You are about to read Steinbeck’s classic Cannery Row. For this you will write a total of 3 commentaries for; one for each reading assignment:

Chs. 1-10: due 4/26; Chs. 11-20: in class 4/29; Chs. 12-32: in class 5/7

Find a focus, analyze text, demonstrate your skillz.

Before reading. A metaphor that has been applied to this book is that of a tide pool. This is inspired by the content of the book (ch. 6 – Doc and Hazel at a tide pool) as well as the structure of the text. The whole of a tide pool is understood by examining its varied and multihued parts. Just looking at one life form is not enough; one must examine many and then step back and make sense of the whole. Similarly, Steinbeck portrays Cannery Row – the place – as a sum of its parts. This explains the presence of what are sometimes called inner-chapters. Chapters that don’t seem, at first, to be connected to the overall plot. They are, however, essential components in the whole that is Cannery Row. Keep this in mind as you read.

Incidentally, the inner-chapter (or inter-chapter) is used to great effect and is far more pronounced in Steinbeck’s classic The Grapes of Wrath. If Fitzgerald had used inner chapters, one of them might have looked like this:

The Town Tattle, as its name implies, tattled, ratted out, every celebrity in town. And wow, did it sell. People craved the gossip, the seemingly intimate details of actors they knew from film. Douglas Fairbanks finally made an honest woman of Mary Pickford, and did you hear? Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin were seen at the Fairbanks last bash. What a gas! The magazine celebrated Coco Chanel’s latest designs—women everywhere were shortening their skirts and shortening their hair—the bob is so modern! Music too: what was Gershwin’s latest tune? Where was Louis Armstrong playing? What is the latest dance craze? Cocktail? Hot spot?

The Tattle celebrated the celebration in all forms, allowing its readers to party alongside film stars, to dress like them, to act like them. It was all the rage…and the truth of the stories… were the tales true? Oh, who cares, the publisher might say! We are here to entertain, not capture history. That’s the newspaper’s job. (Thanks to Mrs. Sprague)

Where might this example fit in Gatsby? Why might it be included? As you read Cannery Row, think about what is added to the story by the addition of these chapters – why they are there. Happy reading.