Of Mice and Men Webquest

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 his social conscience about the period. Of Mice and Men is a novel about poverty and dreams, friendship and loneliness, and despair and hope. Through the memorable characters of George and Lennie, Steinbeck paints a portrait of enduring friendship that you won't soon forget. In order to help you to understand the context of the novel and how it still resonates today, you are about to embark on a Webquest that will lay the ground work for a deeper understanding of this simple, yet profound story.

With a partner, answer the following questions by using the links below.

Jot down the statistics from the video: http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_GreatDepression.shtml

What were the years of the great depression?

How many banks went out of business?

How many savings accounts vanished?

How many business went bankrupt?

How many people were without jobs?

How many farms were repossessed?

What was the admissions to state mental hospitals?

How many school closed?

How many men were homeless?

At what rate did suicides go up?

1. What are the geographical features of the Salinas valley in California?

2. What kinds of jobs are available here?

3. What was John Steinbeck’s relationship to the Salinas Valley?

4. Describe some of Steinbeck’s work as an author.

5. Give some information about John Steinbeck.

6. What was the Great Depression? Describe.

7. What were some of the effects of the Great Depression?

8. What were some of the causes?

9. What is something interesting you found out about the great depression that you didn’t know before?

10. Who were the migrant workers and 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. What are some of the difficulties in caring for a mentally disabled person?

16. What is the role of friendship in caring for the mentally disabled?

17. What is a mental disability and how does it affect a person's everyday life?

18. What are some of the difficulties in caring for a mentally disabled person?

19. A visual representation (picture, collage…etc…) of Steinbeck’s 1930’s. Need to do this on photostory. Include 20 images and a song.

Links:

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/depression.htm

http://www.hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/Hooverstory/gallery06/gallery06.html

http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression

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.steinbeck.org/MainFrame.html

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/johnstei.htm

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html

http://www.salinas.com/

http://www.steinbeck.org/SSalinas.html