MLA formatted essay on Tuck Everlasting
Having read the novel, taken notes, and reflected on meaning, you are well prepared to write about one of the
themes of the novel supporting your chosen theme through evidence of examples from the text and/or including
literary criticism, author interviews, or articles.
Your essay must be typed. The essay must adhere to MLA format starting with the header (go to Insert---choose
page number top page and far left option, type in your last name, and exit out of header), a heading (name, date,
class GT English 7), and centered title (not underlined or quoted).
Your possible topics include the following:
1.
Explain how the novel, Tuck Everlasting, uses the symbolism of clocks, wheels, and cycles to illustrate the
theme of the necessity of mortality to humanity.
2. Explain how the novel, Tuck Everlasting, uses setting, foils, and symbolism to illustrate the natural order of
life and balance of nature.
3. Explain how the novel, Tuck Everlasting, showcases the inevitability and necessity of change as illustrated
through character foils, plot conflicts, and ironic events.
4. Explain how the novel, Tuck Everlasting, is a timeless allegorical coming of age story that showcases a
young girl’s innocence, conflicts, and choices.
Requirements of this essay include the following:
1. A well-planned outline with page numbers of quotations noted.
2. Typed MLA 5 paragraph essay (double spaced, Times New Roman or Calibri, 11 pt.
font…).
3. At least two relevant/supporting quotes from the novel 2 per body paragraph (for a
minimum of 6 quotations total in the essay)
4. Proper parenthetical citation for each quotation and/or paraphrased passage used.
5. A Work(s) Cited Page to credit the short story as a reference source for your
quotations.
Where do I begin? What is an introduction? What is a thesis statement?
You must have an introduction. Your introduction must
Introduction: follow ANT for the introduction.
• Attention-getter. The attention-getter should be general and interesting. It should draw the reader in. It
should also connect thematically to the thesis. This sentence doesn’t have to be cheesy or cute, but it
cannot mention the book and should ease into the big idea of your essay about irony, conflicts, or songs
• Necessary information:
o Author’s name
o Title of work
o Brief plot summary
• Thesis
Remember to include the following after conclusion:
Work Cited
Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting. New York: Scholastic, 2004. Print.
Always check which edition you have. It
makes a difference in the page numbers
and citation.
Essay Schedule
March 19-20, Tues.-Wed,
receive instruction sheet. Begin thinking about choice.
March 21, Thursday
choose a topic and create an introduction
Homework create an outline for the essay FIND text examples
March 22, Friday
following an outline, you should create a first body paragraph
Homework ---type 1st paragraph and part of the 2cnd.
March 25, Monday
Review the paragraph in class, finish 2cnd paragraph and begin third
Homework---type 2cnd body paragraph and begin the third.
March 26, Tuesday
Finish the third body paragraph and conclusion in class (Homework---finish typing
paper)
March 27, Wednesday
Class final edit in teams
March 28, Thursday
Typed essay is due!
Analytical Tuck Everlasting Expository Essay Rubric
Name ______________________
CATEGORY
Introduction
(ORGANIZATION)
10%
Evidence and Examples
(IDEAS)
20%
Date_________________
Class GT Honors ELA 7
4 – Above Standards 3 - Meets Standards 2 - Approaching Standards
1 - Below Standards
Includes an effective
attention-getter
opening, author,
title, appropriate
summary, and
thesis.
Includes general
opening, author,
work, summary,
and thesis.
Includes author, work,
Incomplete ANT
and/or thesis; however
essentials.
weak opening and muddled
summary.
10-9
8-7
6
5 or less
All of the evidence
and examples are
specific, relevant
and explanations are
given that show how
each piece of
evidence supports
the author's position.
Most of the
evidence and
examples are
specific, relevant
and explanations
are given that show
how each piece of
evidence supports
the author's
position.
18-17.
At least some of the pieces
of evidence and examples is
relevant and has an
explanation that shows how
that piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
Very little of the
evidence and
examples are
relevant AND/OR
are explained. Seems
to be more a
summary than an
analysis.
16-15
14 or less
Have used @ least
5 appropriate
quotes from the
novel and have
cited most
correctly.
36-34
Have used @ least 4
appropriate quotes from the
novel and have cited most
correctly.
Have used fewer
than 4 quotes from
the novel and have
experienced
problems with
citation.
30 or less
20-19
Quotations for the text
for support
(IDEAS)
Have used @ least 6
appropriate quotes
from the novel and
have cited correctly.
40%
40-37
Closing paragraph
(ORGANIZATION &
IDEAS)
The conclusion is
strong, effective
restatement of the
position statement
begins the closing
paragraph.
The conclusion is
recognizable. The
author's position
but is not as strong
or effective as it
could or should be.
The conclusion is apparent,
but very perfunctory,
formulated, minimal, or
empty.
There is no solid
conclusion,ends with
a cliché
simplification“As
you can see…” or
“In conclusion, …:
10-9
8-7
6-5
4 or less
Author uses proper
MLA format
(includes Works
Cited) almost no
errors in
capitalization or
punctuation
20-19
Author uses proper
MLA format most
of the time, but
makes 3-4 careless
distracting errors.
18-16
MLA format is not
consistent, and excessive
errors distract readers,
weakening the paper’s
effectiveness and/or
purpose.
MLA format is not
consistent, and
excessive errors
leave the reader
stumbling and
confused.
15-13 points
12 points or less
10%
GUMPS
Grammar
Usage
Mechanics
Punctuation
Spelling
(CONVENTIONS)
20%
33-31
Score
Leff 1
Student Leff
March 27, 2013
GT English 7
Constance of Change
Although life is an eternally spinning circle, each life cycle is a single spin marked by
stages and ages. Childhood is naturally followed by an often turbulent time of adjustment,
adolescence. In Natalie Babbitt’s novel, Tuck Everlasting, a young ten year old girl at the turn
of the century faces her fears head on and makes a decision to escape the confining perimeter of
her ordered life and venture into the natural unknown forest world. Winifred Foster’s decision to
venture from her familiar safe confines marks the beginning of a journey of maturation that
moves her past her innocence, through new conflicts, and with her choices.
THEMES of Tuck Everlasting
The great circle of life and how we may be bound by its
dictums, but it is for our own good
The most important theme of the novel involves the great circle of life and how we may be
bound by its dictums, but it is for our own good. The author seems to be speaking about how
death is just as much an integral part of life as living is. We are meant to be born, live, hopefully,
a good life, and then die. To disrupt that cycle would have devastating consequences to our
world. This is the ultimate lesson that Winnie learns, as shown by her decision to not drink from
the spring.
Change / Metamorphosis
The theme of change or metamorphosis is also an important idea. The author especially
emphasizes this when she chooses the Toad as Winnie’s first friend. He represents through the
cycles a toad experiences in its life the change we humans, too, must experience. We are meant
to grow up, do something valuable with out lives and eventually die. This allows the world to
progress and change as well. Drinking from the spring stifles change and growth and so Winnie
chooses to live out her life, changing and growing through every stage.
Greed
The character of the Man in the Yellow Suit represents the theme of greed. He is never given a
name, because he represents us all when we allow selfishness and greed to control out actions.
His wearing a yellow suit is symbolic of cowardice. He is not a brave, upstanding individual.
He's a coward and a bully who uses the Fosters and the Tucks to achieve his own ends. His
violent death symbolizes how greed leads only misfortune.
Do the right thing, even if it is unpopular
The theme of the ability to understand what is the right thing to do and to act upon it even if it is
not the popular choice. Winnie knew she had to help Mae escape the prison, because it was the
right thing to do even though she could get into terrible trouble and the Tucks could be hurt. This
has an important impact on the lesson the author wants to teach - we owe it to be kind and
generous to our fellow human beings.
Moral Judgment / Values
The theme of moral judgment can also be seen in the decisions the Tucks have made all these
years that they have been immortal and especially Mae’s decision to take another life to save
humanity from the consequences of eternal life. Then, Winnie must use her moral judgment to
break Mae out of prison even though it makes her an accessory to a crime. All of these characters
are forced into decisions, which on the surface seem morally wrong, but underneath are the only
decisions they could make.
Love
The last important theme is that of love. Winnie came to love the Tucks and through her
experiences with them, she came to understand some very important ideas about life. In turn, she
came to appreciate and love her parents and her Grandmother even more, because she
understood why they treated her as they. Love also makes her parents realize that Winnie needs
space, too, and that she is a very brave and wonderful little girl.
Essay topics for Steinbeck’s The Pearl
Fortunately, you are at least somewhat familiar with essay format.
Whether writing narrative, descriptive, persuasive, or expository essays, you
all know that an essay is a collection of unified paragraphs with a clear
beginning, middle, and end. All essays have original titles, and all essays have a purpose.
Throughout your English classes, you will be expected to construct analytical essays
about literary works. In the beginning teachers will provide the topics and you will construct these more
formal and critical essays on a specific test. Gradually, teachers add specific requirements of this most
well used essay format. We will begin a formal essay in class and be able to study models of literary
essays to guide us.
You have your choice of topics include the following:
1. From the moment of the pearl’s discovery, irony twists and distorts the only world Kino and
Juana have ever known. Explain the irony of three of Kinos’s wishes: his marriage in a
church, his possession of a gun, and an education for his son (and community).
2. Show how the three songs, “The Song of the Enemy,” “The Song of the Pearl,” and
“The Song of Family” foreshadow danger, provide create conflict, and support
the theme.
3. Although Kino and Juana were poor, they enjoyed a simple and happy life with little
drama until the scorpion’s arrival. Show how Kino’s conflict increase beginning with
the scorpion. Explain how this allegorical story develops, increases, and is resolved
through three specific types of conflict: man versus society, man versus man, and
man versus himself.
Analytical The Pearl Expository Essay Rubric
Name ______________________
CATEGORY
Introduction
(ORGANIZATION)
10%
Evidence and Examples
(IDEAS)
20%
Date_________________
Class GT Honors ELA
4 – Above Standards 3 - Meets Standards 2 - Approaching Standards
1 - Below Standards
Includes an effective
attention-getter
opening, author,
title, appropriate
summary, and
thesis.
Includes general
opening, author,
work, summary,
and thesis.
Includes author, work,
Incomplete ANT
and/or thesis; however
essentials.
weak opening and muddled
summary.
10-9
8-7
6
5 or less
All of the evidence
and examples are
specific, relevant
and explanations are
given that show how
each piece of
evidence supports
the author's position.
Most of the
evidence and
examples are
specific, relevant
and explanations
are given that show
how each piece of
evidence supports
the author's
position.
18-17.
At least some of the pieces
of evidence and examples is
relevant and has an
explanation that shows how
that piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
Very little of the
evidence and
examples are
relevant AND/OR
are explained. Seems
to be more a
summary than an
analysis.
16-15
14 or less
Have used @ least
5 appropriate
quotes from the
novel and have
cited most
correctly.
36-34
Have used @ least 4
appropriate quotes from the
novel and have cited most
correctly.
Have used fewer
than 4 quotes from
the novel and have
experienced
problems with
citation.
30 or less
20-19
Quotations for the text
for support
(IDEAS)
Have used @ least 6
appropriate quotes
from the novel and
have cited correctly.
40%
40-37
Closing paragraph
(ORGANIZATION &
IDEAS)
The conclusion is
strong, effective
restatement of the
position statement
begins the closing
paragraph.
The conclusion is
recognizable. The
author's position
but is not as strong
or effective as it
could or should be.
The conclusion is apparent,
but very perfunctory,
formulated, minimal, or
empty.
There is no solid
conclusion,ends with
a cliché
simplification“As
you can see…” or
“In conclusion, …:
10-9
8-7
6-5
4 or less
Author uses proper
MLA format
(includes Works
Cited) almost no
errors in
capitalization or
punctuation
20-19
Author uses proper
MLA format most
of the time, but
makes 3-4 careless
distracting errors.
18-16
MLA format is not
consistent, and excessive
errors distract readers,
weakening the paper’s
effectiveness and/or
purpose.
MLA format is not
consistent, and
excessive errors
leave the reader
stumbling and
confused.
15-13 points
12 points or less
10%
GUMPS
Grammar
Usage
Mechanics
Punctuation
Spelling
(CONVENTIONS)
20%
33-31
Score
Essay Schedule
Introductions and outlines
Body paragraph (first)
Body paragraph (second)
Body paragraph (third)
Conclusion
Requirements of this essay include the following:
6. A well-planned outline with page numbers of quotations noted.
7. Typed MLA 5 paragraph essay (double spaced, Times New Roman or Calibri, 11 pt.
font…).
8. At least two relevant/supporting quotes from the novel per body paragraph
(minimum of 6 quotations)
9. Proper parenthetical citation for each quotation used.
10. A Work(s) Cited Page to credit the short story as a reference source for your
quotations.
Where do I begin? What is an introduction? What is a thesis statement?
You must have an introduction. Your introduction must
Introduction: follow ANT for the introduction.
• Attention-getter. The attention-getter should be general and interesting. It should draw the
reader in. It should also connect thematically to the thesis. This sentence doesn’t have to be
cheesy or cute, but it cannot mention the book and should ease into the big idea of your essay
about irony, conflicts, or songs
• Necessary information:
o Author’s name
o Title of work
o Brief plot summary
• Thesis
(Ms. Leff basically gives you a thesis for all of seventh grade and ½ of eighth grade)
Remember to include the following after conclusion:
Work Cited
Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. New York: Penguin Books, 1976. Print.
Conclusions and Introductions
When you write an introduction, you followed an ANT formula. The Attentiongetter makes a connection and/or shows relevance. You included the Necessary items
(author, work, and summary) before you stated a Thesis you could prove. It’s important
that you followed the formula that leads readers in from the broad bigger picture and
focuses like a lens on the specific target.
Your essay conclusion is essentially ANT in reverse. You have less to do in the
necessary (you do not have to include the author and work), but you do begin with the
thesis and you expand from the up close and specific to the broad and general.
T
Study Leff’s sample essay about character foils of Kino and Juana
Introduction
While the lion is portrayed in literature and folklore as the king of beast, the true regal
leaders in any pride of lions are the females. Unlike the male lion, which sleeps the majority of
the day, the lioness hunts to secure the food sources that will sustain the pride. Although John
Steinbeck’s allegorical novella, The Pearl, is not set on an African veldt, the protagonists mimic
the behaviors and roles of the lions. The male leader of the family, Kino, never awakens before
his lioness wife has prepared the food and provided for the family. Just as nature maintains a
balance, Juana and Kino establish a balance in their roles within their family and community.
The character of Juana is a foil to Kino and serves to provide contrast in animal imagery,
increase in conflict, and create thematic symbolism.
Conclusion
Character foils emphasize character traits, but Juana’s character also provides a contrast in
animal imagery, an increase in conflict, and a thematic symbol. Although fear, greed, and hatred
threaten Kino and Juana divide them briefly, once they become reunited, their courage,
generosity, and love defeat the forces that had threatened their family and oppressed their people.
While Kino and Juana share the greatest loss imaginable, they bring the greatest gain to their
community. Throughout nature, balance can be found in any unit. Lions, king of the beast, reign
over the jungle with a lioness, each balancing the other, in much the same way men and women
provide balance in life.
What is MLA format?
Modern Language Association created an MLA style for documentation which is widely used in the humanities,
especially in writing on language and literature. Generally simpler and more concise than other styles, MLA style
features brief parenthetical citations in the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works cited that appears at the end of
the work.
Because you are only using one source, you will have only one book on your Works Cited page and have
parentheses with a page number(s) inside following each of your quoted ‘words”, “lines’, or “passages.”
Books
Basic Format
Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of the Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, year of the most recent
publication. Media (e-book, CD, print, etc.).
Work Cited
Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. New York: Penguin Press, 1945. Print.
MLA all the way will direct how your paper will begin and appear.
First step  Type your last name and page number ate the top right hand of page
Second step Type name, course, and date on the left side.
Third step  Type your original title on the center of the page
Fourth step  Hit tab space and begin your essay with a general attention getting sentence.
Brown 1
Dan Brown
GT ELA 7
March 7, 2011
Ironies in Steinbeck’s The Pearl
Sadly, human nature leaves most people unable to appreciate what they have until they lose it. Blah blah
blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah
blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah
Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah
blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah
blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah blah
blah blah blah THESIS statement is last sentence of the introduction.
Topic sentence uses one of the parts of the thesis statement or a key word to maintain a focus. This
paragraph should utilize two pieces of specific, quoted examples from the work as proof and at least one
paraphrased point. All evidence examples should include pages. You should also explain or comment on your
examples. Before ending your paragraph, create a strong conclusion that drives your point home.
Topic sentence uses one of the parts of the thesis statement or a key word to maintain a focus. This
paragraph should utilize two pieces of specific, quoted examples from the work as proof and at least one
paraphrased point. All evidence examples should include pages. You should also explain or comment on your
examples. Before ending your paragraph, create a strong conclusion that drives your point home.
Topic sentence uses one of the parts of the thesis statement or a key word to maintain a focus. This
paragraph should utilize two pieces of specific, quoted examples from the work as proof and at least one
paraphrased point. All evidence examples should include pages. You should also explain or comment on your
examples. Before ending your paragraph, create a strong conclusion that drives your point home.
Conclusion paragraph restates the thesis. You may reword it and/or simplify, but you will need to begin
with the book in focus and exit with the relevance to now.
Leff 1
Sharon Leff
GT ELA 7
March 7, 2011
Lioness
While the lion is portrayed in literature and folklore as the king of beast, the true regal
leaders in any pride of lions are the females. Unlike the male lion, which sleeps the majority of
the day, the lioness hunts to secure the food sources that will sustain the pride. Although John
Steinbeck’s allegorical novella, The Pearl, is not set on an African veldt, the protagonists mimic
the behaviors and roles of the lions. The male leader of the family, Kino, never awakens before
his lioness wife has prepared the food and provided for the family. Just as nature maintains a
balance, Juana and Kino establish a balance in their roles within their family and community.
The character of Juana is a foil to Kino and serves to provide contrast in animal imagery,
increase in conflict, and create thematic symbolism.
Distinctive in their personalities and roles, both Kino and Juana are described using
animal imagery. Kino first appears in a state of rest and contentment as he surveys the morning
activities while Juana remains active. However, once Kino and Juana are alerted to their son’s
danger, their differences become more magnified. Like an angry, snarling beast, Kino’s “…teeth
were bared and fury flared in his eyes…” as he destroys the scorpion reducing it to a paste (6).
Unlike Kino, Juana reacts more calmly performing life-saving measures on her son as she “…put
her lips over the puncture sucked hard and spat…” while Kino helplessly watched (6). Although
Kino had always marveled at his wife’s temperament and strength, he was stunned when she
demanded the doctor. While Kino knows that the doctor will not visit them because Juana
“…looked up at him, her eyes as cold as a lioness’ (7), Kino surrendered and led them to the
doctor. When they are rejected at the doctor’s office, Kino responded in an angry, irrational fury
punching an iron gate with his hands as Juana comforted her child. With few options to assist the
baby, Kino plunged into the water seeking a pearl as Juana created a poultice of seaweed to
extract the poison from her child. Although both efforts yield success, Juana celebrates the
wellness of her child as Kino clutches his newly discovered pearl and like a wolf, “…put back
his head and howled” (20). Subtle, yet strong images of animals characterize Kino and Juana and
dramatize the extreme differences in their reactions to the pearl.
Because of their son’s recovery, the pearl brings new hopes, possibilities, and conflicts.
Had Coyotito not recovered, the couple would gladly have surrendered the pearl to the doctor for
a treatment or cure. Since the baby appears well, they are provided choices and opportunities, so
unfamiliar to them that they can hardly proceed without indecision, confusion, and conflicts.
Kino makes his hopeful wishes public as his community gathers around him. However, after a
thief invades their home and attacks Kino, Juana pleads with her husband, “This pearl is like a
sin! It will destroy us”(38). However, Kino clings to the hopes and refuses telling Juana that
Leff 2
“This is our one chance”(38). Although Juana encouraged her husband to sell the pearl for
whatever price the buyers offered, Kino refused. His inner conflicts have intensified with his
pride, and he argues with Juana defending his choice shouting, “I will fight this thing…We will
have our chance…I am a man” 957). When Juana’s fears intensify, she steals the pearl so she
can return it to the sea. Enraged, Kino, “hissed at her like a snake, and Juana stared at him with
unfrightened eyes, like a sheep before the butcher” after Kino had pummeled her in fury (59).
Although Juana disagreed with Kino’s decision to keep the pearl, she eventually accepts the
reality of problems the pearl has created and works to stand by her man.
Just as a lioness is unable to command and lead a pride, Juana is unable to process her
loss without the strength of Kino, for she is a symbolic half of a whole. Even after Kino had
beaten her, Juana knew that she “…had need of a man; she could not live without a man…Of
course she would follow him” (60). While Kino has reacted with surges of adrenalin in waves of
anger, fear, and pride, Juan has remained calm knowing that “Sometimes the quality of a woman,
the reason, the caution, the sense of preservation, could cut through Kino’s manness and save
them all”(60). After their home is burned, their boat destroyed, and their family hunted, they
reunite. Although Kino pleads with Juana to leave as he distracted the hunters, she refused and
Kino seeing no weakness in her ‘…had taken strength from her”(78) enough so that he no longer
ran in a straight line but began instead to move in zig-zags deliberately misleading the trackers
up the gray stone mountains (78). Without Juana’s strength Kino would not have been able to
combat the armed men who pursued them just as certainly as Juana would not have been able to
complete the most difficult journey of her life carrying their infant son’s body home for burial.
When Kino and Juana return to the city, they do not walk “… in single file, Kino ahead and
Juana behind as usual, but side by side” (88). Kino and Juana are in every way married, two
becoming one, as they proceed united through love and loss.
Character foils emphasize character traits, but Juana’s character also provides a contrast
in animal imagery, an increase in conflict, and a thematic symbol. Although fear, greed, and
hatred threaten Kino and Juana, once they were united, their courage, generosity, and love
defeated the forces that had threatened their family and oppressed their people. Throughout
nature, balance can be found in any unit. Lion kings of the beasts reign over the jungle with a
lioness, each balancing the other.
Work Cited
Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. New York: Penguin Press, 1992. Print.
Organizational help for the essay on The Pearl *Legendary parable, retold through generations
Outlines Matter
They Help! They are a guide. Find quotes for points.
I.
First ironic wish, marriage in a church
a. Happy relationship even before pearl
i. Kino’s first wish ---announced in public, image in pearl
ii. Juana’s reaction
b. Conflicting changes after pearl
Irony pearl makes marriage bad
i. Juana’s fears after invasion and attack
ii. Juana’s pleas and then attempt to discard
iii. Kino’s intense refusals
iv. Kino’s enraged beating of his wife
c. Reunited state after dangers
i. Juana’s loyalty, refusal to abandon husband
ii. Uphill journey and Juana’s strength
iii. Kino’s new images in pearl, guilt and shame
iv. Renewed love and courage to defend
v. Homeward journey Kino’s strength
vi. Side by side, forever joined in grief and love
public “marriage” procession
II.
Second ironic wish, a rifle, to protect and provide
a. No concern about danger before the pearl
i. No door, no danger, nothing to steal
ii. Food from boat, no variety, but safe
b. Danger after pearl
Irony, never needed a gun until pearl
i. Thieves and attackers
ii. Assassins and vandals
iii. No escape, boat and provider source lost
c. Renewed protector after threats
i. Smart strategies to distract trackers
ii. Uphill as a family to evade rifle danger
iii. A rifle gained, a life lost
iv. An armed ghost returns, respected, unchallenged
armed and safe, feared
III.
Third ironic wish, an education for a son
a. Value in traditional Indios education
i. Traditions of simple songs
ii. Folk educations for cures with seaweed
iii. Inheritance of a boat
b. Danger after wish
Irony, trapped by ignorance with pearl
i. Doctor’s diagnosis and suspicious fears
ii. Doctor’s treatment and baby’s danger
iii. Trackers
c. Loss of innocence and ignorance, wise with tears
i. Lessons learned, no one desires a worthless pearl
ii. Cheated for centuries, denied fair prices
iii. Son’s life brings changes “through him, we will know” & they do learn through him
F1
What not to do
December 7, 2009
GT ELA 7
A Pearl of Wisdom
Many things in life can change people, especially things of value. In John Steinbeck’s
novella, The Pearl, the main character Kino finds a great pearl, the size of an egg. His wife
Juana does not believe in this pearl and thinks that it brings evil. In some ways it does and after
finding the pearl, Kino and his family get attacked multiple times. The discovery of the pearl
changes Kino’s behavior, relationships, and conflicts.
Man vs. Nature show a lot as Kino and his family experience it. Behaviors change as
Kino progresses in the book. The nature around him shapes him and makes him both stronger
and weaker. When the going gets tough, Kino and his family sticks through is and adapts to it.
”Kino saw a ghostly gleam in the oyster, then the shell closed down. According to the examples,
Man vs. Nature shapes Kino and his family in many ways.
After finding the pearl, Kino struggles with the new burdens that come. He now has to
make totally new decisions that he did not have to make before because his world kept on
repeating itself. Emotions rage inside of him and Man vs. self takes over. “ Only one person
stood in the way, and that was Kino.” After being poor most of their life, Kino and Juana don’t
know what to do with the newly earned money.
Shortly after the finding of the pearl, people in the village start turning their backs to
Kino and his family. Kino struggles with man vs. society because the town becomes greedy and
wanting of the great pearl. The doctor wanted the pearl very badly and sends multiple henchmen
to try and steal the pearl. “The whole towns poison sacks started to fill.” Farther on in the
C2
novella, Kino and his family gets attacked by one of the doctors henchmen. This attack does not
turn out good for the attacker and he was killed. This was the breaking point for the town and
Kino and his family were forced to flee.
All in all, the pearl was a good book and it had many morals and lessons for the reader.
The book isn’t all good though. In the end, Kino’s and Juana’s baby, Coyotito, gets killed. Kino
and his family struggle a lot but eventually it turns out all right. Kino struggles with the conflicts,
but wins against them. A highly recommended book for people who have not read it yet.