John Steinbeck’s The Pearl
Student Work Packet
Name________________________________________________________
The Pearl: Chapter One
On the front of a notecard, write each word. On the back of the notecard, define the word in your own words and
use it correctly in a sentence of your own creation.
• detachment - 3
• avarice -9
• indigent -9
• suppliant -12
Thoroughly answer the following questions. You may need to re-read some portions of the chapter to clearly
understand the answers to the questions. Please use complete sentences….like usual!
1) Notice the importance of songs in Kino’s life.
a. Why are no new, non-personal songs added? (Think of the history of his people…he tells you the history near
the end of the chapter.)
b. Reread the Song of the Family on pages 2 & 3. What does the song of the family signify?
2) How might the ant situation on p. 3 have symbolic meaning? Assume it 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? How does Kino
feel about this conflict?
4) What point of view is the story being told from? (first person, third person omniscient). How can you tell?
The Pearl: Chapter Two
On the front of a notecard, write each word. On the back of the notecard, define the word in your own words and
use it correctly in a sentence of your own creation.
• obscured-17
• adhered- 19
• speculatively- 18
• incandescence- 19
Thoroughly answer the following questions. You may need to re-read some portions of the chapter to clearly
understand the answers to the questions. Please use complete sentences….like usual!
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 on page 15? Is she more religious or more superstitious?
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 you own.
The Pearl: Chapter Three
On the front of a notecard, write each word. On the back of the notecard, define the word in your own words and
use it correctly in a sentence of your own creation.
• judicious- 22
• discontentedly- 32
• prophecy- 26
• crooning- 38
Thoroughly answer the following questions. You may need to re-read some portions of the chapter to clearly
understand the answers to the questions. Please use complete sentences….like usual!
*Read the following passage from The Pearl, 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.”
1) What are the pros and cons for destroying the pearl? Think carefully about all reasons.
PROS:
CONS:
2) What would you do in the same situation, if you were Kino and Juana? Why?
3) What causes Kino's hatred of the Doctor to melt into fear?
4) How have Juana and Kino changed in this chapter?
The Pearl: Chapter Four
On the front of a notecard, write each word. On the back of the notecard, define the word in your own words and
use it correctly in a sentence of your own creation.
• station- 46
• contemptuous- 49
• entranced- 55
• benign- 47
• brooding- 53
Thoroughly answer the following questions. You may need to re-read some portions of the chapter to clearly
understand the answers to the questions. Please use complete sentences….like usual!
1. 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.
2.
How do pearl buyers and the priest act as allies (in practice, not in friendship) in maintaining the social
hierarchy of the town?
3. 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?
4. What are three societal or cultural rules that you think govern Kino’s society? What are three societal or
cultural rules that you think govern our American society?
The Pearl: Chapter Five
On the front of a notecard, write each word. On the back of the notecard, define the word in your own words and
use it correctly in a sentence of your own creation.
• skirled- 62
• scuttling -63
• edifice - 63
Thoroughly answer the following questions. You may need to re-read some portions of the chapter to clearly
understand the answers to the questions. Please use complete sentences….like usual!
1) What three major events in Chapter Five 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?
2) Why does Juana follow Kino on his path of life even if she disagrees with some of his choices? Find a quote
from the novel to help provide evidence of your thinking. Would you follow Kino if you were her? Why or
Why not?
3) 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.
The Pearl: Chapter Six
On the front of a notecard, write each word. On the back of the notecard, define the word in your own words and
use it correctly in a sentence of your own creation.
• covert- 70
• petulant- 80
• sinister- 71
• irresolution- 78
• germane- 84
Thoroughly answer the following questions. You may need to re-read some portions of the chapter to clearly
understand the answers to the questions. Please use complete sentences….like usual!
1) What two animal’s similes are used to describe Kino and Juana on page 84? Why are these comparison used?
2) Describe the events that lead to Coyotito’s death.
3) Is Kino’s throwing away the pearl a sign of defeat or triumph? Why?
4) How has the granting of Kino’s wish become an irony?