John Steinbeck's East of Eden: Websites

Search engines, like Google and Bing, give you access to everything that is on the web--the good, the bad, and the ugly.  If you want to narrow your search results to resources that are generally more reliable, use the advanced search feature for the search engine.  Using the advanced search feature, you can generally designate which types of websites you want to limit your search to by specifying the domain(s) (website extensions) you'd like to search.  For example, the domains of .gov or .edu.

Google Advanced Search - Information on educational and governmental websites tend to have more reliable information. 

In the advance search, along with your search terms, enter .edu or .gov in the box labeled "Search within a site or domain:". 

The quality of the information you find on the Web varies tremendously so it is always a good idea to check the information against another source. As with all information resources, whether in print or on the Internet, you evaluate its quality based on the following criteria:

• Accuracy (Is it free from mistakes and errors?)
• Authority (What are the qualifications of the author?)
• Objectivity (Is there any strong bias?)
• Currency (Is the information up to date?)
• Coverage (To what extent is the topic explored?)

That's just the basics.  Learn more!

Tutorials on Evaluation Criteria

CRAAP Test (CSU Chico)

National Steinbeck Center - Located in the Salinas Valley, Steinbeck's childhood home, the Center is home to a museum and library devoted to John Steinbeck, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Pulitzer Prize. The collections include books by and about him, local and oral history, audio-visual materials, artwork, and theses.

San Jose State University Center for Steinbeck Studies  - This site contains background information on John Steinbeck, his works, and the locales he lived in and wrote about. Includes a chronology of his life, the text of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, descriptions of his homes, lists of his works, and a list of film and theater adaptations.

PinkMonkey Literature Notes on East of Eden  - Features information on the setting, characters, plot, themes, mood, background, and literary/historical aspects of the John Steinbeck novel. Also includes chapter summaries with notes, study questions, and bibliography. From PinkMonkey.com.

TIP: When searching Google for other sites on Steinbeck and his works:

1. Click on the Advanced Search link and set domain to .edu
2. Look for articles and essays by scholars, not students.

Finding literary criticism online is not that easy but IPL2 offers this Online Literary Criticism Guide.

For an overview of literary theory and various schools of critical thought, see Purdue's Online Writing Lab.

PLEASE NOTE:  Book reviews and critical essays are often behind publisher "pay-walls" which require non-subscribers to pay for individual articles.

Ask a librarian. We have many free resources available in the library or accessible online from home.