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The Pearl: Reading GuideAnswer the following questions neatly on a separate sheet of paper. You may need to re-read some portions of the chapter to clearly understand the answers to the questions. They are due on the dates assigned and will receive only ? credit if submitted late. Pay attention to the following: Ants and their competition with each other Steinbeck identifying Kino with God The scorpion episode Class distinctions Nature imagery vs. civilization The Pearl: Chapter One 1. Notice the importance of songs in Kino’s life. Reread the Song of the Family. What does the song of the family signify? 2. A. Discuss the symbolic meaning of the ant situation. What do the various animals symbolize? B. Assume the ant situation has the element of foreshadowing to it ~ predict what it foreshadows. 3. Steinbeck leads some of us to believe the main conflict of the book is Coyotito’s scorpion sting, but it is just a complication. What is the major conflict of the book, as established in the end of Chap. One? First identify it as Man vs. ____________ and whether it is internal or external. Then discuss how Steinbeck reveals / establishes the conflict. 4. What point of view is the story being told from? (first person, third person limited, third person omniscient). How can you tell? Is the point of view effective? WHY or WHY NOT? 5. Create a Venn Diagram on which you compare and contrast Kino and Juana. In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different? (A good place to look is how each of them reacts to both the threat of the scorpion and to Coyotito being stung.) Aim to have 3-4 bullet points in each area of your Venn Diagram. 6. Setting: Draw a very simple sketch of the village using a portion of your paper. Be sure to draw / indicate the location of the following: the ocean, Kino’s brush house and his surrounding neighborhood, and the Spanish-European area. Quote at least one line of Steinbeck’s novel that you used in visualizing the setting. (You can do complete this in a more elaborate manner on unlined paper if you wish.) Pay attention to the following: Juana?s natural instincts Superstitions How a pearl is formedDifference between need and greed The Pearl: Chapter Two 1. What importance does the canoe hold for Kino and his people? What is of similar importance to our society (think beyond a car.) 2. For what does Juana pray for? Is she more religious or more superstitious? Use two examples of Juana’s actions from Chap. 1 and 2 to provide evidence for your opinion on the second question. 3. What two additional songs does Kino hear in this chapter? 4. What two similes describe the pearl Kino found? (p. 19) Write a third of your own. 5. What are Kino’s strengths and weaknesses as a character – think and list both internal and external strengths and weaknesses. Identify as many as you can. 6. People and characters only act because they are motivated to do so. Usually one can find a value that a character clings to that motivates him or her to act. For example, if the doctor valued honesty, he would have told Kino and Juana the truth about why he denied treating Coyotito. Instead, he values class and wealth, and refuses to treat Coyotito because Kino and Juana belong to an indigent class and unable to pay much. A. Identify a central value of Kino’s. Next identify two actions Kino does motivated by that value. B. Identify a central value of Juana’s. Next identify two actions Kino does motivated by that value. The Pearl: Chapter Three *Read the following passage from The Pearl and then respond to the questions. [After a robber tries to steal the pearl and injure Kino in the process, Juana says,] “Kino, this pearl is evil. Let us destroy it before it destroys us. Let us crush it between two stones. Let us - throw it back in the sea where it belongs. Kino, it is evil, it is evil!” “No,” Kino says. “I will fight this thing. I will win over it. We will have our chance...No one shall take our good fortune from us.” Use the list of core values in class to help you complete #1 and #2: 1. What value is most central to Juana’s desire to destroy the pearl? Explain. 2. What value is most central to Kino’s desire to keep the pearl? Explain. 3. What causes Kino's hatred of the Doctor to transform into fear? Think about the stakes of his son’s illness and Kino’s educational shortcomings...and the power of the doctor’s education. 4. At the end of the chapter, what does the Song of the Pearl say to Kino? 5. How has Juana changed in this chapter? 6. How has Kino changed in this chapter? 7. Choose to take the perspective of either Kino or Juana at the chapter’s end. What would your next action be upon waking regarding the pearl? Why? 8. Develop five interpretive discussion questions for scored discussion #1. These questions should stimulate deep thinking, critical thinking. NO prediction questions! NO questions in which you change the plot! Pay attention to the following: Cultural rules Social structure Greed Humans’ desire for dignity The Pearl: Chapter Four1. Juan Tomas tells Kino of a method used in the past by the villagers to get more money for their pearls. What was this method? How did the priest explain its lack of success? Explain this in your own words. (Please reread the book to help you!) 2. What does the description of the stout pearl buyer’s trick with the coin suggest about his motives and personality? How does the trick foreshadow the result of his meeting with Kino? 3. As the plot of The Pearl unfolds in the first three chapters we learn about the basic situation of the characters. We also see how Kino’s life became more difficult after finding the great pearl. In Chapter Four a major complication develops in the plot. A. What is this complication? B. How must it change the course of the story? (A complication is a circumstance or event that makes the overall conflict harder to solve.) 4. Kino and Juan Tomas have a conversation debating old ways vs. new ways and security vs. risk. Kino respects Juan Tomas’ advice. If you were Juan Tomas what thoughtful advice would you give Kino and why? 5. What are three societal or cultural rules that govern Kino’s society? (Example: Money is power.) What are three societal or cultural rules that you think govern our American society? Pay attention to the following: Kino’s dream and how it challenges the system His canoe and the psychological impact of its loss The pearl as Kino’s soul The Pearl: Chapter Five1. a) According to Steinbeck, what qualities does a man have? b) What qualities does a woman have? c) Do you think these generalizations only apply to the Mexican culture in the book or to all humanity everywhere? Explain. 2. What three major events in Chapter V break Kino’s ties with the town and make him an outsider? Do you think he could become part of the town again in the future? Why or why not? 3 A. Why does Juana follow Kino on his path of life even if she disagrees with some of his choices? Compose a three sentence CD/CM response (claim, CD – lead-in, quote, citation, - CM). B. Would you follow Kino if you were her? Why or Why not? 4. At the end of the chapter Kino says, “This pearl has become my soul.... If I give it up I shall lose my soul.” Thoroughly explain what he means. 5. Mid-way through Chapter 5, we recognize that Kino is a changed man. How has the pearl changed Kino’s values? Claim that he value ________________ but now he values __________________. Explain. Complete one mini-project on the content of Chap. 5 This will count as a class work grade. For letters A-D, use unlined paper. If you do letter E, you may type or handwrite (on lined paper).A) Draw depictions of two animal analogies that Steinbeck uses in Chap. 5. At the bottom of the drawing, quote the Steinbeck’s inspiring line. B) Look for colors in the chapter (including the use of shadows). Create a scene from the chapter using those colors. Add quotes from the chapter where Steinbeck uses color in his writing – quotes that inspired your drawing. C) Write two poems (12-20 lines each) that capture the theme or main idea of the chapter. One poem should be from Juana’s point of view, one should be from Kino’s point of view. Write the theme statement at the top of your page. D) Do a character sketch. Actually draw the character from Steinbeck’s description. Use Steinbeck’s actual words from Chapter five in a brief written description of the character that accompanies the drawing. If the words you quote depict action, make your drawing active… Make it applicable to Chap. 5. E) Pretend that Juana was successful in throwing the pearl back into the sea… Write the rest of the chapter from these moments on. Include a dialogue between her and Kino, as well as Kino explaining what happened to Juan Thomas. (It needn’t be as long as Steinbeck’s writing – keep in below two pages in MLA format).The Pearl: Chapter SixPay attention to the following: *If belief in the pearl has overpowered religious belief for Kino and / or Juana *The pearl as a mirror of Kino’s hopes and fear *Ant imagery (second and third time in the novel) as a symbol for human insignificance *The reverse of Abraham and Isaac 1. What two animal similes are used to describe Kino and Juana? 2. How does the landscape of the last chapter add to the tension of the story? Think about it! 3. Is Kino’s throwing away the pearl a sign of defeat or triumph? Why? 4. List two ironies from the novel. 5. Steinbeck has powerful messages about greed, injustice, dignity, power and hope. Discuss a lesson or lessons about one of these thematic topics that you can use in your own life. 6. Compose five interpretive discussion questions for chapters 4-6. 7. Write Chapter VII: Extend the story. This will be a class work grade! Using a separate sheet of paper, type or write a chapter seven that concludes some of the unresolved issues left over from the novel. Write in the same voice and attention to details as Steinbeck – emulate his style. Consider answering some of the loose ends: Do not sound like you are rattling off answers to prescribed questions! Will Kino be punished for his wrongdoing(s)? Will Kino and Juana rejoin their village? How will they get along with each other? With Juan Tomas? With the doctor? The priest? Will Kino resume diving for pearls or will he seek a new way of making a living? What major lessons on life, greed, love, wealth, and / or power did Kino learn? Extend the story for a few days or weeks, and show how some or all of these loose ends, as well as any others you can think of, are resolved. 8. QUIZ GRADE: Using a separate sheet of paper, type a four paragraph response (intro w/ thesis, CD/CM, CD/CM, conc.) in which you address ONE of the following prompts: A. Kino represents a man interested in breaking social barriers. Discuss how he develops a social consciousness throughout the novel. In your conclusion, discuss Steinbeck’s messages about social systems and class. B. Discuss the relationship between symbolism and realism in the story. How do they work together to bring power and meaning to the story? (Learn the definition of each term before you answer.) C. Is Kino’s hardship caused by human actions or is it the result of divine retribution? ................
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