2. John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck is one
of the most influential
authors of American
literature whose works
have earned him many
prestigious literary
awards such as the
Pulitzer Prize and the
Nobel Prize for
literature.
3. A Look at the Author
• Born February 27th in 1902 in Salinas, California.
• During his childhood, Steinbeck
learned to appreciate his surroundings,
and loved the Salinas countryside. This
appreciation would later come
out in his writing.
• Steinbeck worked during his summers as a hired
hand in nearby ranches.
4. A Look at the Author
• At the age of 14 he decided to be a writer
and spent a lot of time writing in his room.
• From 1919-1925 Steinbeck attended Stanford
University to please his parents, but only chose
courses that interested him, classical and British
Literature, writing courses, and an odd science
course.
• However, Steinbeck did not receive a degree because he
would drop in and out of school, sometimes to work with
migrant workers and bindlestiffs on California ranches.
5. What is a Bindlestiff?
A hobo, especially one who carries a
bedroll.
6. A Look at the Author
During the late 1920s and 1930s, he concentrated on
writing and wrote several novels set in California.
In 1936, Of Mice and Men was published,
and was so widely accepted that Steinbeck
began a book tour that led him to Europe.
7. A Look at the Author
• In 1939, The Grapes of Wrath was published
and became an instant best-seller; in 1940 it
was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, one of the
most prestigious literary awards in the
world.
• This novel, just like Of Mice and Men,
stemmed from his experience working
among migrant workers.
• Steinbeck’s experiences in the fields
researching migrant workers led him to
have more compassion for these workers,
and stirred up his concern for social justice.
8. His Legacy
• Steinbeck's real gift was to see people that the rest
of society chose to overlook: defeated refugees of
the Dust Bowl, unemployed paisanos, cannery
workers eking out a living on a factory wage.
• Steinbeck also challenged his readers to look at
the harsh realities of life, with the belief that facing
such conditions was the first step toward improving
them. Steinbeck's strongest belief was in the ability
of man to improve his condition.
9. His Legacy
"The ancient commission of the writer
has not changed," he said upon
accepting his Nobel Prize in 1962. "He is
charged with exposing our many grievous
faults and failures, with dredging up to
the light our dark and dangerous dreams
for the purpose of improvement." By
giving voice to voiceless people, John
Steinbeck lived up to the challenge he set
for himself.
11. What is the Great
Depression?
The Great
Depression is the
longest and worst
economic crisis of
many nations’
history-notably the
United States,
Canada and many
European countries.
12. What caused the Great
Depression?
• As the Industrial Revolution expanded so did the economy.
• People were buying goods that they could not afford.
• Banks were lending money that they didn’t have.
• Money was not insured, so when banks closed, people
lost all of their money.
• Panicking people removed all of their money from banks
and stocks.
13. Black Tuesday-October 29,
1929
• The stock market crashed,
experiencing the worst day in its
history. Too many investors were
selling, and not enough were
buying.
• By November, stocks had lost
40% of their value-individual
investors and companies had
lost all of their money
15. The Dustbowl Years
• Occurred in the southern Great Plains of the United States.
• During WWI, farmers could not meet the supply and demand for
their products.
• Farmers began to expand their farms, but did not use the soil
conservation practices that are used today.
• Because the soil was being overused, it became dry and
unusable.
• A drought began in 1931 and lasted for over 7 years.
• Dust storms began happening in 1932 and farms were literally
being blown away.
18. Migrant Farm Workers
• Many farmers began to lose their jobs because of the
dust bowl, foreclosure and mechanized farming
equipment.
• When farms expanded, they needed loans from banks.
As production decreased after WWI, these farmers could
no longer pay the banks back.
• Farm hands were not in high demand because machines
could replace humans.
• Farmers travelled to California to work because the
harvesting season was longer and the soil was still good,
meaning more jobs were available.
20. “Give me your tired, your
poor, your huddled
masses yearning to
breathe free, the
wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.
Send these, the
homeless, tempest tost to
me,
I lift my lamp beside
the golden door.”
-Emma Lazarus
Written on the base of the
Statue of Liberty
21. The American Dream
• You can be successful if you
work hard and live morally.
• America is the land of
opportunity.
• Freedom to work hard and be
happy is enshrined in the
Constitution.
• The Dream assumes equality of
opportunity, no discrimination,
freedom to follow goals and
freedom from victimization.
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. The American Dream
• 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 people’s dreams
survived.
• Thousands of people made their way west towards
California to escape from their farmlands in the Midwest
that were failing due to drought.
24. The Book
The novel chronicles
the lives of two
migrant farm
workers, George and
Lennie, looking for
work in the farmland
of the Salinas Valley
near Soledad,
California.
25. Of Mice and Men-Title’s
Origin
The title of the novel comes from a poem by the Scottish poet
Robert Burns (1759 -96)
The best laid schemes o’ mice and
men
Gang aft agley [often go wrong]
And leave us nought but grief and
pain
For promised joy!
The best laid plans of mice and men often go wrong-
referring to a little mouse who had so carefully built her
burrow in a field to protect herself and her little mice
babies-but the burrow is turned over and destroyed by
a man plowing the field.
