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English Literature
Of Mice and Men
Context

To understand the context [context: The social, political and historical circumstances
surrounding a text
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John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902
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He used his
experiences as material for his writing
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Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize
[Nobel Prize: The prizes for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Peace, Literature and
Economics are named after Alfred Nobel, a Swede, who left money and instructions for this in
his will
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The Depression
On October 29 1929, millions of dollars were wiped out in an event that became known as the
Wall Street Crash
...
People lost their life savings when firms and banks went bust, and 12 - 15 million men
and women - one third of America's population - were unemployed
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Some ended up in settlements called 'Hoovervilles' (after the US president of the
time, Herbert C Hoover), in shanties made from old packing cases and corrugated iron
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Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits,
Gee we looked swell,
Full of Yankee Doodle-de-dum
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Say, don't you remember, they called me Al,
It was Al all the time
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A series of droughts in southern
mid-western states like Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas led to failed harvests and dried-up land
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Many economic migrants headed west to 'Golden' California, thinking there would be land
going spare, but the Californians turned many back, fearing they would be over-run
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Ranch hands
Against this background, ranch hands like George and Lennie were lucky to have work
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Think about how the men agree to hush-up the fight between Curley and Lennie and claim that
Curley got his hand caught in a machine: they know that Lennie and George would be fired if
the boss came to hear of it, and then Lennie and George could be left with nothing

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