1. Meet George & Lennie To analyse the introduction of the protagonists
Friday, 29 June 2018
Meet George & Lennie
To analyse the introduction of the protagonists
To practice connotations and word analysis

2. ‘To a Mouse’ / Robert Burns
To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, November, 1785
In the poem, a man regrets accidentally destroying the nest of a tiny field mouse with his plough.
He apologises to the mouse for the accident, for the general domination of man in nature, and reflects mournfully on the role of fate in the life of every creature, including himself.
The poem was written in the Scots Language.
Read the modern English translation, and highlight in three colours evidence that relates to the following ideas:
The heart-breaking uselessness of planning for the future in an uncertain world
Extreme difficulty of life for poor people and the injustice of a world where they have so little
Our life-enhancing, human duty to understand the importance of all life, however insignificant it might seem

3. Little, sly, cowering, timid beast, Oh, what a panic is in your heart
Little, sly, cowering, timid beast, Oh, what a panic is in your heart! You need not start away so hasty With bickering prattle! I would be loath to run and chase you, With murdering paddle! I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, And justifies that ill opinion Which makes you startle At me, your poor, earth-born companion And fellow mortal! I doubt not, sometimes, that you may steal; What then? Poor beast, you must live! An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves Is a small request; I will get a blessing with what is left, And never miss it.
Your small house, too, in ruin! Its feeble walls the winds are scattering! And nothing now, to build a new one, Of coarse green foliage! And bleak December's winds coming, Both bitter and piercing!
You saw the fields laid bare and empty, And weary winter coming fast, And cosy here, beneath the blast, You thought to dwell, Till crash! The cruel plough passed Out through your cell. That small heap of leaves and stubble, Has cost you many a weary nibble! Now you are turned out, for all your trouble, Without house or holding, To endure the winter's sleety dribble, And hoar-frost cold. But Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, Instead of promised joy! Still you are blessed, compared with me! The present only touches you: But oh! I backward cast my eye, On prospects dreary! And forward, though I cannot see, I guess and fear!
The heart-breaking uselessness of planning for the future in an uncertain world
Extreme difficulty of life for poor people and the injustice of a world where they have so little
Our life-enhancing, human duty to understand the importance of all life, however insignificant it might seem
Timid = shy
Bickering prattle = arguing chatter
Dominion = power
Sheaves = piles, stacks
Feeble = weak
Coarse = rough
Foliage = vegetation, growth
Dwell = live, reside
Weary nibble = food that was hard to find
Sleety =
Hoar-frost =
Foresight = future planning
Askew = wrong
I backward cast my eye = Look back on
Prospects dreary = boring memories

4. Who/what could the mouse symbolise?
Little, sly, cowering, timid beast, Oh, what a panic is in your heart! You need not start away so hasty With bickering prattle! I would be loath to run and chase you, With murdering paddle! I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, And justifies that ill opinion Which makes you startle At me, your poor, earth-born companion And fellow mortal! I doubt not, sometimes, that you may steal; What then? Poor beast, you must live! An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves Is a small request; I will get a blessing with what is left, And never miss it.
Your small house, too, in ruin! Its feeble walls the winds are scattering! And nothing now, to build a new one, Of coarse green foliage! And bleak December's winds coming, Both bitter and piercing!
You saw the fields laid bare and empty, And weary winter coming fast, And cosy here, beneath the blast, You thought to dwell, Till crash! The cruel plough passed Out through your cell. That small heap of leaves and stubble, Has cost you many a weary nibble! Now you are turned out, for all your trouble, Without house or holding, To endure the winter's sleety dribble, And hoar-frost cold. But Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew, And leave us nothing but grief and pain, Instead of promised joy! Still you are blessed, compared with me! The present only touches you: But oh! I backward cast my eye, On prospects dreary! And forward, though I cannot see, I guess and fear!
The heart-breaking uselessness of planning for the future in an uncertain world
Extreme difficulty of life for poor people and the injustice of a world where they have so little
Our human duty to understand the importance of all life, however insignificant it might seem
Who/what could the mouse symbolise?
Who/what could the speaker and his plough symbolise?
What is the message of the poem?

5. Of Mice and Men The best plans of mice and men Often go wrong,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
Instead of promised joy!
Based on the poem, what could Of Mice and Men be about?
What might be the moral of the story?

6. Inference: The process of decoding a text or image to make assumptions about what is actually happening.