The Pearl Music Essays - The Pearl, John Steinbeck, Kino

The Pearl: Music Music is known to be a quality in which one possesses toproduce harmony, or to make others pleasant through messages.Authors use descriptive writing to set the atmosphere in manystories. In the short story, "The Pearl", John Steinbeck usesdifferent types of music to introduce, and set the atmosphere ofthe story. In this, music is used to introduce evil, to showfamily lifestyle, and to show significance of the pearl. John Steinbeck shows evil's intrusion into Kino's family bymeans of music. Evil is introduced into many scenes, by itsshadows and music. Kino, being the main character, is usuallyfirst to hear it. "Kino stepped to the doorway and looked out...The thin dog cameto him, and threshed itself in greeting like a wind?blown flag,and Kino looked down at it and didn't see it. He had brokenthrough the horizons into a cold and lonely outside. He feltalone and unprotected, and scraping crickets and shrilling treefrogs and croaking toads seemed to be carrying the melody ofevil." Here Kino, hears the evil music carried out through the eyesof nature. The baby, Coyotito, is still, and quiet, and does notknow of the evil that is approaching. As for his illness, it hasbeen cured when Kino first found the pearl. In time, a little after Kino hears this evil music, the doctorarrives having already heard about the baby's miraculousrecovery. The doctor informs Kino of Coyotito's situation, andhow the illness will return. He then treats it with a smallremedy. Kino knows Coyotito is not sick, but accepts the doctorshelp to ensure his sons health. Already knowing the doctor'sexpectations in payment, Kino refuses to give up his pearl. Once the doctor leaves the house, Kino no longer hears theevil music that once played with his ears. Following thesymptoms that the doctor assumed, Coyotito becomes ill and lateron returns to his original state. From this scene, one can deduce that Kino's sense of evilcomes from music, and also that this is the form of writing thatJohn Steinbeck uses to introduce an evil pretense. In this scene,evil music is used as a form of descriptive writing, as it setsthe atmosphere for the event about to take place. It also addssuspense, as one may not know where and when the evil shallstrike. Steinbeck tries to emphasize the fact that thisphenomenon that Kino hears is similar to what one may consider asixth sense in modern times. Kino thus has the ability toanticipate evil before it actually appears in the plot. Music within the family is portrayed by a family prayer orsong. This is sung by most of the poor families of the village,as it has an emotional effect on family lifestyles. "Juana sang softly an ancient song that had only three notes andyet endless variety of interval. And this was part of the familysong too. It was all part. Sometimes it rose to an aching chordthat caught the throat saying this is safety, this is warmth,this is the Whole." At this point, Kino awakes as usual to hear sounds of thefamily song. Here, John Steinbeck brings across the point thatKino's family does this on a regular basis and that they considerit similar to a ritual. Steinbeck also stresses that the familymusic is what separates Kino's family from the other villagers. In this scene Kino also hears the sound of breakfast, pigs,and wives. These are all parts of music, but all belonging toother families in the village. The song clearly demonstrates thebond between Kino and his family's lives John Steinbeck uses music of the family as a belief, similarto how we believe in God, and pray to Him. Kino's family singsand believes in their unity, and that if their family was to fallapart, they would lose their point in life. The family uses theirsong as a form of motivation, something to strive for. Kinos mainpoint in life is to ensure a strong future for the family. The song coming from the pearl is similar to that of evil. Theonly difference is that it gives an illusion of good, rather thanthat of evil. "All of these things Kino saw in the lucent pearl and he said,`We will have new clothes'. And the music of the pearl rose likea chorus of trumpets in his ears. Then to the lovely gray surfaceof the pearl came the little things Kino wanted... His lips themmoved hesitantly over this?`A rifle', he said.`Perhaps a rifle'." From this quote, one can notice that as the song of the pearlcontinues, it grows stronger in Kino's head, slowly separatinghim from his family. John Steinbeck brings the song of the pearlto use by changing the needs

How to Use Indirect Quotations in Writing

How to Use Indirect Quotations in Writing In writing, an indirect quotation is a  paraphrase of someone elses words: It  reports on what a person said without using the exact words of the speaker. Its also called indirect discourse and  indirect speech. An indirect quotation (unlike a direct quotation) is not placed in quotation marks. For example: Dr. King said that he had a dream. The combination of a direct quotation and an indirect quotation is called a mixed quotation. For example:  King  melodiously praised the veterans of  creative suffering, urging them to continue the struggle. Examples and Observations Note: In the following quoted examples, we would normally use quotation marks because we are giving you examples and observations of indirect quotes from newspapers and books that we are directly quoting. To avoid confusion in addressing the subject of indirect quotes and also situations where you would be shifting between direct and indirect quotes, we have decided to forgo the extra quotation marks. It was Jean Shepherd, I believe, who said that after three weeks in chemistry he was six months behind the class.(Baker, Russell. The Cruelest Month. New York Times, Sept. 21, 1980.) U.S. Navy Admiral William Fallon, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said he called Chinese counterparts to discuss North Koreas missile tests, for example, and got a written response that said, in essence, Thanks, but no thanks.(Scott, Alwyn. U.S. May Slap China With Suit in Intellectual-Property Dispute. The Seattle Times, July 10, 2006.) In his order yesterday, Judge Sand said, in effect, that if the city was willing to offer incentives to developers of luxury housing, commercial centers, shopping malls, and executive parks, it should also be assisting housing for minority group members.(Feron, James. Citing Bias Order, U.S. Curbs Yonkers on Aid to Builders. The New York Times, Nov. 20, 1987.) Advantages of Indirect Quotations Indirect discourse is an excellent way to say what someone said and avoid the matter of verbatim quoting altogether. It is hard to be uncomfortable with indirect discourse. If a quote is something like Ill be there prepared for anything, at the first hint of dawn, and you think, for any reason, that it might not be in the verbatim zone, get rid of the quotation marks and state it in indirect discourse (improving the logic while youre at it). She said she would be there at the first hint of dawn, prepared for anything. (McPhee, John. Elicitation. The New Yorker, April 7, 2014.) Shifting From Direct to Indirect Quotations An indirect quotation reports someones words without quoting word for word: Annabelle said that she is a Virgo. A direct quotation presents the exact words of a speaker or writer, set off with quotation marks: Annabelle said, I am a Virgo. Unannounced shifts from indirect to direct quotations are distracting and confusing, especially when the writer fails to insert the necessary quotation marks. (Hacker, Diane. The Bedford Handbook, 6th ed., Bedford/St. Martins, 2002.) Mixed Quotation There are many reasons why we might opt to mixed quote another rather than directly or indirectly quote him. We often mixed quote another because (i) the reported utterance is too long to directly quote, but the reporter wants to ensure accuracy on certain key passages, (ii) certain passages in the original utterance were particularly well put ..., (iii) perhaps the words used by the original speaker were (potentially) offensive to an audience and the speaker wants to distance himself from them by indicating that they are the words of the individual being reported and not his own ..., and (iv) the expressions being mixed quoted might be ungrammatical or a solecism and the speaker might be trying to indicate that hes not responsible . ...(Johnson, Michael and Ernie Lepore. Misrepresenting Misrepresentation, Understanding Quotation, ed. by Elke Brendel, Jorg Meibauer, and Markus Steinbach, Walter de Gruyter, 2011.) The Writers Role In indirect speech, the reporter is free to introduce information about the reported speech event from his point of view and on the basis of his knowledge about the world, as he does not purport to give the actual words that were uttered by the original speaker(s) or that his report is restricted to what was actually said. Indirect speech is the speech of the reporter, its pivot is in the speech situation of the report.(Coulmas, Florian. Direct and Indirect Speech, Mouton de Gruyter, 1986.)