Discuss the relevance of this quote with reference to your personal life, during the pandemic.

Write a comparative essay (400 – 450 words) on ONE of the topics below. Ensure that you complete all planning (brainstorming; outlining; first draft; peer editing; and final essay)
1.1 At the start of his journey, when Santiago asks a gypsy woman to interpret his dream about a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, she asks for one tenth of the treasure in return. When Santiago asks the old man to show him the path to the treasure, the old man requests one tenth of his flock as “payment.” Both payments represent a different price we have to pay to fulfil a dream; however, only one will yield a true result whereas the other represents false hope.
Points for consideration:
Which do you consider as a true result? Why? Can you think of examples from your own life when you had to give up something to meet a goal and found the price too high? How did you react? How did you resolve this issue?
1.2 Paulo Coelho said that alchemy is all about pursuing our spiritual quest in the physical world as it was given to us. It is the art of transmuting the reality into something sacred, of mixing the sacred and the profane. The King in the story also tells the boy that when you really desire something “all the universe conspires to help you find it” (p. 24). For Santiago, achieving his Personal Legend comes with much help from others. Based on the above, discuss how your quest for your Personal Legend was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and how through ‘favorability’ the tables will turn and you will still accomplish what you have set out to.
Points for consideration:
At what time in your life were you first able to act on it / when do you think that you will be able to act on it? How does the principle of ‘favorability” or beginner’s luck affect you? What was your “beginner’s luck” / what do you anticipate your “beginner’s luck” will be? Did / will anything prevent you from following it to conclusion? Having read The Alchemist, do you know what inner resources you will need to continue the journey?
1.3 One of the first major diversions from Santiago’s journey was the theft of his money in Tangiers, which forced him into taking a menial job with the crystal merchant. There, Santiago learned many lessons on everything from the art of business to the art of patience. Of all these, which lessons were the most crucial to the pursuit of his Personal Legend? In consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, which crucial lessons have you learned thus far in the pursuit of your Personal Legend ? Which lessons do you think you still have to learn to successfully attain your Personal Legend?
1.4 Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago “when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.” At the end of the story, how did this simple lesson save Santiago’s life? How did it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for? Discuss the relevance of this quote with reference to your personal life, during the pandemic.
1.5 King Mechizedek tells the boy that when we are children, “everything is clear and everything is possible,” but as time passes mysterious forces convince us to abandon our dreams (p. 23). Do you think this is true? What are the “mysterious forces” that threaten to hold you back as you grow older or what are the “mysterious forces” that have emerged in the past year that have threatened to hold you back? Should these forces threaten your dreams, how will you deal with them? How will you persevere?

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