I wrote this reflection after submitting my honors thesis. It describes the different iterations that my research and writing underwent while developing my thesis. This reflection discusses the multiple learning experiences and processes that substantial and meaningful work demands. I also emphasize the unique opportunities that VMI provided for my academic development, including research trips to Austin, Texas and San josé, California.

 

 

Reflection

            Writing my honors thesis was a journey. That sounds cliché, and perhaps it is; regardless, my thesis underwent numerous seasons of work. Each season had a distinct flavor and presented unique challenges. The seed of my thesis was planted in high school with my initial reading of John Steinbeck. This seed sprouted when MAJ Knepper and I started talking about East of Eden. Our talks developed into a larger project through the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute. This SURI project resulted in a twenty-five-page essay that is currently under consideration at the Steinbeck Review. During the proceeding fall, MAJ Knepper and I built on the foundation of my SURI research and writing. We sifted through ideas and potential additions while continually revising the first draft. By Christmas, we had a complete draft. However, I took a life-changing research trip to Texas and California over Spring Furlough. Sponsored by VMI’s Center for Undergraduate Research and the English Department, I accessed the original East of Edenmanuscript along with other rare Steinbeck documents. This influx of new information prompted several additions to my thesis in the 2019 Spring Semester. With additional integration and revision, I finished my thesis by the Honors Department deadline. In this essay, I will discuss each season of work, explaining the challenges and lessons that they elicited.

Office hours were my favorite aspect of VMI. The ability to talk directly with faculty and explore new ideas was precious to me. I will always remember my time spent inside MAJ Knepper’s office. Although it will disappear in the upcoming renovation, it will not disappear in my mind. Here, my raw ideas were forged into something substantial. Whether we were discussing a poem or a paper, MAJ Knepper introduced me to the methods of academic research and intellectual development. He continually suggested books and other material to fuel my specific interests. The origins of my SURI project developed organically within office conversations. The free-flowing exchanges and intellectual curiosity gained traction through developing research objectives. When my attention turned to Steinbeck, he listened to my initial questions, encouraged me to apply to SURI, and helped me develop the application. My thesis sprouted leaves.

The summer is a wonderful time to work. Free from the confines of VMI and sharpened by a single subject, I made meaningful progress. First, I explored items on my project’s proposed bibliography. Navigating this large amount of research material was initially daunting. I learned as much as possible in the direction of our project. In our weekly debriefings, MAJ Knepper and I would continue to winnow the research focus. We moved from somewhat broad research objectives concerning epic literature and free will to a specific focus on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, Carl Jung, and the Modernist epic. Specifically, I discovered biographic information linking both Campbell and Jung to Steinbeck. This biographic discovery provided the foundation for our new literary analysis of the East of Eden. In regards to process, I drafted individual portions of the larger essay. This was the longest unified piece of writing that I had ever done. I felt an overwhelming desire to write the entire draft. However, the essay’s length demanded extended time. My SURI project forced me to accept the patient progress of scholarly writing and revision. By the end of the summer, we had discovered new research and implemented it in a cohesive essay.

When I returned to VMI in the Fall of 2018, we resumed our conversations about the current draft and potential research directions. It was challenging for me to think outside of the complete SURI draft. It felt whole. Yet, as new avenues of research were explored and old avenues deepened, we gradually expanded the SURI essay. These new drafts underwent significant structural alterations along with the integration of new content. The Fall Semester focused on the historical context of the novel and its relation to the development of an American mythology. R. W. B. Lewis’ book The American Adam was central to my analysis of Steinbeck’s version of the American myth. In summary, the fall was larger defined by gradual additions and numerous revisions. By Christmas, we had transformed the SURI essay and crafted a complete draft, or so we thought.

Desiring to continue Steinbeck studies in graduate school, I proposed a research trip to Austin, Texas and San José, California. I intended to deepen my knowledge of Steinbeck through working with primary sources and other location-specific resources. Going into the trip, I did not plan on adding extensive amounts of new content. I hoped to discover helpful pieces of information and build a foundation for future study. However, my intentions were thwarted in a wonderful way. In Austin, I worked in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. This landmark of American literary history contained the original manuscript of East of Eden, correspondences between John Steinbeck and his editor Pat Covici, and numerous other Steinbeck artifacts. During my study, I discovered an alternative ending to the novel along with valuable perspectives from Steinbeck’s letters. However, the amount of information was staggering. I had to continually remind myself to focus my search. A concern for specificity developed in the English Department aided the archival research. My time at the Harry Ransom Center, coupled with my time in the Austin Public Library, resulted in immense productivity. I added biographical support from primary documents and also previously unknown secondary sources.

When I arrived in San José, my work continued to gain momentum. I met Nicholas Taylor, the director of the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San José University. After conversation and lunch with Mr. Taylor, I spent the afternoon in the Center. I accessed a plethora of literary reviews of East of Eden, dating near the novel’s publication in 1952. I spent the next day in Stanford’s library. Here, I discovered several helpful secondary resources; specifically, I encountered an anthology of Steinbeck dissertation abstracts. After more additions and revisions at Stanford, I returned to my lodging. I stayed with the editor of the SteinbeckNow, Dr. William Ray. He not only orchestrated much of my California itinerary, but was also a sounding board for the main arguments of my thesis. I spent my final day in Salinas, Steinbeck’s hometown. I received a private tour of the Steinbeck House and also accessed the National Steinbeck Center’s archives, located in downtown Salinas. I met the wonderful archivist Lisa Josephs as well as prominent Steinbeck scholar Dr. David Wrobel, the Dean of Oklahoma University’s College of Arts and Sciences. In the NSC, I accessed correspondences between Covici and Steinbeck, along with three of the dissertations that I had discovered the day before. I concluded my trip and headed back to Virginia. However, I could not stop working. I was excited by the new discoveries and worked throughout the day in airports and on planes.

I returned from Spring Furlough with an unexpected number of additions to my thesis. After processing these new portions through conversations with MAJ Knepper, we returned to the process of revision. I would make changes. MAJ Knepper would give feedback. I would address the feedback and make more changes. MAJ Knepper would give more feedback. The cycle continued until April, when we submitted the final draft.

In a 1945 letter encouraging a distraught John Steinbeck, editor Pat Covici wrote, “I wish you could plunge into some real piece of work which would absorb all your energies” (1). Steinbeck would go on to write East of Edena few years later. He described the novel as the culmination of his skills. The process of writing his 600-page tome required an enormous depth of work. In a passing resemblance, my thesis demanded similar depth. I moved from the short time frame of normal-semester assignments to a “real piece of work” that stretched across years of development and implementation. I plunged into levels of research and detail that I had never explored. As Steinbeck considered East of Eden the cornerstone of his career, I consider this thesis my own dénouement. Yet, the influence of the VMI faculty is prominent. During my time in the English Department, I grew immensely. I learned to identify rhetorical strategies, understand cultural influences on literature, evaluate sources effectively, and articulate clearly in both written and verbal communication. These skills are inextricable from who I am as a writer and student. They were the tools that allowed me to “plunge” into the depths of meaningful work. They are the tools which I carry into graduate school. They will be the tools that I sharpen and develop for the rest of my life, constantly attempting to move below the surface to caverns of Truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Covici, Pat. Letter to John Steinbeck. 27 March 1945. Harry Ransom

            Library, Austin. Manuscript.