FREE ESSAY ON STEINBECK

STEINBECK

Well in this short report on John Steinbeck I am about to include all of the work that I
have done in this class Including my full report on one of his books, a little background
on Mr. Steinbeck and many other things, All out of the mind and the computer of Jeremy
Slaven.
An American author and winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize for literature, John Ernst
Steinbeck, Jr., b. Salinas, Calif., Feb. 27, 1902, d. Dec. 20, 1968, based most of his
novels on the American experience, often with sympathetic focus on the poor, the
eccentric, or the dispossessed. Steinbeck grew up in Salinas Valley, a rich agricultural
area of Monterey County and the setting of many of his works, where he learned firsthand
of the difficulties of farm laborers. From 1919 to 1925 he studied intermittently at
Stanford University but did not receive a degree. His early novels (Cup of Gold, 1929;
The Pastures of Heaven, 1932; and To a God Unknown, 1933) aroused little public interest.
The latter novel, however, a mystical story of self-sacrifice, is one of Steinbeck's
strongest statements about the relationship between people and the land.
Steinbeck turned to filmmaking after the film success of The Grapes of Wrath. He wrote
impressive screenplays for the Mexican-based The Forgotten Village (1941) and Viva
Zapata! (1952), as well as film scripts for his stories The Red Pony (1938) and The Pearl
(1947). Another novel and play, The Moon Is Down (1942), about the German invasion of
Norway, won critical praise.
After World War II, in which he served as a war correspondent, Steinbeck wrote
increasingly about social outcasts. Cannery Row (1945) relates the story of a group of
vagabonds on the Monterey coast. The Wayward Bus (1947) presents a morality tale about
characters who supposedly represent middle-class society. Burning Bright (1950) preached
universal brotherhood but was largely unsuccessful.
Steinbeck devoted several years to his most ambitious project, East of Eden (1952; film,
1955), which paralleled the history of his mother's family and was an allegorical
modernization of the biblical story of Adam. Subsequent novels proved
anticlimactic--Sweet Thursday (1954), a sentimental sequel to Cannery Row; The Short
Reign of Pippin IV (1957), a burlesque; and The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), a
moralistic tale about a decaying Long Island seaport.
Steinbeck wrote popular sketches of his travels in Once There Was a War (1958), Travels
with Charley (1962), and America and Americans (1966). He spent many of his later years
writing a modern version of Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, which was published,
incomplete and posthumously, as The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (1976). He
has remained popular principally, however, for his compassionate portrayal of America's
forgotten poor.(griolers)
The works of Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by U.S. novelist John Steinbeck is one of the most powerful
chronicles in American literature of the Depression of the 1930s. It deals with the
Joads, a family that loses its farm through foreclosure and leaves the Oklahoma Dust Bowl
for California in the hope of finding work. The eldest generation has the comfort of
religion, the next one has a dogged perseverance, but the youngest has little to believe
in. Embittered by the brutal exploitation of migrant workers, Tom, who had been jailed
for murder and who later kills again, becomes a labor organizer. In this Pulitzer
Prize-winning (1940) novel, Steinbeck alternates his narrative with serious discussion of
the problems of migrant laborers.(Groliers)
Of Mice and Men (1937; film, 1939), a short novel by John Steinbeck set in Salinas,
Calif., has been called Steinbeck's most successful work. The novel deals with two
migrant workers: Lennie, a physically powerful but mentally retarded giant, and George,
his friend and protector. They share the dream of someday buying a farm together. The
dream is shattered when Lennie accidentally kills the wife of a rich farmer and is then
sought by a lynch mob. He and George tenderly recall their dream just before George
shoots Lennie to save him from the crueler death he will inevitably face at the hands of
the mob. The book established Steinbeck as a writer of distinction. It was made into a
play shortly after publication. These are just a few of his most well recognized works.
(Grolier's)
My report on of mice and men
The book that I have read that has really stayed with me is Of Mice and Men by John
Steinbeck. I really enjoyed reading it, which is unusual, because I usually don't enjoy
reading too much. There was something about George and Lenin's friendship that really
made me think. Seeing how they were and how they shared life was really interesting.
George didn't have to bother with Lenin, he could have
Abandoned him and gone on his own way. But he did not Do that, he stayed with Lennie
watching over him almost Like a parent to a child. 
Even though Lennie always got George in trouble, George never stooped loving him and
Always stood by him. 
The friendship they shared went Beyond what was transparent they each shared a dream and
both knew they meant the world to each other. I felt that if these totally different
people could get along and Look out for each other, why can't we get along with People
who are different than us. They made me realize that I could learn something from how to
treat people who are different than me? What I also liked about it was the Way they never
stopped trying to reach their dream. This Made me think that if they could work hard for
there Dream why can't I. It showed me that it does not matter Were you come from or what
you do, it is okay to dream And work as hard as you can to reach it. For all it shows
friendship and loyalty it also shows how sometimes you have to do things you never
thought you would do? For example in the end when George is forced to shoot Lenin In the
head you would never have thought he would do that, but you can see that under the
circumstances he had no other choice. He only had two choices let the other people get to
him first and watch them torture Lennie while he died a long horrible death or do it
himself and get It over quick was Lennie did not know what hit him. This Is also true in
life, many times we are faced with tuff Choices and even though they may be the hardest
you will Have to go through, you know that that is the only way. You come to the
realization that everything you thought You was about, can all change with a blink of the
eye.
My quotation from the book The Pearl 
All things are in gods hands
In my understanding all things good or bad , Happen to a variaty of people for all kinds
of reasons. When the peral was found everything went south.the death of his son theand
the guy that smacked down Keno.
Groliers new encylopidea
Benson, Jackson T., The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography (1990);
DeMott, R., ed., Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath (1989); Fensch,
Thomas, ed., Conversations with John Steinbeck (1988); Lisca, Peter, The Wide World of
John Steinbeck (1981); Noble, Donald R., ed., The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in
Criticism (1992); Owens, Louis, John Steinbeck's Re-Vision of America (1985); Parini,
Jay, John Steinbeck (1995); Steinbeck, Elaine, and Wallsten, Robert, eds., Steinbeck: A
Life in Letters (1975). Ditsky, J., Critical Essays on John Steinbeck's The Grapes of
Wrath (1989); Steinbeck, John, Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath, ed. by
R. DeMott (1989; repr. 1990).
Steinbeck, John. The pearl. New York Penguin Book Co, 1993
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men New York Penguin Book Co, 1993
Table of Contents
Chapter page
I. Intro 1
II. His background 1
III. His work 1
IV. My Report 2
V. My quotation 2
VI. Bibliography 3
John Steinbeck
(his Days)
Jeremy Slaven
ENG.10
March 19, 1999