Salinas

Character Analysis: The character that is driving force of this novel is Cathy Ames. She is an antagonist because she has a very deceptive and superstitious personality. Cathy is an only child, has blonde hair, hazel eyes with droopy eyelids which make her seem sleepy, and is always very slender and delicate. She gives off a troubled vibe to others around her, yet she always seems as innocent as a child. From a very small age, Cathy told lies; however, she lies differently in such a manner as to…

Countless people have different viewpoints on what the word “evil” means; Dictionary.com interprets evil as “morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked”. In the book East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Cathy Ames (Kate Trask/Albey) and Caleb (Cal) Trask are both regarded as characters of “evil” nature. The narrator explicitly states that the reason Cathy is evil is due to the fact that people that are evil are just not “born whole”. This means that she was born with the only ability to be bad and she…

There are three sexes in Salinas where being a pseudohermaphrodite is so common it’s accepted alongside male and female. The small village of Salinas in the Barahona Province of the southwestern part of the Dominican Republic, is like many other Caribbean hideaways. But there is one peculiarity that sets it apart from the rest of the world. At puberty one in 90 children born there make a natural transformation from girl to boy. Referred to as the ‘guevedoces’ which literally translates as…

Love is a motivation for people to fight, defend, and mature for. Lucius Apuleius' myth, Cupid and Psyche, tells the story of the strength and determination of the mortal needed to regain a lost love. Francesca Lia Block's modern retelling, Psyche's Dark Night, emphasizes the many issues that affect relationships and explores the pain that accompanies dating. The retelling offers a new look into love and whether or not it is worth all the pain that accompanies it. The updated setting and…

John Steinbeck’s East of Eden draws comparisons to the Bible throughout the whole book. The allusions to the Bible help to reinforce the fight between good and evil that is at the base of East of Eden. John Steinbeck specifically uses the choices Cal makes in contrast to Cain in the Bible to demonstrate that human kind is born evil and the choices, which are based out of a lack of self-satisfaction, people make are what make them good or evil. Cal from East of Eden is written to mirror the…

“The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck examines a moment in the life of Elisa Allen, house wife and gardener. The story tells of Elisa’s experience with a traveling tinkerer who aims to earn a bit of money repairing their pots and pans. While the interaction with the man does not last long, it awakens something in Elisa that she had long put to bed. Steinbeck masterfully captures the suppressive life of an American wife in the 1930’s with realistic style. The story beings on a hazy December…

The Chrysanthemums is a short story by John Steinbeck. It tells a story of a strong women named Elisa Allen and her husband Henry who live on a ranch across the Salinas River where winter has come, where the sun is blocked by a “grey-flannel fog.” At the beginning, Henry begins to negotiate a sale of thirty head of cattle, while Elisa Allen, his wife, and the main focus of the story, attends to her chrysanthemums in her garden. While handling the flowers, her husband comes back with great news:…

The setting takes place in a ranch at Salinas Valley, California in December. Since it takes place during the winter, “it was a time of quiet and of waiting” (paragraph 2). This reveal that there isn’t much to do on the ranch since “there was little work to done” (paragraph 3). The valley is also described as a “closed pot” (paragraph 1) which hints that the ranch is isolated from any sign of civilization. To pass the time, Elisa work in her garden. While it give her something to do, this…

CASE BRIEF Case Name – Salinas v. Texas, 570 U.S. 12 (2013) Facts – Genovevo Salinas, the petitioner, who was not in custody or read Miranda warnings, agreed to go to the police station to answer questions regarding involvement in a murder. When petitioner was asked if ballistic testing would match ammunition casings found at the scene, he remained silent. Petitioner contended that the prosecutors’ use of his silence to indicate guilt violated his Fifth Amendment rights. Procedural History –…

Elisa' frustration is clearly evident from the way the author describes her, "blocked and heavy in her gardening costume," as if she was forced into a confining role that limits her expressiveness. "The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot." Also, the setting of the story suggests that the rural context does not allow exchanges with…