Of Mice and Men Research Project Questions
Name:__________________________________
Per.____
GROUP : Great Depression
 Basic Information
1. When and what was the Great Depression?
2. What are some of the factors that caused the Great Depression?
3. How did people cope during the Great Depression?
 American Dream
4. What is the American Dream and how is it tied to our Declaration of Independence?
5. How did the Great Depression keep people from achieving the American Dream?
 New Deal
6. What was the New Deal?
7. What does WPA stand for?
8. What was the purpose of the WPA?
9. What were work cards?
10. Who was Dorothea Lange?
Of Mice and Men Research Project Questions
Name:__________________________________
Per.____
GROUP : Dust Bowl
 Basic Information
1. When and what was the Dust Bowl?
2. What are the five states that made up the Dust Bowl region of the U.S.?
3. What were the causes of the Dust Bowl?
 Effects
4. What was the percentage of farmers that had to sell their farms or, in other words, foreclose on
their mortgages, in the Dust Bowl region of the country in 1933?
5. Where did people from the Dust Bowl states migrate to and why?
 Subculture
6. What was the name of the Historic Route that these people took to get to this new destination?
7. Why was “riding the rails” during the Great Depression considered dangerous?
8. What were the Okies of the Great Depression?
9. What were the hoboes of the Great Depression?
10. What were some of the symbols that hoboes used to communicate with one another and what
did they mean?
Of Mice and Men Research Project Questions
Name:__________________________________
Per.____
GROUP: Migrant Workers
 Basic Information
1. What are migrant workers?
2. Why do these workers need to move around to find work?
 Great Depression
3. How much money did migrant workers make in the 1930s?
4. What was the FSA?
5. What was the result of the flood of migrant workers to California in the 1930s?
6. What action did the FSA discover could increase migrant farm workers’ salaries by 20%?
7. What did this discovery lead to?
8. What was life like at FSA camps?
9. What/Where was Weedpatch Camp?
10. What could migrant farmers and their families benefit from while living at FSA camps, such as
the Weedpatch Camp?
Of Mice and Men Research Project Questions
Name:__________________________________
Per.____
GROUP : Disadvantaged Groups of the 1930s
 African Americans
1. What is the origin of the term Jim Crow laws, and what was the purpose of such laws?
2. In what ways did African Americans not benefit from the New Deal in the same way as white
citizens?
3. How were African Americans portrayed in the media during the 1930s?
 Women
4. How did women’s traditional roles often change during the Great Depression?
5. How were the lives of women different from males during the 1930s?
 Elderly
6. What was the Social Security Act of 1935?
7. What were some of the limitations of the Social Security Act of 1935?
 Mentally Retarded
8. What is mental retardation and how does it impact a person’s everyday life?
9. What are some of the difficulties faced when caring for a mentally retarded person?
10. What kinds of treatment options were available for those with mental retardation during the
1930s?
Of Mice and Men Research Project Questions
Name:__________________________________
Per.____
GROUP : John Steinbeck
 Basic Information
1. Where did John Steinbeck grow up?
2. Why did Steinbeck choose to work in the fields at one point?
 Career
3. What influenced Steinbeck to write the novel, Of Mice and Men?
4. What are some other major works written by Steinbeck?
5. What themes are often found within his novels?
6. Which of his novels have been turned into films?
7. How did Steinbeck’s hometown react to the success of his novel Grapes of Wrath and why?
8. Why was Steinbeck awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962?
9. What philosophy of life is revealed in Steinbeck's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech?
10. What is the definition of that philosophy?
Of Mice and Men Research Project Questions
Name:__________________________________
Per.____
GROUP : Salinas River Valley
 Basic Information
1. What are the geographical features of California’s Salinas River Valley?
2. How far away is the Salinas Valley from Whittier, and how long would it take to drive there?
3. What is the Salinas Valley known for producing?
4. What are some nicknames for the Salinas Valley and why?
5. What kinds of jobs were available in Monterey County during the Great Depression?
 Steinbeck Connection
6. What was John Steinbeck’s relationship to the Salinas Valley?
7. Would Steinbeck have approved of calling the Salinas Valley “Steinbeck Country”? Why or
why not?
8. What are some of the specific locations of the Salinas Valley that are relevant to Of Mice and
Men?
9. Which of Steinbeck’s other novels are set in Salinas Valley?
10. If you were to visit Salinas today, what are some of the tourist attractions related to Steinbeck
that you could visit?