Introduction:
At the beginning of Chapter 3, on page 21 of The Pearl, we have the following description of the town:
"A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet. A town is a thing separate from all other towns, so that there are no two towns alike. And a town has a whole emotion. How news travels through a town is a mystery not easily to be solved. News seems to travel as fast as small boys can scramble and dart to tell it, faster than women can call it over the fences. Before Kino and Juana and the other fishers had come to Kino’s brush house, the nerves of the town were pulsing and vibrating with the news—Kino had found the Pearl of the World."
This first paragraph pays tribute to Steinbeck's use of figurative language (simile and personification). Steinbeck then carries this description of Kino’s town throughout the novel, making it seem alive and with its own personality. Answer the following questions about the passage on your sheet of paper.
1) identify a simile in the passage.
2) What is the author's tone/attitude towards the town? Is it positive or negative? Cite evidence from the excerpt to support your claim.
3) Conduct an image search and create a collage of three images that match what you see as you read the excerpt from The Pearl.
Extension:
Steinbeck is hardly the first author to use personification to describe a place. Below are two more poetic examples. Please read through them, then complete the questions that follow them.
At the beginning of Chapter 3, on page 21 of The Pearl, we have the following description of the town:
"A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet. A town is a thing separate from all other towns, so that there are no two towns alike. And a town has a whole emotion. How news travels through a town is a mystery not easily to be solved. News seems to travel as fast as small boys can scramble and dart to tell it, faster than women can call it over the fences. Before Kino and Juana and the other fishers had come to Kino’s brush house, the nerves of the town were pulsing and vibrating with the news—Kino had found the Pearl of the World."
This first paragraph pays tribute to Steinbeck's use of figurative language (simile and personification). Steinbeck then carries this description of Kino’s town throughout the novel, making it seem alive and with its own personality. Answer the following questions about the passage on your sheet of paper.
1) identify a simile in the passage.
2) What is the author's tone/attitude towards the town? Is it positive or negative? Cite evidence from the excerpt to support your claim.
3) Conduct an image search and create a collage of three images that match what you see as you read the excerpt from The Pearl.
Extension:
Steinbeck is hardly the first author to use personification to describe a place. Below are two more poetic examples. Please read through them, then complete the questions that follow them.
CHICAGO
By: Carl Sandburg HOG Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders: They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys. And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again. And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger. And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them: Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities; Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness, Bareheaded, Shoveling, Wrecking, Planning, Building, breaking, rebuilding, Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth, Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs, Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse. and under his ribs the heart of the people, Laughing! Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation. |
My Town
By: Sharon Hendricks The leaves on the ground danced in the wind The brook sang merrily as it went on its way. The fence posts gossiped and watched cars go by which winked at each other just to say hi. The traffic lights yelled, ”Stop, slow, go!” The tires gripped the road as if clinging to life. Stars in the sky blinked and winked out While the hail was as sharp as a knife. |
4) Identify three examples of personification in the two poems above. Next, refer back to question number two. Which one of the poems has a similar poem to The Pearl excerpt? Justify your answer with evidence from the pieces.
Town Activity
DIRECTIONS:
A. Describe your town in a poem or narrative. Use Steinbeck’s description as an example, but extend your description further.
B. Begin with some form of figurative language. You may use a simile, as Steinbeck did, a metaphor, or personification.
Length: At least 1 paragraph
A. Describe your town in a poem or narrative. Use Steinbeck’s description as an example, but extend your description further.
B. Begin with some form of figurative language. You may use a simile, as Steinbeck did, a metaphor, or personification.
Length: At least 1 paragraph