The Worth of a Worker: Of Mice and Men
Steinbeck's novella of two ranch hands and a shared dream, read beside this fall's court fight over what farmworkers are paid. Five seminars over two to three weeks.
George and Lennie work for wages someone else sets, and the ranch measures a man by what he can do today. Your student reads John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella chapter by chapter and asks what a worker is worth, and who decides. Then the student sets the book beside a federal court case this fall over how farmworkers’ minimum wages are set.
The packet can stand on its own or take the place of the A Farewell to Arms unit, for the same Classic Literature credit.
What’s inside
- Five seminars over two to three weeks, each a 60- to 75-minute discussion and writing session.
- Readings: the novella (buy or borrow any unabridged edition), the court’s order, Labor Department notices and data, and Robert Burns’s poem “To a Mouse.”
- A content preview and a note on the ending, so you can decide how to handle Chapters 5–6.
- High school writing task: a 700- to 900-word argument essay, with two prompts and a 20-point rubric.
- A grades 7–8 chapter path: five 40- to 50-minute sessions with Dorothea Lange’s photographs, a reading notebook and a one-page scene.
- A word bank and a portfolio record.
Grades and standards
Grades 9–12, with a grades 7–8 chapter path. West Virginia standards: ELA.9.1, ELA.10.1, ELA.9.2, ELA.10.2, ELA.9.3, ELA.9.8, ELA.9.15, ELA.9.16, ELA.9.20, ELA.9.30, ELA.11.14, ELA.7.2, ELA.8.2, ELA.7.3, ELA.8.3, ELA.7.14, ELA.8.22.
Instant PDF download, $49. Included with a Pharos Terminal subscription, or $49 each.