Reading 7
Ramirez Name:
Study Guide Questions1
These questions are based on Chapter 1 of The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Write answers in complete paragraphs, typed or neatly written, on your own paper (NOT this page).
General Questions
1. Do a little research about Steinbeck's life. Use Wikipedia, BBC, Oprah's Book Club or SparkNotes to discover the answers to these questions.
a) Steinbeck graduated from Stanford University. T F
b) The Pearl is considered one of his finest works. T F
c) Steinbeck was sympathetic to the Nazis in World War II. T F
d) Steinbeck was conservative politically. T F
e) Name two prizes Steinbeck won.
2. What is a “parable”?
3. What is the difference between “metaphor” and "simile"?
Study Questions -Chapter 1
4. What is the purpose of the short introduction? (This is the long quote BEFORE Ch. 1 begins.)
6. There is a lot of repetition in the lives of Kino and Juana. Give four examples.
7. Songs are important to Kino. Page 2 explains this in more detail. Name two songs Kino hears. What do these songs signify (mean) to people living a simple life, like Kino and his people? (Hint: Kino and Juana cannot read.)
8. How does the author show animals in Ch. 1 - as positive or negative? Name four animals and explain what they do and how Steinbeck seems to feel about them.
9. Compare Kino's and Juana's reactions to the scorpion.
10. Write several sentences to explain the phrase: “the iron in his … wife.”
11. When Kino stands before the doctor’s gate, his hands do two different things. Describe these things. What does that show about his feelings?
12. How is the doctor described? What does he look like? What is his character?
13. What does the doctor think of the native people (the Indians)? Why does he say: “I am a doctor, not a veterinary”?