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Chapter 1: (pgs. 1-12)

VOCABULARY: Define the following words from Chapter 1 before you read the chapter.

ceaseless flagstones covey appraise dank

consolation bluster(ed) avarice pulque alms
rigidity indigent lymphatic humbly rutted
subsequent bougainvillaea suppliant

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS: Next to each character, give descriptions of who they

are in the story and any important information that you should know about them.

1. Kino -

2. Juana -

3. Coyotito -

4. Juan Tomas -

5. Apolonia -

6. The doctor -
QUESTIONS: Answer each question thoroughly.

1. Describe the living conditions of Kino and his family.

2. Why do they keep their faces covered at night?

3. What threatens the baby's life in chapter 1?

4. What do each of the parents do to protect Coyotito from this threat?

5. What does Juana want to do that surprises everyone?

6. Where do they take Coyotito?

7. What group of people in the city are especially curious about what's going to happen to
Kino and his family?

8. Why is Kino nervous about seeing the doctor?

9. How does the doctor respond to Kino's request?

10. What does this exchange between the doctor and Kino tell us about the society in
which these people live?
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Chapter 2: (pgs 13-20)
VOCABULARY: Define the following words from Chapter 2 before you read the
chapter.

estuarymirage bulwark undulating scuttling

perceptible hummock adhered poultice

QUESTIONS: Answer each question thoroughly.

1. What is Kino's only valuable possession?

2. How does Juana treat Coyotito's scorpion bite?

3. Explain how Kino earns a living.

4. How are pearls formed?

5. How long is Kino able to stay underwater?

6. Why is Juana afraid to want a large pearl too much?

7. What does Kino find in the large oyster?

8. How big is it?

9. What happens to Coyotito at the end of the chapter?

Chapter 3: (pgs 21-40)

VOCABULARY: Define the following words from Chapter 1 before you read the chapter.

VOCABULARY LIST: Define the following words before reading the chapter.

judicious cackle semblance patron

distillate incandescence lucent disparagement
benediction threshed subjugation furtive
QUESTIONS: Answer each question thoroughly.

1. What is the town being compared to in the first paragraph?

2. How does the news of the pearl affect the following people:
A. the priest -
B. the shopkeepers -
C. the doctor -
D. the beggars -
3. Why is the system that the pearl buying agents use dishonest?

4. How does Kino become an enemy of everyone interested in the pearl?

5. List what Kino wants now that he might become rich.

A.
B.
C.
D.
6. Why does the priest come to their brush house?

7. Why do you think Kino hears the song of evil when all the neighbors and the priest are
in his home?

8. Why is Kino afraid of making plans for his future (pg. 29)?

9. What does the doctor do to Coyotito when he comes to their home?

10. Where does Kino hide the pearl (first time)?

11. About an hour after the doctor's visit, what happens to Coyotito?

12. What does the doctor pretend during his second visit to their home?

13. Why does Kino move the pearl AND where does he put it?

14. Who do you think is the intruder that night?

15. What does Juana want to do with the pearl?

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Chapter 4: (pgs 41-57)

VOCABULARY LIST: Define the following words before reading the chapter.
tithe (n) graft (v) legerdemain (n)
countenanced (v) vigor (n) collusion (n)
insubstantial (adj) stalwart (adj) monstrosity (n)
swaddled (adj) benign (adj) lethargy (n)

QUESTIONS: Answer each question thoroughly.

1. What reason is given for there only being one pearl buyer instead of several (pg 42)?

2. What do Kino's neighbors hope will not happen to Kino after he sells the pearl?

3. What plan had their ancestors (the old ones) come up with to make sure they'd get
fair prices for the pearls they sold?

4. Why did the plan never work?

5. Give 2 possibilities for what may have happened to the men they hired:
A.
B.
6. How much does the first pearl buyer offer Kino for the pearl?

7. What reasons does he offer for the low price?

8. Explain how the four pearl buyers have set Kino up so that he cannot sell the pearl.

9. What is Kino's solution to the problem of selling the pearl?

10. What future problem might Kino have in his town if he does go somewhere else to sell
the pearl (pg 53)?

11. Why is Juan Tomas afraid for Kino?

12. What happens to Kino that night?

13. What does Juana want to do with the pearl and WHY?

14. What is Kino's decision about the pearl?

15. Where will they go at first light?

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Chapter 5: (pgs )

VOCABULARY LIST: Define the following words before reading the chapter.
conceive (v) edifice (n) leprosy (n)
seep (v) lament (v) divert (v)
curdle (v) rummage (v) gourd (n)
interval (n)

QUESTIONS: Answer each question thoroughly.

1. What does Juana try to do at the beginning of Chapter 5?

2. How does Kino retaliate for this action?

3. What does it mean to Juana when Kino says, "I am a man?"

4. What crime does Kino commit?

5. What do Kino and Juana have to do now that this crime has been committed?

6. Why doesn't it matter that it was in self defense?

7. Why can't they leave in the canoe?

8. What is done to Kino and Juana's brush house?

9. Where do they hide for one day?

10. How does Juan Tomas protect their whereabouts from the curious neighbors?
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Chapter 6: (pgs 58-90)

VOCABULARY LIST: Define the following words before reading the chapter.

resinous (adj) goading(v) irresolution (n) escarpment (n)

monotonous (adj) rubble (n) foliage (n) petulant (adj)
sentinel (n) monolithic (adj) germane (adj) malignant (adj)

QUESTIONS: Answer each question thoroughly.

1. Why are they glad that the wind is blowing strongly during their flight from town?

2. How do they avoid leaving a trail after the wind dies down?

3. What 3 images does Kino see when he looks into the pearl?

A.
B.
C.

4. Who is following them? AND how many of them are there?

5. What is Kino's plan if they are found?

6. What does Juana think will happen if Kino turns himself in?

7. Why does he head toward the shadowy cleft in the mountain?

8. Where does he tell Juana to hide?

9. Once the trackers have set up camp, what is Kino's plan so he and Juana can escape?
10. What is Kino's biggest worry when the trackers are near them?

11. Why does Kino take off his clothes before leaving the cave?

12. Why can't Kino attack the watcher once he reaches the ground?

13. What catches the attention of the 3 men? AND what do they think it is?

14. What does Kino do to the 3 men after one of them fires the rifle?

15. What happens to Coyotito in the cave?

16. What do Kino and Juana do with the pearl?