Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Prologue-Chapter 2

Reading Check

1. In the prologue, the narrator introduces The Pearl as what kind of story?

2. What does Kino do when he wakes up?

3. What kind of animal attacks Coyotito?

4. Before he finds the pearl, what is Kino’s most valuable possession?

5. What does Juana put on Coyotito’s injury?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does the Song of the Family mean to Kino?

2. Why are the neighbors surprised when Juana asks for someone to get the doctor?

3. What does the doctor want most of all?

4. Why are Kino and Juana especially eager to find a valuable pearl?

5. What is Kino’s initial reaction after finding the pearl?

Paired Resource

“Is This the World’s Largest Pearl? It’s Been Under a Bed for 10 Years”       

• Gives the backstory of what may be the world’s largest pearl
• Why might someone who finds a pearl choose to keep it instead of selling it? What do you think Kino should do with the pearl?

“Baja California”

• Encyclopedia entry describing the geography and history of Baja California
• Connects with The Instruments of Colonial Oppression theme
• Broadly speaking, what impact did the arrival of European colonists have on the Indigenous people living in Baja California?