1. John Steinbeck
By: Jillian Hourihan

2. Background Born Salinas, California on February 27, 1902.
Died on December 20, in New York.
Has Irish and German Ancestry
He was the third of four children and the only boy.
He graduated from high school in and went to Stanford University.

3. Background His father was a book keeper and accountant.
His mother worked as a school teacher.
He got his love of literature from his mother.
He worked as a laboratory assistant and farm laborer to support himself when he was going though college.

4. Education
At Stanford he was originally an English Major but he rarely came to class.
When he was in college he only took classes that interested him not what he needed to get a degree.
In 1925, Steinbeck left Stanford to pursue his Writing career in New York but returned to California after not get any of his works published.
He never Graduated.

5. After College
Steinbeck took a freighter, that carried inventory, though the panama canal to get to New York.
When he got to New York he worked as a reporter and part of a construction crew.

6. Personal life Steinbeck was married three times.
He had two sons. Thomas and John from second marriage.
He was cremated and buried in Salinas, California.

7. Published Works Cup of Gold published 1929 The Pastures of Heaven
To a God Unknown
Tortilla Flat published 1935
In Dubious Battle published in 1936
Of Mice and Men published 1937
The Long Valley published 1938
Cannery Row
The Grapes of Wrath published 1939
Once There Was a War
East of Eden published 1952
The Winter of Our Discontent published in 1961
Travels with Charley published in 1962

8. Pulitzer Prize
The Grapes of Wrath received the Pulitzer Prize in 1940.

9. Nobel Prize Was awarded the Nobel prize in 1962
Steinbeck received the Nobel prize in literature for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception.

10. Style of Writing
Many of Steinbeck’s novels were classified social novels that talked about the economic problems with rural labor.
Many of his writings have also been called a curious blend of scientific determinism, romantic mysticism, and a rudimentary, type of symbolism.

11. First Novel
The first novel that Steinbeck ever published was Cup of Gold in 1929, but it did not attract much attention.
His next two books were The pastures of Heaven and To a God Unknown who were also poorly received.

12. Of Mice and Men
Mice and Men was about two migrant workers that were working to buy their own farm.
This was made into a stage production but Steinbeck never saw it because he said that the play in his head was perfect and anything else would be a disappointment.
There are also three major movies made from this story.

13. Best Work
While Steinbeck did write a few novels that were well liked, his most famous writing was The Grapes of Wrath.

14. The Grapes of Wrath
This story was written in the center of the Great Depression, which serves as the base line for this story.
One of the major factors that contributed to the Great Depression was the drought in Oklahoma, which sent many farmers to seek work in the city.

15. The Turtle Excerpt
Now the going was easy, and all the legs worked, and the shell boosted along, waggling from side to side. A sedan driven by a forty-year-old woman approached. She saw the turtle and swung to the right, off the highway, the wheels screamed and a cloud of dust boiled up Two wheels lifted for a moment and then settled The car skidded back onto the road, and went on, but more slowly. The turtle had jerked into its shell, but now it hurried on, for the highway was burning hot.

16. The Turtle Excerpt
And now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw the turtle and swerved to hit it. His front wheel struck the edge of the shell, flipped the turtle like a tiddly-wink, spun it like a coin, and rolled it off the highway. The truck went back to its course along the right side. Lying on its back, the turtle was tight in its shell for a long time. But at last its legs waved in the air, reaching for something to pull it over Its front foot caught a piece of quartz and little by little the shell pulled over and flopped upright.

17. The Turtle Excerpt
The wild oat head fell out and three of the spearhead seeds stuck in the ground. And as the turtle crawled on down the embankment, its shell dragged dirt over the seeds. The turtle entered a dust road and jerked itself along, drawing a wavy shallow trench in the dust with its shell. The old humorous eyes looked ahead, and the horny beak opened a little. His yellow toe nails slipped a fraction in the dust.

18. Symbolism
The symbolism of the sedan moving out of the way of the turtle was that there are people out in the world that will look out for you. Truck shows that there are people out in the world that will go out of their way to try and destroy you and will do it without a second glance.

19. Symbolism cont…
The symbolism of the turtle flipping himself over is, that when you get into a hard place you have to just pick yourself up and continue on your way because you can always go forward but you can never go backwards.

20. Who he was influenced by…
The biggest influence for John Steinbeck turned out to be Malory's Morte d'Arthur, a book that he received when he was nine years old.
Most people now know the story are the one of Arthur and the sword in the stone.

21. What/Who Steinbeck Influences
Steinbeck started a movement of what is called proletarian novels.
Steinbeck was also a very important spokes person for the victims of The Great Depression

22. Inspiration
Many of Steinbeck’s writings had his hometown setting of Monterey County, California
The rich immigrant history of Salinas Valley is reflected in the regionalist flavor that many of his works have.
Many of his characters were inspired by people that he know and had close friendships with.

23. Motivation
Steinbeck used many of his works to raise the issues with labor exploits and the plight of the common man.

24. World War II
Steinbeck served as a foreign correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune. Some of his dispatches were later collected and made into Once There Was a War.

25. Cited Sources