Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck

Steinbeck Bio • Born in 1902 in Salinas, California • Father a county magistrate • Mother a school teacher • Encouraged to read at a young age • Had few friends • 1920 - enrolled at Stanford University to study English • Worked as a farm worker • 1925 - Leaves college to become a journalist in New York City

Steinbeck Bio continued • Returns to California in 1926 • Published first novel Cup of Gold in 1929 • Published Of Mice and Men in 1937 • Published 27 works, including The Pearl (1947) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939) • Died in 1968 in New York of heart disease

Steinbeck Bio continued • Won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath • Won the Nobel Prize for Literature • Common themes: setting in California, hard work, striving for dreams, hardship of common people

Of Mice and Men • Published in 1937 • Adapted into a play • Filmed in 1939 • Television movie in 1981 and 1992

Novella • Novella – a shortened form of fictional development lying between novel and short story • 32,000-50,000 words • Limited action • Few conflicts • Usually not divided into chapters

Of Mice and Men • Setting – 1930’s in southern Californian • Point of View – third person omniscient

Essential Questions • Why are dreams important? What impact can dreams have on our lives? • Is euthanasia ever justified? • Why are some people excluded from society and treated cruelly? • What is the meaning of friendship?

Realism and Naturalism • Realism – 1870’s – 1880’s • Middle class America • Exposed hardships and ugliness of human existence • Life depicted as it really is • Naturalism – literary movement 1880’s – 1940’s • Reaction from World Wars and Great Depression • Similar to realism but addressed taboo topics • Reveal lives of America's lower-class • The naturalistic view of humans is that they respond to the natural world much like animals, reacting to natural forces they neither understand nor control • Human beings are often portrayed as victims of destiny or fate • Naturalistic writers portray nature as indifferent • Naturalists are pessimistic about human capabilities • Life is a trap • Naturalists portray humans as animalistic, driven by fear or hunger

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Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

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Of Mice and men

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Of Mice and Men