Pearl Project Baumgartenet

The

earl P

roject

Powerpoint
Spanish Guitar

Setting - General
Setting - Mexican fishing village

The project

LITERATURE - The poem MONEY by Carl Sandburg (From The People, Yes)
Money is power: so said one.
Money is a cushion: so said another
Money is the root of evil: so said still another
Money means freedom: so runs an old saying.
And money is all of these- and more.
Money pays for whatever you – want if you have the money.
Money buys food, clothes, houses, land,
Guns, jewels, men, women, time to be lazy and listen to music.
Money buys everything except love, personality, freedom, immortality,
silence, peace

Writing – use the model on page 166 of RESULTS 5.
Do you Agree or Disagree? Write 120-140 words:
1.        People in your community will respect and accept you if you have a lot
of money.
2.        A person’s personality changes when he becomes rich.
3.        When you have what you need to survive, you are happy.
4.        People will help you whether or not you have a lot of money.
5.        If you don’t have money, you don’t have anything
6.        You can tell the character of a person by the clothes he wears.

Research Choose a topic or theme from the story “The Pearl” by John
Steinbeck and think of a research question. Find information about your topic
and write a report:
For example: Where is La Paz in Mexico? What is the history of the city? How
do pearl divers find pearls? How do scorpions harm their victims? How does
the Pearl fit into the category of a parable? Biography of John Steinbeck
SEE MORE IDEAS FOR RESEARCH QUESTIONS BELOW:

Bring in material about your research question Summarizing your material How
to summarize a text http://www.baumgartenet.com/summarizing.html

LITERATURE Parables are, like fables, very short fictional stories with human
characters that teach a moral concept e.g. right and wrong, good and evil;
and to contain symbolic elements—ones that stand for something beyond
themselves. Allegories are stories with many symbols.

Creativity Ideas:
Write a letter to one of the characters, referring to the story.
Write a dialogue between two of the characters.
Tell the story from the point of view of another character.

Group Report Tell each other about your research questions. Make notes from
each others’ report.

Putting it together

Plastic folder – ENGLISH DIRECTION
Cover Page (name, class, title of project)
Table of Contents including page numbers
Introduction (What is your research question and why did you choose
it?) Summary of research question
Opinion essay about money
Creative Writing
Group Report
Conclusion What did you like or dislike about doing this project? What
did you learn?
Appendix 1 – a list of terms, expression, new words learned about the
topic you chose
Appendix 2 – Bibliography – an alphabetical list of references
Appendix 3 – Copies of your original sources
The project must include at least one illustration or photograph
The project must be neat and attractive
The project must be written without spelling and grammar mistakes

ACTIVITIES
COMPREHENSION

Teenage Millionaire - information gap activity

The Pearl for modern times

MORE IDEAS FOR RESEARCH QUESTIONS - choose one topic to research

Kino’s hut – contrast with doctor’s house in the town.
Research poisonous insects and reptiles. Where do they live? What are
their habitats? What are the antidotes, if any, to their bite or sting? Juan
Tomas and Apolonia as against Kino and Juana
Kino’s mistakes in trying to achieve his ambition
Villagers selling their pearls to the buyers in the town. Not paid a fair
price.
Hand crafted canoes in different cultures.
Elements of a PARABLE in the story.
Life near and in water.
John Steinbeck – biography.
Nature as symbols in the Pearl.Eg. Poison of scorpion = town as a living
thing
Kino’s expectations of his wife
Spanish Mexican’s attitude to native villagers
Forces of good and evil
Colonial society's oppression of native cultures
Kino’s songs - Mexican folk music
Pearl divers

© Ora Baumgarten 2008

Baumgartenet