The American Dream, The Great Depression, & Regionalism in Literature

Of Mice and Men

Obama’s speech• If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place

where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference. It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled -- Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America. It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

Obama speech

The American dream is…

• The American Dream is the……… in the ……….. that allows all ………….and residents of the United States to pursue their ……… in life through …… ……. and ……….. to have a better life. …………… can live the American dream

belief

freedom

citizens

goals

hard work

bravery

Anyone

USA and Britain 2008- The Credit Crunch

A credit crunch is what happens when banks start hoarding cash like it is going out of fashion. If the supply of loans evaporates, the economic outlook quickly becomes soggier than a day-old bowl of Chex cereal.

The Great Depression

• The Great Depression of 1929 was a worldwide depression that lasted for 10 years. It started with “Black Thursday”, October 24, 1929, when 12.9 million shares of stock were sold in one day, triple the normal amount. Causing a stock market crash.

• By 1933, the height of the depression, unemployment had risen from 3% to 25% of the nation’s workforce.

Dorothea Lange’s famous photo, Migrant Mother.

How did this affect people?• The depression caused many

farmers to lose their farms. At the same time, years of erosion and a drought created the ‘Dust bowl’ in the mid-west where no crops could grow. Thousands of these farmers and other unemployed workers travelled to California to find work. Many ended up living as homeless ‘hobos’ or in shantytowns called ‘Hoovervilles’, name after the president Herbert Hoover.

Regionalism ~ 1865-1895

…focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region

Regionalism in Literature

According to the Oxford Companion to American Literature, regionalism has a “dual influence of romanticism and realism, since the author frequently looks away from ordinary life to distant lands, strange customs, or exotic scenes, but retains through minute detail a sense of fidelity and accuracy of description" (439). Its weaknesses may include nostalgia or sentimentality.

Definition:

Setting The emphasis is

frequently on nature and the limitations it imposes; settings are frequently remote and inaccessible.

The setting is integral to the story and may sometimes become a character in itself.

Characters

Local color stories tend to be concerned with the character of the district or region rather than with the individual:

- may become character types, sometimes quaint or stereotypical.

The characters are marked by:

- Adherence to the old ways- Dialect- particular personality traits central to

the region

- heroines are often unmarried women or young girls.

Narrator

• The narrator is typically an educated observer from the world beyond who learns something from the characters while preserving a sometimes sympathetic, sometimes ironic distance from them.

• The narrator serves as mediator between the rural folk of the tale and the urban audience to whom the tale is directed.

THEMES• Share an antipathy to

change and a certain degree of nostalgia for an always-past golden age.

• A celebration of community and acceptance in the face of adversity characterizes local color fiction.

Thematic tension or conflict between urban ways and old-fashioned rural values is often symbolized by the intrusion of an outsider or interloper who seeks something from the community.

Works Cited

• http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/lcolor.html

• Oxford Companion to American Literature