Of Mice and Men assignment

Question Number One Response:


In the story of “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck, the story takes place the era of The Great Depression. As stated in the book, “No mess at all, and when he end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want,” (Steinbeck, 12). People can tell that this is in the Great Depression because working for a month will get you more than fifty dollars. The character, George, was saying this as like it was a lot of money also. In this book, mental retardation plays a major role. The other main character, Lennie, has symptoms of a mental disability, making it hard for him to do what generally people did at this time. “George broke in loudly. ‘Oh! I ain’t saying he’s bright. He ain’t. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up four a hundred pound bale,’” (Steinbeck, 22). George is obviously developed because of his friend’s disability. Making it harder for be both of them to get jobs. Because of Lennie’s disability he doesn’t really know what is wrong and right. In a sense, he just does what he’s told and will do it anyway he can. Which is another big factor, of how the mental disability is progressed in the story. In conclusion, there are big roles that take effect through the story and develop characters throughout “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck.




Question Number Two Response:

In the story, “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck, the main antagonist, Curly, is a very developed character. As shown in the quote, “The swamper considered … ‘Well… Tell you what. Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy,’” (Steinbeck, 26). Curley is supposedly a short guy with an attitude, but in reality, Curley is a guy with self conscious issues. He wants to tell everyone that he is better than him, just because he’s small, doesn’t mean he can’t get it done. Curley doesn’t anyone to have higher power than him, he doesn’t want to look weak, just because he’s short. “‘The swamper warmed up to his gossip. ‘You seen that glove on his left hand?’ ‘Yeah. I seen it.’ ‘Well, that glove’s fulla vaseline.’ ‘Vaseline? What the hell for?’ ‘Well, I tell ya what - Curley says he’s keeping that hand soft for his wife.’” With that glove full of vaseline, Curley is telling everyone that he is better than anyone, making him full of himself. That he’s cocky. He wants to show everyone that he has a wife and that they don’t. In those days, it was hard for men who worked in one place to another, to get wives. But the glove of vaseline, also says that no one should mess with his wife. In the end, Curley is a well developed character with different kind of traits that define him.


In addition to Curley has more features that make him a unique character. “‘Thinks Slim's with his wife, don’t he?’ said George,” (Steinbeck, 54). Curley doesn’t really trust anyone. He doesn’t trust anyone well and will accuse anyone who is not there at the right time. Like when his wife was missing, he taught Silm went to go sleep with her. But in reality, he was to quick to judge and didn’t trust that Slim was doing nothing to his wife. “Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right,” (Steinbeck, 63). Curley is very persistent and won’t take no as an answer, which usually turns into violence. He’s obviously quick to judge and will take no disrespect, making him to attack Lennie, because he was smiling. He hates it when people make fun of him because he’s really insecure and rather have everyone be afraid of him, because he feels like it’s the only way to have people respect him, because he’s short. In conclusion, Curley in the book, “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck is a very developed antagonist.

The Great Depression

The Great Depression was a period of time that spanned at the end of the 1920s to 1939. During this time the depression affected economies from all over over the world so, “International trade fell 30 percent as nations tried to protect their industries by raising tariffs on imported goods,” (“The Great Depression in Global Perspective”). In an attempt to repose the countries’ economies by raising tariffs it only persisted and caused more people to suffer the effects of the depression. This was reflected in the year of 1932 in which an estimated 30 million people were unemployed worldwide. In addition to that, “ "Beggar-thy-neighbor" trade policies were a major reason why the Depression persisted as long as it did,” (“The Great Depression in Global Perspective”). The Beggar-thy-neighbor policy was a procedure that countries worldwide followed by borrowing other countries’ money to ease their depression. However, since Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America were all in depressions, it made it harder for countries to ask for these policies. The Great Depression affected many countries, causing a worldwide economic collapse.

However, the Great Depression mostly affected the United States of America. As stated, “In the United States, the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors,” (“The Great Depression”). It was important because it was where many Americans invested their stocks. Stocks are important because it determines how much money people are receiving and how much they are losing. A lot of people sold their stocks, making the banks have to loan their money from others. Which in turned closed thousands of banks nationwide. As an effect of the downfall of the economy, “By 1930, 4 million Americans looking for work could not find it; that number had risen to 6 million in 1931,” (“The Great Depression”). This was a huge number of people who were unemployed in America, which was a part of the reason why the Great Depression was so significant in America. Not only that, it affected the people who were still employed by creating lower production rates and falling prices. In conclusion, the Great Depression severely affected America and can be reflected into these extreme statistics.

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3433

Of Mice and Men Vocabulary

".... And sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs.. ," (Steinbeck 1).

Recumbent: Plants that grow close to the ground.

Worms can easily eat the recumbent shrubs since, the shrubs don't grow from a high location so, the worms don't have to crawl their way up but, just glide their way along the floor.

"George sat up. 'Awright,' he said brusquely. 'Gi'me that mouse!'" (Steinbeck 8).

Brusquely: In a manner that is blunt, rough, or abrupt.

The teacher brusquely spoke to the student who was misbehaving in the classroom.

Partner: Kari

A Coney Island Life Poem Final Draft

"All achievements take time," Said famous poet and author, Maya Angelou. Maya and James L. Weil, both have something in common, which is the shared out view that goals are hard to achieve, but bring adventure into everyday life. These goals are set by an individual and they work hard to accomplish the objective. They will either succeed in the accomplishing the mission or they will fail. But it's also not a bad thing, because either failing or succeeding a goal can lead to more objectives to be made. "A Coney Island Life," is about life and the everday stuggles of accomplishing goals. But the adventures make it worth it. James Weil gets his point across by metaphorically comparing goals as the famous amusement park, Coney Island. How the rides all represent the daily struggles and the occurences because of these struggles. In the poem, "A Coney Island Life" by James L. Weil, the author is trying to convey the message of how hard it's to accomplish goals, but always worth it in the end, because life is full of adventures.


The poem talks about how hard it's to accomplish goal, but it's always worth it in the end. How the poem represents how hard the the goals are to accomplish, the poem states, "Having lived a Coney Island life, On rollercoaster up and downs," (James L. Weil). Obviously, the author is comparing these hard goals to a Coney Island ride. The rollercoaster represents the easy and hard days of life. The ups being easy and just sailing through life. But there are also the downs, when you sometimes get stumped and it's difficult to continue. Which is explaining how difficult it is to accomplish your goals. Having goals will either cause people to succeed or to fail. Another reason why the poem is talking about how it's hard to accomplish goals, but it makes your life full of is that it states, "Break skyward without me, Now arms filled with dolls," (James L. Weil). This line "Break skyward without me" is stating how accomplishing goals is hard, but the part where it states "Now arms filled with dolls," means that while accomplishing these goals there are more opportunities to have more adventure in a lifetime. Even if the goals aren't accomplished, there are still other things to be proud of. There were other adventures to be excited about, even without accomplishing these goals. In conclusion, "A Coney Island Life", by James L. Weil is a poem about how hard it's to accomplish goals, but it will always open up even more opportunities or adventures to explore.


The second reason why the poem is about how hard it's to accomplish goals and how it's worth it in the end. In the poem, it declares, "I take perhaps my last ride on this planet-carousel," (James L. Weil). The poem states this because it shows how much life was an adventure it was, and that he's glad how he took his life's road. Planet-carousel, representing about how worth it, it was to accomplish his goal in life. That he was ready to take his last ride on life's road of opportunities. To back up the theme even know more, the poem states, "How many times round, I have, To catch that brass-ring-sun," (James L. Weil). This explains how the author is accomplishing all these goals, but he wonders how much longer he has left. The "brass-ring-sun" represents the objectives. This is striving him to do better and finish all of his goals so he can have more opportunities for more and more of them. It also represents that the author was trying hard to finish his goal. But he also doesn't know if he could try for any longer. But he isn't giving up yet, until he accomplishes the one goal. In the end, "A Coney Island Life," is about how difficult it is to accomplish goals, but also how these goals set knew adventures for the wielder.


Goals are hard to accomplish, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be tossed aside and forgotten. Goals are meant to be achieved or failed, but never tossed aside. They set new adventures for everyone and which opens more opportunities. As James L. Weil wrote in "A Coney Island," explains just that. That it's worth it to push yourself to achieve objectives and should continue having adventures through these goals. Which is important in everday life. Without the constant goal setting, life would get boring. Even if we fail the goals we set, we shouldn't be discouraged, because that is just human nature. We win some and we lose some. Even when we fail we can set more goals to accomplish and open new opportunities to go towards. Adventures also lurk around the failing and the succeeding of goals. In the poem, "A Coney Island Life" by James L. Weil, the author is trying to show the message of how hard it's to accomplish goals, but always worth it in the end, because life is full of adventures.