john steinbeck proposal

The subject I want my thesis to focus on is traveling because in the three books I’ve read it seems that Steinbeck makes his characters travels in search for something, even for himself. He makes it clear that the characters are always moving by describing where they are, what they want, and where they want to go. Like in the Pearl, Kino finds a pearl and dreams big but instead the pearl gives him trouble, so Kino has to keep moving, he burned his house and ran away. In Travels with Charlie he travels across America in search for what makes America. And I’m just finishing Mice and Men where they have to keep moving because of Georges past.
The thing I find hard about my thesis is subjects it touches upon. I know there’s Wealth, Freedom, happiness and more but I don’t know how I could expand that. And it seems that most of my information would come from Travels with Charlie because he touches a lot of subjects but from his point of view. I also don’t know what kind of book reviews I would look for if I decide to use book reviews.
Traveling is something that has a lot of connections, like I said it touches upon finding happiness, wealth, escaping from the past and just in search for something. Just the hard part is looking back or thinking of ways why people travel to find answers, why traveling sets goals in someones life. But in another way there’s so much to talk about that it can fill my paper.
Since Steinbeck talks about traveling or mentions the thought of traveling, my essay can show how he writes. Like the way he writes, he sets the time and place and he really focuses on the characters thoughts so that’s another good reason because traveling is something the mind likes to remember like smell and scenery which Steinbeck is good at describing.
I know how Steinbeck writes because after reading Travels with Charlie, it seems that the way he wrote and described everything made you imagine it, also it made you feel like you were there, in his conversations, and saw everything he saw.
My thesis is going to be: John Steinbeck uses traveling to solve characters problems and in doing so he describes the whole story to make it seem like you were there.

post 8

my thesis is coming out of Travels with Charlie

because its a big topic to talk about or write about
and thats in search of america and
what is america
what makes america
just so many things to talk about

but if i had to level it down my thesis is America is what everyone makes out to be
i actually dont know, i have so many thesis ideas that i could go with.

i had just finished my book and honestly i recommend reading it
he had just left california and was dreading texas and
and it was funny cause he traveled it, he went through america and it seems that towards the end
he didnt get what he wanted. or found what he wanted =.

post 5 and 6

what i read so far is John is talking about truck drivers and how they travel through out America and
they dont even know the land, he compared them to sailors and how they pull up to ports everywhere in the world but have little contact in the world. which is something i never thought about or would assume. which was on page 72 and he also talked about what goes through peoples mind, i like this one part where he said "have written long,detailed letters never to be put to paper" pg 74.

just reading those couple of pages i want to write about
people traveling all over
but i dont know how to turn that into a thesis

my second book

i got done reading The Pearl last week so as of right now im on part two on Travels with Charley In Search of America.

what i remember from the last couple of pages that i read was him somewhere around Maine. its rough since the last time he saw a house or a store was a day ago. the only thing he can see is trees after trees and everything is wet and damped so hes not having much of an adventure since his dog seems depressed.
the part that made me laugh was when he said "that old fake about the moss growing on the north sides of trees lied to me when i was a boy scout". which was on page 47

i dont know if he has anything that symbolizes, but what i noticed is that
when he looks as his camper or something simple he goes off on a story
that he remembers in the past
like on pg 48 the sun went down and it got dark and then it reminded him of charms and prayers
and then he went off on a story of when he owned land in california and he met a Filipino man who had a charm bracelet and how he doesn't believe in stuff like that
but he doesnt doubt it either.

American Author chapters 2-4

i read pages 16-41

i think that this reading was intense
it was basically what happened after Kino found the pearl

so after kino found the pearl he had plans BIG PLANS
which included
-Coyitito going to school
-Juana and kKno getting married
-new clothes
the whole town found out about the pearl and labled it "the pearl of the world"
later the doctor came over and said "i was out when you came to ask for help for your baby"
Kino knew that was a lie and denied him because NOW the doctor wanted to help since he too knew about the pearl and Kino got angry and told the doctor that the baby was doing fine, the swelling and they didnt need his help. The doctor said that he knows how the scorpion venom works so Kino let him in and the doctor found a blue spot behind the eye that could make him blind so the doctor gave him a white pill within an hour the venom kicked in and the doctor gave him amonia or something and then Coyoitio was fine the doctor asked how Kino would pay him and kino said he was going to cash it in tomorrow Kino hid the pearl in the ground so no one would take it later that night some one was outside their hut Kino and Juana was scared. Juana thinks that the pearl will bring evel to their family while Kino thinks that its their only chance.

American Author chapters 1- 2

"The sun was warming the bush house, breaking through its crevices in long streaks. And one of the streaks fell on the hanging box where Coyotito lay, and on the ropes it held it. It was a tiny movement that drew their eyes to the hanging box Kino and Juana froze in their positions . Down the rope that hung the baby's box from the roof support a scorpion moved slowly. His stinging tail was straight out behind him, but he could whip it up in a flash of time. Kino's breath whistled in his nostrils and he opened his mouth to stop it. And then the startled look was gone from him and the rigidity from his body. In his mind a new song had come , the song of evil , the music of the enemy, of any foe of the family, a savage, secret, dangerous melody, and underneath , the song of the family cried plaintively."
pgs 4-5
What i noticed about his writing was he describes everything. He even details what hes detailing if that makes any sense? He goes on and on and on it which is good and bad. Bad because you get the point where hes going with it. But good because i think the way he writes like that is because he wants you to know how everything feels how everything looks how big and how small it is.

Summary: It starts with him waking up and noticing everything like the night sky and his wife and then his wife and him see a scorpion on the ropes that are holding coyotito basket with him in it and then the scorpion falls and stings him and juana is scared and so they go to the village doctor who basically hates kinos kind and only works for the rich because hes selfish and greedy and doesnt accept Kinos money so they walk down to the beach and they went in a canoe and Juana goes in and piles up some brown sea weed to put it over the swelling and prayed while Kino dives to find pearls to pay the doctor.
pgs 1-16

John Steinbeck Proposal

The author I decided to write my American literature essay on is John Steinbeck. Steinbeck lived in California but moved to New York but moved back to California to start his life as a writer. His first couple of novels was memories that he had growing up In California. I chose this author because, back in 7th grade we read the book The Pearl but I didn’t really get a chance to read it since I didn’t want to read it and I was immature. I do regret not reading it because John Steinbeck is a well known author, he wrote twenty five books which include 16 novels six non fiction books, and a couple of short stories. He also won a Nobel prize. I think I have more respect for him then I did back in 7th grade. I read a little bit about his history and he seems like we went through a lot and earned a lot of respect and success. I noticed that he didn’t write like other authors did, he seemed to write fictional books but made it seem as if they were realistic. I didn’t know that he wrote books about characters that would struggle and later on his writing changed to subjects about politics and religion and history. Which I found interesting because he didn’t stick to one subject. His writing was great, from what I can remember, he detailed a lot of things like using similes and metaphors in the book The Pearl. Since its been a while, trying to remember his work I really don’t know what my argument is going to be about, I think ill figure it out when I start to get into his books. The books I think I would want to read would be of coarse The Pearl since I didn’t really get a chance to read it. I would also read Mice of Men and maybe read Grapes of Wrath. But I’m not entirely sure that I’ll read those books because he has more books that I can choose from, such as Travels with Charley. I’m highly thinking about that book also since it ties into “What is an American?” and its about him traveling with his dog to find what actually is it like to be an American and what was interesting about that was that it didn’t live up to his expectation. He did write a lot of short stories but I’m going to read about 3 or 4 of his books to get an understanding of how is his style of writing made him an important American author, and if he has a certain writing style.
Earlier I mention that he won the Nobel prize what I found interesting was when he won, he felt that he didn’t deserve it. His acceptance speech he said "The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit – for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature."
I think I chose an interesting author, its not because of his success and because he’s a well known author but because there has to be a reason to why his writing makes him so interesting, his books have a story to tell and from what I think his books have lessons or a point which makes them realistic.