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The reading assignment is to read pages 1-38 in A Long Walk to Water (I'll send you some information about the background for the book because it's based on a true story.)

The writing assignment is to understand the characteristics typical of naturalism in fiction (listed below) and explain why those who write about Of Mice and Men consider it a clear example of naturalist fiction. You'll need to pick at list two characteristics from the list below:


Naturalism is a kind of literature that was popular in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth. It has some or all of these characteristics:

(1) The world surrounding the characters is portrayed in great detail. The author doesn't just say, James walked by a number of big, old buildings. Instead the author says something like "James walked by huge, damaged and broken buildings that cast their crooked shadows wherever he stepped and seemed to follow him everywhere. "

This first characteristic is especially true of the settings in novels where the characters live close to nature as Lennie and George do, and here is just one example where Steinbeck spends a lot of time making readers "see" the setting he has in mind.

"Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones. (I particularly like this simile) And then from the direction of the state highway came the sound of footsteps on crisp sycamore leaves. The rabbits hurried noiselessly for cover. A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded (note how the verb helps you feel the movement) down river. For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool."


(2) The natural world is shown to be very powerful, and the author suggests that only the strongest, mentally and/or physically, can survive in it. (See the opening paragraph on page 99 starting "A water snake....")

(3) The characters are often poor and struggling to change their lives, and for a brief time they appear able to change both their character and/or the world they live in.

(4) The world, whether it's the city or nature, always wins out, and the character struggling to escape gets beaten down in some way or else dies. There are no happy endings in naturalist fiction.

Finding an introduction for this assignment will be the hardest part. And while I'd like you to come up with your own introduction, here is a model if you need it, "Critics discussing John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men are likely to call it an example of naturalist fiction, and for good reason. Signs of the naturalist writer's perspective (point of view) on life are everywhere. For instance...."

This is not an easy assignment, but do give it a try. You will do better than you think.

** I still have to send you the source of the title Of Mice and Men. I won't forget.

Last edited by Laraine
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Here is Alice's response:

Critics discussing John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men are likely to call it an example of naturalist fiction, and for good reason.Signs of the naturalist writer's perspective on life are everywhere. For instance, “Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves...”to“…For a moment the place was lifeless, and then two men emerged from the path and came into the opening by the green pool.”has a series of great verbs, such as “hurried”,“labored up”, “pounded”,“emerged”. With the environmental description, it brings out the atmosphere of the scene, and may let readers to guess what will happen next.

Yes, Alice, you are right, descriptions of nature are present throughout Steinbeck's novel, and they do create "atmosphere."  I'm impressed that you used "atmosphere" in the sense of mood or feeling in a scene. That's exactly how the word is used in writing about literature.  I'll follow up this response with an e-mail as well. 

In the book Of Mice and Men, the book seems tell the bad circumstances of the people who live in the bottom of the society. Lennie, who was a perfect example of the people live in the underclass. Lennie is simple-minded limbs developed. He only believes what George said. And this may point out that Lennie would never go to the top of the society. Even George try to change Lennie, but he doesn’t change. George and Lennie want a place to live and settle in, but in the 1930 s in America, their dream will never come true. I think this is the point of John Steinbeck’s naturalism. Steinbeck’s naturalism is tell the truth.

I think John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is a clear example of naturalist fiction. In naturalist fiction, the authors don't make the story have many changes. The stories are straightness. Of Mice and Men is just like that, the plot didn't change hard or change many times, it just went straight on. Also, the novel didn't have a happy ending. That may make the readers feel not so happy but it's more like the real world. And naturalist fiction is just like this. So I think that this book is a clear example of naturalist fiction.

  In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the writer showed a good example of naturalism. Lennie, the main character, was a big guy but couldn’t control his strength and was blunt. He didn’t fit in this world because he could not solve the problems whether he did or came to him. In the story, he almost got caught at Weed because of his bad action. Though he thought he was only touching the soft dress gently, in other people’s eyes, he was hurting the girl. Poor Lennie, he didn’t mean to hurt anyone but got blame and maybe would get kill if he got caught. He was just like a man with a mean face but tried to make friends with others. People didn’t notice his kind intention but only saw his mean-looking face and was scared of it. If he wanted to help an old woman carry heavy things, he would just do that without saying any words. Unfortunately, the woman would call the police instantly because she would think he was robbing her. Everything he did had been understood as hurting. He didn’t fit this world because he was so simple and did everything without thinking. In this cruel world, only the ones who fit could survive, so you needed to try your best to learn everything that would help you!

 

@Cindy, Wow! This is fabulous! ! And you got that right about the people described being  from the "underclass." That is very typical of naturalism in fiction. This sentence is just lovely: "George and Lennie want a place to live and settle in, but in the 1930 s in America, their dream will never come true." You really nailed (idiom meaning "completed  with great skill") this assignment.  And it was not easy. 

@Mark, Yes you are right that naturalist fiction doesn't have a lot of twists and turns. The characters tend to move in a straight line toward their doom. And right again, happy endings are not typical of naturalist fiction. Quite the contrary. This is a nice clear statement for the reader:" I think John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is a clear example of naturalist fiction. " Even better, it's followed by an example of why you make that statement. Nice work. 

@ Alfonso   Good, clear opening statement, and you certainly make your case for Lennie being the kind of character who can't help himself, which is very typical for the characters in a naturalist piece of fiction.  There is some very nice writing in this assignment, for instance: "Though he thought he was only touching the soft dress gently, in other people’s eyes, he was hurting the girl." You also did a nice job using repetition with variation to make  connections between sentences:

He didn’t fit this world because he was so simple and did everything without thinking. In this cruelworld, only the ones who fit could survive, so you needed to try your best to learn everything that would help you!"

I'll send you an e-mail as well. 

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