Commencement Speech + The Alchemist

Commencement Speech + the Alchemist answers Commencement speech No doubt, many of you young graduates sit poised in your chairs, terrified of what awaits you: the uncertain job market, and your uncertain futures. However, whatever you may encounter, you have this to comfort you: you have an education.

Although we tend to view education as something to be reckoned into dollars and cents, no matter what you may earn in your lifetime your education has also given you the inner strength and intellectual resources to better cope whatever personal and professional challenges lie ahead. Moreover, your education has not ended: it has only begun. You have learned how to learn -- learned to think critically, to question, and to adapt yourself to new environments.

You cannot control the world, but you can keep an open mind, and so long as your mind is open, wherever life may cast your way, your landing will be soft. The saying rings true: "minds, much like parachutes, function best when open." Questions on Paul Coelho's novel the Alchemist Q1.

Mention one important decision the protagonist makes: what choices had he? Why did he decide as he did? Is there any evidence either that he was pleased with or that he regretted his decision? If so, what is it? At the beginning of Paul Coelho's novel the Alchemist, a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago decides to sell all he owns, after being advised by a gypsy and a king to follow his dream of seeking treasure. However, along the way, he is robbed.

After making enough money to return home again, discouraged and deterred from his dream, Santiago is once again encouraged to seek the treasure by a man in pursuit of his own quest to find a legendary alchemist: Santiago's refusal let his spirit be crushed enables him to finally find true love.

Santiago could have seen the robbery as a sign that his original dream was a lie, but he did not, based upon the advice of another man in search of a dream who had endured even more obstacles than himself Q2. Who are the most important minor characters? What are their relationships to the protagonist? Select one minor character and show his significance to the novel.

The most important minor characters are the gypsy and the king who urge Santiago to first embark on his quest, and the Englishman and the alchemist who urge him to continue on to seek his desired treasure. But it is the alchemist of the title who instructs Santiago of the most profound truth of the novel, that treasure is not to be measured in monetary wealth, but in human relationships and insight.

It is whom Santiago meets on the quest, not the destination that is important: "All you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation" says the alchemist (132). Alchemy is about "penetrating the soul of the world" more than transforming lead into gold (142). Q3. What are the relationships of the women characters to the men? Do they complement each other? If so, how? Women mainly have a symbolic function in the Alchemist.

Rather than distinct personalities, they either symbolize fulfillment.