Background Notes
Download
Report
Transcript Background Notes
The Pearl:
Building a Background
John Steinbeck
Getting to Know: JohnSteinbeck
American Novelist
Wrote Of Mice and Men
Born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902
Was fascinated with marine life and spent a great
deal of time at Monterey Bay, California
Loved vacationing at the beach in Mexico
Wrote mostly about common people down on their
luck
The Baja Peninsula: Key Facts
Located in Northwestern Mexico
Peninsula-a piece of land that juts out into the water
and is surrounded by water on three sides
Separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of
California (Sea of Cortez)
Climate: The north is tropical and the south is hot
and dry
The primary language spoken is Spanish
English is commonly spoken as well
Indigenous Culture
“Indigenous” is defined at m-w.com as “produced,
growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular
region or environment.
Therefore, to be part of an indigenous culture means
to be native to a land or region, especially before
intrusion of foreign culture.
Scorpions
Have eight legs
Two grasping claws
Curved tail w/ venomous stinger at the end
Found on every
continent but
Antarctica
More Scorpion Facts
Scorpions live mostly in warm habitats
Nocturnal
Predatory creatures
Ambush prey (insects, spiders, mice, snakes, etc.)
with claws and immobilize them with their
poisonous tail if needed
Fast-acting venom used to hunt and defend
Effects of Scorpion Sting
Swelling and pain at
puncture wound
Sweating, Vomiting, Shock,
Death
Treatment=antiserum from
doctor
How are Pearls Formed?
A grain of sand slips into the oyster
This foreign object irritates the flesh of the oyster
In its defense, the oyster releases a cement-like
substance that covers this foreign object
Result? A Pearl
OYSTER
Diagram of Oyster
Oyster with Pearl
OYSTERs ready to eat
Pearl Diving in Mexico
Two types of oysters that form pearls are indigenous
to Mexico
Mexico was once the leading country in pearl diving
Free-divers dove to depths over 100 feet on a single
breath
Pearls were initially found by bringing up tons of
oysters in the hopes of finding a handful of pearls
Very dangerous job: drowning and dangerous
animals
Pearl Diver
Pearls formed in the
wild are extremely
RARE and therefore
EXPENSIVE. Many
fisherman on the Baja
Peninsula made a living
fishing and diving for
pearls.
Natural Pearls
Pre-Revolution Post-Revolution
Mexico
Mexico
Ancient Mexico=Peace
Despite previous
and Harmony
Simple, tranquil way of
life
However, the Aztec
Indians were treated as
inferiors and were poor
Wealth lived in hands of
few Spaniards
oppression of the
indigenous culture, a
great civilization has
been built and will
continue to grow.
Mexican people can fuse
these two cultures,
Indian and Spanish,
together.