East
of Eden
The National Steinbeck Center in Salinas offers information about educational resources, including links to available classroom curriculum.
“Your Guide to East of Eden” on Oprah Winfrey's website contains plot summary and thematic overviews, along with links to additional resources about the novel and John Steinbeck. There is a link to a brief bibliography for further reading as well.
Penguin’s introduction to the text also contains a list of 12 discussion questions on East of Eden.
A professional librarian compiled a resource guide about Elia Kazan’s 1955 film version of East of Eden.
The following links are to fairly detailed study guides of the novel, providing plot synopsis, character descriptions, thematic overviews, and discussion questions. Some present possible essay topics and links to additional resources and readings about Steinbeck:
The following links will take you to timed and scored interactive East of Eden reading quizzes:
Benson, Jackson. John Steinbeck, Writer. New York: Penguin, 1990.
“Books of the Times.” The New York Times 19 Sept 1952. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1923-Current File). ProQuest. Web. 10 Aug 2011.
“‘East of Eden’ Steinbeck’s Best.” The Washington Post 21 Sept 1952: B6. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1923-1954). ProQuest. Web. 10 Aug 2011.
Morse, Samuel, F. “Steinbeck the Moralist.’ The Hartford Courant 21 Sept. 1952: SM 18. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Hartford Courant (1923-1984). ProQuest. Web. 10 Aug 2011.
Owens, Louis. John Steinbeck’s Re-vision of America. Athens: U of Georgia P, 1985.
Peterson, Richard F. “East of Eden (1952).” A Study Guide to Steinbeck: A Handbook to his Major Works (Part II). Ed. Tetsumaro Hayashi. Metuchen: The Scarecrow Press, 1979. 63- 86.
Schorer, Mark. “A Dark and Violent Steinbeck Novel: Into a Story of Social Horror, the Author Weaves a Fantasy of History and Myth.” New York Times 21 Sept 1952: BR1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). ProQuest. Web. 10 Aug 2011.
Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.
Steinbeck, John. Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. New York: Penguin, 1990.
