Discussion Questions for Cannery Row

To Be Answered by Everyone:

1. Pick a passage you think is a particularly good description of a person, place, thing, or emotion.  Why did this passage appeal to you?  Share with the class.

2.Which character did you like the best?  Why?  Which character’s motivation did you understand the most?

3.Which scene or story from the novel did you like the best?  The least?

4.What did you think of the novel’s conclusion?

5. Did you like the novel?  Why or why not?

To Be Answered by Groups:

1. How important is the setting to the novel?  Do you think it could take place in a different setting?

2. What did Steinbeck mean by the hour of the pearl?  How does he describe it?

3. What is the controlling metaphor of the novel?

4. What do you think is the purpose of the chapter about the Chinaman (Ch. 4)?

5. What do you think is the purpose of the chapter about the gopher (Ch. 31)?

6. What must a writer do to sustain a reader’s interest in a work that is the length of a novel?  Was Steinbeck successful in sustaining the reader’s interest in Cannery Row?  Why or why not?

7. How realistic do you think the novel is? Provide some examples. (Remember, realism refers to a style of writing that strives for accuracy in the portrayal of life or reality, often the life of the average person, a literary method based on detailed accuracy of description called verisimilitude.  Realism rejects idealization and escapism in favor of recognizing the actual problems of life.)

8. How effective do you think Steinbeck’s plot development is?