Cover Essay

Gathering the Pearls in Life

When I look at the cover of the Book, “Gathering of Pearls”, there are many thoughts come to my mind. On the cover, there are beautiful flowers all around the image. This could be saying to us that there are beautiful things all around Sookan, but she has to look for them. The image on the cover is very simple. It is an image of a girl on the floor, wearing a black dress, white blouse and black shoes. She is picking up pearls from the floor. I know from reading the book that Sookan’s pearl necklace, that Sister Reed gave to her, has broken and that she is picking up the pearls that are all over the floor. The image reminds me of the story in the book and how Sookan was able to make good things from the bad things that happened in her life. The cover image and title symbolize how Sookan got many beautiful things from the bad things that happened in her life.

In the cover image, Sookan is gathering pearls. Each pearl represents something beautiful that has come from something that was hard or bad in her life. When Sookan went to college, she did not have much money. She had to get a job. The job she got was babysitting for Professor Bennett’s family. Because she went to work for her teacher, she met his children. She loved the children, and the children loved her. Sookan fell in love with Professor Bennett’s children, and they fell in love with her. If Sookan had enough money so that she would not need to work, she would have not had the love of the children. Because she did not have much money, she got the love of the two children. This was a good thing that happened to her because of something bad. Another good thing that happened because of something bad was that Sookan was able to help Marci and Ellen get along better with their parents because Sookan’s father was dead and her own sister was always trying to tell Sookan how she should live her life. Sookan missed her father very much and felt bad that him being dead made things harder for the family. Things were really hard for Sookan’s mother, because Sookan’s father was dead. Sookan would have loved to have her father alive. Sookan knew that her sister loved her, even when Sookan did not agree with what her sister was telling her, or when her sister was being mean to her. The things that happened in Sookan’s life made her understand things that Marci and Ellen did not understand and made it easier for her to explain to her friends why they should not be angry with their parents.

There are many pearls in the picture. Sookan is in the floor gathering the pearls to make sure that she gets all of them. She is being careful picking up the pearls because she does not want to miss any of the good things that are coming to her. Some of the pearls are in front of her, and some of them are behind her. Also, in Sookan’s life, there are good things in her future and good things in the past. In the picture, there are more pearls in front of her. This could mean that there more good things that will happen to her in the future than happened before in the past.

The image and the title are about it is important to gather the beautiful things that come from the bad things that happen in life. Just like when a grain of sand gets inside an oyster. The grain of sand is irritating to the oyster at first, but the oyster makes a beautiful pearl around the irritating thing. Maybe, that is why Sookan does not get too upset when bad things happen, because she knows that she will be able to make something good from them.

First Draft of Cover Essay

Gathering the Pearls in Life

When I look at the cover of the Book, “Gathering of Pearls”, there are many thoughts come to my mind. The image on the cover is very simple. It is an image of a girl on the floor picking up pearls. I know from reading the book that Sookan’s pearl necklace has broken and that she is picking up the pearls that are all over the floor. The image reminds me of the story in the book and how Sookan was able to make good things from the bad things that happened in her life. The cover image and title symbolize how Sookan got many beautiful things from the bad things that happened in her life.

In the cover image, Sookan is gathering pearls. Each pearl represents something beautiful that has come from something that was hard or bad in her life. When Sookan went to college, she did not have much money. She had to get a job. The job she got was babysitting for Professor Bennett’s family. Because she went to work for her teacher, she met his children. She loved the children, and the children loved her. Sookan fell in love with Professor Bennett’s children, and they fell in love with her. If Sookan had enough money so that she would not need to work, she would have not had the love of the children. Because she did not have much money, she got the love of the two children. This was a good thing that happened to her because of something bad. Another good thing that happened because of something bad was that Sookan was able to help Marci and Ellen get along better with their parents because Sookan’s father was dead and her own sister was always telling her what to do. Sookan missed her father very much and felt bad that him being dead made things harder for the family. She would have loved to have her father alive. Sookan knew that her sister loved her, even when Sookan did not agree with what her sister was telling her, or when her sister was being mean to her. The things that happened in Sookan’s life made it easier for her to explain to Marci and Ellen why they should not be angry with their parents.

There are many pearls in the picture. Sookan is in the floor gathering the pearls to make sure that she gets all of them. She is being careful picking up the pearls because she does not want to miss any of the good things that are coming to her. Some of the pearls are in front of her, and some of them are behind her. Also, in Sookan’s life, there are good things in her future and good things in the past. In the picture, there are more pearls in front of her. This could mean that there more good things that will happen to her in the future than happened before in the past.

The image and the title are about it is important to gather the beautiful things that come from the bad things that happen in life. Maybe, that is why Sookan does not get too upset when bad things happen, because she knows that she will be able to make something good from them.

Brainstorming for Cover Essay

The cover image and title symbolize how Sookan got many beautiful things from the bad things that happened in her life. In the cover image, Sookan is gathering pearls. Each pearl represents something beautiful that has come from something that was hard in her life. Sookan is in the floor gathering the pearls to make sure that she gets all of them.

When Sookan went to college, she did not have much money. She had to get a job. The job she got was babysitting for Professor Bennett’s family. Because she went to work for her teacher, she met his children. She loved the children, and the children loved her. Sookan met and started to love Professor Bennett’s children because she did not have much money. This was a good thing that happened to her because of something bad. Another good thing that happened because of something bad was that Sookan was able to help Marci and Ellen get along better with their parents because of how her own sister was always telling her what to do.

There are many pearls in the picture. Some of them are in front of her, and some of them are behind her. In her life, there are good things in her future and good things in the past. In the picture, there are more pearls in front of her. This could mean that there more good things that will happen to her in the future than happened before in the past.

The image and the title are about it is important to gather the beautiful things that come from the bad things that happen in life.

Blog 12 - Gathering of Pearls Epilogue

Sookan has been engaged to marry to Tom for a year. They had been boyfriend and girlfriend for three years, and he asked her to marry him just after her graduation from college. Sookan is very happy. Sookan and Tom have decided to get married in the States, and both Ellen’s mom and Marci’s mom are helping her plan the wedding.

Sookan’s graduation was a great time for her. Sookan had saved enough money so that her sister could come to the graduation. Her sister, Theresa, did not want to come at first, but everyone told her that she should go, since their mother was dead. So, she came to the States for the graduation. Sookan’s brother Hyunchun and her best friend from Korea, Bokhi came too. Bokhi did not marry the man who her aunt arranged for her to marry. Bokhi did not really know him, but she was going to marry him because it was what the families told her to do. Bokhi really loved Hyunchun, and he loved her. They both talked to their families and the families told them that they could get married. Sookan was happy to have some of her family there, but she was really happy to see her best friend from Korea.

Before the graduation, Sookan introduced Tom to her family. Sookan’s sister was not very nice to Tom when she met him. Her sister was not happy because she did not think that Sookan should have a boyfriend. She still expected Sookan to come back to Korea and work with her as a nun. Nuns do not have boyfriends or get married, so Sookan’s sister thought that it was very bad for Sookan to have a boyfriend. Hyunchun and Bokhi loved Tom and saw how happy Sookan was with him. Sookan also introduced her family to Ellen, Kyle, Ellen’s parents, Marci, Marci’s parents, Professor Bennett and his family, Sister Reed, Sister Casey and many of her classmates. Everyone Sookan’s family met told them what a good person Sookan is and how she had helped all of them in their lives. After hearing from all of these people how good Sookan is and how she had helped all of them, Sookan’s sister started to think that maybe she was wrong to believe that Sookan was making bad decisions. Sookan must have done many good things in the States, because that is what everybody Theresa met told her.

Sookan let her Theresa read some of the letters from their mother, and her sister could tell from the letters that their mother always encouraged Sookan to find her own way in life and to be happy. Their mother had done the same for Theresa when she wanted to become a nun. Theresa started to think that she had been wrong not to think about what Sookan wanted in her life.

At dinner after graduation, Tom asked Sookan to marry him. Sookan was worried about what her sister would think, but her sister said that it would be a good thing. Everybody was so happy for Sookan and Tom. Sookan and Tom are planning to visit Korea so that he can meet the rest of her family.

It has been a year now since she saw her family at graduation. Sookan is working as a teacher at a school near Marci’s parents. Between working and planning for the wedding, Sookan is very busy, but she is happy. Sookan sees Marci all the time now. Marci took some chemistry classes and found out that she was really good at chemistry. She is working with her father now.

Gathering of Pearls Study Guide Questions: Chapters 13-18

Chapter 13

1.     Describe Marci’s relationship with her parents.

The relationship was not good. Her parents wanted to be able to tell her what to do and how to dress. She wanted to decide on her own.

2.     What advice does Marci give Sookan in dealing with her sister?

Marci told Sookan to throw the letters from her sister out and not to think about them. Then she said, why don’t you tell her the truth?

3.      Do you think Sookan will follow Marci’s advice?

Sookan will still show respect to her sister, but i think that she will be more honest with her sister in the future.

Chapter 14

1.     What does Sister Reed give to Sookan and why?

Sister Reed gave Sookan some jewelry. She gave her a pearl necklace and a platinum and diamond clasp. She gave them to Sookan because her dead aunt asked her to give them to an extraordinary young woman

2.     What important event happens to Ellen in this chapter?

Ellen got engaged to Kyle

3.     How do her parents react?

Her parents were not happy. They told her to give the ring back. They thought that it was too soon for something that serious

4.     Sookan stands up to Ellen in this chapter and defends her parents. DO you agree or disagree with Sookan’s position? Why?

I agree with Sookan’s position that Ellen needed to grow up and that a big engagement ring and a boyfriend did not make her an adult. I also agree that Ellen should try to understand her parents and why they might be worried. Sookan asked her “Did it ever occur to you the other people might have things to say that make sense?” Sookan said some very good things.

Chapter 15

1.     Explain why Sookan has conflicting emotions (positive and negative) regarding the experiences she has in this chapter.

Sookan spent all of her money on clothes for the mixer, but she felt guilty that she did not keep some money to buy some things for her mother and sister. She met a boy and told Marci that she enjoyed herself so much that it scared her. She said that if she kept going out, her studies would suffer. She had a great time, but she was thinking about what her family might think.

2.     What would you have done if you were in her position?

In Sookan’s position, I would have done the same thing. She works too hard and needed to have some fun in her life.

Chapter 16

1.     As Sookan reflects on her freshman year pf college, what do you think she has accomplished?

Sookan had helped Marci and Ellen have better relationships with their parents and taken an art class just for fun.

2.     How has she changed?

She understands better that she should do some things that make her happy and does not seem as afraid about what her sister might think.

Chapter 17

1.     Father Leegives Sookan some sad news – what is it?

Father Lee told Sookan that her mother was dead.

2.     How does Sookan react?

First, she got upset because no one had told her. Later, she stayed in her room and cried all day. She felt guilty because she had left Korea. She started thinking that maybe her sister had been right. She thought that she would struggle to form another pearl within her.

Chapter 18

1.     At the end of the book, Sookan looks back at her experience as a whole. What does she realize?

She realized that she could respect Theresa without obeying her blindly.

2.     If you could give some advice to Sookan at this point in her life, what would it be?

I would give Sookan the advice to not forget her new family in America.