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Thoughts About the Final Project


I’m getting close to finishing my course work and I have been working toward a focus for my dissertation. At this point, I have decided to do something with John Steinbeck, probably something related to his nonfiction work.

Steinbeck is most well-known for his novels such as The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and others. But I’ve been spending a lot of time lately reading his less well-known works; specifically, his nonfiction works, which include lots and lots of personal journals, letters, and other personal writings. What is of specific interest to me in these works is Steinbeck’s MANY MANY connections to well-known and important people and events of the twentieth century. Steinbeck had personal friendships with political figures, (including presidents), Hollywood actors, directors, screenwriters, and others. He also spent time traveling to various places during important historical events. Steinbeck was in Europe for a time during World War II; he traveled to the Soviet Union twice, once in the early years of the Cold War; he was also in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. These are just a few examples of the various historical connections and experiences that Steinbeck lived through. 

What I’m thinking about for my final project is some type of map that lays out Steinbeck’s connections to people and events. I keep bounding back and forth between the idea of a timeline or a geographical map. 

With the timeline idea, my idea includes a timeline of Steinbeck’s life, and when the user hovers over different years, a new window will pop up or allow the user to click to a new page. On the new page there may be a digitized copy of Steinbeck’s journal or a letter detailing the specific events of that particular day/month/year. This page would also include information about Steinbeck’s connections and/or experience. Additionally, there may be links to further information about the relevant historical events or figures. 

The map idea is similar. Instead of timeline, the user would see a world map with different pegs all over it. The user could click on each peg and it would open a new page with information about that geographical location, how Steinbeck is connected to that location, and any other information about any important historical figures that would also be relevant.
I feel like I’m still in the very early planning/idea stage right now. But, this is the general idea at this point. 

Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

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