Choose one of the following essay questions to answer in an in-class essay. You may bring to class a handwritten outline including the foundations of your body paragraphs (context, quote, what the quote is saying, analysis of quote) in bullet-point form, but not a pre-written essay.
1. How does Steinbeck use literary devices to create suspense, complexity, and to communicate his message to the reader?
• Choose three devices, three specific examples from the text, and discuss the effects of each.
• OR you may choose one literary device, such as irony, symbolism, foreshadowing, the motif of music, etc. and look at three different examples of this one device throughout the text.
2. Compare and contrast two different characters in the novella. Explore motivations, actions, and personal growth or lack thereof. Use three examples from the text. Ultimately conclude whether these characters are more similar than different or more different than similar.
3. Explore the central conflicts in the novella. Cite three examples of different kinds of conflicts: character vs. character; character vs. nature; character vs. society, character vs. machine (knife/rifle); character vs. himself. Then conclude with what you think the ultimate antagonist is in the book and whether you think the conflict is resolved.
4. Discuss the elements of nature/fate versus human agency in the novel. Which do you think is the driving force in the novella? Use three examples of ways in which Kino’s circumstances change either due to his own actions or due to elements of nature/fate, which were out of Kino’s hands.
5. Although the pearl is associated with evil music, thoughts, and actions throughout the novella, is the pearl itself evil? Use three examples from the text and conclude where the real evil lies in this novel.
6. Examine the motif of darkness and light, day and night in the novel. How are these images used in connection with good and evil? (Look both at the time of day that good and bad things happen, as well as Steinbeck’s use of the word “dark” with the “dark men” and “darkness” used to describe Kino’s thoughts and fears.
7. As you discovered in the beginning of this unit, a pearl is created accidentally or haphazardly as a reaction to a harmful piece of sand, shell, or impurity. Therefore, a pearl is technically a beautiful gem that is the outcome of an unwanted or unintended occurrence. Think about how something bad in a person’s life could ultimately be a gift due to the lesson a person or a society learns along the way. In Steinbeck’s novel, how could the pearl be viewed as a blessing? What moral lesson did it teach the family and community?
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