Bio-facts :
Fall 2008 D. Vega, South Western High School Bio-facts Born in Salinas, CA
February 27, 1902
Died in New York City
December 20, 1968
Heart disease/attack Source: Literary Maps of the USA, found at www.swisseduc.ch
Education :
Fall 2008 D. Vega, South Western High School Education Attended Stanford University
Wrote for Literary Magazine, The Stanford Spectator
Received no degree Photos: Douglas Stebila
Influential Job Experiences :
Fall 2008 D. Vega, South Western High School Influential Job Experiences Road gang laborer
Construction worker in NY (worked on Madison Square Garden project)
Fruit picker/hired ranch hand
Reporter for defunct New York American newspaper
World War II correspondent for New York Heralk Tribune
Propagandist for American during WWII
Awards :
Fall 2008 D. Vega, South Western High School Awards Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Award (1940)
Nobel Prize in Literature (1962) Photo: Nobel Foundation
Literary Focus & Style :
Fall 2008 D. Vega, South Western High School Literary Focus & Style Modern realist/naturalist (depicts life as it is, without coloration, exaggeration, or romantic notions)
Sets works in (or on route to) California
Focuses on the plight of the common man (farmers, laborers)
Frames most works around themes of poverty, desperation, social injustice, and brotherhood
Literary Milestones :
Fall 2008 D. Vega, South Western High School Literary Milestones Cup of Gold (1929 - first novel)
Tortilla Flat (1935 - first novel about Mexican-Americans)
Of Mice & Men (1937 - first novel about the harsh lives of migrant workers; first to address mental retardation; adapted for the stage)
The Grapes of Wrath (1939 - considered Steinbeck’s masterpiece; addresses the hardships of dispossessed migrant farmers during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl)