Abstract
Literary Analysis
Research in progress for ENGL 2333: World Literature II
Faculty Mentor: Anna Genneken, PhD
It gives me great pleasure to introduce Christina Doublesin’s “The Deceptive Third Place: Comparing Steinbeck’s The Pearl to Modern Cell Phone Escapism.” Christina wrote this essay for her term paper in my World Literature II course in the spring of 2023. The assignment allows students to choose a text we have read for class to be the focus of a critical analysis. I intentionally leave the direction of this analysis very open-ended with the hope that students will make connections that extend far beyond the work done in our class. Often, I get what readers would expect to see on an Advanced Placement Exam—close readings of theme, symbols, and characterization in the texts we cover. What makes Christina’s essay so special is the connection to both interdisciplinary theory (the sociological “third place”) and modern culture (cell phone addiction). She reaches out in both directions and clearly connects high theory with low culture in a significant and convicting way that will deeply affect any readers brave enough to face the mirror that she holds up for us to view.
Upon reading the first iteration of this essay—the final draft of her term paper assignment—I immediately reached out to Christina about preparing this for submission to Quest. Her essay convincingly argued for connecting John Steinbeck’s The Pearl to the disconnectedness found in social media use and this new-to-me term, the “third place,” which she ironically found in a TikTok video. This type of reading far surpassed the expectations I had for my term paper assignment. Over the next year and a half, we bounced back and forth via email with the journal’s editorial board to revise and clarify connections between the text, the concepts and theory, and the connections to modern life. There were points when I had the privilege of watching Christina advocate for her vision of this essay, even against the advice of some board members. The final product here is a testament to her dedication to that vision and reflects her unflinching confidence in what this paper could become.
Recommended Citation
Doublesin, Christina
(2024)
"The Deceptive Third Place: Comparing Steinbeck’s The Pearl to Modern Cell Phone Escapism,"
Quest: Vol. 8, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.collin.edu/quest/vol8/iss1/2
Faculty Mentor
Anna Genneken
agenneken@collin.edu