Of Mice and Men WebQuest

You are about to embark on a journey of understanding of what it was like to be a migrant worker in the Salinas valley of California during the 1930's, during the great depression. John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men as a vehicle to express some of his feelings on the society and place in which he lived. Of Mice and Men is a novel about poverty and dreams, friendship and loneliness, and despair and hope. If you’ve ever wanted something so bad but felt like it was just outside your reach, you’ve ever cared for another person (or animal) who couldn’t care for himself, you’ve worked hard to earn something important to you, or you’ve had to give up a close friend then you will find something in this book for you. Through the memorable characters of George and Lennie, Steinbeck paints a portrait of enduring friendship that you’ll remember well beyond Sophomore year. In order to help you to understand the context of the novel and how it still applies today, you are about to embark on a Webquest that will lay the groundwork for a deeper understanding of this simple, yet profound story.

With a partner, answer the following questions by using the web and the links below. Answer questions on a Word document- print off two copies, one for me and one for you and your partner to use for class discussion. 1. What is the American Dream? 2. Provide three examples of people who you think have attained the American Dream. 3. Provide a visual representation of the American Dream (a picture, symbol, collage, etc.). 4. What are the geographical features of the Salinas valley in California? 5. What kinds of jobs are available here now? What kinds of jobs do you think were most common here in the 1930s? 6. What was John Steinbeck’s connection to the Salinas Valley? 7. Provide a visual of the Salinas Valley or similar area (a picture or photograph) 8. What was the Great Depression? 9. What were some of the causes? 10. What is a migrant worker? How were they affected by the Great Depression? 11. Do migrant workers exist today? Where? What kinds of jobs do they have? 12. Describe FDR’s New Deal. 13. What were Hoovervilles? 14. What is a mental disability and how does it affect a person's everyday life? 15. How has society’s treatment of the mentally disabled changed since the 1930s? Is today better or worse? Links: http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade30.html http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tsme.html http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/migrants.html http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/birth_defect/mental_retardation.html http://www.mental-health-matters.com/articles/article.php?artID=725 http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/nobel.html http://www.steinbeck.org/MainFrame.html http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/johnstei.htm http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html http://www.salinas.com/