“Of Mice and Men”: Intro

1. “Of Mice and Men”: Intro • The book is set in 1937 in the middle of one of the bleakest periods in U.S. history. • One of every four Americans was jobless. • If these unfortunates had no families to take them in, they were either institutionalized or thrown into lines for bread or employment that stretched for blocks.

2. “Of Mice and Men”: Intro • Out of sheer desperation, an Arkansas man walked 900 miles to find work. • Men set forest fires in Washington state so they could be hired to put them out. • For the only time in the country’s history, more people were leaving America than coming in.

3. “Of Mice and Men”: Intro • The Salinas Valley region in California was really hard hit because of the immigration of thousands of jobless men, many with families, who were driven westward to seek work by lingering drought in the Great Plains.

4. The Dust Bowl: Of Drought and Men

5. An ecological and human disaster in the 1930s that lasted about a decade Hit the Great Plains: Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado The Dust Bowl

6. The Cause • Years of misuse of land • Sustained drought • Millions of acres rendered useless • Native Americans’ warning to “leave the grass alone” ignored

7. As land dried up, great clouds of dust and sand, carried by wind, covered everything: The “Dust Bowl” was born In 1937 alone, 134 dust storms recorded, creating “Black Blizzards” The Fallout

8. The human cost • Occurred during a time of social and economic upheaval: The Depression • Hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee homes • Farmers who hit the road alone were often called “bindlestiffs”: They carried what they owned on their backs, in little bundles or “bindles” made up of a rolled up blanket.

9. “Of Mice and Men” • In just five years, 350,000 of these “bindlestiffs” left their homes in the Dust Bowl states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and other states to journey to California. • All of them had the same dream: to live “off the fat of the land” like they had back home. It was a simple goal: a few acres of land for farming, to grow just enough food to be self-sufficient.

10. “Of Mice and Men” • This is the world that George, Lennie, and the other migrant ranch workers inhabit in Of Mice and Men. • George and Lennie represent thousands and thousands of others for whom the American Dream would remain out of reach. • They, and others like them, were people isolated from the society of their time.

11. “Of Mice and Censorship” Other controversial books • “Harry Potter”: promotes the occult. • “Where’s Waldo:” Apparently, a tiny picture of a nude sunbather in profile made its way into one of the books. • “James and the Giant Peach”: challenged by parents who disapproved of the word “ass”; supposedly promotes the use of drugs and alcohol; and supposedly encourages children to disobey their parents and other adults.

12. “Of Mice and Censorship” Top 10 most challenged books • Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz • Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou • The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck • Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling • Forever by Judy Blume • Bridge to Terabithiaby Katherine Paterson • Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Source: Censor The Book www.freewebs.com

13. Of Mice and Men: Annotations • Grading: 50 points • Considerations in grading: not just quantity. Did you: • Offer more than plot summary? Did you question and make predictions about what was happening? • Explain why you highlighted or marked a passage? • Go beyond pointing out a character’s actions by discussing the character’s possible motives or noting how the character changes? Create a detailed, complete list of characters in the front of the book, going beyond their physical descriptions? • Create and discuss a list of themes, allusions, motifs, etc. in the back of the book? • Note how Steinbeck established tone or mood? Did you identify other literary elements, such as foreshadowing, imagery, etc? • Identify words you did not know and define them?

14. Mice and Men: Socratic Seminar • My observations: • Discussion was excellent, especially in light of fact that this was the first one of these for many of you. • There was a bit of “script” reading but not too bad. • It’s an emerging skill: the ability to feed off of and reply to other comments, especially those you disagreed with. • Some overlap in comments, repetition. Again, this improves as you participate in more of these.

15. Mice and Men: Socratic Seminar • Your observations: • Generally very positive: Most of you appreciated the give-and-take of the discussion and said this lends much more meaning than a standard test would have. • Other comments made me say “Hmmm.” • Some claimed that you did not have the opportunity to speak. • Others said the conversation lacked depthand that the format made you feel intimidated and judged by others. • A few said it should have been set up as a standard conversation: no circle, raise hands, wait to be called on, etc. • My thoughts on that: Well…get used to it. Socratic seminars are not only popular at WHS, they are reflective of the conversations you’ll have in college and your jobs. • Don’t be a victim: Make your opportunities. If you aren’t comfortable interrupting or jumping in, give me an indication you want to say something.