John Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat". The main characters and their relation with the American Dream

John Steinbeck's Author: Anne-Karen Fischer
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3668694524
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 21

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 2,0, University of Constance, course: Proseminar, language: English, abstract: Many literary works deal with the positive and negative aspects of the American dream. One of these literary works which deals with the negative aspects of the American dream is "Tortilla Flat" by John Steinbeck. The book is about a group of societal marginal figures, which do not have any interest in becoming rich and famous and they take their life as it comes. For them, friendship and freedom are more important than wealth and therefore they represent the counterpart of the American dream. But there are also characters in the book, which believe in the American dream and who strive for wealth and reputation. That is why "Tortilla Flat" provides a good contrast of the proponents and opponents of the American dream. In this research paper I will analyse the main characters of “Tortilla Flat” and compare them to the American dream. First of all I will explain what the American dream really is. Afterwards I will give a short summary of the plot of the book and an overview of the historical background. Then I will show the western frontier in the book, which is also part of the American dream. After that I will analyse the main characters of "Tortilla Flat": Women, Torelli and the paisanos. Finally I will give a short conclusion.

John Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat". The main characters and their relation with the American Dream

John Steinbeck's Author: Anne-Karen Fischer
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3668694524
Category : Foreign Language Study
Languages : en
Pages : 21

Get Book

Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 2,0, University of Constance, course: Proseminar, language: English, abstract: Many literary works deal with the positive and negative aspects of the American dream. One of these literary works which deals with the negative aspects of the American dream is "Tortilla Flat" by John Steinbeck. The book is about a group of societal marginal figures, which do not have any interest in becoming rich and famous and they take their life as it comes. For them, friendship and freedom are more important than wealth and therefore they represent the counterpart of the American dream. But there are also characters in the book, which believe in the American dream and who strive for wealth and reputation. That is why "Tortilla Flat" provides a good contrast of the proponents and opponents of the American dream. In this research paper I will analyse the main characters of “Tortilla Flat” and compare them to the American dream. First of all I will explain what the American dream really is. Afterwards I will give a short summary of the plot of the book and an overview of the historical background. Then I will show the western frontier in the book, which is also part of the American dream. After that I will analyse the main characters of "Tortilla Flat": Women, Torelli and the paisanos. Finally I will give a short conclusion.

Tortilla Flat

Tortilla Flat PDF Author: John Steinbeck
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0140187405
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
"Steinbeck is an artists; and he tells the stories of these lovable thieves and adulterers with a gentle and poetic purity of heart and of prose." —New York Herald Tribune A Penguin Classic Adopting the structure and themes of the Arthurian legend, John Steinbeck created a “Camelot” on a shabby hillside above the town of Monterey, California, and peopled it with a colorful band of knights. At the center of the tale is Danny, whose house, like Arthur’s castle, becomes a gathering place for men looking for adventure, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging—men who fiercely resist the corrupting tide of honest toil and civil rectitude. As Nobel Prize winner Steinbeck chronicles their deeds—their multiple lovers, their wonderful brawls, their Rabelaisian wine-drinking—he spins a tale as compelling and ultimately as touched by sorrow as the famous legends of the Round Table, which inspired him. This edition features an introduction by Thomas Fensch. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Tortilla Curtain

The Tortilla Curtain PDF Author: T. Coraghessan Boyle
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143119079
Category : American fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
The lives of two different couples--wealthy Los Angeles liberals Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher, and Candido and America Rincon, a pair of Mexican illegals--suddenly collide, in a story that unfolds from the shifting viewpoints of the various characters.

Bloom's How to Write about John Steinbeck

Bloom's How to Write about John Steinbeck PDF Author: Catherine J. Kordich
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438112432
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Bloom's How to Write about John Steinbeck offers valuable paper-topic suggestions, clearly outlined strategies on how to write a strong essay, and an insightful introduction by Harold Bloom on writing about Steinbeck.

Men & Masculinities [2 volumes]

Men & Masculinities [2 volumes] PDF Author: Michael S. Kimmel
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1576077756
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 920

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Book Description
The first encyclopedia to analyze, summarize, and explain the complexities of men's lives and the idea of modern manhood. The process of "making masculinity visible" has been going on for over two decades and has produced a prodigious and interesting body of work. But until now the subject has had no authoritative reference source. Men & Masculinities, a pioneering two-volume work, corrects the oversight by summarizing the latest historical, biological, cross-cultural, psychological, and sociological research on the subject. It also looks at literature, art, and music from a gender perspective. The contributors are experts in their specialties and their work is directed, organized, and coedited by one of the premier scholars in the field, Michael Kimmel. The coverage brings together for the first time considerable knowledge of men and manhood, focusing on such areas as sexual violence, intimacy, pornography, homophobia, sports, profeminist men, rituals, sexism, and many other important subjects. Clearly, this unique reference is a valuable guide to students, teachers, writers, policymakers, journalists, and others who seek a fuller understanding of gender in the United States.

Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck

Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck PDF Author: William Souder
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393292274
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 435

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Book Description
Winner of the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2020 in Nonfiction A resonant biography of America’s most celebrated novelist of the Great Depression. The first full-length biography of the Nobel laureate to appear in a quarter century, Mad at the World illuminates what has made the work of John Steinbeck an enduring part of the literary canon: his capacity for empathy. Pulitzer Prize finalist William Souder explores Steinbeck’s long apprenticeship as a writer struggling through the depths of the Great Depression, and his rise to greatness with masterpieces such as The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath. Angered by the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants who were starving even as they toiled to harvest California’s limitless bounty, fascinated by the guileless decency of the downtrodden denizens of Cannery Row, and appalled by the country’s refusal to recognize the humanity common to all of its citizens, Steinbeck took a stand against social injustice—paradoxically given his inherent misanthropy—setting him apart from the writers of the so-called "lost generation." A man by turns quick-tempered, compassionate, and ultimately brilliant, Steinbeck could be a difficult person to like. Obsessed with privacy, he was mistrustful of people. Next to writing, his favorite things were drinking and womanizing and getting married, which he did three times. And while he claimed indifference about success, his mid-career books and movie deals made him a lot of money—which passed through his hands as quickly as it came in. And yet Steinbeck also took aim at the corrosiveness of power, the perils of income inequality, and the urgency of ecological collapse, all of which drive public debate to this day. Steinbeck remains our great social realist novelist, the writer who gave the dispossessed and the disenfranchised a voice in American life and letters. Eloquent, nuanced, and deeply researched, Mad at the World captures the full measure of the man and his work.

American Writers

American Writers PDF Author: Elizabeth H. Oakes
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438108095
Category : American literature
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
"American Writers focuses on the rich diversity of American novelists

Reclaiming John Steinbeck

Reclaiming John Steinbeck PDF Author: Gavin Jones
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110884412X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
A reevaluation of John Steinbeck exploring his timely interests in climate change, ecology, and social injustice.

John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck PDF Author: Anita Croy
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC
ISBN: 1534565957
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
John Steinbeck's novels, including The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, have been read by students around the world, and they often provide a strong starting point for learning about the devastating effects of the Great Depression. This connection between history and literature is waiting for readers to discover as they take in the fascinating details of Steinbeck's life and closely examine one of his most famous works, Of Mice and Men. Featuring enlightening sidebars, primary source images, and graphic organizers such as detailed timelines, this reading experience is sure to captivate young literature lovers.

The Pearl

The Pearl PDF Author: John Steinbeck
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101659815
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
“There it lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon.” Like his father and grandfather before him, Kino is a poor diver, gathering pearls from the gulf beds that once brought great wealth to the Kings of Spain and now provide Kino, Juana, and their infant son with meager subsistence. Then, on a day like any other, Kino emerges from the sea with a pearl as large as a sea gull's egg, as "perfect as the moon." With the pearl comes hope, the promise of comfort and of security.... A story of classic simplicity, based on a Mexican folk tale, The Pearl explores the secrets of man's nature, the darkest depths of evil, and the luminous possibilities of love. From the Trade Paperback edition.