| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第5-7页 |
| Abstract in English | 第7-12页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第12-26页 |
| ·Theoretical foundation of the research | 第12-19页 |
| ·The classical origins of genre study | 第12-15页 |
| ·Modern genre study: Critical reflections on generic categories | 第15-17页 |
| ·The functions of genre and its limitations | 第17-19页 |
| ·Rethinking the issue of classifying writers by literary schools | 第19-26页 |
| ·The significance and defects of classifying writers by literary schools | 第20-22页 |
| ·Steinbeck: Which literary school to be fixed in | 第22-26页 |
| 2. Literary Schools and the Writers | 第26-35页 |
| ·The historical dimension of literary school | 第26-30页 |
| ·The structure and formation of literary school | 第26-28页 |
| ·Literary school: A link between history and writer | 第28-30页 |
| ·Dialectical relationship between literary school and writers | 第30-32页 |
| ·Writers: Conformists or innovators | 第30-31页 |
| ·Classic writer: All-exclusiveness of diversified literary schools | 第31-32页 |
| ·Steinbeck's views on novel experiment and his multifaceted styles | 第32-35页 |
| 3. Complexity of the Classification of Literary Schools | 第35-49页 |
| ·Literary genres: Dynamic entities | 第35-39页 |
| ·Factors that cause generic change | 第36-38页 |
| ·The modes of generic change | 第38-39页 |
| ·The fluidity of literary school | 第39-44页 |
| ·The transformation of literary school | 第40-43页 |
| ·The individual styles within artistic commonness | 第43-44页 |
| ·Cultural context of the formation of Steinbeck's unsettled place | 第44-49页 |
| 4. Reevaluation of Writer's Identity in Contemporary Literary Context | 第49-64页 |
| ·Writer's sensitivity to the subtle differences between literary schools | 第49-56页 |
| ·The coexistence of similar literary schools | 第50-53页 |
| ·Complementary functions of naturalism and realism in Steinbeck's works | 第53-56页 |
| ·Writer's integration of artistic devices of multiple literary schools | 第56-64页 |
| ·The relationship between realism and modernism | 第56-59页 |
| ·Steinbeck's pluralistic creative methods and the modernity of his literary identity | 第59-64页 |
| 5. Conclusion | 第64-65页 |
| Bibliography | 第65-68页 |
