Questions and Answers on The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“You can always turn a bad kisser into a good one,” Laura Prepon. Santiago, the main character of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist leads a modest and ordinary life as a shepherd. Santiago travelled constantly, exploring the Andalusian terrain. In his travels, Santiago met a woman who interpreted his dreams, and told him his treasure would lie in Egypt at the pyramids. However, Santiago believed that the dream interpreter was a phony, and he continued to herd his sheep. Soon after, he exchanged words with the King of Salem, and Santiago was once again told to venture to Egypt in order to find his treasure. After careful consideration, Santiago sells his precious sheep and begins his journey. An alchemist, somebody who turns lead

1. How can we learn from Santiago in the Alchemist and apply it our own life?

The book I read is called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist is about a boy from Spain, whose name is Santiago and is a shepherd. The book tells how he gets around countries, and how he deals with his problems and how he solves them. It shows how he follows his dreams, and who helps him along the way.

The blazing hot spotlights flick on. The theatre is silent, allowing me to hear the pounding of my heart. Heat radiating off of the light panels warms my face. I grin from ear to ear and whisper to myself, “I will remember this.” It was the friday night show of the orchesis concert, Mrs. Good had sat us down to tell us a story about a past student. Her student, Margaret, loved performing and lived for the rush of adrenaline when she stepped foot on stage. During her senior show, she whispered to herself, “I will remember this.” Fast forward three years, Margaret was walking through the quad of her college campus, the sun peered out behind the clouds and the angle the the sun hit her face brought back a rush of emotions and memories. We were all told this because she wanted us to never forget the feeling we got when we performed. “If you are rushing through the dance moves or caught up in the moment, pause and breathe, remember why you are on the stage in the first

Some may refer to The Alchemist as a best-selling novel written by Paulo Coelho which explains the ideas of having a dream, or Personal Legend, and going through obstacles to conquer it. The book starts off like any other, introducing and describing the main characters, in this case Santiago is the first to share the interest of peers reading the story. He is said to be a small town shepherd boy who will do anything for his flock of sheep. In the opening scene of the story, Santiago takes his flock to an abandoned church and lies down under a sycamore tree hoping to get some rest. He is soon woken up from a disturbing dream which foreshadows further into the story of his own Personal Legend. Later in the book, Santiago is faced with multiple tests to be successful in finding his treasure. “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure” (Coelho 15). Paulo continues to add characters in the book that help Santiago throughout his journey.

An allegory is a poem or narrative that is made up of symbolic meaning. On the other hand symbolism is a literary device that is used to portray something without directly saying or showing it. Usually fables are considered to be in the allegory category because they combine many symbols together to portray a message to the audience. An allegory tells a story, whereas symbolism does not. Allegory is also most commonly used to portray characters and give them more depth, whereas symbolism is most commonly found being used on different objects or things. Lastly, an allegory is a more restricted literary device because it usually has a specific meaning or

The alchemist is a well written book that accurately describes every concept about life and explains it through a story. The Alchemist is a book about a shepherd named Santiago, who discovers his personal legend and receives help from others to help achieve his Personal Legend and learns many major life lessons along the way. Santiago gets advice that when life puts him down, keep getting back up and to focus on the task at hand, which is Santiago’s own personal legend. Along the the journey, Santiago receives help from many different characters but only three characters who helped him the most throughout his quest for his Personal legend is the alchemist, the Old King and the Englishman. The best advice a reader is able to gain from this story is the advice the the Old King taught Santiago, which is” there is only one thing that makes achieving a dream impossible to achieve, the fear of failure” which means is to never be afraid of failures and to follow your own path God has laid out for you because if you are too afraid to pursue your personal legend, meaning if people are too afraid to take risks to make their own life better than it already is now, then they will not have the opportunity to accomplish their own goals. In Coelho's The Alchemist, Santiago learns the Soul of the World through experience, patience, time and help from the Old King, the Englishman and the alchemist.

This is Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist. Before I share the alternate ending to the book with you, you must know that this cannot be shared with anyone. This is top secret, and I am trusting you. I had two ideas of how to end the book, but I picked the first one. The second one is being shared with only you. I hope you enjoy this alternate ending that is not a part of the book!

The Alchemist is a journey of exploration and self-discovery as we follow the main character, Santiago, a young shepherd who lives in Spain, on a journey to fulfill his personal legend. The novel shows us wisdoms and gentle reminders of how to change our lives from what they may be today into the life we have always dreamed of.

There are many obstacles in everyday life, but none as detrimental to ones future as fear. Fear can cause people to not only avoid achieving their goals in life but it also forces them to think about it throughout every day. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist shows that those who wallow in fear will never achieve their personal legend, and those who conquer fear will achieve anything they strive for. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a commonly analyzed and criticized piece of literature. One of these articles is Rejendra Kumar Dash’s “Alchemy of the Soul: A Comparative Study of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha and Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist”. Dash’s article is a literary criticism of the different parts of the character’s journey in The Alchemist.

Several years later, Santiago had enough money to journey back home but he decided he should continue on his journey despite his past experiences. I’m not sure I could do the same thing as Santiago.

The Alchemist, a novel written by Paulo Coelho teaches us about the importance of self-discovery and exploration by taking us through the journey of a young Andalusian shepherd, Santiago. Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 24th 1947, to Pedro Quiema Coelho de Souza, an engineer, and his wife, Lygia, a homemaker. Paulo early on had dreamed of an artistic career and then after his surroundings in Jesuit school, he discovered his true vocation was to be a writer (Coelho 195). Upon telling his mom, she told him that his father was an engineer, a reasonable and logical man and had a clear view of the world. At the age of 16, Paulo’s opposition against following a traditional path led to his parents committing him into a mental institution (Paulo Coelho). To satisfy his parents, he enrolled in law school. However, it led him to mental illness and failing his career. After many years, he gave a shot at his dream profession and started to write. Paulo wrote The Pilgrimage: Diary of Magus which described his experiences and his discovery that the extraordinary occurs in the lives of ordinary people. He was the recipient of numerous international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. The Pilgrimage was published in 1987 and The Alchemist was published in 1988, a year after. Both novels appeared on the best sellers list but The Alchemist continued to sell more copies than any other book in Brazilian literary history. The Alchemist,

The Alchemist is a novel written by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, originally written in Portuguese in 1988 and later translated to English in 1993, which follows the journey of Santiago on his quest to not only follow his Personal Legend, but also to discover a world full of changes and transformations. Looking at this story at first glance might give you the feel that it will be about a boy on a quest filled with the expected trials that test his heart, strength, and character. Elements like this are present, however, the story makes the reader think deeply about the motif dealing with following the signs the universe gives. This is due to various symbols and motifs, one having to do with omens, that Santiago and many characters

The book tells a story of a shepherd boy, who owns a herd of sheep. His name is Santiago. In his sleep, he has dreamt a dream at two occasions that he needs to go to the pyramids of Egypt to find treasures.

Allegory: A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.