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An Introduction to Of Mice and Men

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Title: An Introduction to Of Mice and Men


1
An Introduction toOf Mice and Men
2
A Look at the Author
  • John Steinbeck was born in 1902 in Salinas,
    California.
  • During his childhood, he learned to appreciate
    his surroundings and loved the Salinas
    countryside and the nearby Pacific Ocean.
  • This love of nature is apparent in his writing.
  • Steinbeck worked during his summers as a hired
    hand in nearby ranches.

3
The Fields of Salinas, CaliforniaThen and Now
4
  • At the age of fourteen, Steinbeck decided to
    become a writer and spent a lot of time writing
    in his room.
  • In high school, Steinbeck did well in English and
    edited the school yearbook.
  • From 1919-1925, Steinbeck attended Stanford
    University.
  • Eventually dropped out.
  • Sometimes worked with migrant workers and
    bindle stiffs on California ranches.

5
  • During the late 1920s and 1930s, he concentrated
    on writing and wrote several novels set in
    California.
  • Steinbeck gained
  • great success by
  • readers and critics.

6
  • In 1935, he won his first literary prize,
    Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for
    Best Novel by a Californian for his novel,
    Tortilla Flat.
  • In 1937, Of Mice and Men was published, and it
    was so widely accepted that Steinbeck began a
    book tour that led him to Europe.
  • The first movie adaptation came out in 1939.

7
  • Of Mice and Men was inspired by his experience
    working among migrant workers.
  • Steinbecks experiences in the fields researching
    migrant workers led him to have great compassion
    for these workers and stirred him to work for
    social justice.

8
  • Steinbecks last two books were nonfiction.
  • Travels with Charley in Search of America is an
    account of his trip from Maine to California with
    his poodle, Charley.
  • His final book, America and the Americans, is
    about his belief that in time, America would
    once again feel united.

9
  • In 1962, Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for
    Literature.
  • Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968, at his
    apartment in New York City.
  • His body was returned to Salinas to be buried
    near the land that he spent his life writing
    about.

10
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11
The General Setting
  • The novella is set in the farmland of the Salinas
    Valley, California, where John Steinbeck was
    born.
  • The ranch in the novel is near Soledad, which is
    south-east of Salinas on the Salinas River, a
    mere ten miles from the Pacific Ocean.
  • The countryside and ranch described at the
    beginning of the novella are based on Steinbecks
    own experiences.

12
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13
Social Conditions of Migrant Workers in the 1930s
  • Between the 1880s and the 1930s, thousands of men
    would travel the countryside in search of work.
  • Such work included the harvesting of wheat and
    the bucking of barley.

14
  • These workers would earn 2.50 or 3.00 a day,
    plus food and shelter.
  • During the 1930s, the unemployment rate was very
    high in the U.S. (peaked at 24.9), and with so
    many men searching for work, agencies were set up
    to send farm workers to where they were needed.
  • In the novella, George and Lennie are given work
    cards from Murray and Readys, one of the farm
    work agencies.

15
Of Mice and Men Titles Origin
  • Comes from the poem To a Mouse by the Scottish
    poet Robert Burns (1759 -1796)
  • The best laid schemes o mice and men
  • Gang aft agley often go wrong
  • And leave us naught but grief and pain
  • For promised joy!

16
Chapter 1 The Riverbank
  • Read the first two paragraphs of Chapter 1.
  • What atmosphere does Steinbeck create?
  • List two phrases or sentences that show that mood
    or atmosphere.

17
Chapter 2 The Bunkhouse
  • Read the first three paragraphs of Chapter 2.
  • List three phrases that describe the bunkhouse.
  • What atmosphere does Steinbeck create here?
  • How is this setting different from the one
    described at the beginning of Chapter 1?

18
Chapter 3 Another Look at the Bunkhouse
  • Read the first two paragraphs of Chapter 3.
  • What image does Steinbeck create here?
  • What effect does it have?
  • What technique does he use here (given that we
    know the outcome of the novella)?

19
Chapter 4 Crooks Room
  • Read the first five paragraphs of Chapter 4.
  • What are three phrases or sentences that describe
    Crooks room?
  • What effect does these descriptions have?

20
Chapter 5 The Barn
  • Read the first four paragraphs of Chapter 5.
  • What are three phrases or sentences that set the
    atmosphere here?
  • Based on this, can it be expected that Steinbeck
    will present a positive outcome?

21
Chapter 6 Back at the Riverbank
  • Read the first four paragraphs of Chapter 6.
  • What are three phrases or sentences that describe
    this scene?
  • What animal is a symbol of evil here and
    foreshadows the eventual outcome of the novella?
  • What mood or atmosphere does Steinbeck create
    here?
  • How is this different from how the riverbank is
    described in Chapter 1?

22
The American Dream
  • From the 17th Century onwards, immigrants have
    dreamed of a better life in America.
  • Many people immigrated to America in search of a
    new life for themselves or their families.
  • Many others immigrated to escape persecution or
    poverty in their homeland.

23
American Dream contd
  • These immigrants dreamed of making their fortunes
    in America.
  • For many this dream of riches became a nightmare.
  • ? there were horrors of slavery,
  • ? there were horrors of the American Civil War,
  • there was a growing number of slums that were
    just as bad as those in Europe,
  • there was also great corruption in the
  • American political system which led to many
  • shattered hopes

24
  • The idea of an American Dream for many was broken
    when in 1929, the Wall Street crashed, marking
    the beginning of the Great Depression.
  • This era affected the whole world during the
    1930s, but even in the midst of hardship, some
    peoples dreams survived.
  • Thousands of people made their way west towards
    California to escape from their farmlands in the
    mid-West that were failing due to drought.
  • The characters of George and Lennie dreamt of
    having a little house and a couple of acres
    which was their own dream.
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