...John Steinbeck Research Paper: Final Draft John Steinbeck is regarded as the “quintessential American writer.” He created many works of literature that “evoke life in the 20th century with compassion and lyrical precision” (Li). John Steinbeck’s most popular works such as Of Mice and Men (1937) and The Grapes of Wrath (1939) explore the darker side of life in America for farm laborers. Though these works were considered highly controversial, they gained him major recognition. Of Mice and Men was adapted as a play in 1938 and was declared the best play by New York Drama Critics’ Circle. He went on to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940 for The Grapes of Wrath. In 1962, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature (Schultz & Li). As a child and youth, Steinbeck spent a lot of time working on farms and interacting with other migrant workers. His experiences with migrant farm workers created the foundation for Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. John Ernst Steinbeck was born on February 27th 1902 in Salinas California to John Ernst Steinbeck Sr. and Olivia Hamilton Steinbeck. Steinbeck Sr. managed a flour mill, and his mother Olivia was a teacher in a school, thus securing the family a middle class income (Bender). His mother Olivia looked to “mold him into a man of broad intellectual capacity” (Kiernan). She read him several books as a child and, by the age of five, he could read. In school he was teased for “his large ears…so he withdrew into books.” His...
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...As some of the paramount examples of early 20th century literature, John Steinbeck's novels not only encompass the epitomes in characteristics of the laboring class, but also demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit. Through stories of the downtrodden, Steinbeck teaches the reader a much-needed lesson about the complexity of the world in which we live and the people's response to that complexity. Of Mice and Men's protagonist, George, convincingly personifies the dispiriting mood that spanned America at the time of the Great Depression. Attempting to find work in California, George is depicted as a capable, yet underprivileged, laborer who begins to form conceptions on the dynamics of society. Through George's journey, Steinbeck paints a picture of a typical American worker in the Depression-ridden country, and in turn shows the reader the unfortunate realization that the main character comes to as he searches for a job: the world is designed for the weak to become weaker and strong to become stronger. In other words, the concept of social Darwinism prevails in this novel as, time and time again, the main characters are forced into an endless cycle of poverty (want to say something along these lines but a different word than poverty). "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing...
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...H. Tharp The Unspoken Truth about John Steinbeck’s Legacy in Monterey County John Ernst Jr. Steinbeck is one of the most respected and honored American writers among our society today. In many classrooms around the world, his books are still mandated as reading requirements and there are many museums and centers dedicated to this esteemed author. John Steinbeck has won numerous awards for his books, most notably the Pulitzer Prize for his fictional novel, The Grapes of Wrath in 1940, and the Nobel Prize in literature in 1962 based on his entire body of work. Steinbeck’s other awards, which are typically less known are included in the following chart: WORK | YEAR | AWARD | MEDIUM | “The Murder” | 1934 | O. Henry Award | Print | Tortilla Flat | 1935 | Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for Best Novel by a Californian | Print | In Dubious Battle | 1936 | Ibid | Print | Of Mice and Men | 1938 | N.Y Drama Critic’s Circle Award | Play | “The Promise” | 1938 | O. Henry Award | Print | Of Mice and Men | 1939 | American Bookseller’s Award | Print | LifeBoat | 1944 | Academy Award nominee for Best Story | Print | A Medal for Benny | 1945 | Ibid | Print | The Moon is Down | 1946 | King Haakon Liberty Cross | Print | Viva Zapata! | 1952 | Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay | Play | N/A | 1963 | Honorary Consultant in American Literature to the Library of Congress | N/A | N/A | 1964 | U.S Medal of Freedom; Press Medal of Freedom | N/A...
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...the Working Class: John Steinbeck and His Mark on Literature Writing has left influence on millions. Books have transformed lives, given purpose and happiness to those who have read them: literature is one of the most important things to a society, as it not only allows its readers to grow intellectually, but also creatively. John Steinbeck was once just a nine year old with Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory, who then went on to be someone considered one of the best writers of his time. Steinbeck has been held up next to authors like Edgar Allen Poe, and his writing is taught in most, if not every, high schools in America. Very few people are born famous and even less are born skilled in their field. Steinbeck was born in Salinas,...
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...Some may view the Great Depression as the loneliest and most isolated period in American history for the people who experienced it first hand. It can be difficult to really capture the essence of the need for companionship that was immensely present in the Great Depression. However, when John Steinbeck uses the dialogue of Crooks, the actions of Curley's wife, and multiple characters undergoing major inconveniences for friendship it openly depicts the need for companionship in his novel, "Of Mice and Men". The primary way that Steinbeck portrays loneliness and the need for companionship, is through the articulation of the character Crooks. Initially, this can be viewed when Crooks expresses that he feels unheard and that nobody listens...
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...06 November 2012 John Steinbeck: A Champion for the Common Man Born with the hand of a writer, John Steinbeck’s career sparked great political controversy, and greatly influenced the writings of his time. Widely considered one of America’s greatest novelists, his books are still frequently studied in school. Among his many accomplishments is the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Nobel Prize in Literature. With notable works such as The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, he expressed his dissatisfaction with capitalism and his sympathy for the struggle of the common worker in a way that captured the world’s attention – which resulted in some of his work even being banned. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores the pervasive theme of loneliness and illustrates the fallacy of the American Dream. Widely considered his masterpiece, however, is The Grapes of Wrath which depicts the struggle of a family of Oklahoman farmers who are forced into a migratory existence due to the drought and dust storms following the Great Depression. When considering both The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, it is clear Steinbeck drew from his own personal experiences as a laborer when writing each of these novels. On February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California, John and Olive Steinbeck welcomed their third child and only son, John Ernst Steinbeck. John Ernst Steinbeck, Sr. was a county treasurer and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck was a schoolteacher. By all accounts, Steinbeck enjoyed...
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...Analyzing the Theme of Of Mice and Men Keith Everitt English III March 11, 2015 Biography John Steinbeck John Steinbeck is one of the most well-known authors of the modern era. He has many works that are at least basically known of by almost all Americans. He is one America’s most iconic writers from the 20th century. John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. He was the son of a county treasurer and a schoolteacher. At the beginning of his life, the only kind of work that he knew was working with ranches in the Salinas Valley and the Monterey coast. When he was through with high school he went on to study at Stanford University. He was not much of a college guy though. After he was through with that he had many different little jobs. Until, finally he published his first novel in 1935 called Tortilla Flat. After Tortilla Flat, he began to build a successful career out of his writing. He published a best-selling novel in 1937, Of Mice and Men, a story about poor ranch hands in California. He had great sympathy for the “Okies”, migrant farmers from Oklahoma, which led to him writing The Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes of Wrath became a best seller and it won him a Pulitzer Prize. This novel is ultimately what launched him to the level of fame he had. Not all of his works take place in California though. Some of his other famous works are The Moon Is Down, taking place in a Nazi controlled Scandinavian village, The Pearl, dealing...
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...Losing Your Only Friend: Conformations of Loneliness In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck displays a grim but honest truth about life. Steinbeck’s novel tells of two men: George Milton, a small and quick man; Lennie Small, an enormous man with incredible strength while behaving and thinking as a young child. The two men have been traveling together as laborers and have formed a unique father-and-son like bond. After getting jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley , George and Lennie have aspirations to accumulate enough money to fulfill their dreams of “ living off the fatta the lan” but encounter an unfortunate circumstance which prevents them from doing so. Throughout their journey, the main character, George developed from taking Lennie’s presence for granted to truly understanding the pain of loneliness proving friendship is only a temporary distraction from inevitable loneliness. Although subtle, George changed his tone from the beginning of the book to the end, from having been relaxed confining into a friend to being...
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...OF MICE AND MEN John Steinbeck is an American novelist. He was born on the 27th of January 1902 in Salinas California and died in the 20th of December 1968 of heart disease and congestive heart failure at the age of 66. He was of German, Irish and English descent. He was a college dropout from Stanford University back in 1925 and was a manual laborer before he started to achieve his success as a writer. The story takes place in a stream near Salinas River and in the ranch it the Salinas Valley of Northern California during the Great Depression. During that time, there were massive lack of jobs and increasing number of workers. The population travelled from one place to another to seek employment. Steinbeck’s way of writing reflects his character. Steinbeck concentrates on revealing the characters and presents them directly to focus the reader’s attention of their quandary. Steinbeck is very clever on using stereotypes and has highlighted the importance of human issues, friendship, intellectual prowess, different racial background, social status and responsibility. For instance, he describes Lenny’s appearance as an animal – which Lennie really behaves and looks like. The meaning of Steinbeck’s story is about what it means to be a human being – in different aspects, how the society looks at you as an individual. Steinbeck is a master of description, and one of his many passions was the California landscape. The setting in this novel contains the "golden foothill slopes" and...
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...Andrzej Faron Patricia Lambert DATE \@ "MMMM d, y" November 20, 2015 History 106 The Great Depression The Great Depression was a world wide economic depression that occurred amid the 1930s. The timing of the Great Depression was different throughout other countries,yet in many nations it began in 1929 and endured until the late 1930s. It was the longest, most profound, and one of the worst economic depression of the twentieth century. Overall GDP fell by 15% from 1929 to 1932. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is usually seen as an illustration of how far the world's economy can decay. The depression started in the United States, after a fall in stock costs that started around September 4, 1929, and got to be overall news with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929 . The Great Depression had bad impacts in nations both rich and poor. Individual pay, taxes, benefits and costs dropped, while foreign exchange dove by more than 50%. Unemployment in the U.S. rose to 25% and in few nations ascended as high as 33%. Urban areas all around the globe were hit hard, particularly those subject to heavy industry. Development was for all intents and purposes stopped in numerous nations. Urban groups and country zones struggled as yield costs fell by around 60%. As jobs became hard to find, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as mining and logging suffered the most. The start of The Great Depression. Historians more often than not say that...
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...NORTH AMERICAN FICTION BRIEF INTRODUCTION: Before starting our study of American Fiction we must understand what American Literature is in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know...
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...critical theory today critical theory today A Us e r - F r i e n d l y G u i d e S E C O N D E D I T I O N L O I S T Y S O N New York London Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2006 by Lois Tyson Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Printed in the United States of America on acid‑free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number‑10: 0‑415‑97410‑0 (Softcover) 0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97410‑3 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Tyson, Lois, 1950‑ Critical theory today : a user‑friendly guide / Lois Tyson.‑‑ 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0‑415‑97409‑7 (hb) ‑‑ ISBN 0‑415‑97410‑0 (pb) 1. Criticism...
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...Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 i RTNA01 1 13/6/05, 5:28 PM READING THE NOVEL General Editor: Daniel R. Schwarz The aim of this series is to provide practical introductions to reading the novel in both the British and Irish, and the American traditions. Published Reading the Modern British and Irish Novel 1890–1930 Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Daniel R. Schwarz Brian W. Shaffer Forthcoming Reading the Eighteenth-Century Novel Paula R. Backscheider Reading the Nineteenth-Century Novel Harry E. Shaw and Alison Case Reading the American Novel 1780–1865 Shirley Samuels Reading the American Novel 1865–1914 G. R. Thompson Reading the Twentieth-Century American Novel James Phelan ii RTNA01 2 13/6/05, 5:28 PM Reading the Novel in English 1950–2000 Brian W. Shaffer iii RTNA01 3 13/6/05, 5:28 PM © 2006 by Brian W. Shaffer BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Brian W. Shaffer to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and...
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