Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men Research Pathfinder
PNP329406 A Farm in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, during the Dust Bowl Period, 1936 (b/w photo) by Rothstein, Arthur (1915-85); black and white photograph; Private Collection; (add. info.: The Dust Bowl, or the dirty thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936 (in some areas until 1940), caused by severe drought coupled with decades of extensive farming without crop rotation or other techniques to prevent erosion); Peter Newark American Pictures; American, in copyright until 2056
Research Steps for this Pathfinder
Essential Question: What is the American Dream? How has it changed?
This Web page has been designed to assist students in understanding:
What ties individuals together? Is it necessary to be a part of a community?
How necessary is camaraderie or companionship?
How are people thrust into responsibility?
Do we have obligations to care for other individuals?
How is our identity shaped or reinforced by the community that surrounds us?
Upon the completion of Of Mice and Men, research the Dust Bowl era. Focus on how the trials and tribulations of this time period affect the American migrant worker. Students will create a research paper that explains what they have learned about this time period.
Step #1: Find in-depth information from books and ebooks owned by the library by searching in the electronic catalog:
Although the librarian may provide a reserved cart of books for your class’s project, you may want to use the electronic catalog to find a book that is about your specific topic. Type the topic word(s) in the search box and click on ‘subjects.’ If you don’t get any or enough hits, branch out to wider search terms. Use all the information you gained in your initial reading to make a list of relevant search terms and synonyms! THlNK! How can I ask for this information?
Call Number for this topic: 973, 978
Step #2: Find more current or specific information, including magazine articles, in the Library’s databases.
Databases are search engines like Google, but they search a database of journal articles or essays to which the Library has subscribed. These journal articles are not otherwise available on websites. You often can obtain full-text articles and graphic media, which can be printed from the site. These databases are also available from home.
School Databases are accessed from the library homepage.
Note: If you try it from home, you will need the Library’s list of user names and passwords to access the databases.
School databases useful for this project’s research are:
1. Student Resources in Context – You will find biographies, subject entries, primary sources, timelines, maps and charts.
3. Brittanica Encyclopedia Online. You will find essays, articles, maps, diagrams, graphics, charts, web sites, magazine articles.
4. Brittanica Image Quest- Millions of Rights Cleared Images
Step #3: Find Information on the Internet.
Although the librarian has reviewed these sites, you should always make sure you are getting reliable information by checking “Evaluation of Internet Sites“.
John Steinbeck- This web site on John Steinbeck is brought to you by the Monterey County Historical Society. There is a brief chronology of his life starting on February 27, 1902 when he was born in Salinas, California. A list of Steinbeck’s books is provided with the year they were published. Many of his books locations took place in Monterey County and Monterey Bay. There is a page dedicated to descriptions of those locations. You will also be able to view a picture of the home John Steinbeck was born in.
Library of Congress Collections
Bound for Glory: Color Images from the Great Depression.
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letter from Children of the Depression.
Migrant Labor Camp Photographs
National Steinbeck Center’s Homepage
Of Mice and Men Student Survival Guide
Video on the Dust Bowl from the History Channel
A Photo Essay on the Great Depression