The Pearl
By: Jensen Koga
This book is about a family living in a town called La Paz. Kino a pear diver is the father, Juana is

the wife and their baby son Coyotito. This family is very poor. They live in a grass hut with a dirt

floor. The only relatives they have are Juan Tomas, Kino’s older brother and Apolonia is his wife.

One morning, Coyotito was in his box and a scorpion stung his shoulder. Kino grabbed the

scorpion killed it. Juana grabbed Coyotito and sucked out the venom. They took Coyotito to the

Doctor in town but the doctor did not want to treat the baby because they could not pay him and

so they went home. Kino, Juana and Coyotito went on the boat to hunt for pearl. Kino looked for

pearls while Juana stayed on the boat. Juana got some brown seaweed and put in on Coyotito’s

sting and it started to get better. Kino found a big oyster and brought it back to the boat to show

Juana. When he opened the shell it was the most biggest and nicest pear they ever saw.



They got back to shore and everyone already new that Kino found the Pearl of the World. Kino

started to think of all the things he wanted for him and his family. Kino always wanted a riffle, to

send Coyotito to school and to get married to Juana in a church and by selling the pearl he could

have all of this. The doctor heard that Kino found the Pearl of the World and went to Kino’s

house to treat Coyotito. That night, it was pitched darkness and while they were in bed someone

tried to steal the pearl. Kino chased him away with his knife. The next morning Kino went to

town to sell the pearl. The pearl buyer offered him thousand pesos and said the pearl was too

big. Kino got mad and said he would bring the pearl to the capitol and sell it. The pearl buyer

offered 1500 pesos but Kino walked out. Juana told Kino that this pearl was bringing bad luck to

the family and that they should throw it back in the ocean but Kino said no.



Kino went to his boat and there was a big hole in the bottom and on his way back home some one

attacked him and Kino killed him. When he went home his house was on fire and so he and his

family went to his brother’s house. At dawn, Kino and his family left and they started their

journey. They went up into the mountains and the trackers followed. Kino brought Juana and

Coyotito to a cave in the mountain and he went back down to ambush the trackers. One of the

trackers shot at the mountain because he thought he heard a coyote. Kino killed all three

trackers and then he heard a cry, it was Juana the shot from the tracker hit and killed Coyotito.

Kino and Juana went back to shore in La Paz and threw the pearl back into the ocean.



My Reaction


This book was very interesting because there was all kinds of parts like happy when they found

the pearl, mad when the pearl buyers offered him 1000 pesos and sad when Coyotito died. My

favorite part in the book is when Kino ambushed the three guys.


I learned that money makes people greedy and it can hurt your rather than help you.


Before Kino found the pearl his life was normal and now that he found the pearl things changed. I

am going to write about greed as a destructive force. When Kino found the pearl everyone

thought that he would be rich and everyone he knew came to his house.




When Kino first found the pearl and went home the priest came to his house. The priest said "It

has come to me that thou hast found a great fortune, a great pearl." Then he went on to say , "I

hope thou wilt remember to give thanks, my son , to Him who has given thee this treasure and

to pray for guidance in the future." To remember the church is to donate some money to the

church. The priest asked him because he got the pearl and that he would become richer now

compared to before.




The same day at about evening time the doctor came to treat Coyotito. But before the doctor

didn’t want to treat Coyotito because they could not pay him and now that they had the pearl

the doctor knew Kino could pay and so he came.


Kino went to the pearl buyers the next day and he was thinking of all the dreams he wanted for

him and his family. So when he went there the pearl buyer ripped him off and offered him 1000

pesos and Kino said "It’s worth 50000 pesos not 1000 pesos". So both of them was being

greedy, the pearl buyers making an offer lower than it’s worth. Kino was also being greedy for

not taking the money offered because the day before he had nothing. If he sold that pearl all of

the bad luck that was happening to them would not have happen. He could have at least got one

or maybe two things that he wanted so badly.




Finally the trackers, the trackers was greedy because they wanted the pearl and they tried to

steal it from Kino. The trackers were even going to kill for it. The only way to stop the trackers

was to take the riffle away and either kill them or to hurt them. So that’s what Kino did and he

did it perfectly the only thing that wasn’t perfect is when the guy with the riffle made one shot.

That one shot was intended to kill a coyote but it actually killed Coyotito.


Greed as a destructive force ended up killing Coyotito and forced Kino to return to his village.

Kino now knew that Juana was right and this pearl has brought bad luck to his family. So he

came back to his village and he went straight to the ocean and threw the pearl of the world back

into the ocean.

To Kill a Mockingbird- by: Ryan Perez

A girl named Scout Finch lives with her family in a small town called Maycomb. Scout lives with her father Atticus Finch, and her brother Jeremy (Jem). Atticus Finch is a lawyer. This book took place in the 1930's. During summer, a boy named Dill who was from Mississppi, would always go to Maycomb to visit his aunt and to spend time with the Finch Family. Dill got interested in a "spooky" looking house down the street. The person who lives in in the house is named Nathan Radley. Nathan Radley's brother is named Boo. Boo and Nathan Radley live in the spooky house together. Boo would never go outside the house. Dill wanted to see what Boo looked like so they were thinking of some ways to get him out. It became summer time again, and Dill went to Maycomb for his visit. Dill was still curious about the spooky house so he made a bet with Jem. The bet was that Jem had to be brave enough to go across the Radley's yard and touch the house. A few days later Jem decides to do it. After Jem touched the house he told Scout the he heard a strange laughter coming from inside the house. Before summer ended they really wanted to see Boo. So the three kids went out to walk Dill to his aunts house, but they really went to the Radley's house. They were on the porch when all of a sudden they saw a man walking towards them. They hopped the fence and Jem pants ripped and got stuck on the fence. So Jem took off his pants and kept on running. As they were running they heard a gunshot come from the Radly's house. Later that night, Jem went to get his pants and they were nicely place there with all the holes patched up on it.
When the new school year started, Scout got teased by her schoolmates that her father was on the n***ers side and only defends blacks in court. The father told Scout it was true and he does have to defend his client if he's balck or white. The man he was defending in court was named Tom Robinson and he was accused for rapping white girl named Mayella Ewell. People started to dislike Atticus for defending a black person. Atticus stayed infront of Tom's jail cell so he wouldn't get killed, but if Atticus was there watching Tom then that means he left his family alone, and that means they could be in danger. Atticus won in court and Tom was not guilty. But then the judge looked at the case in more detail and sends Tom back to jail. Tom tried to escape jail but then he got shot and killed.Once Atticus heard the news about Tom dieing he felt bad because he knew Tom was innocent. Bob Ewell was the Father of Mayella Ewell. Bob was mad because Atticus tried to defend Tom and was against Bob. Bob Ewell chased Jem and Scout home with a knife in his hand. Bob attacked Jem and Jem became unconcious,and a hurt arm. a stranger jumped onto Bob and Bob fell on the Knife and died. The stranger took Jem and Scout home and the stranger turned out to be Boo. Boo was just a good person all along and was misunderstood.

MY REACTION
An example of the triumph of evil over good was when Tom Robinson was accused for raping Mayella when she really wasn't ever raped. The court gave Tom a death sentence just because he was black. Tom was innocent and he wouldn't do something like that. Mayella was never rapped she only had had bruises and wounds. Bob Ewell was the one who beat Mayella and gave her the wounds because she was trying to flurt with Tom. Tom was just misjudged because his skin is black.
An example of triumph of good over evil was when Boo Radley came out and saved the Finch's lives and killed Bob Ewell. People Misunderstood Boo because he never went outside. Boo was always a nice person and all the stories were fake. Boo was on the Finch's side all along. Boo patched up the holes in the jeans for Jem. Boo also kept leaving gifts for the Finch's. I think both characters (Boo, and Tom) were misunderstood. Tom would of been killed just because he was black. Boo was a nice man all along. Without Boo, Scout and Jem would of been killed, just because Bob was angry that Atticus tried to defend a black.
I think the book was good. I liked it because i learned a lot about how life was during the 1930's. Blacks were treated way different then they are now. Life was unfair back then. I'm glad with the life we live in now,because there's not as much racists things going on. Black are treated equal to whites now, which is way more fair. I enjoyed thiss book a lot. I thought it had a good story in it.

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Pearl BY: RYANN LINTHICUM

 Summary:

 “It is not good to want a thing too much. You must want it just enough, and you must be very tactful with God or the gods.” Page 24.

   In a little town, near the village of La Paz, lived a young family. This consisted of Kino, his wife Juana, and their son Coyotito. They were poor natives, who earned money by Kino diving for pearls. In the beginning of the story this family lived in their town, happy. They struggled at times with their lack of money, which made Kino sad; he only wanted the best for his family. When he was given the “pearl of the world” he realized that happiness couldn’t be bought.

  The story began with their son, Coyotito getting stung by a scorpion, which would usually kill a child of his age. Juana did everything she could to help save him, while Kino contacted the doctor. The neighbors stated that the doctor would never come out to this town; he was a racist doctor that only cared about money. When hearing this Kino decides that they will go to the doctor then. When they arrived, the doctor wouldn’t look at the sick baby because they had no money. This is when everything began; this is when he pulled up the pearl, the one-in-a-million pearl.

   “For it is said that humans are very satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And it is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have.” Page 37.

    As the story went on, Kino was amazed by this pearl, he saw happiness for his family, but little did he know the happiness was already there. When the pearl story had gotten all over town, people started to use Kino to get to the pear by taking advantage of him, such as the doctor. When the pearl started to bring evil, Kino decided to sell it. Kino had an idea of what the pearl should have been worth, but when the pearl buyers placed a low price, Kino was greedy and decided to take it to the capital.

    As he planned to go to the capital, it was harder to fight off people. Evil had gotten around. One night Juana tried to get rid of the pearl by throwing back to where it came from, but when Kino caught her just in time, he was very angry. He slapped her, and it threw Juana to the ground, while Kino ran off with the pearl. Then somebody tried to take the pearl from Kino while walking home, but Kino fought back and killed him. This made them decided to run, and they left town immediately with Juan Tomas making up an excuses for where they went. People still followed, so one night Kino went off to kill the trackers. While doing this, Coyotito was shot and killed. When arriving back home, Juana and Kino were miserable, throwing the devil pearl back where it came from. 

520 words

Reflection:

  I believe The Pearl was a good parable, or a short story used to state a moral or a lesson. It teaches people about greed as a destructive force, and also the triumph of evil over good. In the story the main character, named Kino, was a poor native that wanted nothing more then to make his family happy. He knew he lacked money but it wasn’t until Coyotito got sick, that he realized how poor he was. This angered him, and rage built up inside. He thought that if he could round up a couple more pearls he would be able to help his only son get better. When he found the pearl of the world, the devil inside was passed on to Kino. After having the pear for a while Kino got greedy, and thought that the pearl could buy them happiness, but everybody knows that money cant buy happiness.

“ 'I am cheated,’ Kino cried fiercely. ‘My pearl is not for sale here. I will go, perhaps even to the capital.’” Page 67.

As the quote states, too much money always gets to peoples head, thinking they can have everything in the world. Kino was greedy, not taking the 1,500 pesos he was offered he wanted more, much more. Greed is a destructive force and it got to Kino, resulting in horrific things that he thought never possible, resulting in to disappointment, anger, and depression. After greed, came evil.

“ ‘Kino, this pearl is evil. Let us destroy it before it destroys us. Let us crush it between two stones. Let us—let us throw it back in the sea where it belongs. Kino, it is evil, it is evil!’ ”  Page 73.

As said by Juana, the pearl did destroy them, the evil in the pearl had gotten out. Kino, of course did not listen to what his wife had to say, he was already taken over by greed. As the evil triumphed over good, there was barley any good left. When they finally had to leave town, unknown because the evil in the pearl was so major, the devil had gotten out. “This was evil beyond thinking.” Page 80. The evil had gotten around and soon Kino came to his senses, realizing it.

“ ‘It is the pearl,’ said Juan Tomas. ‘There is a devil in this pearl. You should have sold it and passed on the devil. Perhaps you can sell it and by peace for yourself.’ “ Page 84.

Juan, Kino’s brother, was the one who brought Kino to his senses, telling him to leave. Leaving just made things worse. When trying to fight off the trackers, his only baby boy gets shot at, and dies. Kino felt horrible, and couldn’t believe what had gotten over him. When they returned home, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He through that devil back where it came from, but he never received back what he had lost.

The moral to this story, is that money cannot buy happiness and that greed can destroy everything, as shown it the story. This can teach us all to not be greedy, and appreciate what we have, even if what we have is noting, as shown in the story. The only thing that should be important is family, but you can lose that very easily, as shown in the story. You may be brought back to your senses, but you can never make up what greed can loose you. 

580 words

The Pearl, By John Steinbeck

The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, is a book about an indian family consisting of Kino (dad), Juana (mom), and Coyotito (baby). Kino is a pearl diver who lives with his family in a house made of brush. One morning, Coyotito gets stung in the neck by a scorpion. Kino and Juana take the baby to a doctor in a nearby town, made of stone, instead of old brush. Kino did not have money, so they were not let in by the greedy doctor. Knowing they would get no help from anyone else, Juana rubbed seaweed on the sting. She thought that that was a good a treatment as any. Kino, Juana and Coyotito went out in the ocean in a canoe, so Kino could look for pearls. Kino dived down, and just as he was coming up, he spotted an oyster that had something shiny in it. Kino opened the oyster and found a giant pearl. He took the pearl home and showed the entire town. No one had ever seen a pearl that big. After owning the pearl for awhile, Kino noticed that he could get whatever he wanted with it. He also noticed that other people were trying to get it. The doctor heard about the pearl and decided to visit Coyotito to help his scorpion sting. Kino did not trust the doctor, but did not know anything about medicine, so he had to trust the doctor. The doctor put a mixture of ingredients on the sting and said he would be back in an hour. The sting had swollen up, and when the doctor returned, he put another ingredient on the sting. The doctor told Kino to pay whenever he wanted. People started to try to steal the pearl after the doctor came. Kino had decided to go into the doctors town to sell the pearl. The pearl dealers were evil  men that try to take advantage of what people do not know about pearls. They gave Kino a price that was under what Kino would have expected. Kino was mad so he didn’t sell the pearl, but decided to go into the capital of his country to sell it. The news spread and soon Kino was fighting off people to protect the pearl. The worst happened, and kino ended up killing a man and having to hide the body. Kino’s house was burned, and his canoe was punctured, so he had to take his family to the capital. On the way, Kino hides his tracks, knowing that there were trackers after him. Kino traveled a long way, and after a while, he found a water hole with caves that he and his family could hide in. Kino carefully made his way up into a cave and saw the trackers. He thought, “They looked like two ants, with one big one following behind”. The trackers found the water hole and stayed there in the night. Kino crawled his way down the cliff and up behind the tracker with a gun. He took the gun, shot the tracker, and shot the other trackers, but hit Coyotito in the head on accident.

Reflection: In this book, I think the oppression of native culture was the main idea. There were lots of cases where there was oppression over a native culture in this book and in other older books. The oppression of native culture in this book was when the sneaky doctor tried to take money from Kino’s family by making the baby sick, and then curing him. Kino did not know about medicine and treatments, so he had to trust the doctor. The doctor also tried to do this in the beginning of the book, when Kino and Juana tried to take Coyotito to the doctor. They were rejected because they had no money, and the excuse was that the doctor was not there. Another example of the oppression of native culture was when the pearl dealers tried to offer Kino 1,500 pesos when it could have been worth 50,000 pesos. The pearl dealers all thought the same way. They wanted to make Kino, who doesn't know how pearls are valued, think that the pearl that he had brought to them was worthless. This kind of sneakiness has also been used when Europeans traveled across america and traded with the native Indians. Also when the Europeans came to Hawaii and traded with the Hawaiians.

Personal Reflection: My personal thoughts on the Pearl were that the people who can trick you do trick you, and the people who can’t trick you, get tricked. It might seem mean, but it is what actually happens in life. I decided this when kino was tricked by the doctor and pearl dealers. Kino might have been able to trick the pearl dealers to a higher price if he knew how. When Kino saw the strange ingredients in the doctors bag, he could have tricked the doctor into admitting that he had made the swelling on Coyotito neck in the first place. I personally think that the author of this book might have tried to tell the readers that people who are smarter can and will take advantage of other people when they can. Also that it is rare to find a sneaky person that does not use their abilities. This book is a good book to read if a student or active reader would like to learn more about the unjust treatment of cultures from more developed cultures. This book is also a good book to read if you want to learn more about what happens when greed overrides your normal behavior and feelings of peoples greater fortune. The Pearl has a lot of examples of this concept. One example is when the doctor tries to take Kino’s pearl by charging him for medical service. Another example is when the church father tries to baptize Coyotito and marry Kino and Juana. The example that Kino gave was when he stared at the pearl and imagined Coyotito going to school and his family wearing new cloths. He was wearing a new “fine black felt” hat in the pearl, instead of the ones he usually has that are made of straw. He also wanted to have a new shiny rifle, and he could buy all these things with the pearl. The town was fine without the pearl in the beginning, but when it came into the story, people only thought about what they could get out of it. The townspeople were not happy for Kimo’s family, but they were jealous. Juana saw this and tried to tell Kimo what was happening but all he could focus on was how the pearl would make him happier and how his life would be easier. Kino had saw, “to the lovely gray surface of the pearl came the little things Kino wanted: a harpoon to take the place of one lost a year ago, a new harpoon of iron with a ring at the end of the shaft; and-his mind could hardly make the leap-a rifle-but why not, since he was so rich. And kino saw Kino in the pearl, Kino holding a Winchester carbine. It was the wildest daydreaming and very pleasant.”

1209 words        --Dylan Morrison-Fogel

The Pearl, By John Steinbeck

Good and Evil in To Kill a Mockingbird, By Emeline Wu

Summary:

To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb County in Alabama. We meet Jean Finch or Scout, the main character and her family and friends. There is her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, her friend Dill who came to visit his aunt for the summer, Calpurnia their cook, and Boo Radley. The story begins in the summer with Jem, Scout, and Dill trying to get Boo Radley to come out. Boo Radley was a man who stayed inside the Radley house and never came out for mysterious reasons. Summer ends, Dill leaves, and school starts. Scout's first day at school isn't good; she is punished for things she didn't know she wasn't supposed to do. One day, walking home from school, Scout finds some gum in a tree on the Radley's property. To valuable pennies are found int he same spot the last day of school.

Summer comes along and Dill is back. They attempt to send a note to Boo through a window, but they fail when Atticus catches them and tells them not to bother Boo anymore. They try to take a look at Boo through a window, but cannot when Mr. Radley shoots at them. When school begins again, Jem and Scout find carvings of soap and gum in the Radley tree. They find the hole in the tree filled with cememnt when they try to send a thank-you note to whoever is sending them gifts.

When Atticus takes up the job of defending a black man in court, Scout starts a fight with a classmate and Scout's cousin when they call her father some offensive names. She asks her dad about it and he says that he is defending a man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell's daughter. On night, Scout finds Dill hiding under her bed. He ran away from home and is now allowed to stay in Maycomb for a couple more weeks. Tom's trial is approaching and he is moved to the Maycomb jail. The three sneaks out of the house one night and they find Atticus reading outside the jail. Seconds after the kids arrived, some men came to the jail and demanded that Atticus let them into the jail to hurt Tom. But Scout pops out from hiding and talks to the men. They feel ashamed and leave.

Tom's trial begins and the whole town is in the courthouse. Atticus proves that Tom didn't do anything to her, but a black man has never won a trial against a white man and even though it is obvious that Tom is innocent, the jury delivers a guilty verdict. Atticus thought they could still win, but Tom was doubtful and died when he was shot by guards in a prison trying to stop him from escaping.

Bob Ewell won, but Atticus made him look like a fool and one night when Jem and Scout are walking home alone, he attacks them. Luckily, Boo Radley saves them and kills Bob. Scout finally gets to see Boo and everyone is alright.

515 words

Reflection:
The triumph of evil over good is a theme shown throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was obviously innocent, but because he is black, the jury concluded that he was guilty. He never raped or hurt Mayella Ewell as he was accused of doing. She was the one who had tried to kiss Tom, and for that, her father had beaten her. Tom Robinson was victimized and he did nothing to deserve something like this. The men who made up the jury all knew the truth, but the good in them was overcome by racial prejudice. In this case, the evil of racism defeated good.

Arthur (Boo) Radley is another symbol of good being hurt by evil. Scout goes to Miss Maudie to talk about Boo Radley and she clears up some neighborhood myths and tells Scout that he was always a nice boy. "'Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that's all,' said Miss Maudie. 'Wouldn't you stay in the house if you didn't want to come out?'" Scout asks why he wouldn't want to come out and Miss Maudie implies that his father did some things to him that hurt him so badly that he wouldn't want to come out anymore. "'"He shoud be (crazy) by now. The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets . . .'" Arthur was wrecked by his father and, like Tom Robinson, he did nothing to recieve any kind of harsh treatment. He is victimized once again when his only link to the outside world is harshly cut off by his brother. Boo Radley was able to reach out to two children, Jem and Scout. But his brother, Nathan Radley, finds out about the tree and cements it closed for good.

"'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'" Boo Radley and Tom Robinson were the main mockingbirds of the book. Their stories show how the evil in man can destroy the good. Through the book, we watch Jem and Scout grow up. They are children, innocent and good, and through their summers and years, they find the corruption in the world. They find out that, even in their small town, there is evil in people. It is a hard lesson to learn for them, especially for Jem. After seeing Tom Robinson's trial, he sees the world as a horrible place and man as evil beings. I think that the author wanted us to learn what Scout had learned. The author wants us to realize that people are neither good nor evil, but that they are both and the best thing to do it to see things through other's perspectives. At the end of the book, Scout and readers can see the world that Atticus sees. While Atticus is tucking her into bed, she tells him about the story they just read. She says that the misunderstood character was actually "real nice." He tells her, "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."

517 words