
unbelievable beauty of the land and its people. The
experience of backpacking across India was certainly a life-changing one for
Martel. India forced him to come to terms with
his Western upbringing: religion, animals, family, and community were all up
for grabs.
21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Activity Sheet

In contrast to his secular, capitalist upbringing in Canada, Martel now came

in contact with a profoundly different
perspective on life. Indian society and religion opened his eyes to the
immense cultural value of art, the political
signficance of citizenship and, above all, the emotional and spiritual value of
religion.