Steinbeck

Dust Bowl

Thirties prairie ecological collapse

• OkiesDust Bowl refugees, informally
• migrant workersPeople moving for jobs
• HoovervillesDepression-era homeless encampments
• breadlinesQueues for free food

foreclosure · drought · migration · poverty · unemployment · Route 66 · jalopy · tenant farmers

inequality

Unequal distribution of resources

• povertySevere lack of resources
• dignityInnate personal worth
• migrant workersPeople moving for jobs
• laborStrenuous effort; also childbirth

class struggle · American Dream · loneliness · brotherhood · oppression · exploitation · solidarity · survival

Salinas

Central California agricultural city

• MontereyCentral California coastal city
• Cannery RowFish processing district
• Carmel-by-the-SeaTiny Monterey Peninsula village
• Big SurCalifornia coastal region

San Joaquin Valley · agriculture · lettuce · ranches · paisanos · Tortilla Flat · sardines · tide pools

realism

Accepting things as they are

• naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
• social commentaryAnalysis of societal conditions
• vernacularEveryday regional speech
• dialogueSpoken exchange between parties

regionalism · allegory · symbolism · panoramic · episodic · documentary · empathy · observation

Grapes of Wrath

Depression-era migrant novel

• East of EdenNovel about sibling rivalry
• Cannery RowFish processing district
• Tortilla FlatMonterey district of laborers
• The PearlNacre-coated irritant growth

laureate

Celebrated achievement recipient

• StockholmSweden's seat of government
• 1962Four-digit date
• acceptance speechRemarks after winning
• banquetFormal celebratory meal

medal · recognition · legacy · honor · achievement · controversy · Hemingway · Faulkner