1. Warming up with a revised bookmark and a close reading of Chapter 34
3. Wrapping up with remaining questions, epiphanies, and kudos
HW:
1. ASAP: Make sure you have e-mailed me your sonnet essay thesis and any outlining you have completed.
2. Friday, Oct 25 will be a drafting day and/or a reading day. Chapters 35-38 will be added to the Socratic on Tuesday (along with Chapters 39 and 40). We will return to the normal reading ticket schedule on Tuesday.
3. For MONDAY, Oct 28: Complete rough draft of sonnet essay. We will peer edit this day.
3. For MONDAY, Oct 28: Complete rough draft of sonnet essay. We will peer edit this day.
You will have a window for submitting your final draft: Oct 30-Nov 4 by 4:00 pm. They will be graded in the order that they are turned in.
Are we commenting here?
ReplyDeleteYes?
DeleteAron appears destined to be good like his father, whereas Cal appears destined for evil like his mother and uncle. Cal’s prayers to God to make him kinder and better, however, differentiate him from his predecessors, as he recognizes his evil ways and fights to control them. Why do you think that Steinbeck uses this example of prayer in Cal's live to set him apart from the traditional story of Cain and Able and his uncle and father?
ReplyDeleteI believe it was Cain who's gift was rejected by God. In Cal, the same fear of rejection is prevalent in his desire to "not be evil". I believe it doesn't actually set him apart, rather it solidifies the connection between the two stories
DeleteIt's kind of depressing. Cal's prayer illustrates his desire to elude the story he's destined for. Yet as the chapters progress, we see that Cal may not actually be able to escape his fate. His desire to change is perhaps no match for fate or history.
DeleteI think Steinbeck is showing the change or "evolution" of the next generation beyond Adam, Charles and Cathy. While all of them had their unique characteristics and flaws that were connected to the story of Cain and Able, Cal and Aron, however, share these traits among each other. Cal, who has a darker side, is looking to be good and kind like Aron. Aron, who is genuinely good, also has moments of darkness like Cal. This "evolution," I believe, sets them apart from the traditional story of Cain and Able.
DeleteIt relates to Steinbeck's "We have only one story" at the end of Chapter 34.
DeleteAgreed Olivia!
Delete"We have only one story"
ReplyDeleteThroughout East of Eden, we continually see how each generation and even between characters, there are many mirror images of what preceded a new character or children. If this is the case, how do we ultimately better ourselves if evil continues to "respawn"? Does East of Eden serve as some kind of example of how to grow, or a warning of the constant challenges we will face as human beings? (I had like three different ideas going on here so please let me know if I need to try again posing this question.)
I have a question about the "We have only one story" line as well. Do you as an individual find this frustrating or comforting? I like that despite all of our diversity, we're all bound by this unifying internal struggle of good and evil.
ReplyDeleteI almost find it comforting because I think it's nice to know that even if it is just one story, it is my own and everything will happen as it does.
DeleteI find this somewhat quite frustrating. We've lived seeing how each generation is supposed to be "better" than the previous (in whatever way applicable) yet with a new face of evil, it's almost impossible to differentiate ourselves from our pasts.
DeleteHowever, at the core, we are all the same. Which while we've been told to "stand out", sharing a common story amongst each other gives us a way to see ourselves in one another, and get through our story while we write it.
I find this idea of having only one story somewhat comforting and frustrating. While we have only one life, we can choose how we want to fulfill it amid this struggle of good and evil. But because we only have one life, it only allows us a certain amount of time to grow and learn through this continuous struggle and eventually define ourselves.
DeleteI find the fact that we all have one story comforting. I think it can help to unify each individual and help see how we are all connected to each others story. Just like in the novel, multiple stories are told but then are combined to make one story. This helps to show the effect that everyone can have on another person's story.
DeletePersonally, I find it both frustrating. It frustrates me because it feels like I don't have the ability to amount to very much. What if the "writer" of my story can't write very well? I want my story to have meaning. I want to amount to something, and if I only have one story, how much can I really change around without it making sense anymore. Plus, there is such a limited amount of time in one story, it seems so hard to imagine that I can have a lot of character development in such a short amount time. I know I am kind of rambling at this point, but the last point I want to make is the fact that I hate being bound to my story, because I so badly want to make a difference in someone else's story. I want to make it better, and be a moment of change for someone else, even if I am only in their story for a sentence.
DeleteWhy does Steinbeck choose to include Chapter 34 at this point? I feel as it reveals a lot about the book previously intended to be philosophically determined by the reader...
ReplyDeleteI believe Steinbeck chose to include this chapter as a shifting point for the reader. He did this earlier in the novel with Chapter 12, placing this chapter right after the moment Charles and Adam found Cathy and Adam was deliberating leaving for California with Cathy. I think this is supposed to signify that another big change or event is about to occur in the proceeding chapters.
DeleteHow did you interpret the moment where Adam went to visit Cathy and tell her of her inherited fortune from Charles? Why do you think Cathy reacted so negatively and aggressively towards Adam? (Looking beyond her belief that Adam was tricking her in some way)
ReplyDeleteI think she responded so negatively as she had lost control. However, what I find interesting, is her lack of control almost hints at her humanity. As when Adam leaves, Steinbeck mentions her slight moment of sadness. She knows she lost something. The idea that she can attach emotions to Adam and his actions indicates she is indeed, somewhat human.
DeleteComing back on this part is really interesting after reading the whole book, especially considering what Olivia said. When you see the way Cathy dies, and how in her death she seems more human to us than ever before, it makes moments like this seem a lot different. When I first read this part, I kind of had a "classic Cathy" kind of reaction to it. She was angry Adam came back, she thought she was being tricked, and she freaked out. This seems like a fairly common response from Cathy. But looking back and realizing that she was actually physically shaking with rage as Adam walked out shows some humanity from her. Now, anger typically has a negative connotation, but it is still an emotion that everyone feels. The fact that Cathy feels it so strongly seems to make her seem just a little bit more human.
DeleteSomething I thought was really really interesting about the line, "We only have one story" after I finished the book is how Adam is the only character that made it all the way through the book. At times there is so much happening and this book follows so much that it is really unclear who the book is really trying to talk about. It gets even more confusing when Steinbeck seems to throw in the narrative of his family in the mix. However, no matter what, this story completely followed Adam. It kind of makes me think that "we" in that line, is the human race as a whole. Adam was with us until the end of the book, but there were so many other people in the book with their whole life stories being told that maybe the "one story" that is being told has been going on for thousands of years now. Maybe Steinbeck was just writing a small caption of one small part of the story, and we just happened to see it.
ReplyDelete