Of Mice and Men

Motherhood: Ma, since Steinbeck first described her is a goddess woman in the book. In this chapter, the motherhood is displayed by Ma. As she has to say good bye to Tom, the child for whom she has shown the most affection, she is sorrowful. “I wanna touch ya again, Tom. … I wanna remember, even if it’s on’y my fingers that remember. You got to go away, Tom. ” And she also gave him 7 dollars. 7 dollars, at that time in such a terrible environment, 7 dollars is huge number, she gave to Tom, because she‘s worry about him. You take the money…You got no right to cause me pain”. John Steinbeck is using this motherhood to praise the great love mother has been giving to their children. Even in the worst condition, even in the bad situation, they still willing to love their children and love them more than love anyone else. Tom’s thinking: Maybe reader has sensed the change in Tom’s character. His soul and spirit is growing since the capture of Casy. Here, Steinbeck writes out the thought of Tom during that period to inform reader what Tom is thinking is all about Casy.

He is thinking about all what Casy said. “But now I been thinkin’ what he said, an’ I can remember –all of it. ” He also realize what Casy said that “a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big one. ” Tom’s thinking also helps to foreshadowing the decision Tom made which is to continue what Casy had done later in the chapter. Tom’s decision: Here, in the cave, Tom told Ma his decision. He plans to continue and hopefully finished the work that Casy started. Tom wants to organize a strike to bring out the fair wage.

John Steinbeck use Tom’s decision finally complete his character portraying for Tom since Tom is at his closest point to being self actualized. And at this point Steinbeck also helps reader to find out how a soul has been growing during the harsh time and suggests that Tom is one of the million people who has gone through these and realized the “a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big soul”. Description: Steinbeck uses a lot detail description in this chapter. As Ma setting out ot find Tom “The movement stopped, and after a long moment …… that it might have been a stump. Here, Steinbeck helps reader understand that after Tom killed two cops and Casy’s death, Tom is living like a rabbit. Tom is hiding and staying along so that he can think and decide to continue what Casy had started. Then Steinbeck also use detail description “ Her reaching hand found his head in the blackness and her fingers moved down to his nose, and then over his left cheek. ” This shows reader the love Ma has giving to Tom, the greatness of mothers’ love which Steinbeck intend to express.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” Martin Luther King regarding justice. This quote considers the injustice that takes place and its potential impacts. Justice is defined as a quality of being just; fairness and injustice is defined as Lack of fairness or justice. This quote has some relevance and can be related to the issues of justice and injustice which is faced in the book Of Mice of Men. The book is set in the 1900s it takes place on and about a ranch in the Salinas Valley, near the town of Soledad, south of San Francisco.

It is about two migrant field workers in California during the Great Depression – George Milton, an intelligent and cynical man; and Lennie Small, an ironically named man of large stature and immense strength but limited mental abilities. They work on a ranch and they hope to one day attain their shared dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie’s part of the dream, which he never tires of hearing George describe, is merely to tend to (and touch) soft rabbits on the farm. In the book many characters are faced with injustices ranging from racism to disabilities.

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One such characters who is subjected to this is Crooks. In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck, the author, uses the character of Crooks to represent racism and to symbolise the marginalization of the black community during the setting of the book. The term “nigger” is referenced in the book a number of times such as being banned from the bunkhouse, only during Christmas “they let the nigger come in” and in one scene Curley’s wife threatens Crooks that she’ll ‘ get you strung up on a tree so easy It ain’t even funny” showing the injustice that he faces when working at the ranch.

Of Mice and Men WebQuest – English2 [pic] [pic] Introduction In order to better appreciate the novella, Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, you are going to conduct a Webquest project in which you examine the time period and setting in which the author lived and wrote the novella. By closely examining the time period and setting, you will gain a better understanding of the social, cultural, and economic factors that influenced the author and are reflected in the story. You will gain an appreciation of what it was like to be a migrant worker in the Salinas Valley of California during the 1930’s and Great Depression.

Steinbeck used Of Mice and Men as a vehicle to express his social conscience and observations regarding the social and cultural issues he witnessed during this difficult era in America. In the novella, Steinbeck paints a picture of two friends struggling against an indifferent society. The novella focuses on topics of poverty and dreams, friendship and loneliness, despair and hope. In addition to gaining a better understanding of the context of the novel, the Webquest will also enable you to understand how many of the societal, cultural, and economic factors that Steinbeck addressed in Of Mice and Men resonate in America today. [pic]

Task What are the social, cultural, and economic issues that influenced John Steinbeck’s writing of this novella? English 2 Of Mice & Men Unit Objectives: 1. Research and create a poster or PowerPoint of topics related to the historical context of the novel. 2. Gain an appreciation of how social, cultural, and economic factors can influence an author and are reflected in a literary work. 3. Create a Works Cited page using the MLA proper format. [pic] Process For this project, students will be working in small groups no larger than four. Each group’s research will provide information that effectively answers the Task and Questions.

As a member of the group, each student will explore Web pages from sites that pertain to Of Mice and Men or issues/topics relevant to the novella. Each student in the group is to be assigned a specific task: geographer, sociologist, psychiatrist, or biographer. Each student will: 1. Conduct and assemble research from the Internet and other sources to answer the questions in his/her section. 2. Find and print visuals relevant to his/her research to be used on group’s poster/PowerPoint. 3. Help his/her group assemble the poster/PowerPoint. Posters must have printed text and visuals from all four categories.

The group’s final product is to include answers to the assigned questions and a visual representation that complements and relates to the topics. 4. Submit a Works Cited page of sources used in his/her part of the project, stapled to the top, right corner of the back of the poster or added as a final slide to the PowerPoint Rubrics for the poster and Works Cited page will be distributed in class. The project is worth 50 points (40 pts—poster/PowerPoint; 10 pts—Works Cited). There will be a separate presentation portion of the project. Phase 1 – Background Information Phase One – Focus and Objective

John Steinbeck was influenced by a number of geographical, societal, cultural, and economic issues in the writing of Of Mice and Men. Your task is to explore some of these issues. Phase 2 – Roles Phase Two – Investigations from a Different Perspective Instructions: 1. Individuals from your Webquest group will be assigned one of the specific roles listed below. In this role you are to direct your research to gain information that will answer the specific questions for your section and obtain specific visuals that address your topic to be included on the group’s poster. . Use the links to find information that answers the questions and find visuals to use on your presentation. Take notes or if you find large sections of info you want to copy, copy sections and paste them into a Word document. (Suggestion: open a Word document, prior to getting on the Internet, to use for pasting info. ) You may use portions of text as quotes, but this needs to be in your own words. 3. When you find photos or pictures you want to use as your visuals, be sure to save photos or pictures as jpg’s in My Pictures folder.

Write down URL and make note of source of all photos, maps, and pictures. You also need to include these on your Works Cited page. 4. Remember to write down or copy/paste the URL of the file you take the passage from so you can identify and document your sources when preparing your Works Cited page in proper MLA formatting. 5. Stay focused on finding information that enables you to answer the question presented in The Task: What are the background issues that influenced John Steinbeck’s writing of this novella about friendship and social issues? Geographers: • The geography of Of Mice and Men Setting in Of Mice and Men • Salinas farm country • John Steinbeck and Salinas, California • Steinbeck Country Geographers’ Questions: 1. What are the geographical features of California’s Salinas River Valley? 2. What is the Salinas Valley known as? 3. What kinds of jobs are available there? 4. What was John Steinbeck’s relationship to the Salinas Valley? 5. Identify specific locations relevant to Of Mice and Men? 6. For the visual component, create a map of the area with significant locations identified Sociologists: • Great Depression • Causes of the Great Depression The Migrant Experience • Photos of Great Depression • Dust Bowl • Migrant Workers today • Dust Bowl photos Sociologists’ Questions: 1. When and what was the Great Depression? 2. What are some of the factors that caused the Great Depression? 3. Who were the migrant workers and how were they affected by the Great Depression? 4. Do migrant workers exist today? Where? Who are they? What kind of jobs do they do? How is the issue of migrant workers significant today? 5. For the visual of your presentation, develop a collage of photos of migrant workers of the 1930’s.

Psychiatrists: • Mental Disability • Caring for a Mentally Disabled Person • Friendship and the Mentally Disabled • Novels About the Mentally Disabled • Flowers for Algernon • Films with Mentally Disabled Characters • Domick and Eugene • Charly • Being There • Rain Man Psychiatrists’ Questions: 1. What is a mental disability and how does it impact a person’s everyday life? 2. What are some of the difficulties faced when caring for a mentally disabled person? 3. What kinds of support are available for people who care for the mentally disabled? 4.

What role does friendship play in the caring for the mentally disabled? 5. For the visual, create a collage of literature book covers and film posters that have stories about mentally disabled. Biographers: • John Steinbeck Biography • John Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize Speech • John Steinbeck Biography • Steinbeck Literary Works • John Steinbeck Award • John Steinbeck Chronology • Photos of John Steinbeck • Naturalism in American Literature Biographers’ Questions: 1. List some of the major facts about Steinbeck’s life. 2. What philosophy of life is revealed in Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech?

Give a brief definition of that philosophy. 3. What influenced Steinbeck to write the novella, Of Mice and Men? 4. What are the other major works written by Steinbeck? 5. Who are some of the recipients of the Steinbeck Award? What is the purpose of the award? 6. For the visual, create a collage of photos of Steinbeck and covers of his most significant novels. Group Role: ___________________________________ Group Members: ____________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________

By Golda Bhebhe. “Of Mice and Men. ” In the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck we are introduced to two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. These men are close friends who travel together looking for employment in America in the 1930s. Lennie is quite a simple guy who sometimes gets into trouble. Steinbeck uses a range of writing techniques to portray Lennie and we are left at the end feeling very sad that he has had to die. When we first meet Lennie and George we immediately notice that George is the leader and Lennie is slower and seems to await instructions.

George is described as a small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong feature. It also moves on to say that every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose. The author creates a very masculine attractive imagine of George by making him look put together and neat with very chiselled bone structure which in society has always been considered very handsome. On the other hand Lennie is described as a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders.

This creates a very unattractive look for the character because he seems to be coming of slightly a large untidy man who doesn’t seem to take pride in the way he looks. When the two men first walk into the brush George is leading the way and Lennie is carefully following him. They were walking in single file down the path, and even in the open Lennie stayed behind George. This shows that Lennie is very dependent on George in the way that a child would be. The two men soon move into the wider world of the ranch and here we see how other people react to Lennie.

Steinbeck evokes sympathy for Lennie when he shows the way other people react to him. The ranch workers at the start are very inquisitive and some even envious of Lennie & George’s relationship. Some are slightly intimidated by Lennie because he is a big guy but they don’t know that he really a child at heart could never hurt anyone intentionally. One of the workers who are especially intimidated by Lennie is Curley. Curley is the boss’s son. He is a thin young man with brown face, with brown eyes and head of tightly curled hair.

Curley seems to be intimidated by Lennie because of his large size and him being a small man feels the need to look down on him to make himself feel like a “big guy” because he knows Lennie can’t do anything because he is in the position of power. “Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at’em because he aint a big guy. ” This shows that Curley has always been jealous of bigger men. So he finds pleasure in bullying Lennie because usually it’s the other way round.