... story of Saint Nicholas tells us how he would go to all the homes of the poor and leave them food and clothing while they were asleep at night. When they would wake in the morning, they would find his gifts. Uncle John does much of the same thing. After his wife died, he ... went to town as seldom as possible. However, at nighttime when everyone was asleep he would go into people's houses and leave a small gift such as a pack of gum for every person in the family. The night before leaving on the trek to California, the Joad family along with Jim Casey reminded me much of ... the prayer ...

• Word Count: 648
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... come to life, but also tell intriguing stories of the lives of real people. Steinbeck's characters are not the rich men and women of California's boom days, but are the homeless, the migrant workers, the poor fishermen, and the farmers. However, each of these people has a deceptively simple, but important story ... want you to come right here and hide in the brush". From the beginning it is obvious to the reader it will not be long before Lennie gets into trouble again. Lennie is doomed to kill Curley's wife from the beginning. The never-quite-realized, too often-shattered-dreams of men...

• Word Count: 4593
• Approx Pages: 18
• Grade Level: High School

... comment to Lennie: "A guy needs somebody--to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick" (Steinbeck 72-73). Crooks' openness of his inner self and his ability ... to George and Lennie for free, just to escape his loneliness. Crooks is not successful in overcoming his loneliness because Lennie dies in a matter of days and no white man in his right mind would care to step foot in Crooks' humble abode. Moreover, Curley's wife also suffers from this great ... is eviden...

• Word Count: 1237
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School