The Pearl | Topics for Further Study

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.

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...

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