AP Prep Post 1: Siddhartha

1.If you were the river, would you be enlightenment or would you knowenlightenment? In other words, what’s up with the river? What is it’s relation to enlightenment? (http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/questions.html)

2.What is it about the natural world that helps Siddhartha attain enlightenment? (http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/man-the-natural-world-theme.html)

3. Siddhartha features substantial activity and narrative action. At the same time, it is about one man’s largely internal spiritual quest. What is the relationship between the internal and exterior worlds of Siddhartha? How does Siddhartha negotiate these worlds? (http://danig14.blogspot.com/2013/01/1.html?m=1)

4.What kind of knowledge is valued in Siddhartha – carnal, financial, religious, or other? Is knowledge valued at all? (http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/wisdom-knowledge-theme.html#qa)

5. Herman Hesse’s novels before Siddharthafocused on alienated young men who rejected the cultures of their upbringings. However, these other novels did not feature the spiritual elements of Siddhartha. How do the spiritual elements of Siddhartha make it different from any other story of an alienated youth?