Take free form notes. For each of the slides with pictures, write 3-5 words that come to mind when you see the picture. At the end of your notes, predict what you think Of Mice and Men will be about.

The Great Depression

The Great Depression and Farming

• Recession from the World War I drops the market price of goods so farmers have to produce more to avoid losing profit

• To meet the demand, farmers buy more land and invest in expensive agricultural equipment– Debt

• Stock Market crash (1929) => banks close• banks collect debts => farmers lose property• farms close => displaced workers

The Great Depression and Farming

• Seven year drought hits the Great Plains (1931)– Increased farming leads to erosion of soil– Grasslands => Deserts– Dust Bowl

• Hundreds of farmers from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and other states pack up and head to California

• Known as “Okies” since about 20% came from Oklahoma• Met With:

– Poor conditions– scorn from Californians– Displacement – mental, physical, emotional

Steinbeck and the Great Depression

• Born in Salinas, California in 1902• Worked as a hired hand on a ranch during

the summers– Left a deep impression– Many of his novels deal with the plight of

wanderers in search of the California “promised land”

• Wrote Of Mice and Men in 1937