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Analysis Of John Steinbeck 's ' Of Mice And Men '

Decent Essays

Title: Of Mice and Men
1. Significance of Title: The title, “Of Mice and Men” comes from a phrase in the poem To a Mouse On Turning up in Her Nest with the Plough by Robert Burns. The second to last stanza contains the line, “the best schemes o’ Mice an’ Men/ Gang aft agley” contains the phrase John Steinbeck based the title for the novel. The poem is similar to the book in that George, Lennie, and the mouse all have a goal that involves months of dedicated work. However, the plough and sudden death of Curley’s wife both bring a sudden end to their dreams. Both disasters were unprecedented, but caused by the fact that George, Lennie, and the Mouse were torn apart by their weaknesses.
2. Genre: Of Mice and Men is a novella; or a long, short-story, that is a prose, fictional narrative.
3. Date of Publication: Of Mice and Men was published in 1937.
4. Author: John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men.
5. Setting: Of Mice and Men takes place in the 1930’s during the Great Depression in the Los Gatos Ranch and Pacific Grove of Northern California.
6. Importance of the Setting: The time period John Steinbeck wrote the novel reflects the lifestyle of the nomadic man looking for work during the Great Depression. This choice of timeframe shows the hardships and the ‘live or die’ mindset of a man with a low paying job during such a time. Steinbeck himself was born in Salinas, California which is in a similar area to where the setting of the story takes place and also worked as a

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