Discussion #5 - Summarizer

Discussion #5
Summarizer
The wind is blowing softly through the air and the pool of water is nice and still. Everything is nice and peaceful. Lennie appeared out of a bush and went to the edge of a pool and sipped some water. He was thinking of what he had done and how George was going to react when he saw him. A gigantic rabbit then popped out of his head and started talking to him. The rabbit and Lennie were having an argument about tending rabbits and about how George will never appreciate him. George then walked out of the bush and the rabbit quickly jumped back in Lennie’s head. Lennie started asking George if he would ever leave him, but George replied with a no. Lennie admitted to doing a bad thing, but George didn’t yell at him. Lennie told George to leave him and go away, but George did not leave him. George then told Lennie to take off his hat. At that moment George was listening for the group that was going to be coming. George told him to look acroos the river and at that point George pulled out Carlson’s Luger. George pointed the luger at the back of Lennie’shead and kept talking to Lennie. He told him all about how they were going to tend rabbits. The George pulled the trigger and Lennie fell to the ground. All the guys came over and looked over at Lennie and then took George out for a drink.

Book Review

Book Review
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Genre: Drama

The novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place during the 1930s on a ranch in California. Lennie and George are the main characters in the novel. These two guys are friends that are from the town Weed. Lennie and George travel to a ranch so that they will earn more money to buy a ranch of their own. Along the way on their adventure Lennie and George encounter other workers. Some of them become friends and others are not too fond of them. Unfortunately, George gets along with most of the workers, but Lennie has problems trying to be nice. Lennie faces many challenges through the novel because of his strength and disorder.

The main characters in the novel are Lennie and George. Lennie and George are friends that are usually always with each other. Lennie is mentally challenged so George must always help him out, but Lennie tries his best to fit in. George sometimes gets mad at him. These two characters are realistic because there are mentally challenged people in the world that are always trying their best to fit in. Lennie is like a little kid that depends on his mother and George is like an annoying older brother. I do not like George and Lennie because of their personality. These two characters are important in the novel because the whole novel revolves around them and how they are moving on towards bigger and better things. Lennie and George’s main idea is owning their own ranch with rabbits. Another main character is Curley who is the boss’s son. Curley is married to a flirtatious woman. He is always trying to act tough and he is realistic. Curley is like the mean bully at a school that likes to pick on little kids. I do not like Curley because of the way he acts. Curley is important in the story because he helps show how strong Lennie is.

The issues that this story faces are friendship and following your dreams. Friendship is a very important issue in this novel because in this novel there is a friend relationship between Lennie and George that is unfortunately weakening. Lennie is trying to be as nice as he can to George, but he just can’t stay out of trouble. Lennie and George are also trying to follow their dream of owning their own ranch. They are trying their hardest to get this dream, but the way they are going at it, it could be bad.

I enjoyed this book because it had many interesting words and there many different styles of characters. Honestly I did not like the book because of the slang words that the author used. I also didn’t like the main characters that much. I could not identify with any of the characters in their hard situations. The only thing I learned about this book is that you should never work on a ranch with a boss’s son who is mean. I think this book would be good for a person who likes ranches.

Discussion#4 - Vocabulary Enhancer

Discussion #4
Vocabulary Enhancer
“And then a little chorus of cries.” (85) Chorus- the sounds so uttered
“All the guys got a horseshoe tenement goin’ on.” (86) Tenement- a run-down and often overcrowded apartment house, esp. in a poor section of a large city
“She said complacently.” (90) Complacently- Pleasantly
“Curley gon’ta wanta get ‘im lynched.” (94) Lynched- To execute without due process of law, especially to hang, as by a mob.
“I’ll get my Luger.” (96) Luger- a brand of automatic pistol of 9-millimeter caliber, made in Germany

Journal #3

Characterization – Journal #3

Choose an important character

Write the following:

Write a paragraph about the character and include:

--appearance.
--actions
--ideas-- what the character thinks.
--manner-- how the character acts.
--reactions of others to the characters.

Lennie is a tall guy who is really strong. He is retarded so he has trouble understanding people. Lennie has been mentioned throughout the whole novel and he has gone from being lonely, to breaking Curley’s hand, to becoming friends with Crooks. Since Lennie is retarded he doesn’t have many ideas, but he does have one idea. That idea is that he and George would get their own house. He is really excited about that idea and unfortunately that is what gets him into a fight with Curley. Lennie is mostly nice throughout the book, but when he gets angry he will fight back. Most of the characters find Lennie to be nice, but characters such as Curley and his father don’t like him that much because of his personality.

Why is s/he important in the novel?
Lennie is important in the novel because he is one of the main characters. He has mostly been involved in everything that has happened in the book. He usually makes a part in the book funny by saying something stupid. This book wouldn’t be the same without him.

Would you like to be the main character? Why or why not?
I would not like to be any of the main characters in this story. They are not intelligent and none of them have proper manners. I would not also want to be retarded like Lennie.

Would you like the main character for a friend? Give your
reasons.

I probably would not want Lennie to be my friend. Although he is strong and could protect me from anyone he would follow me everywhere. He would rely on my advice for all his decisions. I would have to answers all his questions and help him get a job.

Discussion #3 - Discussion Director

Discussion #3
Discussion Director
1. Why don’t people respect Crooks? - People in the farm do not respect Crooks because he is black. They do not appreciate that he is a different color.
2. How does Crook’s expression towards Lennie change?- At first Crooks does not like Lennie and tells him to get out, but when he starts to talk to him more Crooks starts to like him.
3. How does Lennie react when Crook talks about George not coming back? - Lennie says that George will always comes back and even when Crook says that Gerge will never ever come back Lennie just ignores him and keeps replying that George will come back.
4. What does Crook think about Lennie and George’s idea? - Crook thinks that George and Lennie's idea of owning their own ranch is crazy. He knows that they will not be able to do it because it is to big of a job.
5. Why do Candy and Crooks not want Curley’s wife to be talking to them?- Candy and Crooks do not want to be talking to Curley's wife because she always gets everybody she talks to into trouble with Curley.

Journal #2

Journal #2
1. This story is told in 3rd person.
2. I like the way that this book is written because it is very interesting.
3. I think that one of the most important parts in the book is when Lennie gets into a fight with Curley. I am going to be Lennie.

After thinkin’ about what da guys and me had been talking about I was in smiles. I couldn’t stop thinking about the house. I was really excited about what it was goin’ to look like inside. I looked over and saw Curley yellin’ at Slim an’ Carlson. I couldn’t really undertand why he was yelling at them.
All of sudden I looked straight ahead and saw Curley coming at me. His face kinda looked like a dog. Curley started to yell at me, but I coundn’t understand him. Then he started to get really angry and stood up and called me a bad word. I think that he wanted to fight me so I quickly looked at George not knowing what to do. I got up and started to back away, but Curley quickly frew a punch at my nose and I started to bleed. I cried out to George tellin’ him to tell Curley to stop, but he kept punching me.
I could hear George telling me to fight back, but I just didn’t do anything. He then hit me in the stomach and I was winded. I could faintly hear George tellin’ me again to fight back. Curley threw his fist again at me, but this time I caught his fist in my hand. Just then I squeezed Curley’s hand and he was flopping like crazy. I could tell that he was in pain. His fist was still in my hand and I could hear George saying to leggo, but I just wouldn’t let go. I could start to feel his bones in his hand crunching. Curley started to cry and cower.
Just then I let go, Curley fell to the ground. I backed up and crouched up against the wall. I could see Curley’s broken and in how much pain he was in. George looked at me and I told him that I did what he had told me. In the background I saw Slim an’ Carlson around Curley and talkin’ about how they would take him to a doctor. I cried “I didn’t want to hurt him, I didn’t wanna hurt him!”

Discussion #2- Literary Luminary

Discussion #2
Literary Luminary
Paragraph 1
Whit laid down his cards impressively. “Well, stick around an’ keep your eyes open. You’ll see plenty. She ain’t concealin’ nothing. I never seen nobody like her. She got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody. I bet she even gives the stable buck the eye. I don’t know what the hell she wants.” (P. 51)
RED - slang term for a word
BLUE - Metaphor for saying she flirts a lot
I think that this is a good paragraph of writing because it shows how the boys talk when they are alone and it shows how they talk on the ranch. The slang word that the author uses makes the paragraph sound more interesting.

Paragraph 2
George stood up. “We’ll do her,” he said. “We’ll fix up that little old place an’ we’ll go live there.” He sat down again. They all sat still bemused by the beauty of the thing, each mind was popped into the future when this lovely thing should come about. (P.60)
RED - slang term for a word
BLUE - Metaphor for a house
GREEN - interesting word meaning confused
This paragraph is very well written because of the way that he uses metaphors. I also like how he uses a word that sounds confusing and actually means confusing.