1. Consider the following quote from The Pearl: "An accident could happen to these oysters, a grain of sand could lie in the folds of muscle and irritate the flesh until in self-protection the flesh coated the foreign body until it fell free in some tidal flurry or until the oyster was destroyed." Augment this description with that of a biology text or book on marine life and interpret Steinbeck's pearl as a trope for human development.

2. Pretending that you are Kino or Juana (knowing only what they know), come up with a plan to relieve the deplorable situation of the community. Be sure to stay true to the characters as they are presented.

3. There are many references throughout the story to colonialism and race. Also, Kino embodies the trope of the noble savage, and all the dialogue is stereotypically that of the newly colonized...