THE ALCHEMIST
Identify and copy a short quotation/passage from The Alchemist that you found the most poetic and/or inspirational and explain what it means to you personally.
Why do you think I chose this book for you to read at this particular moment in time?
After contemplating the following, select the ONE divergent thinking question from the list below that you find most interesting and succinctly yet thoroughly answer the question from your own point of view. Literary texts are open to interpretation, so speak your mind and keep in mind that there isn’t just one right answer.
The wind is a recurring metaphor in the story of Santiago’s heroic journey (and in Tina Seelig’s talk on luck) and is one of the most enigmatic passages in the story. What do you think the deeper meaning of the wind is in this story?
What are the major themes running through The Alchemist?
What is the role of nature in The Alchemist and how does nature influence the journey?
Along the way, Santiago encounters many people, all of whom have an important role to play in his heroic journey. Who are they and what do they teach the boy about himself, relationships, and the world?
What are some of the challenges Santiago faced and what life lessons does he learn along the way that might be instructive to you as you journey toward your own Personal Legend?
Google vs. GenAI Challenge Match
Google search:
After brainstorming and writing down your own answer to the question you selected, do a Google search and find 3 good sources for answering this same question.
Include the URL addresses for all 3 sources.
Write a short summary of your favoriteGoogle link and explain what you liked about it.
Generative AI:
After completing the Google search and synopsis and perusing the prompt engineering tips and tricks guide (click here), apply what you’ve learned about effective prompt design to converse with the chatbot about the same question you Googled and ask at least 3 follow-up questions/prompts to delve as deeply as possible into the topic.
Choose whichever AI Generator you prefer (OpenAI’s ChatGPT, GPT4, Microsoft’s Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude 3, Google’s Gemini, etc.)
Ask for references and citations and then fact-check them. Explain how you fact-checked them and how accurate they were.
Highlight anything that seems vague, unclear, irrelevant, ambiguous, or inaccurate, or that you want to know more about.
Metacognitive Reflection:
Evaluate your Google search vs. GenAI chat by briefly addressing the following:
Discuss the pros and cons of using Google searches vs. GenAI chatbots for learning.
How did using GenAI and Google search enhance &/or detract from your learning experience?
List the various prompting techniques you used and explain how you designed prompts to generate desired outcomes.
Feel free to add any other meaningful observations, insights, &/or takeaways.
Copy and paste your entire conversation with the AI Generator into the message box or attach a PDF or Word document.
