Lennie and his Mice

In part one in the novel, Of Mice and Men, I noticed how Lennie has a strong bond with mice. I think that Lennie likes mice because they are living animals that don't judge him for his mental disability. So far in the novel, I have noticed that George is constantly complaining about Lennie and how he could be very successful without him. He says things like "God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy" right in front of Lennie. George may think that he doesn't have as many feelings since he is mentally disabled, but how Lennie cares for the mice (even the dead ones!) shows to me that he has true emotions. Lennie enjoyed stroking the dead mouse in his pocket during their journey and later towards the evening he explained how he would take care of live mice that his Aunt Clara gave to him. He also dreams of having pet rabbits and maybe a dog to take care of and pet. Lennie's strong love for animals (especially mice) portrays how he appreciates the company of an animal that doesn't judge him for who he is. I think that John Steinbeck used the relationship that Lennie has with animals to show how judging people who are different is not okay.

Part 1

Lennie's actions show the readers many things about him. The way he drags his feet when he walks shows that he is not proper and doesn't care. The way he drinks from the pond shows he is naive about illness and sickness'. When he lets the beans slip from his mouth it shows how he acts in a slovenly manner. All these actions show that Lennie has a laid back, careless and innocent personality. It gives a hint about how Lennie could be a problem in the future of the novel.

Part 1 Reflection

      Lennie is George's friend. Lennie is mentally ill and George is responsible for him. While they walk George talks to Lennie with foul language because he doesn't remember where they were going. When Lennie asked where they were going George said, " So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bas****!". George calls Lennie a bad name and shows little favor in Lennie even though Lennie tried to remember it. As they were walking George talks about how they went into Murray and Ready's and received bus tickets. When Lennie reached into his pocket he looked at George and said softly, " George ... I aint got mine. I musta lost it." George responded, " You never had none, you crazy bas****. I got both of 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?" This shows that George speaks to Lennie with foul language once again and he doesn't trust that Lennie can keep his work card safe. Later along the rode Lennie found a dead mouse but George confiscated it and through the mouse across the pool to the other side among the brush. When they got to the ranch to apply for a job George told Lennie to not say a word. George says to Lennie, "If he finds out what a crazy bas**** you are, we wont get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we're set. Ya got that?". This shows that Lennie is a good worker and if he doesn't talk and just works maybe they could get the job.

Part 1

Part 1:

2. List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe Lennie. List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe George. How do these descriptions compare and/or contrast to one another?

In the first section of the novel, Of  Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he describes the two main characters as the opposite of each other. Steinbeck describes Lennie as a huge man, large pale eyes, shapeless face, and how he walks heavily. Steinbeck describes George as small, quick, thin bony nose, strong, and has restless eyes. These descriptions compare to one another because they have the exact opposite descriptions. George is slim and quick, but Lennie is big and slow. 

Part 1:

2. List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe Lennie. List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe George. How do these descriptions compare and/or contrast to one another? 

John Steinbeck author of the novel Of Mice and Men describes the two main characters Lennie and George as complete opposites. John Steinbeck describes Lennie as a huge man, that has large pale eyes, with a shapeless face, wide sloping shoulders, walks heavily, and how he doesn't listen well. Steinbeck describes George basically the complete opposite or Lennie small, quick, dark of face, restless eyes, small strong hands, slender arms, and a thin bony nose. These physical descriptions are basically opposites which is pretty ironic because George acts like the stronger more grownup man but he isn't. Steinbeck is saying that Lennie and George are different because Lennie is a tall huge man and George is a small man. Lennie and George are compared by how George has to take care of Lennie and they are stuck with each other for the rest of the book. 

George vs. Lennie

George vs. Lennie

During the first part of Of Mice and Men, the descriptions of the characters George and Lennie were very different. Steinbeck describes George as small, quick, dark of face, restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Opposite of George, Lennie is a huge man, has a shapeless face, large pale eyes, wide sloping shoulders, and walked heavily. They also contrast in personalities because George is very strict and has the mind of an adult, but Lennie has more of a carefree personality and a mind of a child. The men could not be any more different from each other in looks, but the only thing that is similar in personalities is that they each care about each other. I think Steinbeck purposely made the main characters total opposites from each other because he wants the reader to have a good understanding of the different people that lived in the Great Depression, and how hard it was to live with discrimination and cruelty against the mentally impaired.     

PART: 1

Part 1:

         In the first section of the Of Mice and Men, Lennie and George go on and on about how they will own their own farm and raise rabbits and chickens, but rabbits are what Lennie seems to be most excited about. Lennie mentions the rabbit to George at least five times, about how he will raise them and care for them. The rabbits symbolize hope for these two men, George and Lennie. They pour their hearts and souls into telling these tales about their future filled with rabbits, fluffy rabbits, colorful rabbits, big rabbits, small rabbits, all sorts of rabbits, but they are all lighthearted. George and Lennie are putting their future hopes and dream in stories as rabbits. Though they really hope for rabbits and a few acres of land, the stories of a pleasant future keep them going and hopeful that they will eventually settled down from their life on the run.

Comparing George and Lennie

In part one in Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses a lot of words to describe George and Lennie. These two characters are the complete opposite.
Steinbeck describes Lennie as huge, with a shapeless face, large pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders. Lennie is also very care free because he drags his feet and he drank from the pond even though George told him not to. He had a pet dead mouse that he found, but George did not want him to keep it. Lennie seems a bit scared of George sometimes. Steinbeck describes George as small, skinny but strong, quick, tan face, and he has strong features like a bony nose. He is a little bit mean to Lennie and he calls him bad names. George can barely tolerate Lennie, but he has stayed with him all this time. George just wants to protect Lennie.

The Differences Between George and Lennie

Throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck used a plethora of words to describe both George and Lennie. This gave us a very strong idea of what the characters looked like and how they differed. George is described as "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features," while Lennie is described as a huge man, with large eyes and no other defining features. These two men could not look any different! George is small and quick, while Lennie is big and slow. George has very strong features, while Lennie is shapeless. I think that Steinbeck purposely made it very clear that George and Lennie are complete opposites because he wants us to understand how hard it must have been for George to continue to take care of Lennie.

Part 1 OMAM

During the first part of the book, Lennie and George are on there way to find work. It's mentioned in the book that they move around a lot because Lennie gets them into trouble. Lennie doesn't intend to get them into trouble but does so because of his intellectual disability. Lennie also has an obsession with mice, and how much mice he got from his Aunt Clara. He always killed the mice, and was given a rubber one of which Lennie didn't like. Later in the story, George is apologizing for lashing out at Lennie and promises him a brand new puppy that he can pet as much as he wants without killing it. I also noticed throughout the first part that George and Lennie are complete opposites. Lennie is always sweet, lighthearted, and never cares about the problems going on. While George is short tempered, angry, and morose for pretty much the entire part. Even though George and Lennie aren't the perfect duo they always stick together and take care of one another (George is pretty much the primary caretaker of Lennie but still). Also, they dream about a life on a farm where they have tons of animals, like pigs,  chickens, and rabbits ( Lennie's favorite animal they want).  Yay! Lennie and George, go for it!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Post #1

In the book, Of Mice and Men, George plays the main leader in the book, whom has a very harsh disposition (ding!😉). Throughout part one, there were a few quotes I could pull out of the book that brought me to this conclusion. First, George says "Jesus Christ, you're a crazy bas****!" to Lennie. This is very unacceptable because no one should treat anyone like this, even if they have a disability. This shows how George did not show full respect to Lennie. Another quote I plucked out from the book was when George told Lennie "Good boy." a few times throughout pages 6-15. This shows how George treated Lennie almost like his pet! I can't really imagine someone saying these things to someone who has a disability, or just anyone in general because we all deserve respect no matter who you are. 

Part 1

                                                                                                                                                                               John Steinbeck author of the novel Of Mice and Men, created two main characters Lennie and George to showcase cruelty and discrimination from views of the mentally impaired and the ones who aren't. Lennie is a huge man with a shapeless face that behold large pale eyes that are structured on top of wide sloping shoulders. On the other hand, George is small with restless eyes that lay on his darkened face that is defined with a thin and bony nose. Both characters have divergent personalities that make them unique and show how their lifestyles are set based off of their traits. Lennie is a man that contains the mind of a child and as big and strong as he is he couldn't hurt a dove. While George is a man that aspires the mind of an adult; making him fearless and strong inside and out. A similarity the characters share is that they are stuck with one another which builds the way they see each other and how both have to take care of each other even if there are potholes in their pathway.

Part 1: Irony

In the first section of Of Mice and Men one thing that I found ironic was how Lennie treated the mice he found. He obviously loved them a lot and liked to pet them. Lennie even picked up dead mice so that he could stroke them! However every time he had a mouse he accidentally killed it. Every time he would pet it, it would bite him so he would squeeze it so it would stop, and he ended up killing it. Also, Lennie's Aunt Clara would give mice to him all the time, but time and time again he would accidentally kill these mice. So, Lennie injuring or killing mice seemed to happen a lot. Lennie obviously wanted to take care of these mice but each time he would accidentally harm them and end up killing them. 

Part 1

In the book, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the words, shapeless face, huge, wide, and horse to describe Lennie in the first part of the book. He uses the words small, quick, dark faced, restless eyes, and strong to describe George in the first part. They are the exact opposite in both physical and internal description; Lennie is ginormous with a mind of a child, and George is strong and short with a mature mind. One similarity is that they both care for each other, and is probably the only similarity. Even with their differences and similarities, they care for each other and can't be separated. 

Blog 1: optional prompts

Part 1:

(REMEMBER: These questions are OPTIONAL; you can respond to them in a post, or just used them as direction for what to focus on while you read)

1. There are examples of symbolism, foreshadowing, AND irony within just this first section! Identify one of these and explain.

2. List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe Lennie. List some words that Steinbeck uses to describe George. How do these descriptions compare and/or contrast to one another?

Blog INTRO

Hey 7^th Grade!

Welcome to our Blog J

I'm so excited to get this going! You guys blew me away with your commitment to class discussions throughout Chains, so I wholeheartedly believe you are ready to take it to the next level - - putting your thoughts out into the blogging world. With this comes a bit of added responsibility, but I know you guys can handle it (and we will talk much more about this in detail in class).

LEARNING GOALS for blogging:

-        analyze how the author uses characters, setting, plot, or a literary device to create deeper meaning

-        produce clear and coherent writing in which development, organization, and style are appropriate to purpose & audience

-        use technology to produce/publish writing while interacting with others

LOGISTICS of blogging: Instead of submitting answers to Walsh-created discussion questions on OneNote for each section of our novel Of Mice and Men, you all will be engaging in discussion here on our blog! But here's the catch... this means I need YOU to spur discussion. This will be done by writing a thoughtful reflection after each section of the novel that encourages your classmates to respond! And then, of course, you will write an insightful response to a classmate's post. You will find more information about the requirements below.

***Confession: I will still post some discussion questions J They are OPTIONAL and will primarily serve to help your mind focus on certain ideas & topics as you read (so it’s a good idea to preview them before reading). And while you are welcome to respond to them, you are also highly encouraged to create your own topics for discussion as well as follow-up questions to pose to your classmates. 

TIPS for blogging:

• Please use professional font (style, size, color)
• There is a spell check option (use it!) and be sure to reread your post before publishing to make sure it reads fluently and professionally.

·        While blogging certainly has a more casual feel and tone, students must remain professional in language (no technology slang - - i.e. LOL, OMG, u instead of you, etc.) Blogs will be graded on content as well as grammar and conventions.

• Unlike google docs, blogger does not auto-save! Be sure to click save several times while you are working on your post.
• When your post is finalized, you must publish in order for your classmates & teacher to view/comment.

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Grading:

Students will complete two blog posts for a formative grade and feedback; from then on students will be graded summatively on the remaining four blogs.

Assessed Goal / Possible Topics:

Writer engages in profound analysis of how the author uses characters, setting, plot, or a literary device (foreshadowing, symbolism, irony, theme) to create deeper meaning.

	ADVANCED Above expectations 4 points	ACHIEVING Meets all expectations 4 points	DEVELOPING Meets some expectations 2 points	AREA OF CONCERN Not meeting expectations 1 point or 0
Content & Analysis - Blog presents profound analysis of a specific topic: characters, setting, plot, or a literary device (foreshadowing, symbolism, irony, theme) - Blog uses text evidence (a balance of direct quotes & paraphrasing) to support ideas - Blog ensures reader’s understanding by elaborating sufficiently on ideas and evidence
Qualities of writing - Blog is organized in an effective manner - Style is appealing and appropriate for intended audience - Writing reflects author’s unique personality through carefully selected word choice - Blog is free from grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors - Blog contains varying sentence structures

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COMMENTING on blogs:

To achieve our goal of technological collaboration, you will also have the opportunity (and responsibility) of commenting on your peers’ blog posts. Class time will be provided to accomplish this task, but you are welcome to engage in blog comments outside of class as well. The more discussion the better!

The purpose of comments is NOT to simply complement the blog’s author (ex. “Cool blog!” or “Wow I never thought of that; you’re so smart”). Rather, comments should be thoughtful, lengthy, and should include profound thinking that serves to further your own understanding of the book as well as others’ who may read that blog/comment. This is a good opportunity to agree with someone else’s perspective by going deeper into their analysis or presenting a related idea OR you may want to disagree with someone else’s perspective (which is fine as long as it’s approached respectfully).