1. Of Mice and Men: Setting
Michell, Grace, Jo, Conor, Danae

2. What are the settings of this novel and how are they described?
Salinas Valley in California
Peaceful
Oddly calm
Weed, California
stressful
Their dream farm
Pleasant
Hopeful

3. What is the relationship between the settings and the chapters and how does the setting at the end differ from the same setting at the beginning?
Setting described at the beginning of each chapter.
Chapter One:
“On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them” (Steinbeck 1).
Chapter Two:
“Inside, the walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted […] In the middle of the room stood a big square table littered with playing cards, and around it were grouped boxes for the players to sit on” (17).
Chapter Six:
“The sycamore leaves turned up their silver sides, the brown, dry leaves on the ground scudded a few feet” (99).
Chapter one provides numerous examples of nature flourishing
Chapter two describes the uniformity of the bunkhouse
Chapter six describes the same setting as chapter one, but with the focus on the more gloomy parts of the area

4. What is the larger setting and how does it affect the story?
1930s during the Great Depression
Hard to find jobs
Everyone for themselves
Everyone has dreams
California
Good farming land
The Gold Rush

5. Relation to Theme Theme: Relation:
Though some dreams cannot be practically attained, they can stand as a motivator to fuel one’s drive.
Relation:
Most people have a desire to control their lives. With George and Lennie’s job on the ranch, they have to work in a controlled environment. They dream of being self-sustainable, however, the uniformity in their housing parallels their failures in achieving that dream.
George recants their dream of owning a farm to Lennie multiple times throughout the novel which keeps Lennie focused.