Of Mice & Men: Introduction

Of Mice & Men: Introduction • Unit Overview • Controversy/Banning • Character Info. • Signing Out a Book • Setting : The Great Depression • Author Info.: John Steinbeck

Unit Overview • Vocabulary • Reader-Response Journals (2 per chapter) • Pop Quizzes (don’t be surprised…) • Tests over Ch. 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 • In-Class Activities • Discussion – pairs, small group, whole class • Open-Ended Question (writing @ end) • Characterization Chart • Review Game

Controversy/Banning • Inappropriate & Disparaging Language • Derogatory towards African Americans (“N-word”) • Derogatory towards women • Derogatory towards people with Mental Handicaps • “Heavy Topics” such as rape, racism, & hiding crimes • Violence • Absence of traditional values Read more at Suite101: Why Was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Banned?

Pre-Reading Qs • How does society treat people with mental handicaps? 2. How important is friendship in our lives? How would NOT having friends affect a person? 3. Explain whether or not men continue to treat women as objects. 4. What was the American Dream during the Great Depression? How do you think the American dream changed as a result of the Great Depression? 5. Explain whether or not writers have a responsibility to address social concerns.

Pre-Reading Qs (cont.) 6. Is it unnatural for people to have an attachment to, or feelings for, an animal? Explain your answer. 7. Do you believe killing another human being intolerable and should be punished no matter the circumstance? Explain.

Character Info. • George- Physical Traits – Short, has sharp, strong features Personality Traits -- wiry, quick-witted, quick-tempered, easily frustrated Job – migrant worker/barley bucker • Lennie - Physical Traits -- A large, lumbering, mild mental disability, doesn’t know his own strength Personality Traits – childlike, kind Job -- migrant worker/barley bucker • Candy - Physical Traits – aging, missing a hand, white whiskers/beard Personality Traits – sweet, gentle, friendly Job -- ranch handyman, “swamper”

Crooks - Physical Traits – African-American, crooked back. Personality Traits -- Proud, bitter, aloof Job –Stable buck or stable hand (works w/ horses; lives in tack room) • Curley - The boss’s son Physical Traits -- Curley wears high-heeled boots to distinguish himself from the field hands. Rumored to be a champion prizefighter Personality Traits -- confrontational, mean-spirited, and aggressive young man; suffers from an inferiority complex; VERY JEALOUS Job – Amateur boxer • Curley’s wife - Physical Traits – pretty, baloney curls, red cheeks Personality Traits – FLIRTATIOUS -- “tramp,” a “tart,” “looloo.” Job – Housewife – aspiring actress • Slim - “Prince of the Ranch” Physical Traits – Tall, skinny, built well, very tan Personality Traits – Trust-worthy; has a commanding presence; good listener; advice-giver Job -- A highly skilled mule driver

Carlson - Physical Traits – Short, dark hair, large belly Personality Traits – A “realist” who doesn’t hold back when he wants to say something; pessimistic about life in general Job – Barley bucker • The Boss Physical Traits -- Stocky, well-dressed man Personality Traits – Appears only once, but appears to be a fair-minded Job – Manages the ranch • Aunt Clara -- Lennie’saunt Physical Traits – short, overweight, older woman Personality Traits – pushed Lennie despite his disability; seems bitter and frustrated by his limitations Job – Raised and cared for Lennie until her death • Whit Physical Traits -- youngest guy on the ranch Personality Traits – seems naïve and optimistic despite the time period Job – Ranch hand

Themes • Loneliness & Isolation • The American Dream • The Predatory Nature of Human Existence • Fraternity and the Idealized Male Friendship • Innocence • Freedom & Confinement • Justice • Violence • Women & Femininity • Men, Animals, & the Natural World

Symbols • Lennie & George’s Farm • The rabbits • Lennie’s Pup • The Mice • Animal Intuition – the horses • Curley’s Wife • Candy’s Dog • The color RED • The games – horseshoes, solataire, snooker • Bullets • Some of the characters themselves – Curley’s wife, Crooks, Lennie, Aunt Clara

Setting: The Great Depression

Author: John Steinbeck

January 29, 2003 Banning Steinbeck An Ohio school district has been petitioned to ban John Steinbeck's short classic, Of Mice and Men (1937). There's some "foul language" in the book, objects Lloyd Caldwell, whose granddaughter was assigned to read it for her high school English class: "There�s words on there you wouldn�t say to a drunken sailor .... Every page in this book except four, and that�s right at the beginning, has swear words of one nature or another � and some of them are just dern right, down rotten filthy." Caldwell claims that the parents of other students object to the book's use as well, but have not come forward for fear that this would cause teachers to retaliate against their children. Caldwell's daughter, Brenda Morris, argues that books like Steinbeck's should not be part of the curriculum because they do not facilitate the school district's goals of building character, teaching self-respect, and educating young people in the rights and duties of citizenship. John Steinbeck won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature. In his acceptance speech, he spoke of both the moral force of literature and the ethical duties of the writer: “The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. 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. Furthermore, the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for gallantry in defeat - for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally-flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man, has no dedication nor any membership in literature. The present universal fear has been the result of a forward surge in our knowledge and manipulation of certain dangerous factors in the physical world. It is true that other phases of understanding have not yet caught up with this great step, but there is no reason to presume that they cannot or will not draw abreast. Indeed it is a part of the writer's responsibility to make sure that they do.” Of Mice and Men is one of the most frequently protested and banned books in American schools. Perhaps the shortsighted families who are offended by Steinbeck's occasionally graphic language should be invited to study Of Mice and Men along with their kids. Before they take to banning books, they ought to know a little bit more about them.

Of Mice & Men: Introduction