AP Prep Post 1: Siddhartha

As I searched on Google for good questions the ones I found seemed really easy to answer so I searched the blog's for help and fond that Ian Steller's Blog had more challenging questions.

A. 1. 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?
2. Herman Hesse’s novels before Siddhartha focused 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?
3. Most literary scholars agree that Siddhartha was prompted by Herman Hesse’s fixation on Eastern spirituality. Is there a case to be made that Siddhartha is designed to celebrate Eastern religion? Is Hesse’s treatment of spirituality as relevant today as it was when he wrote the novel?
4. Siddhartha concerns the quest for spiritual enlightenment, and by the end of it four characters have achieved this goal: Govinda, Gotama, Vasudeva, and Siddhartha. Is the enlightenment achieved by each of these characters the same? Why or why not? What distinctions and similarities exist between the paths these characters use to reach their final goal?
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?

B. 1. Internally Siddhartha's world is a big problem with a lot of options and he is having trouble on deciding which path to choose. Externally Siddhartha's world is surrounded by familiar faces that he can choose to stay with or start over. Overall I think that Siddhartha's worlds are connected because they both involve deciding on what to do that will be better for himself. 
2. Spiritual elements of Siddhartha make it different from another alienated youth in a story because Siddhartha's spiritual beliefs make him want to do things a certain way or change while other people being alienated in different books can be just because they want to be alone or are shy. 
3. I think that the spirituality is still the same as when he wrote the book because peoples beliefs and customs stay the same over time but the people change. 
4. I need more information on the other characters to fully answer the question.
5. I need more information on Govinda to answer the question. 
  
These questions show me that the AP Exam will be challenging and that the questions want you to go deeper that usual while answering them. 

C. These questions tell me that I need to pay attention and look for more literary elements as I read.