as it turns out...
The AP Language and Composition test that you will take in the 11th grade will center on approximately 60% non-fiction works, leaving the rest to poetry and literature, all with an emphasis on writing. With this in mind, I've chosen Of Mice and Men for you to read now, although it's really an 11th year book. Next week, once we've finished (yes, finally) Lord of the Flies, you will be issued either Ayn Rand's Anthem or Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, two very different novels with very diverse settings, still with a theme of survival. Half the class will read one of the novels and then in two weeks we will switch. Indeed, you're on your own with this one, actually reading on your own both novels in their entirety. Not to worry, neither is much more than a hundred pages. Check back to this site often for hints, prompts and assignments on each of the novels.

These images are of "Hoovervilles" or shantytowns during the 1930s.
Following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Americans found themselves leaving their homes, living in cardboard shacks, effectively creating a massive society of drifters, the homeless and the distraught. Disentary and lice were rampant. Medical attention was far and inbetween. When Bing Crosby recorded "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" in 1932, the unemployment rate in America topped 30% (it is now less than 5). Since no one was purchasing records but movie stars and the Rockefellers, Bing's record is the #1 smash hit of the day, while selling less than 10,000 copies. The song has been recorded countless times, most recently by George Michael in 1999. It most certainly cannot have the impact that it did as it went out over the airwaves in '32, so we're forced to merely imagine the destitute aura of the times.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime

They used to tell me
I was building a dream.
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow
Or guns to bear
I was always there
Right on the job.
They used to tell me
I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead.
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad
I made it run
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad
Now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime.
Once I built a tower,
Now it's done.
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits
Gee we looked swell
Full of that yankee doodle dee dum.
Half a million boots went sloggin' through hell
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say don't you remember?
They called me Al.
It was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember?
I'm your pal.
Say buddy, can you spare a dime?

Once in khaki suits,
Ah, gee we looked swell
Full of that yankee doodle dee dum!
Half a million boots went sloggin' through hell
And I was the kid with the drum!
Oh, say don't you remember?
They called me Al.
It was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember?
I'm your pal.
Buddy, can you spare a dime?

If you will, imagine living in an age when shelter was a luxury, when you weren't sure where your next meal would come from, when you'd have to borrow a dime to get by, and then you'll understand the world of Of Mice and Men. In 12th we'll tackle The Grapes of Wrath and really immerse ourselves in mankind's struggle with hardship, and his ability to perservere, but for right now, prepare for a thoroughly readable, yet tragic novel of America in the 30s.