Beyond The Line:

Characters:

Discuss the relationship between George and Lennie.

The relationship between Lennie and George is very difficult and changes various times throughout Of Mice and Men. Throughout the novel George struggles with his feelings for Lennie as they change strongly from event to event as George tries to think of ways to deal with Lennie. Lennie's personality is like that of a child. He is innocent and mentally handicapped with no ability to understand certain concepts like death. George's personality mainly reflects both anger and understanding.

Lennie thinks that George is the most important person in his life. Lennie thinks that George is his guardian and his only friend. He worries what George will do if he does something wrong, he doesn't want his disapproval. Maybe George will give him hell if he does something wrong. Lennie looks up to George to keep him out of trouble.

George tries to keep Lennie from getting in trouble. When George and Lennie first arrive at the bunkhouse George can sense that Curly doesn't like Lennie. George tells Lennie to stay away from Curly and his wife and don't say anything to them. When Curly hits Lennie he doesn't hit him back until George tells him to.

George admits that he once abused Lennie for his own amusement. When George first met Lennie he took advantage of him. George stuck to his word and has always been on Lennie's side. Lennie makes George feel special. They are different from all the other guys, and George realizes only too well that they have a special bond. At the ranch, George often plays solitaire, a game for one. Without Lennie, George would be a loner. George has a strong sense of responsibility.

George and Lennie share a dream of buying their own piece of land, farming it, and Lennie tending keeping rabbits. In the end, he even takes responsibility for Lennie's death. George knew he had to do it for Lennie's own good. He didn't realize what he did and couldn't be punished so George did the best he could and decided it was best not to let Curley get to him, obviously he had to shoot him. These actions really showed how relationships with friends, even the complete opposites, still love and care for each other.

Between The Line:

Conflict:

What are some problems that Candy faces?

Many of the people who live in the bunk house complain about Candy's dog. They say that it stinks and is ain't no good. Candy has had the dog since it was a puppy and doesn't want to kill it. Killing the dog is like killing a part of him. Carlson pressures Candy about killing the dog. Slim offers him a puppy and urges him to let Carlson shoot the dog. Another problem that Candy faces is that he lost his hand in an accident and worries about his future on the ranch.



Theme:

Explain the theme:The Impossibility of the American Dream

The Impossibility of the American Dream means that your picture perfect dream is basically crushed. Throughout the book many of the characters had hopes and dreams. George and Lennie planned on owning a farm. This dream is mostly expressed through Lennie but George is the one who supports Lennie. Lennie is the most dedicated to the dream. Candy and Crooks join George and Lennie in their quest for the American dream, when they try to become a part of the plan to buy a house on a small piece of land. They all seem to understand from the outset, though, that they will never realize this dream.




Motif:

Explain the motif of solitaire in Of Mice and Men?

Without friends, people would suffer from loneliness and solitude. I think that the author uses solitaire because it's a game you play alone, and it symbolizes the loneliness of the men at the time. The characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curly’s wife all exhibit some form of loneliness. They are driven towards the curiosity of George and Lennie’s friendship because they do not have that support in their life. Crooks is a black man that experiences isolation because the society in which he resides is racist. When Candy was on the ranch, he got into an accident that cost him a physical handicap. Farm machinery took away his hand, leaving him money and loneliness. Curley’s wife notices how simple-minded Lennie is and takes advantage of that situation. She knows that he would be the only one where she could discuss her problems that she deals with everyday. They learn to cope with their loneliness through their interest in Lennie and George’s friendship.


Symbol:

What does Candy's Dog symbolize?

Candy’s Dog, that’s a symbol of weakness. His dog got shot by Carlson because it was old and miserable, he thought of it as pitting it out of its misery. Candy was sad and he loved that dog. The dog was his friend and his companion. The dog is a symbol of a no more use it dies of a shot straight at the back of the head. Lennie's death is compared to the death of Candy's dog. Candy's dog is old, so therefore the men in the bunk house want to dispose of him. Lennie is killed the same way, and even though George is reluctant, he knows that it is his obligation kill Lennie. his dog were excellent workers.



What does the farm symbolize?

George and Lennie’s farm represents hopes and dreams, and new beginnings. Lennie would get to work with the rabbits and George would work on the land. They talk about it constantly; they must work hard so they can save enough money to buy it. Candy also wants part of the dream with George and Lennie. He offers them the money he has been saving. The farm is also a symbol of power for George. When they own it, he won’t have to work for anyone else; the farm is a symbol of many things.



What does Curly's Wife symbolize?

Curly's wife wanted to be an actress. She symbolizes hopes and dreams. Instead of following her dream she marries a farmer’s son. Since she's the only female on the ranch she never gets a chance to talk to anyone. Her husband, Curly, is always somewhere else around the farm while she's always in the house. She could have had a wonderful life, but she thinks her mom threw out the letter from some acting job.

Assessment on Personality Projects

Guardian (SJs)
-Great listeners
-Career: Public Administration
-Famous Face: Martin Luther King Jr.
-Symbol: Beaver


Artisans (SPs)
-Career: Military
-Optimistic
-Famous Face:Elvis
-Symbol: Beaver


Idealists (NFs)
-Career: education or counseling
-They trust their intuition
-Famous Face: Oprah
-no more than 15 to 20 percent of the population


Rationals (NTs)
-self-contained
-Career: Government
-Famous Face: Albert Einstein
-as 5 to 10 percent of the population


Extroverts VS Introverts
-Extroverts make up between 60 to 70 percent of society and
-introverts account for 20 to 30
-introverts get their energy from themselves and are drained by people.
-extroverts feel the most energized through interactions with others and feel the most drained or down when they are alone.



What did you learn about yourself from this project? What did you learn about others?

-From this project i learned a lot about personality. I never knew that personality could have such a big effect on you. I leaned that i was a guardian. Guardians tend to have that mothering effect which is putting others peoples feeling and problems before yours. I don't like to procasinate i like to get my work done as quick as possible.




In schooling, should students be grouped homogeneously (same personality, backgrounds, skills) or heterogeneously (different personalities, abilities, cultures)? Why?

-In school students should be grouped by heterogeneously. They should be grouped differently so that they can get to know other people. By working with other people you can learned to get along with different types of people and learn there personalities.

Future Career: Public Administration

If I were to work in public administration when I get older I would be working with the branches of government, working in public departments and agencies, at all levels of government, and perform a wide range of tasks. You would have to collect and analyze different types of data. I do think that this would be a good job for me because I would like to work in one of the branches of government I'm just not sure which one yet.

Jung Typology Test

I am a ESFJ. The Keirsey description calls me a provider. Providers are the most sociable people, skilled in maintaining teamwork among their helpers, the great nurturers of social institutions such as schools, churches, social clubs, and civic groups. Butt descriptions say that I am a generous entertainer. I enjoy being in charge. ESFJs are easily wounded. And when wounded, their emotions will not be contained. Personality traits that I can relate to are friendly, outgoing, neighborly, strong, and generous. Some famous people that I am alike are Bill Clinton, Cindy Crawford, Frank Sinatra, and Martha Stewart. Possible careers are management, public administration, fashion merchandising, nursing, education and social work. I do agree with these results I feel like i can relate to the personality traits and possible careers.

Civil War Essay

How Did The Civil War Affect Women?

Women on both sides of the civil war organized relief efforts; in the north the women's efforts soon became a national organization, the United States Sanitary Commission, which performed a critical role in providing food and medical services for the soldiers.


Conflict over issues of how much control the federal government should have over the states, industrialization, trade, and especially slavery had increased tension between Northern and Southern states. After Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, 11 Southern states succeeded from the Union and set up an independent government, the Confederate States of America. These events led to the outbreak of the Civil War, a brutal, bloody, four-year conflict that left the South defeated and ended slavery at the cost of more than half a million lives.


A lot of women were left to run plantations while their husbands were away at the war. Many of them were very unhappy about this, and petitioned the Confederate government to let their husbands come home. Some women found themselves having a hard time trying to perform household chores that had always been done by slaves (Hart, 128). Women who were left with plantations were often struggling to manage, especially if, as sometime happened, their slaves ran off. In some parts of Georgia, it was reported that there was only one able-bodied white man in a ten-square-mile area. Slaves quickly took advantage of the situation, reducing the pace of their labor, disobeying orders, leaving their farms to visit with friends and relatives (http://www.civilwarhome.com/slavery.htm).


Women in the north and south both played an important role during the Civil War. Women were tired of staying in their homes all day cleaning and working for their husbands and kids. Even though women weren’t allow to join the army that didn’t stop them from trying. Many women disguised themselves as men and enrolled in the army. They were frustrated by their limitations in society. Women were becoming more active and many became spies or soldiers (Massey, 2). Women who were in or near the Army Camps were subject to careful scrutiny and were suspect, particularly if they were there at odd times, unescorted, or acted in anyway eccentric. Some women felt as though it was their wifely duty to follow their husbands into the war.


Sarah Emma Edmonds served in the Union Army during the Civil War. She was a master of disguise and was thought to be a man by all her comrades. Sarah called herself Frank Thompson, dressed as a man and traveled the countryside selling Bibles. On May 25, 1861, she enlisted as a private in the Second Michigan Infantry as Frank Thompson. She was known to disguise herself as a female Irish immigrant selling apples to the troops, a rebel guard and also a black youth calling herself Ned. Sarah took many personal risks to gather information (http://www.essortment.com/all/sarahemmaedmon_rcbd.htm).


The women who had served as spies or engaged in espionage were taking a great risk. Spies might tie up papers in their hair to get information to the other side. It was expected that ladies should be treated as ladies so they believed it very easy to move information or even contraband goods through enemy lines. Soldiers were instructed to search ladies attempting to pass through the lines for messages and contraband items such as weapons or quinine (Massey, 3). Several hundred women joined their husbands, sons or brothers working to help them. Most of the spy networks were employed with men by the Government. Many people did not like the idea of women doing a man's job, so the women made up their spy networks. They made good operatives because they were less conspicuous than men (http://www.east-buc.k12.ia.us/98_99/CW/spies/title.htm).


Among the most famous spies are Bell Boyd, Elizabeth Van Lew, Sarah E. Thompson, and Rose O’ Neal Greenhow. Bell Boyd was a spy for the Confederate side. She had a total of six publicly renown arrests, but even behind bars she passed union secrets to an operative she knew only as "C. H." (http://asms.k12.ar.us/classes/humanities/amstud/96-97/civwarwomen/women.htm).


Also, Elizabeth Van Lew was probably the best spy for the union army. She was thought of as a "harmless eccentric." However, Van Lew E. Thompson managed to plant a spy among Jefferson Davis’ own servants. Sarah provided information to the Union, which led to the capture of a Confederate General, in one case. Rose O’Neal Greenhow was one of the most renowned spies of the Civil War. She spied on behalf of the Confederate army. Greenhow was also imprisoned for her efforts in supplying the Confederate side with information concerning the Union army. Despite her imprisonment, she also managed to get information to the Confederates. She spied so successfully that she was credited with winning the battle of Manassas.


Women were the backbone of medical care for wounded soldiers. Often a single doctor would care for the more serious cases, while nurses, would care for the sick and wounded. Along with caring for men they had formed groups like the Sick Soldier's Relief Society, this group would meet to make bandages and knit socks to send out to the troops. They would manufacture the necessary supplies such as ammunition, uniforms, and other necessary. Northern women also had organizations like, the Sanitary Commission, which performed a critical role in providing food and medical services for the soldiers. June 1861, it was decided that Dorothea Dix would be appointed Superintendant of Army Nurses by order of President Lincoln and Secretary of War Cameron.


Nurses generally worked 12 hour shifts in a ward of at least 40 sick or wounded soldiers. They would be responsible for cooking the diet and feeding the soldiers, washing the soldier’s faces and hands, writing letters for the soldiers, dispense medications as ordered by the surgeons and if especially trusted by the surgeons could change bandages. The long hours and work load would often cause even the strongest of nurses to become ill. Some even died.
During the Civil War at least 3,000 women held paid nursing positions in the north and south, and thousand of others worked as volunteers. There were women doctors serving in the war as well. The first and only woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor was surgeon Mary Walker. She showed her bravery under fire at Gettysburg and a number of other battlefields by saving the lives of hundreds of Union soldiers.


Southern women took up different task. Their task consisted of piece work, sewing shirts and coats. Lucy Davis, a southern woman, wrote her brother Eugene a letter, in July 1861, in the letter she describes how busy the women are. She also mentions to him that she and two others have been sewing the shirts that she was mailing with the letter. Women would also do dangerous work like pack cartridges at the arsenal, some were killed in explosions. Many women in the south worked as private contractors.


The Civil War was a turning point for women who lived in the north and south. Women made many great contributions to the war. To quote the book “Women in the Civil War" by Mary Elizabeth Massey, they were "lept from their sphere’s". Women found themselves taking on new responsibilities and roles, rising to the occasion and becoming the better for it.


Taneah Martin-Allen March 16, 2009
Works Cited Page

Primary Sources:

1. Basker, James and Justine Ahlsrtom, e. I Take Up My Pen. New York: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 2008.

2. Basker, James, ed., Why Documents Matter. New York: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, 2007.

3. Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Women in the Civil War. First. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Pr, 1994.

Secondary Sources:

4. Post, Charity. Women in The Civil War. 12 Mar 2009 .

5. "Slavery In The Civil War Era." Slavery In The Civil War Era. 24/11/05. 11 Mar 2009 .

Should students be allowed to read books of their choice during class?

This is an image of Brittany Chapman reading Not Easily Broken By T.D. Jakes.

Most knowledge is written down. If you don’t know how to read you cannot access information. Not only is reading vital for learning, it is also very important in helping people to understand what words mean and allowing them to express themselves. A child who grows up reading is definitely enriched as a young person. Reading helps the person shape his/her life.


“We should be able to read books when we finish our work”, “we shouldn’t have to sit and wait for everyone else in the class to finish, so the teacher can give out the next assignment” stated Brittany Chapman, a sophomore at Constitution High School. Students should be allowed to read books wherever they please. Some places where students like to read are in during class, lunch, and after school.


There are different types of things that people like to read. Many people like to read books, newspapers, and magazines. The types of books that people like to read are African American literature and non-fiction. Brittany Davis, a sophomore at Constitution High School says, “She likes to read African American literature because many people can relate to the characters.” “I have been enjoying the biographies and memoirs. The memoirs I find most interesting are those pertaining to the struggles of ordinary people around the world. I find these books culturally informative and inspiring” stated Mr. Todd, a Spanish teacher at Constitution High School.


Why is reading important? Silmarie Aguilar, a sophomore, at Constitution High School stated, ”Reading helps you explore more fields of life.” Reading is important because it strengthens the use of vocabulary that you can use in the future. Reading is the key to all learning. With the ability to read comes the ability to understand and comprehend new subject matter that you have not previously been expose do.


If the habit of reading is formed during an early age, reading soon becomes the person’s hobby. Teenage years are the growing and developing years of one’s life. People who like to read do it because reading does something for them. It sends chills down their spine, brings tears to their eyes, or turns on the light bulb in their brain. Books tend to be more engaging if students can choose the books themselves rather than someone else.