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​ STEINBECK'S STYLE BY: VALERIE ANDREYKO​

A key part of an author’s identity is their style. No two people have the same style, part of the individuality they were born with. [|John Steinbeck] was an author whose books centered around social issues present during his time period (SIRS Discoverer). In order to show the seriousness of the issues, his style was based on simplicity. Three components of an author's style are format, sentence structure and word choice. John Steinbeck was an author with a unique technique, especially when it came to the layout of the chapters which were written in a play-like format. His sentence structure varied. During descriptions of scenes in the beginning of a chapter, the sentences were long and vivid but during the dialog, the sentences were shorter and the characters spoke very realistically. Last, his word choice correctly depicts the characters from their time period.

Writing in a play-like format creates stories that are simple and easy to follow. In a written play, a narrator describes the scene so the reader can grow a clear image of where the characters are. Steinbeck begins each chapter in the same way. In a few paragraphs, a very detailed and distinct picture is formed. Next, the characters are introduced. He rarely begins a chapter with a character speaking. In plays, the only way you get into a character's head is through their words. In fiction books, usually the author will have sentences describing what the character is feeling or thinking. Again, Steinbeck's style favors the play format. He's very descriptive with the scenery but he doesn't write the sentences that place you in the character's head and let you feel what they are thinking. In the case of //[|Of Mice and Men]//, John Steinbeck purposely wrote the story so it could be easily transferred over to make a play. (Critical Survey, //Of Mice 284//)

In the introduction of a new chapter, Steinbeck uses long, descriptive sentences. An example is "Over the hills there hung such a green odor that the horses on the flats galloped madly, and then stopped, wondering: lambs, and even old sheep, jumped in the air unexpectedly and landed on stiff legs, and went on eating; young clumsy calves butted their heads together and drew back and butted again." (Steinbeck, Red Pony 56-57) Steinbeck does not carry out this sentence structure for all parts of the story. When characters speak they speak in shorter sentences and are not expressive. Stienbeck's word choice reflects the time period the characters are from very realistically. Strong language, grammatically incorrect words, and simple words are spoken by the characters. The way the characters speak reflect the way Steinbeck wants them viewed. A conversation that shows this style is "You guys ever bucked any barley?" "Hell, yes," said George. "I ain't nothing to scream about, but that big bastard there can put up more grain alone than most pairs can." (Steinbeck, Of Mice 34)

John Steinbeck was a very influential author with a distinct style. Eloquent language and dramatic explanations of actions were not used. Instead, Steinbeck focused on the story at hand and presented it to the audience in a simple, focused style. He used a play format to organize sections, creating easy to follow stories. His sentence structure varied, fitting each part of the story perfectly. Long sentences for description, short sentences in dialog. His word choice was realistic for the characters he was portraying in all of his stories. John Steinbeck was, and continues to be, one of the greatest authors in American history.

SOURCES CITED Rollyson, Carl, ed. //Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Second Revised Edition.// Pasadena: Salem Press, 2000. Print.

"Of Mice and Men." //SIRS Discoverer//. Weekly Reader Corporation, 25 Aug. 2006. Web. 03 June 2010.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Red Pony.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes #|LLC. n.d.. Web. 2 Jun. 2010.

Steinbeck, John. //Of Mice and Men //. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.

Steinbeck, John. //The Red Pony//. New York: Penguin, 1992. Print.

IGNORE THIS MR.A IF YOU SEE THIS. DONT HAVE A FLASHDRIVE SO I NEED TO USE THIS TO TRANSFER WORK FROM HOME TO SCHOOL.. HA

It is no secret that there is much conflict in the Middle East. Most of this conflict is centered around the claim of Israel by the Jewish people and the Palestinians. After World War II and the destruction of many Jewish homes, places of worship, and lives, the United Nations (UN) gave the land to the Jews so they could live together in peace. This land is called the land of Israel and it holds holy places for the Jewish religion along with Muslim religions and is surrounded by Muslim countries. Palestinian Muslims lived on the land at the time the UN gave it to the Jewish people. Certain portions of Jerusalem, called East Jerusalem, controlled by Israel, are very important to Muslims and their beliefs. For religious reasons, Palestinian Muslims believe that they need to gain control of East Jerusalem and then there can be a peace settlement. Also, Palestinians see their situation as living in a nation, where invaders, the Israelis, have put them under military rule. To fight back, Palestinians have built terrorist organization to plan attacks against innocent Israeli citizens. Israelis think that they have to keep controlling Palestinians with the use of militia and force to protect themselves against the attacks. Palestinians have begun to feel like have no freedom because the Israelis control their water and stop them at checkpoints between cities. Because of this, many Palestinians have to get “permission” to go to work, get groceries and even visit their families. Israelis see the Palestinians militants as people who refuse to compromise. When peace negotiations looked like they were going well, there were terrorist attacks. Because of these attacks at such important times, the moderate Israeli government has been replaced by an extreme Israeli government. These leaders do not want peace because they do not feel secure enough to loosen their grip on the Palestinian terrorists. But where did all of this conflict really start? Why do Jewish people feel that the land is rightfully theirs and the Arabs in Syria and other Muslim states feel the same and how are each of these groups of people reacting to the other? These questions can be answered with nationality, religion, and opposing territorial threats. Nationality : Because Israel became a nation around 1300 BC, two thousand years ago, the people of modern day Israel share the same language and culture that has been passed through generations. It was created by the Jewish religion and heritage started by founding father Abraham. According to the Jews, since the Jewish seizure in 1272 BC, the Jews have had rule over the land for one thousand years and have been in the country for about 3,000 years. After the Romans finally overtook Jerusalem about 2,000 years ago, Jewish people were forced to leave the land and the land of Israel was taken over by the Romans, which are Islamic and Christians, the British Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. While not in the land, Jews had prayed to be able to return to the land of Jerusalem and finally, in the first half of the 20th century many Jews did return to their homeland from Arab countries and Europe. In 1948, Jews reclaimed their rule over their homeland and created the modern state of Israel. According to Jewish resources, “It was only after the Jews re-inhabited their historic homeland of Judea and Samaria, that the myth of a Palestinian nation was created and marketed worldwide. Jews come from Judea, not Palestinians. There is no language known as Palestinian, or any Palestinian culture distinct from that of all the Arabs in the area. There has never been a land known as Palestine governed by Palestinians. Palestinians are Arabs indistinguishable from Arabs throughout the Middle East. The great majority of Arabs in greater Palestine and Israel share the same culture, language and religion. The Arabs in the area began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel. Virtually all the Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza in the West Bank of Jordan River have complete autonomy under the rule of the Palestinian Authority.” (Israel Science and Technology Directory). Arabs are descendants of Ishmael, first-born son of Abraham, and believe Ishmael and his descendants were included in the covenant God made with Abraham. Since the Abrahamic covenant included the land of Israel, the Arabs believe that they have a legitimate claim to it as well. Religion : Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran once or in the Palestinian Covenant, but in the Jewish Bible it is mention over 669 times and Zion (typically meaning Jerusalem or Land of Israel) is mentioned 154 times to 823 times. The Christian Bible even mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. Even though the Jordanians occupied Israel from 1948 to 1967 they did not make Jerusalem their capital, or even try to, and the Arab leaders did not visit. Jerusalem has also never been any Arab or Muslim states capital. According to the Bible, King David made Jerusalem the capital of the Land of Israel. Moham med  also never went to Jerusalem. “According to the Qur’an and the Hadith, Muhammad had a dream in the middle of the night in which he traveled through the sky, visited seven heavens, met great people like Jesus, and visited the Jerusalem. Since this was only a dream, he was never actually in Jerusalem.” (Encyclopedia of Islam Myths). Another religious issue in Jerusalem is the Holy Places that are Holy to both Jews and Muslims. “Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths. Arabs recently burnt the Tomb of Joseph and the ancient synagogue in Jericho. To these days Arab Waqf in control  of  the Temple Mount does not allow Jews to pray in the Temple Mount. Jews pray facing Jerusalem as the location of the Beit Hamikdash. Muslims pray facing their holy city Mecca with their backs toward Jerusalem. Throughout the ages the Arabs have ignored The Temple Mount and renewed interest only recently because of their political exigencies and not religious history.” (Israel Science and Technology Directory). Opposing Territorial Threats : One of the main threats against Jerusalem is Hamas. According to the Washington Post, Hamas is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. It is a Palestinian organization that has committed itself to the elimination of Israel and then making it an Islamic state. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the West for its suicide attacks on Israel. It is also popular among Palestinians for its network of schools, clinics and civic services. The group is similar to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian-based organization that has campaigned for Islamic government in the Arab world for 80 years. Hamas has from five to twenty men, 18 to 23 years old, waiting for orders to carry out suicide attacks. The group also claims to have "tens of thousands" of youths ready to follow in their footsteps. An excerpt from an article in USA Today said this, “In Hamas-run kindergartens, signs on the walls read: ‘The children of the kindergarten are the shaheeds (holy martyrs) of tomorrow.’ The classroom signs at Al-Najah University in the West Bank and at Gaza's Islamic University say, ‘Israel has nuclear bombs, we have human bombs.’ At an Islamic school in Gaza City run by Hamas, 11-year-old Palestinian student Ahmed's small frame and boyish smile are deceiving. They mask a determination to kill at any cost. ‘I will make my body a bomb that will blast the flesh of Zionists, the sons of pigs and monkeys,’ Ahmed says. ‘I will tear their bodies into little pieces and cause them more pain than they will ever know.’”. Over the years there have been many conflicts between the Jews in Israel and the Arabs in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries revolving around nationality, religion, and opposing territorial threats but all lead into the Jews having ownership over Israel because of biblical beliefs. Some believe that there will never truly be peace in the Middle East and perhaps they’re right. Overall, the Arabs claim the land of Israel because they are descendants of Ishmael, and the Jewish people claim the land because they are descendants of Abraham. There is conflict over the holy sites and terrorist groups seeking to eliminate Israel and turn it into an Islamic state and while right now, things are not going well, maybe someday soon things can turn around.

The Middle East has been conflicted for thousands of years over religion, land and nationalism. Both Syria and Israel believe the holy lands are theirs and have sparked controversies over them. When the Middle East had periods of peace, it was an area where people could share items and ideas. Religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam were also originated from this area. Peace and Unity were stopped when Middle Eastern nations expressed clashing views on claimed lands and religious sites. The conflicts In Syria and Israel began to flare up in the 1800’s. The Arabs wanted to unify as one nation, inspired with the thought of Nationalism. This idea never materialized but it brought new allies to the Middle East. Anti- Semitism gained popularity in Europe beginning in the 1800’s. The Anti-Semitism movement forced many Jews to flee refuge in Palestine. By 1914, Jews became 12% of Palestine’s population. Since the Jews had no country to call their own, the British allied with them in 1917 and created the Balfour Declaration. This declaration made Palestine a national home for the Jews. This declaration sparked fights between the Arabs and Jews and gruesome fights occurred between 1929-the mid 30’s. The British then betrayed the Jews in 1939 stating that “No more Jews could move into Palestine.” The Jews now had no official home land until May 14, 1945 when Israel became a country. By the year 1947 conflict was still left unsolved and groups began to fight. The UN devised a plan to divide Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state since many Jews still resided there. Both groups did not like this plan and more conflict was aroused. The Arab nations all allied together and invaded Israel in 1948. These nations included; Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan (Transjordan) Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Israel fought back a year later from the constant attacks and signed an Armistice agreement with the Arabs. The conflicts were still not resolved. The 1960’s brought out more anger in the Middle East. Many groups were formed to help Palestine in the 1960’s and most of these groups were sponsored by Syria. In 1967, a 6 day war broke out between Israel and their neighboring Arab nations over the Golan Heights. Syria wound up losing its land to Israel, and Israel also obtained the Gaza strip, Sinai Peninsula, West Bank, and Jerusalem. Syria was not satisfied by this agreement. And In 1971 the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) launched Guerilla attacks on Israel. Israel in 1973 was hit on an even larger scale then when Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom KIPPUR. Another war broke out during this period between the Arabs and Jews, but no peace treaties were signed to end it. Seven years later, Egypt signed another peace treaty with Israel, and Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to them. In 1987 nations allied again with Egypt after breaking away from their alliances when the peace treaty was signed. In the 80’s and 90’s it seemed as if a peace trend was falling over the middle east. In 1993, Israel sealed a peace accord with the PLO and in 1994 Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan to stop their on-going wars. The peace was then stopped in 1995 when a religious Jewish extremist assassinated Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Prime Minister. More conflict was sparked in 2000 when Palestinians initiated riots after Israeli politician, Ariel Sharon, visited the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. The uprising was known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and became extremely violent. In 2002, Israel created an operation known as Defensive Shield in the West Bank, which triggered a large number of Palestinian suicide attacks on regular citizens. 2003 brought more drama to this area, when the UN created the “Road Map to peace in the Middle East”. The Middle East opposed this plan, and Israel spoke about plans to kill Palestine’s leader Yasir Arafat. Israel also bombed a terrorist camp in Syria and peace talks were dimmed. Yasir Arafat died in 2004 leaving Mahmoud Abbas to take his place as Palestinian president. In 2005 Ariel Sharon and Abbas declared a ceasefire and Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip. Sharon later had a stroke and Ehud Olmert became the new Prime Minister. In 2006, The Islamist group Hamas, steadily rising in power, won the Palestinian parliamentary (PA) election. Since then Hamas has been a key player in the conflict between the Middle- Eastern nations. Hamas held onto the Gaza Strip and agreed on a truce with Israel in 2008. But a calm summer caused renewed clashes as the truce reached the six-month mark, and the Israeli blockade of Gaza became deeper. Hamas declared the truce over on December 19 and Gaza militants launched rocket attacks on Israel. Both sides signaled they did not want any escalation. A day after opening Gaza border crossings for fuel and food only, Israeli forces struck with fighter planes and helicopters, killing over 155 people in Gaza, at least 100 of them Hamas policemen in. 2008 started the launch of “all out war” on the Gaza strip between Israel and Hamas. Can peace be brought to the middle east, or will fighting be the only way this land will try to solve their problems? Only time will be able to tell.

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