During our introductory lesson to our next novel, "Of Mice and Men", we read material I distributed on "The American Dream" and "The Great Depression". We discussed that while for some the American Dream means material prosperity , conceptually, the notion captures the ideal that anyone who works hard enough can achieve his personal goals ,whether they be financial or otherwise. We analyzed how the Great Depression shattered many people's belief in the achievability of the American Dream . We then viewed a short biographical video about John Steinbeck and his writings. Last, I displayed numerous historical photographs of life during the Depression taken by famed Depression photographer Dorthea Lange. We studied the iconic photo, "migrant mother", as well as photographs of rural poverty , and urban soup kitchens and bread lines. For homework ,read chapter 1 and answer assigned questions.