The Pearl By John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck
La Paz, Baja California
A Way of Life in The Pearl 1 out of every 4 Mexicans live on a farm or in a small village (very poor with little access to basic social services) Village homes – along simple dirt or cobblestone roads; dependant upon climate Roman Catholic churches are opposite the governmental buildings in the plazas. The marketplace, a chief activity Treatment of Indians in villages - unfair, exploitation, dishonest
Application Can money buy happiness? Why or why not? If you won $5 million, what three things would you do with the money and why? Let’s say you find a great treasure. What do you do? Whom do you tell? How do you expect people to react?
Steinbeck’s Introduction What is a parable? What examples do you know of parables? How does what Steinbeck suggests here, "everyone takes his own meaning from it and reads his own life into it," differ from the traditional interpretation of a parable?
Reading Expectations Close read (book or notes) Come to class or read when you are absent Goal is one chapter per day! (If we don’t finish in class? It’s homework!) T-Notes (for March 9 th )
Project Journal from a character’s point of view Research project on the culture within the novel Steinbeck’s life and career Significance of the setting with a short paragraph of explanation Cultivation of pearls and/or the pearl industry (within the novel?) Comic strip of the story (as if for a newspaper)