Please write a thoughtful blog for each option below about your impressions of the book. All 3 due by end of Quarter 3.
OPTION 1-Reflect on some of the themes below in a detailed paragraph.
THINGS & PEOPLE RE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM- In the final paragraph of the introduction Steinbeck writes: "How can the poem and the stink and the grating noise - the quality of light, the tone, the habit and the dream - be set down alive?" In chapter two he writes: "Lee Chong is more than a Chinese grocer. He must be. Perhaps he is evil balanced and held suspended by good." Also in this chapter he first calls Mack and the boys, "the Virtues, the Graces, the Beauties." Can you think of other examples where people seems at once evil and good? Is this true in our community as well?
FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS- What is the traditional concept of family? What is the more realistic definition of family? What are some other types of families that fall outside of the traditional concept that are explored in Cannery Row? Although the traditional families in Steinbeck's tale are few (one might think of Sam Malloy and Mrs. Malloy as traditional, except that they live in a boiler), there are numerous family relationships in the story. All of Cannery Row is an extended family. Each of its residents looks out for the others.
HUMANITY- Steinbeck creates characters who care about each other far more than they care about a steady job or material possessions. In spite of their poverty, lack of social graces, and outcast status, they attempt to help each other. Although their plans are frequently ill-conceived and poorly executed, their actions come from the heart, creating both the warmth and pathos of the story.What scenes will you remember as the best examples of true humanity? Even with as little as they have, do they have things we lack in our community?OPTION #2- Ask others reading the book a question and respond to their questions.
OPTION #3-Share parts or quotes that inspire, move, horrify, frighten or please you. See if other feel similarly.
Please sign every post with full name, assigned English Block and date. Also save blog posts in Google docs.
Hello readers! I hope you are enjoying Cannery Row! Maybe some day you will visit Monterey, California and remember reading this book about what life was like there back in the days of the canneries. Can't wait to read your posts! ---Mrs. Hall
ReplyDeleteTyler Plummer
ReplyDeleteOption #1:Family theme
A traditional Family as a whole was that if they were of blood relation to you that they were family. In the modern way that most people, and how modern day movies and stories have depicted, see some friends as their family rather than just their friends. which in all honesty is how it should be. Because Some people wish their blood relatives were not family at all. And having those close friends with you as family help maintain a balance.
The Palace Flophouse is a perfect example of how a family can have no blood relation at all. All the Guys living in the palace have done one thing or another to provide for each other and the house when some of them still have separate lives outside the palace.
Mrs Hall Grade Update:
ReplyDeleteTyler P.-Theme paragraph in. Owe Q/A and quote/passage paragraph.
Everyone else...get on it!!!!
Justin Pollard
ReplyDeleteOption #1 family & relationship
Doc is like the father figure of Cannery Row. He is like the dad because he is one of the older people in Cannery Row. He is very responsible and respected. He also helps out with the younger people who seem to be like his children.
Dora seems to be the mother like figure of Cannery Row. She is like the mother because she watches out for all the girls that she works for her. She is a very compassionate woman. She always helps out and gives money to charities. When doc asked her to help out with the sick people she and her girls sat with the sick people, kept them company, and gave them soup.
Mac and the boys who live at the flop house are like the children of Cannery Row. They are like bothers to each other. They watch out for Doc and try to do things for him because he is so good to them and other people. Mac and the boys are like the older children who move out of the house but still seem to need to come home for certain things, like tying to barrow Docs car or get money advances for the frog job.
Humanity is something that many people look for and search for throughout their whole life. People try to find humanity, they try to buy it with their money, they try to sell it like an item, they try to steal it, to hunt for it, and they try many things. But like most things worth living for, humanity is not something that can be found by selfish, eager, humans. No, it is something found when one has nothing, when one knows what it is like to live in another person's shoes, when one has nothing but friends and family. It is something that just comes along, like a fresh breeze; it isn't something that can always be predicted to come along, its something that comes, when one really knows what it means to live.
ReplyDeleteMack and the Boys have found this humanity; they barely have jobs, money, and fine furnishings and decorations. They live with each other; in a place they call the Palace Flophouse, a place that started out as nothing, just a shelter from the strong winds and the pouring rains. But it evolved, and like humans from apes it thrived. It still wasn't anything special, if anyone were to walk into the Palace Flophouse from the apartments of a great city, it wouldn't be anything but ill decorated, ill built, and just plain ill. It would be a horror to the modern family. But to Mack and the Boys, it was home, they didn't have much, they had a stove, chairs, beds (if you could call them that), attire, and an un-housetrained dog who was pampered to best they could. But most of all, they had each other, their booze (which was taken from the little bits of drinks left in glasses at a bar), and their adventures. They didn't have no steady jobs, no fancy treasures, nothing of any value to many people today. If they needed money, they usually worked at a place for a certain amount of time, they called Doc, or they just hoped for the best. When they needed food, they found it, bought it, or just didn't have it. When they needed someone, they had each other, and because of that, they lived. They had their best friends in the whole world, and somewhere, in a place that could be called poverty to some, and a kingdom to others, they found humanity. They found what it means to be human, that even with nothing, they were more happy than people with all the treasures in the world, they went to parties, they camped out where they wanted, and they had the whole town on their side, they were people with no responsibilities, no cares in the world, and all the freedom in the world.
I will always remember when they had to go get frogs for Doc, just so they would have the money to throw a party for the same man they worked for. It seemed that in that little time that they went to collect frogs, their little hobbies seemed to really become underlined. Somewhere, everyone had something they had to do, and without them, they probably wouldn't have been able to do the job. The true nature of their friendship really showed through, and their humanity seemed to become clear. I will also remember the time that they tried to throw the party for Doc that he never got to, and when Doc got home to his trashed house, he tried to fight Mack, but Mack didn't fight back. He just let Doc beat him, and he spilled his guts to Doc, and we really find out what made Mack who he is. Then we found out the lessons he learned, and he fixed it and he through the best party he could for Doc, and everyone was there, and even though they didn't have any money, they managed to throw Doc a great party. And their humanity, and the whole humanity of the town really showed through, everyone pitched in and either worked hard to make or get something for Doc, or they gave him their most prized possession, and that is an example of true humanity, people pitching in to help another, and really, that’s what the Boys do for each other ever day.
That one was Option #1
ReplyDelete"How can the poem and the stink and the grating noise-the quality of light, the tone, the habit and the dream-be set down alive? When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to capture whole, for the break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and then lift the gently into your bottle of seawater. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book-to open the page and to let the stories crawl in by themselves."
ReplyDeleteI love this quote, I had to read this whole prologue, slow down, read it again about three times before I started to get what Steinbeck was talking about, and once I understood it, and I was amazed by how right he was. I lived in a town (and still do on weekends) that was smaller than Cannery Row, that didn't have as much, and half the house barely had electricity, but the same amount of stuff happened, and I would always be hanging out with friends doing something stupid or always on some sort of adventure. And if I were to write a book about my childhood, I couldn't just plan it out, I would have to just let the stories flow, because the mind doesn't fit the format of a book, in chapters and page numbers. In fact, the mind jumbles, like a rubber ball in a small room, it's impossible to predict where it will go after a while. You just have to let the stories flow, and that is what Steinbeck is talking about, and that is what he does so well in Cannery Row.
Ryan Stubinski
ReplyDeleteA traditional Family as a whole was that if they were of blood relation to you that they were family. In the modern way that most people, and how modern day movies and stories have depicted, see some friends as their family rather than just their friends. which in all honesty is how it should be. Because Some people wish their blood relatives were not family at all. And having those close friends with you as family help maintain a balance.
Dora seems to be the mother like figure of Cannery Row. She is like the mother because she watches out for all the girls that she works for her. She is a very compassionate woman. She always helps out and gives money to charities.
(Option 1)
ReplyDeleteJust like in chapter two when john steinbeck writes, "Lee chong is more than a Chinese grocer. He must be. Perhaps he is evil balanced and held suspended by good." Well, just like he was viewed in a balance of good and evil, so can a repossession man. Taking people's possessions that they can no longer pay for, that the loan selling bank actually owns. He is simply doing his job, and he looks like a complete douche for doing it. When the real "evil" is the idiot that bought something they couldn't afford, and the repossession man is giving it to the actual owner, the bank.
Option #2
ReplyDeleteWHERE DOES DOC GET ALL HIS MONEY!? I mean the guy lives in Cannery Row, in general, a pretty poor place. Yet he has money for beer, for traveling, to pay for lab supplies, frog’s people give him, and when they trash his house, he has money to pay for some pretty expensive things! They never mention how much money he actually has or how he even gets it, sure he is a scientist, but I believe that many scientists (especially one from a place like Cannery Row) get that much money. It's like he is an endless vault of money that whenever someone needs it, he just gives it to him or her. All I want to know, is how does he get all his money?
(Option 2)
ReplyDeleteWhat is this story about? I don't really understand where I am in the story.
(Option 3)
ReplyDeleteI liked the quote, "Lee Chong is more than a Chinese grocer. He must be. Perhaps he is evil balanced and held suspended by good." because it shows that for every action, or just anything, there is always a negative/opposite effect.
Tyler Plummer
ReplyDeleteQ/A response to Tyler Gaylord
Where Doc is there are some marine animals that can only be found there. so Doc has a serious advantage in the market that he can pay people like mack and the boys a nickel per, but could charge universities maybe $3.00 per. Doc is in a pretty profitable business in a solid location for it. which is why he has so much money.
Tyler Plummer
ReplyDeleteQuote Choice
"Doc walked angrily to the counter of the stand. The waitress, a blonde beauty with just a little goiter,smiled at him. " What'll it be?"
"Beer milk shake."
I liked this quote for a lot of reasons. But only one reason really matters.
Doc had been thinking about a beer milk shake for years, but never asked for one. He did this time because he was angry and did what he wanted.
We all say or do what we want because we are angry or any emotion. This shouldn't be the case. We should do what we want and tell people what we want to tell them not because we go on auto pilot, we should because that's just how we should live our lives.
And every so often, if you just do it, It turns out alright.
Justin Pollard
ReplyDeleteOption #2
Why does Lee Chong let the boys say at the flop house for free? Lee Chong is such a good business man I don’t know why he wouldn’t rent it out to someone who would pay him.
I think doc gets his money from collecting all his creatures and selling them. He also hires people to collect specimens for him to sell. Doc must get paid quite a lot of money for all of these specimens to be able to live the way he does. We will not now if doc had money to start with or had some great job before he came to Cannery Row. (Responding to Tyler Gaylord)
Justin Pollard
ReplyDeleteOption #3
The part in the book that was very frightening to me was when doc found the dead girl in the water while he was looking for octopi specimens. It was frightening to me because I spend a lot of time in the ocean surfing and if I ever unexpectedly came upon a dead body in the water I would be very freaked out. I can just imagine the terror when doc found the body and the image of the girls face was burned in his brain forever. It is an image that I would never forget either.
Mack and the boys care about other people a lot. One example is doc they wanted to give him a party for being nice to every one. So they stated to gather up things for a party like bose and other little things. But when they had it he was not there and it got out of control.
ReplyDeleteQ/A
ReplyDeleteWho is the main charter in this book. Because it keeps jumping around from one person to another and so on. It never stays on one person?
A quote from this book that I think is funny is when a sailor said " why don't you take a flying fuggut the moon" to the watchman.
ReplyDeletejustin.pollard Mack and the boys did pay him rent they always buy stuff from him so in a way they did pay rent
ReplyDeleteOption #1
ReplyDeleteFamily & Relationships
In todays society, family is viewed differently by different people. Some think that family is strictly people you are blood related too, live with, etc. People like your mother, father, and brothers or sisters for example. But some people, like myself, believe that family isn't necessarily only people you are blood related to. For example, I have a friend, or cousin as we call each other, that might as well be my brother. We've known each other ever since I was born because our moms were good friends, so we've always lived in the same town, gone to the same schools, play the same sports and hang out all the time. We now live in the same house and when people ask me what he is to me, I tell them he's my brother, because he might as well be. And in Cannery Row that seems to be the way family is viewed as well. Dora is a mother figure to the girls that work in the whorehouse for her along with paying peoples grocery bills and feeding their children, Lee Chong houses Mack and the Boys for basically no rent, and Doc was like a father figure to all. If those aren't qualities of people who care about others like family then I don't know what they would be.
Option #2
ReplyDeleteResponding to Andrew's Question
I would say the main character of Cannery Row would be Doc, he's smart, maybe the smartest character from the book, people have great respect for him and he is like a father figure to many. Plus, I don't see anybody else in the book having parties thrown for them, so that right there is kind of saying something if you ask me. I have a few quotes to help prove my point. "Doc tips his hat to dogs as he drives by, and the dogs look up and smile at him". "Doc would listen to any kind of nonsense and change it for you to a kind of wisdom. His mind had no horizon". And lastly, "Everyone who knew him was indebted to him. And everyone who thought of him thought next, 'I really must do something nice for Doc.'"
Option #3
ReplyDeleteQuote
"The only thing we have in common is that we're both wrong for each other." - Doc
This quote helps to show how lonely Doc is and how he keeps searching for love but can't find it.
NOTE FROM MRS. HALL :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your responses guys. Interesting only guys chose this book! I hope it grew on you and that you found the place and characters memorable.
ASSIGNMENT CHECK:
Ryan owes Q/A & Quote response.
Justin M. owes the Q/A.
Andrew C. owes the Quote response.
Justin, Tyler G, Tyler P, & Brandon A, you are all set!
Antone who has not posted has a Very small closing window to do so, all work graded now will be late and earn reduced credit.
Peara nha Q/a
ReplyDeleteWho party is it in chapter 27?
Peara Nha A/ to andrew
ReplyDeleteThere multiple main charter in the book.
Peara Nha quote
ReplyDelete"Put up your hands. fight, you son of a bitch." Doc cried.
I wasn't inspecting this to happen in the book.
Ryan Stubinski
ReplyDeleteCannery Row in Monterrey in California. its inhabitants are, as the man once said "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches," by which he meant everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, "saints and angels and martyrs and holy men," and he would have meant the same thing. In every single chapter there is at least one person that dies in it.
Ryan Stubinski
ReplyDelete" Then shining cars bring the upper classes down super intendeds, accountants, owners who disappear into offices". I picked this quote because it shows how weird the town is.
Ryan Stubinski
ReplyDelete" Then shining cars bring the upper classes down super intendeds, accountants, owners who disappear into offices". I picked this quote because it shows how weird the town is.
Opinion 1 family & relationships
ReplyDeleteHunter Craig
The concept of family is people that are close to you, and people that you love. Doc is like the father figure in this book he introduces people and watcchs over like a father. Family outside of this book is really the same as in the book there are father like figures ( doc ) and mother like figures ( Dora flood ). Then you have a group of troubled teens that are close just like most familia have so the concept of family in my eyes is friends and people you consider to be the closest.
Opinion 2
ReplyDeletehunter craig
What is the real point behind this book? What is Steinbeck trying to point out?