1. Look up the word context in the dictionary: what does it mean?
Of Mice and Men
Look up the word context in the dictionary: what does it mean?

2. Of Mice and Men: Context
Learning Objective:
To understand the social and historical context of the book
Learning Outcomes:
C+/B-: identify important events from history and Steinbeck’s life
B+/A-: say how events from history and Steinbeck’s life influenced his writing
A+/A*: use your learning of social and historical context to speculate on Steinbeck’s purpose, opinions an characters

3. The title…
Steinbeck took the title of the book from a poem, written by Scottish poet Robert Burns.
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft agley”
“Even the most well prepared plans of all creatures
Often go awry”
The title should be a clue to the reader that this book is not one of hope or happy endings.

4. C+/B-: identify important events from history and Steinbeck’s life
So why the misery?
What lead Steinbeck to write a book about hopelessness and the futility of plans and dreams?
Watch these two video clips and make notes on two things:
Steinbeck’s own life and personal circumstances and experiences
The state of the country.
C+/B-: identify important events from history and Steinbeck’s life

5. Check your understanding:
Complete the following sentences:
1930s America was a time of…
Steinbeck felt…
The reasons he wrote the book were…
B+/A-: say how events from history and Steinbeck’s life influenced his writing
A+/A*: use your learning of social and historical context to speculate on Steinbeck’s purpose, opinions an characters

6. Speculate: a higher order thinking skill
Complete the character sheet.
On it, there are brief outlines of some of the important characters from the book.
See if you can make some speculations about what or who they could represent, bearing in mind your learning about the social and historical context of the book.
A+/A*: use your learning of social and historical context to speculate on Steinbeck’s purpose, opinions an characters