Introduction. Much like Steinbeck's short novel The Pearl, Of Mice and Men is a parable that tries to explain what it means to be human. His friend Ed Ricketts shaped Steinbeck's thinking about man's place in the universe. Essentially, man is a very small part of a very large universe; in the greater scheme of things, individuals come and go and leave very little, lasting mark A critical essay needs to be well structured as well as answering the question in its title. Learn how to write a critical essay in this Bitesize English video for 3rd level Proper evaluation is the vital element of a good critical thesis statement. Such an evaluation provides the pros and cons of the analyzed matter. The thesis statement of a critical essay needs to be objective and provide the reader with both positive and negative
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John Steinbeck was born in in Salinas, California, a region that became the setting for much of his fiction, including Of Mice and Men. As a teenager, he spent his summers working as a hired hand on neighboring ranches, where his experiences of rural California and its people impressed him deeply. Inhe enrolled at Stanford University, where he studied intermittently for the next six years before finally leaving without having earned a degree.
For the next five years, he worked as a reporter and then as caretaker for a Lake Tahoe estate while he completed his first novel, an adventure story called Cup of Goldwhich was published in Critical and commercial success did not come for another six years, when Tortilla Flat was published inat which point Steinbeck was finally able to support himself entirely with his writing.
Always politically involved, Steinbeck followed Tortilla Flat with three novels about the plight of the California laboring class, beginning with In Dubious Battle in Steinbeck sets Of Mice and Men against the backdrop of Depression-era America. The economic conditions of the time victimized workers like George and Lennie, whose quest for land was thwarted by cruel and powerful forces beyond their control, but whose tragedy was marked, ultimately, by steadfast compassion and love.
Both stylistically and in his emphasis on manhood and male relationships, which figure heavily in Of Mice and MenSteinbeck of mice and men critical essay strongly influenced by his contemporary, Ernest Hemingway. Even though Steinbeck was hailed as a great author in the s and s, and won the Nobel Prize for literature inmany critics have faulted his works for being superficial, sentimental, and overly moralistic.
Though Of Mice and Men is regarded by some as his greatest achievement, many critics argue that it suffers from one-dimensional characters and an excessively deterministic plot, which renders the lesson of the novella more important than the people in it. Steinbeck continued writing throughout the s and s.
He went to Europe during World War II, then worked in Hollywood both as a filmmaker and a scriptwriter for such movies as Viva Zapata! His important later works include East of Edenof mice and men critical essay, a sprawling family saga set in California, and Travels with Charleya journalistic account of his tour of America.
He died in New York City in After World War I, of mice and men critical essay, economic and ecological forces brought many rural poor and migrant agricultural workers from the Great Plains states, such as Oklahoma, of mice and men critical essay, Texas, and Kansas, to California. Following World War I, a recession led to a drop in the market price of farm crops, which meant that farmers were forced to produce more goods in order to earn the same amount of money.
To meet this demand for increased productivity, many farmers bought more land and invested in expensive agricultural equipment, which plunged them into debt. The stock market crash of only made matters worse. Banks were forced to foreclose on mortgages and collect debts.
Unable to pay their creditors, many farmers lost their property and were of mice and men critical essay to find other work. The increase in farming activity across the Great Plains states caused the precious soil to erode.
This erosion, coupled with a seven-year drought that began inturned once fertile grasslands into a desertlike region known as the Dust Bowl. Hundreds of thousands of farmers packed up of mice and men critical essay families and few belongings, of mice and men critical essay, and of mice and men critical essay for California, which, for numerous reasons, seemed like a promised land.
Migrant workers came to be known as Okies, of mice and men critical essay although they came from many states across the Great Plains, twenty percent of the farmers were originally from Oklahoma. Okies were often met with scorn by California farmers and natives, which only made their dislocation and poverty even more unpleasant. John Steinbeck immortalized the plight of one such family, the Joads, in his most famous novel, The Grapes of Wrath. In several of his fiction works, including Of Mice and MenSteinbeck illustrates how grueling, challenging, and often unrewarding the life of migrant farmers could be.
Just as George and Lennie dream of a better life on their own farm, the Great Plains farmers dreamed of finding a better life in California. Despite these promises, though, very few found it to be the land of opportunity and plenty of which they dreamed. Ace your assignments with our guide to Of Mice and Men! Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
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Themes Motifs Symbols Protagonist Antagonist Setting Genre Allusions Style Point of View Tone Foreshadowing Metaphors and Similes. Why did Steinbeck choose the title Of Mice and Men? What happened in Weed? Why does Curley attack Lennie? Why does George kill Lennie? Why does Lennie have a dead mouse in his pocket? How is Lennie different from the other men?
Why do George and Lennie travel together? Why does Curley wear a glove on one hand? What does Slim do at the ranch? Book Full Book Quiz Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 Section 5 Section 6 More Character List Analysis of Major Characters Themes, Motifs, and Symbols.
Suggestions for Further Reading Related Links Movie Adaptations John Steinbeck and Of Mice and Men Background. Further Study John Steinbeck and Of Mice and Men Background. In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in literature, Steinbeck said:. 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 History of Migrant Farmers in California After World War I, economic and ecological forces brought many rural poor and migrant agricultural workers from the Great Plains states, such as Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, to California. Previous section Movie Adaptations. Of Mice and Men SparkNotes Literature Guide Series PRINT EDITION Ace your assignments with our guide to Of Mice and Men! Popular pages: Of Mice and Men. Take a Study Break.
Of Mice and Men Revision: Themes
, time: 10:00Critical Essay Thesis Statement Examples
Proper evaluation is the vital element of a good critical thesis statement. Such an evaluation provides the pros and cons of the analyzed matter. The thesis statement of a critical essay needs to be objective and provide the reader with both positive and negative Introduction. Much like Steinbeck's short novel The Pearl, Of Mice and Men is a parable that tries to explain what it means to be human. His friend Ed Ricketts shaped Steinbeck's thinking about man's place in the universe. Essentially, man is a very small part of a very large universe; in the greater scheme of things, individuals come and go and leave very little, lasting mark Critical opinions of Steinbeck’s work have always been mixed. Both stylistically and in his emphasis on manhood and male relationships, which figure heavily in Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck was strongly influenced by his contemporary, Ernest Hemingway. Even though Steinbeck was hailed as a great author in the s and s, and won the Nobel
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