Exploring the American Dream in 20th Century Literature

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

Writer’s Notebook: Journaling your definition of the “American Dream.”

▪ Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Rita Dove once said, “[t]he American Dream is a phrase we’ll have to wrestle with all our lives. It means a lot of things to different people. I think we’re redefining it now.”– FOR DISCUSSION:– Has anyone ever given you an explanation

of what the phrase means? If so, what was it? If not, how do you picture the American Dream?

– Do we all have the same idea of what the American Dream is?

– What might “the American Dream” be for an immigrant, a person living in poverty or a kid from a wealthy family?

Writer’s Notebook: Journaling your definition of “the American Dream.”

▪ In your notebook, list three goals or dreams you would like to accomplish before the age of thirty. Then, list three goals or dreams you would like to accomplish before you die.

▪ When you are finished listing these goals, explain which of the goals/dreams you have listed are most important and how you plan to fulfill those goals/dreams. How would you feel if you were unable to obtain those goals/dreams? What do your dreams say about you?

▪ Pick a partner and share your ideas.

Journal 18

▪ Write a Half-Page in your Journal about the following idea.

▪ The phrase “the American Dream” is curious. Does the American Dream mean the same thing to all people? The poor? The immigrant? The wealthy? Is the American Dream still alive today? Describe your vision of the American Dream or how other people like the ones above might define the American dream

Challenges to the American Dream

Poverty, Unemployment and Uncertainty during the Great Depression

The Great Depression, Black Tuesday and the Stock Market Crash of 1929

--Started with the catastrophic collapse of stock market prices on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929

--Most severe economic slump ever experienced in the industrialized Western world

--Lasted from 1929 to 1939

--Began in the United States but quickly spread throughout the entire world

James N. Rosenberg, Oct 29 Dies Irae ("Days of Wrath"), 1929

The Psychological Impact of the Crash--U.S. suicide rate increased steadily in the years following Black Tuesday (Galbraith, 1955)

--British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, visiting New York, was awakened the day after Black Tuesday by the noise of a crowd outside his hotel: "Under my very window a gentleman cast himself down fifteen stories and was dashed to pieces, causing a wild commotion and the arrival of the fire brigade.”

The Great Depression in Perspective

▪ By 1932, almost 15 million people were unemployed. (The population of Texas in 2013 was approximately 27 million.)

▪ By 1933, 11,000 out of 25,000 banks in the United States had failed. (There are currently 7,891 banks in the state of Texas.)

▪ By 1932, in New York City alone, over 750,000 people were receiving “welfare” from NYC. (In 2013, the city of Austin had a population of 885,400.)

▪ From 1929-1939, 60% of the US population, which was approximately 123 million, was considered poor by the federal government.

Popular Art During the Great DepressionDocumenting the Misery and Questioning the Dream

Nicolai Cikovsky, On the East River (c. 1934) William Gropper, The Coffee Pot (1932)

Reginald Marsh, Union Square (1933) Blanche Grambs, No Work (1935)

Bing Crosby’s “Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?”**

▪ They used to tell me I was building a dreamAnd so I followed the mobWhen there was earth to plow or guns to bearI was always there, right on the job

▪ They used to tell me I was building a dreamWith peace and glory aheadWhy should I be standing in lineJust waiting for bread?

▪ Once I built a railroad, I made it runMade it race against timeOnce I built a railroad, now it's doneBrother, can you spare a dime?

▪ Once I built a tower up to the sunBrick and rivet and limeOnce I built a tower, now it's doneBrother, can you spare a dime?

▪ Once in khaki suits, gee, we looked swellFull of that Yankee Doodly DumHalf a million boots went slogging through HellAnd I was the kid with the drum

▪ Say, don't you remember? They called me 'Al'It was 'Al' all the timeWhy don't you remember? I'm your palSay buddy, can you spare a dime?

**The most popular song during the Great Depression.

Rise in Escapism through Comic Strips

Challenges to the American Dream

Racism and Xenophobia: Symptomatic or Systematic?

Racism and Xenophobia (fear of foreigners, strangers, the unknown)

Symptomatic Argument:

• Racism and Xenophobia were just products of the times.

• People were unhappy because of poor conditions in their own lives, and this resulted in negative and fearful attitudes towards people of different race, ethnicity, and nation or origin.

Systematic Argument:

• Racism and Xenophobia were engrained in the American ethos and culture.

• These events only added to underlying fears of people of different race, ethnicity, or nation of origin. It was built into the morals of society at that time.

Resentment of "foreign" workers increases along with unemployment rolls. In Los Angeles, California, Mexican Americans are accused of stealing jobs from "real" Americans. During the month, 6,024 Mexican Americans are deported (PBS, 2014).

Louis Lozowick, Lynching (Lynch Law) (1936)

The Dust Bowl and the Migrant WorkerContext for Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother” photographed in a pea picker's camp in California in 1936. The family had just sold its tent in order to buy food. In 1939, there were 4 million migrant workers on the roads of America.

By 1940, 2.5 million people had fled the Great Plains to escape the devastation caused by the Dust Bowl storms. Roughly 200,000 moved to California.

Bindlestiffs—itinerant, migrant workers. Synonyms: hobo, bum

Bindle [Slang]—a bundle, as of bedding, carried by a hobo or migrant worker

“Watchin’ that Blackboard”

Employment agencies would post available jobs on a blackboard in front of their offices. Prospective employees would watch the blackboard for any new jobs.

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

-Written by Noble Prizing-winning author John Steinbeck in 1937 based on the author’s experiences as a “bindlestiff.”

-Chosen as a Book of the Month Club selection before it was even published.

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and MenThe story—technically, a novella—has been banned from various US public and school libraries or curricula for containing so-called "vulgar" and "offensive language“ and promoting controversial ideas.

Writer’s Notebook: Reading Notes for Chapter One in Of Mice and Men

▪ As you read Chapter One (pages 1-16), record your responses to the following questions in your Writer’s Notebook:

▪ 1. Generate a list of five words that describe Lenny and George (ten total). After making the list, choose the one word you think best describes each character (two total), then explain why you have chosen each word, using examples from the text to support and illustrate your idea.

▪ 2. Complete the following sentence: The relationship between George and Lenny is like . . . After you complete the sentence, explain why their relationship is like X, then provide examples to support and illustrate your idea. Explain how these examples relate to the main idea.

▪ 3. Speculate about what happened in Weed that caused Lenny and George to leave and predict what you think will happen in this story based on what happened before. List a few details on which you base your prediction.

Writer’s Notebook: Writing Prompt One—Setting Description (PART ONE)

▪ Good writing starts with examining a model of good writing. Review and analyze the following paragraph (next slide) from Chapter One to understand how Steinbeck creates vibrant imagery for his readers. Respond to the following questions in your Writer’s Notebook:– 1. Identify words/phrases that appeal to the sense of sight.– 2. Identify words/phrases that appeal to the sense of smell.– 3. Identify words/phrases that appeal to the sense of touch.– 4. Identify words/phrases that appeal to the sense of hearing.– 5. Identify words/phrases that appeal to feelings/atmosphere.– 6. Identify words/phrases that describe location.– 7. Look over the words you have identified in the previous section. What

do these words/phrases have in common? Are there any words that stand out as being distinctly different or unique? Are the words concrete or abstract? Explain how Steinbeck creates vivid imagery in these paragraphs.

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees- willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of 'coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.

There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water. In front of the low horizontal limb of a giant sycamore there is an ash pile made by many fires; the limb is worn smooth by men who have sat on it.

Writer’s Notebook: Writing Prompt One—Setting Description (PART TWO)

▪ Steinbeck is known for his vivid descriptive language. Your task is to write a descriptive paragraph based on a place. It can be real or a product of your imagination. Your paragraph must include the following:– IDENTIFICATION OF THE LOCATION▪ Specifically stated▪ Given through relationship to other places▪ Uses context clues to help build a visual

– SENSORY DESCRIPTION▪ Describes the sights, smells, feeling/atmosphere, sounds, and shapes/styles

– STYLE AND ORGANIZATION▪ There is clear organization in the paragraph evident through transitions and a

logical progression of thoughts▪ Correct sentence structure/grammar▪ Writing style is creative and unique▪ Sentence structure varies (use simple, compound and complex sentences)

Writer’s Notebook: Reading Notes for Chapter Two (pages 17-27) in Of Mice and Men

▪ 1. List three (3) qualities of a good friend. Write down the three adjectives. A good friend is _____________, ______________, and ______________.

▪ 2. Provide examples from the text for each of the qualities you have identified (write down the page number for each example).

▪ 3. What animal would you say Curley is most like? (Focus on pages 24-27.) Explain by including examples and quotations from the text to support and illustrate your point.

▪ 4. Last Six Weeks we studied foreshadowing. What event is foreshadowed on pages 26-27? What specific words support your prediction?

▪ 5. Based on the details Steinbeck uses to describe the bunkhouse (pages 17-19), how would you characterize the lives of the men who work on the ranch? Use specific words and explain why those are the right words to describe them.