AP Prep Post 1: Siddhartha

1.) What purpose does self-denial serve in Siddhartha? What about self-indulgence?
(http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/questions.html)
-Siddhartha deals with a lot of self-denial by denying himself of food, comforts, and family.  These sacrifices are made to help him become his true self, to strip away the exteriors that people hide behind in life.

2.) What does enlightenment look like in Siddhartha? Is it a feeling? An attitude?
(http://www.shmoop.com/siddhartha/questions.html)
-In the passage enlightenment is a feeling and an attitude because you understand Siddhartha's want to be enlightened and also the feeling that he's on that path.

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://www.sparknotes.com/lit/siddhartha/study.html)
-Siddhartha contradicts himself throughout the passage, his actions do not reflect his thoughts.  As the passage goes on he begins to trust in his thoughts and take action that corresponds to them.

4.) What becomes of Siddhartha's "glorious, exalted awakening" that he had experienced in his youth? 
(http://www.summit.k12.co.us)
-It is a thing of the past and becomes part of Siddhartha's memory. 






















                                                                                                                                                                       5.) Consider Siddhartha’s relationship with Govinda. How are they similar, and how are they different? What are the narrative functions of Govinda’s reappearance throughout the novel? How does their relationship impact the novel’s ending?
(http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/siddhartha/study.html)                                                                                                                                                       


-Govinda is briefly mentioned in the passage when they discuss all the monks joined together in a brotherhood.  Govinda seems to be sure in himself and in his choices and well respected by others while Siddhartha is struggling with his feelings.

For the AP exam I'll need to brush up on my AP reading, starting with the first literature analysis book which I'm still on the hunt for.  The more I read and comprehend from that list the better prepared I'll be for the test, I just need to buckle down and get ready.