“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.
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“Of Mice and Men”: Intro
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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.
“Of Mice and Men”: Intro
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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.
The Dust Bowl: Of Drought and Men
The Dust Bowl
► An
ecological and
human disaster in the
1930s that lasted
about a decade
► Hit the Great Plains:
Kansas, Oklahoma,
Texas, New Mexico,
Colorado
The Cause
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Years of misuse of land
Sustained drought
Millions of acres rendered useless
Native Americans’ warning to “leave the grass alone”
ignored
The Fallout
► 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 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.
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“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.
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“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.
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“Of Mice and Censorship”
Other controversial books
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“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.
“Of Mice and Censorship” Top 10
most challenged books
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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 Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Source: Censor The Book www.freewebs.com
Of Mice and Men: Annotations
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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?
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.
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Mice and Men: Socratic Seminar
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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 depth and 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.