Of Mice and Men Context Infographic
Braya Hafler Period 3
Protestors
This picture shows a demonstration held by children during the Depression.
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is an icon and embodiment of American Pride and the American Dream.
John Steinbeck
This is an image of John Steinbeck, the author of "Of Mice and Men."
The Great Depression
The Great Depression was a drastic economic crisis that took place in the 1930's. At the beginning of the decade, the stock market crashed, causing businesses all over America to go bankrupt, people to be evicted from their homes and a large population of people either eating at soup kitchens or living in boarding houses. The stock market crash and turmoil it caused in our country still impact us today. Part of the reason for this is because the stock market didn't fully restore to its pre-depression glory until half way through the 1950's. In addtion many of our grandparents and great-grandparents were either born or raised during this time period thus hitting home for the average American family.
The American Dream
The American Dream is a very central or key idea of who we are as Americans. The textbook definition of the phrase is "The ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to acheive success and prosperity through hard work, determination and initiative." Essentially it's the idea that you start at the bottom and work your way up. Over the years, many people have truly thrived in this country and therefore demonstrated this princible.
John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck was born on February 27th, 1902. He was born into a working class family and his father, John Ernst Steinbeck, work multiple jobs throughout his lifetime in order to keep his family fed. In his late teen years, John Steinbeck attended Stanford University. He had always been a very bright student and he actually drifted in and out of college for several years until finally dropping out in 1925 without actually gaining his degree. He quickly began to work as a freelance writer, while still bumping around to various jobs just as his father had done. During this period in his life he began writing seriously and published several books including a series of shorter stories which included "Of Mice and Men." in 1936-1938. Following his first major successes, he moved to New York city where he stayed and wrote more successful novels for the rest of his life. Mr. Steinbeck truly embodied the idea of the American Dream by adding to the list of normal college dropouts who work hard and make an excellent life for themselves.
The Great Depression: Crash Course US History #33