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The Left Hand Side

Abstract By Nathan Dickerson

English

The novel was my chosen medium for articulating the political forces at work in the 2004 Presidential Election. With sex, religion, and war swirling within the political discourse, the fiasco was a confounding experience. I hoped that by writing a novel dealing with conflicting ideas and the forces that create them, the dynamic of the battle in the political sphere would become more accessible to me and, perhaps, to others who read my reality-based fiction. After spending the summer continuing work on The Left Hand Side, I have developed a significantly more sophisticated understanding of U.S. culture and politics.

The dominant political persuasion in American culture is currently conservatism. In order to deal with conservative ideas most accurately in my writing, I wanted to thoroughly understand the rise of this paradigm in America. My research led me to a notable conservative thinker, Irving Kristol and his book, Neoconseruatism: An Autobiography of an Idea. His extensive collection of essays and articles unraveled much of the cryptic political philosophy behind neoconservatism, and it was Kristol's paradoxical endorsement of public religion but subtle, private dismissal of religion's credibility that best epitomized a disingenuous theme within the ideas promoted by neoconservatives.

Additionally, David Brock's The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy provided much insight into the infrastructure that backs conservative ideas, such as the substantial funding by Joseph Coors of the Coors Brewing Company that created the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas? was also very helpful in detailing how historically liberal demographics became conservative over social issues. These readings, as well as several others, helped me understand exactly what forces are at work in the growing conservative movement.

With a foundational understanding of the basic political dynamics, I have currently focused on enhancing my comprehension of the conse-quences of these conservative ideological trends. Neoconservatism's disingenuous endorsement of certain religions does promote morality within the general population, but it also disrupts the integration of sexual, religious, and non-religious minorities into the community. The more credulous conservative adherents, while often very well intentioned, can be predisposed to binaries of good and evil that also can lead to superfluous exclusivity. In writing The Left Hand Side, I hope to thoughtfully highlight and explore these xenophobic tendencies of conservatism. Furthermore, I am addressing the phenomenon of intrapersonal and in-terpersonal conflict, why it happens, and its consequences. I am currently undecided on whether to publish The Left Hand Side when I complete it. The decision will hinge on my own satisfaction with my success at articulating the aforementioned ideas and the feedback I get from others.

Fiction from Truth: an Exploration of John Steinbeck's Relationship to Place

Abstract By Mallory Emerson

English

While there is evidence of the importance of place in many levels of John Steinbeck's writing, the literature itself does not always reveal the complexity of the author's tie to place in general and, specifically to his boyhood home in Salinas, California. From the titles of essays and novels such as "Always Something to Do in Salinas," Cannery Row, The Long Valley, and The Sea of Cortez, the central role of setting as more than a location for the action of the work is in the forefront. Similarly, the biblical allusions in the titles of East of Eden and Pastures of Heaven present a more symbolic shaping of the appearance and influence of place.

In some works, however, such as To A God Unknown and The Grapes of Wrath, the titles refer to other literary aspects, but throughout the works the importance of the land and the setting are emphasized in the contacts between characters and place. Although much of his writing seems to present a nostalgic view of the Salinas valley, from early on, John Steinbeck was unhappy with the town of Salinas and its social, political, and educational constructions. The novels reveal various effects of Salinas on Steinbeck; and the surrounding areas, current institutions, events, and attitudes in these places suggest reciprocal influences on the place.

In downtown Salinas, sites such as The Steinbeck House, The Steinbeck Center, The Steinbeck Library, and Sang's Cafe, which boasts "John Steinbeck Ate At Sang's," suggest that at least a portion of the community finds a connection between the town and the life and work of the Nobel Prize-winning author. The effect is also felt in other areas such as Monterey's Cannery Row and San Jose State University's Center for Steinbeck Studies. The annual Steinbeck Festival is another example of the continued development of Salinas in conjunction with its relation to the literary work of John Steinbeck. With my Summer Research and Creativity Grant, I was able to attend this festival and explore many of these places both for research and experience. Although the Steinbeck Festival exposed me to various scholarly approaches to Steinbeck's relation to place - from Susan Shillinglaw's discussion of her upcoming work Steinbeck's California, and an interview with biographer Jackson Benson, focusing on Steinbeck's characterization as a western writer, to Dr. Joe Flora's presentation of the author's interaction with the