“Steinbeck Center. ” Steinbeck Center. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. This website is a resource for “readers, students, teachers, and scholars of John Steinbeck. ” If someone were to be interested in the life of John Steinbeck, this website for The Center for Steinbeck Studies is a great place to start. It is fully equipped with information about Steinbeck’s background, his literary works, pictures of him and interesting facts. This is a great place to research general background information on John Steinbeck. “National Steinbeck Center. ” Welcome Home ::.
N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Dec. 2012. The National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California hosts this website. Not only does this website offer valuable information about Steinbeck, his life and his work, but it also gives great historical background on Salinas Valley; the place which we know Steinbeck held close to his heart. By giving information and history on the Valley itself along with the people who live there, Steinbeck’s readers can feel a deeper connection and have a better understanding with the people that he often times writes about in his novels.
Shockley, Martin Staples. “The Reception of The Grapes of Wrath in Oklahoma. ” American Literature. Duke University Press. 1944. This article navigates the critical attitudes towards Steinbeck’s famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It is also very useful when trying to understand the social views on the commonly portrayed characters in Steinbeck’s work. This novel was not well received when it was first published. Many critics thought it was unbelievable and completely sensationalized. The article explains how many minds were changed once Steinbeck won the Noble Peace prize.
This would be a great article for someone who is interested in both learning more about Steinbeck’s work, as well as for someone who is interested in the critiques of The Grapes of Wrath. Stephan, Ed. John Steinbeck: The California Novels. Western Washington University. 09 December 2012. One of the biggest linking units a large portion of Steinbeck’s work is that he sets a lot of them in California; Salinas, CA more specifically. This article discusses the “California Novels” and how they are a consistent theme with Steinbeck over the forty years of his career.
Also, there is an emphasis not only on the common setting of most of his novels, but also the common characteristics of his characters within these novels. This website also offers several different outlets for researchers to turn to when they are attempting to learn more about John Steinbeck. “John Steinbeck. ” Center for Working-Class Studies. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. This article does great things when explaining the typical characters Steinbeck employs in his writing. It says that Steinbeck uses realistic representations of the people in the working class society.
It is clear not only be the information provided in this article, but also from having read several Steinbeck novels myself that he was very concerned with the working class and his goal was to tell their story through his writing. The article proves this idea by giving examples from several of his works. “John Steinbeck Biography. ” Bio. com. A&E Networks Television, n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. The purpose of this article was strictly to give a background on the life of John Steinbeck. The subtopics that were covered were his ‘Early Years’, ‘Early Career’ and ‘Later Life. He was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902.
He grew up with modest means and really learned to appreciate the land; both of which later influenced his writing. He enrolled at Stanford University but never graduated. After working odd jobs, he finally found success as a writer. He served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune during World War II. He had a life full of travels and adventures. He died of heart disease in 1968. “The New York Review of Books. ” The Rescue of John Steinbeck by Robert Gottlieb. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
This article questions the relevance of John Steinbeck as a writer. There is concern that Steinbeck is not as relevant as he should be and that society is diminishing him. Critics scrutinized his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize and even Steinbeck himself had doubts of his ability. The article however says that apart from tortured students and Monterey enthusiasts, more people should be interested in the work of Steinbeck because “he has the ardor and sincerity—and the confused notions—typical of so many intelligent autodidacts. ” The article also goes through several of his key works and basically explains their brilliance. Lyang, Shu-Fang. “Critic’s Views on the Female Characters in John Steinbecks Work. ” N. p. , n. d. Web. Nov. -Dec. 2012. Women are the focus of this article; more specifically Steinbeck’s women. There was a group in 1977 who sat down to focus on the treatment of women in Steinbeck’s repertoire. The descriptions of his female characters are as follows, “alienated, frustrated, lonely, strong willed, masculine, powerful and indestructible. There has also been research done on Steinbeck’s personal life and how the influence of the women in his life has affected his writing.
From this article it is clear that there are several strong opinions on Steinbeck’s representation of women, both for and against him. “Celebrating Steinbeck, ‘bard of the People'” Daily Pilot. N. p. , 27 Sept. 2002. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. The purpose of this article was to show that Steinbeck’s voice as a writer was used to speak out for the poor and oppressed. Yet again, the testament to his specific style is shown by referencing several of his novels, and showing specifically how he supports the oppressed people.
Also, the article talks about how Steinbeck liked to show the diversity in California through his works. This would be a good article to read for someone who is interested in Steinbeck’s specific style when it came to his writing. “Celebrating Steinbeck, “Steinbeck’s Daughter-in-Law defends Travels With Charley” Daily Pilot. N. p. , 27 Sept. 2002. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. After Travels With Charley was published, a man named Bill Steigerwald came out with an article that debunked the validity of Steinbeck’s novel.
This article is written by Steinbeck’s daughter-in-law, and she uses it as a platform to reaffirm the truthfulness in Steinbeck’s novel. She says, “To tell you the truth, I would never have jumped into the fray, but he is so ill-informed and has managed to reach such a wide audience, that it has become a little creepy. He is misleading the public and the problem is that he is incorrect in the majority of his assumptions. ” She encourages researches and fans of Steinbeck to check out the Center for John Steinbeck website to find proof of the validity of Steinbeck’s travels across America.
