John Steinbeck Thesis

Chelsea Bergeron

Mrs. Clark

English III

20 November 2017 John Steinbeck

American author, Steinbeck, 1962 Nobel Prize winner, was a writer of novels about the working class and was a major spokesman for the victims of the Great Depression. "The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in history of the industrialized world." (history.com). "Steinbeck's reputation rests mostly on the naturalistic novels with themes he wrote in the 1930's." (britannica.com). "Of Mice and Men is a novel set on a ranch in Salinas Valley in California during the Great Depression of the 1930's" (novels for students). "Both of the main characters in the novel are migrant workers, on their way to work on a ranch in the salinas valley" (John Steinbeck). Using

His father, John Ernst Steinbeck, was an business man, accountant, and a manager. "Steinbeck's father was a good provider, although the family was not affluent" (novels for students). His mother, Olive Hamilton, was an teacher. "Steinbeck was the middle child of four kids, also the only boy with two older sisters and one younger sister in his family" (anb.org). Steinbeck as a child growing up in the fertile, beautiful Salinas Valley, learn to appreciate his environment, not only the hills but also the nearby Pacific coast, where his family would spend summer vacations. "He was shy, but smart and formed an early appreciation for the land in particular Salinas Valley" (biography.com). Young John had to work to earn his own money. During high school, he worked on nearby ranches during the summer. "In high school, he was editor of the school newspaper, although his articles showed none of the brilliance of his later work" (novels for students). Steinbeck had decided at the age of 14 to become an writer, often locking himself in his bedroom to write poems and

John only signed on four courses that interested him: classical and British literature, creative writing, and a science course. "The president of the English club said that Steinbeck, who regularly attended meetings to read his stories out loud" (anb.org). Steinbeck was a writer, but he was that and nothing else. After two years, he withdrew from the university. "During the following two years, he worked on a ranch south of salinas before returning to Stanford" (novels for students). When not at school he worked as a laborer in the beet and barley fields of salinas, an experience that he would write years later Of Mice and Men. "He drifted in an out of school; eventually, dropping out for good without degree" (biography.com). Steinbeck left Stanford for good in