Mid-Term Essay

Choose one of the following prompts:

(1)  In East of Eden, John Steinbeck’s narrator states: “I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents” (71).  Choose one of the texts we have read thus far and discuss what it means to be a “monster” within the context of that story. What does your text suggest are the main contributing factors to that person’s monstrosity?  What possible contributing factors does your text not consider?  Provide evidence of your claims.

(2)  In East of Eden, Steinbeck writes, “Who knows but that [Cathy] tried to tell someone or everyone what she was like and could not, for lack of a common language.  Her life may have been her language, formal, developed, indecipherable” (182).  Choose one of the characters we have studied thus far and examine his/her attempts to make others hear their language.  Are their attempts successful?  Why or why not?  Provide evidence of your claims.

(3) Choose one of the texts we have read thus far and examine a sampling of the scholarship associated with it.  Pick at least two peer-reviewed essays written about the text you have chosen, and identify major ways in which the critics’ opinion of the text may have differed, evolved, etc.  Provide evidence of your claims.

Your analysis should be a critical (as in, ‘you are a critic,’ not ‘overwhelmingly negative’) statement about the work and, to a lesser extent, its author.  It is not your opinion of the piece in “I liked it/I didn’t like it” terms.  Instead, you should aim to assess the quality of the piece in relation to its place in academia.  Possible questions for evaluation include: What are the author’s credentials or authority on this topic?  Is the scope of their thesis appropriate, or is it too generalized or too focused to be successful? Does the author support their thesis adequately?  How does the content of this piece fit in, generally, with the other(s) you have chosen?  In what ways does the author(s) differentiate his/her argument from those that came before them?  And so on.

Your final paper should be no less than three full pages and no more than four full pages.  Your

Works Cited page does not count as a part of your page length.

You are required to utilize a minimum of two scholarly resources to build your argument, in addition to the novel you choose.  Review your notes from our library session with Josh Petrusa if you are unclear about what constitutes a scholarly resource.

Remember: Include an introduction, supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion.  Use proper MLA style (typed, double-spaced [at zero point], Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins, heading on first page [your name, class, instructor’s name, date], title, header with last name and page numbers, works cited page, etc).  Refer to your Hacker Guide for additional grammatical guidance.

Please note that you will not be permitted to write your final paper on the same novel you choose for this essay.

You are required to visit the Writers’ Studio for this essay.

DUE DATES:

The first draft of your essay is due via Moodle no later than 5:00 pm on Saturday, February 23.

You are required to complete two reviews of your classmates’ drafts via Moodle the start of our class period on Tuesday, February 26.

Your final, revised essay is due via Moodle before our class begins on Thursday, February 28.

FYS 052

A Monster Born to Human Parents

The dispute between nature and nurture is one that brings many impassioned opinions to light.  A tight foundation supports each side with resounding support from different areas in the scientific fields.  These range from developmental psychology to experimental neurology. Within these complicated terms lies the opinion represented in John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden. The plot of this novel describes a story parallel to a story of two brothers from the bible named Cain and Able.  Despite this reference to Eden and their lives, however, the novel also serves as an important instrument in discussing his views on how a human’s mind is formed. Steinbeck explores the possibility of “a twisted gene or a malformed egg” producing “a

malformed soul.” (Steinbeck, 71).  He provides several examples of what he calls a “monster” by nature through Charles, Cathy, and Cal Trask.  Charles and Cal play the part of Cain and spend their lives fighting their natures.  Cathy fills a similar role but represents a less human aspect to the character.  It is clear throughout the story that one can be born a “monster” with little control over the impulses that are defined by that title–always tied by their natures.

The first evidence of a born monster in the novel is seen in Charles Trask.  He is also the first embodiment of Cain.  From his first appearance he is described as very different from his

brother.  He is described with an angry temperament and regarded by his brother as “a bright being of another species, gifted with muscle and bone, speed and alertness, quite on a different plane, to be admired as one admires the sleek lazy danger of a black leopard…” (Steinbeck, 21). This separation from others defines the ostracizing nature he possesses.  This is, in theory, what contributes to his violent and unpredictable temper.  As he matures he realizes the monster within him and struggles with it throughout the rest of his life.  Steinbeck brings the influence of nature into his comparison between the two brothers.  Each developed with different temperaments and personal connections despite the militaristic form of nurturing from their father.   Charles’ brother Adam, his direct opposite, was described with no desire for violence

and no aptitude leaning toward strength.  Charles is never able to overcome his inner demons and only avoids the results of his destructive personality through isolation.

The nurture versus nature debate takes many forms within Steinbeck’s novel.  None of these speak as strongly as the character he has created in Cathy Trask.  He depicts that “she was not like other people, never was from birth.” And she did “using her difference, make a painful and bewildering stir in the world.” (Steinbeck, 72).  Within Cathy there is no need for change and an absence of empathy for the hurt she causes.  She seems to relish the effect she has on the average person and uses it relentlessly.  When she is confronted by her husband whom she shot and left ten years previously she reveals much of her personality and contempt for the human

race.  She admits, “It isn’t hatred, its contempt.  When I was a little girl I knew what stupid lying fools they were…I knew I could make them do whatever I wanted.  I could always make people do what I wanted.” (Steinbeck, 319).  Through her revelations she is revealed for a monster in

the true sense of the word.  Even on her deathbed she shows no remorse or compassion for the acts committed in her life.

The nature of Cathy can also be explicated more thoroughly in DNA & Destiny: Nature and Nurture in Human Behavior, a novel written by R. Grant Steen.  He describes in his text, the philosophies of nature versus nurture as applied first to animals, then to humans.  This

“pervasive bias” leads one to believe that “often, by extension, human traits are seen to result from unfurling of an immutable program borne in the genes.” (Steen, 22).  He then explains experiments between twins and the forces that influence their development.  These experiments had several inconsistencies but strengthened the argument that nature plays a major role.  This is seen in Cathy, Charles, and Cal throughout Steinbeck’s novel.  In the text he gives many examples as to the inevitability to their situations because of birth, not necessarily the way they were nurtured in childhood.  Cathy, especially, defies her parentage as she grows with a twisted spirit.  Her life growing up is described as an easy way of life with parents who believed strongly in “sparing the rod.”  Her nature wins out though and she murders them as a matter of convenience.

The third character to appear with monster-like tendencies is Cathy’s son, Cal.  He shows evidence at a young age of some of Cathy’s characteristics.  When considering his contemporaries and his younger brother he has manipulative and aggressive tendencies.  He learned early in his development how to hurt his brother using “tools.” These tools are his instruments that he has found to cause mental havoc within those close to him.  As Charles does, however, he struggles voraciously to fight these impulses.  In a psychology article Saul Mcleod discusses this link of genetic similarities to “behavioral tendencies, personality attributes, and mental abilities,” and refers to the theory that these are already “’wired in’ before we are even born.”(Mcleod, 2).  This is very evident within Cal as compared to his brother, Aron.  Even though both were given a warm nurturing environment by their servant, Lee, each grew in a