57 pages 1 hour read

John Steinbeck

The Pearl

Fiction | Novella | YA | Published in 1947

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Essay Topics

1.

Consider the priest and the doctor as foil characters. How do their characteristics and roles overlap, and how do they differ?

2.

The narrator says that The Pearl is a parable, which is a simple story that teaches a moral or lesson. What morals or lessons might Kino’s people derive from the story? Do those morals and lessons differ from the ones Steinbeck intends readers to take from it?

3.

Consider dialogue within The Pearl. Though Kino and his people speak an unidentified “old language,” the dialogue is recorded in English. What tone and style does Steinbeck adopt for the dialogue, and how does it influence your perception of the characters and events?

Related Titles

By John Steinbeck