10. Describe the major songs Kino hears throughout The Pearl. How do these songs work as a motif and what theme do they support?

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1 1. On the first page of the novella we discover that Juana s eyes are open every morning before Kino opens his. Find other examples of how Juana sees things before Kino does. Why are these visions important to the development of the story? 2. In the first few pages of the novella Steinbeck includes an analogy of the shiny black ants and the dusty red ants. The ant lions set traps for the unsuspecting dusty red ants while Kino stands above them with the detachment of God. Analyze this comparison and other analogous descriptions of the interaction of animals in nature. What purpose do they serve in the development of the story? 3. Analyze the descriptions of Kino and Juana leaving town at the beginning of chapter 6 and returning through town at the end of the novella. What do these two descriptions and other evidence from the story show about the relationship between Kino and Juana? 4. Steinbeck tells us this parable is about good and evil, black and white, and no inbetween. Show how he uses the symbols of dark and light to illustrate his story. Show at least three places where dark and light images are connected to good and evil, and how these images help the story.

2 5. Consider the following quote from The Pearl: An accident could happen to these oysters, a grain of sand could lie in the folds of muscle and irritate the flesh until in selfprotection the flesh coated the foreign body until it fell free in some tidal flurry or until the oyster was destroyed. How might this description affect the idea that the story is a parable? 6. Kino and Juana are removed from human experience upon their return to La Paz. What does this mean? Were they removed by their experience of pain, or did they choose to remove themselves as a result of their pain? 7. When Kino and Juana return to La Paz, it is described as an event that happened to everyone. Everyone in the novella or everyone in the world? How is this possible? Develop a theme based on this quote and show how this theme is supported throughout the story. 8. Kino and Juana function more or less on a primitive level in their lives and in their religion, yet both want a church wedding and a christening for Coyotito. How are these values consistent with their lives? How are they contradictory?

3 9. What might be the connection between descriptions of nature and the mood of different sections of the novella? Track the changing moods in the story using Steinbeck s descriptions of the natural settings. Be sure to indicate specific words, sensory imagery, and figurative language that help to set the mood. 10. Describe the major songs Kino hears throughout The Pearl. How do these songs work as a motif and what theme do they support? 11. The pearl is an obvious symbol in the novella. Track how the pearl s meaning changed in the different stages of the story. 12. In chapter four there is a description of the stout pearl buyer s legerdemain. What does this trick with the coin suggest about his motives and personality? How does the trick foreshadow the result of his meeting with Kino?

4 13. The preface expresses that the novel might be seen as a parable, that is a short, fairly simple story that teaches a moral lesson. What would you say is the moral lesson presented in The Pearl. Make sure to defend your idea with multiple instances of text evidence. 14. Identify two passages in chapter six in which Coyotito s fate is forshadowed. This does not mean identify cause and effect. For instance do not use, the gun goes off (cause) and Coyotito is shot (effect). 15. Setting is important in all of Steinbeck s books. He uses setting to help impart his symbols and themes. How does the setting affect The Pearl? Take into account the physical and social settings in the book. 16. When Kino imagines what such an amazing pearl can bring to the family, the narrator describes the human condition. For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have. Explain how the ideas in this quote are either supported or contradict in the development of the novel.

5 17. Kino and Juan Thomas had heard the Priest point out that aspirations lead to downfall. The Father made it clear that each man and woman is like a soldier sent by God to guard some part of the castle of the Universe. And some are in the ramparts and some far deep in the darkness of the walls. But each one must remain faithful to his post and must not go running about, else the castle is in danger from the assaults of Hell." Explain how events in the story support the ideas in this quote.