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Here is what I have so far of the book blurb. During class today I will add a few more sentences:

Of Mice and Men takes place at the time of the Great Depression, and tells the story of two migrant workers, George and Lennie. They are attempting to find work, something made difficult because of Lennie, who has trouble remembering simple things. This has caused several problems at previous places they have worked.

George and Lennie have a vision of their perfect life: getting a place to stay they can call their own. This is one of the only things Lennie can remember, and the book follows their journey on reaching that goal.

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I've started working on the blurb and plan to be finished by tomorrow.

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Today, I finished the Interview activity. I interviewed George, and many of my questions were about Lennie and their relationship.

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I finished the book and am going to figure out which key events from the story would be the best to include in the blurb.

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Today, I finished the Plot Timeline, and I wrote five questions and responses for the character interview.

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I finished reading chapter three, and am going to start writing a rough draft of the book blurb as well as read chapter four later today.

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I finished the book so now I will make a list of some of the symbolism I found.
Dead Mice: Typically symbolizes destruction. The dead mouse is carried by Lennie perhaps symbolizing he will bring the destruction.
Lennie: Naïveté and innocence
George: people trying to make a living. Humanity in general who feel bad for innocent things.
The Swamper: old age, who have been working their whole life but still holds hope of a better life
Rabbits and farm: hope in general, specifically man’s hope for a better life
Stagnant water mentioned at the beginning of the book and at the end: inability to change especially Lennie’s inability to progress from childhood.
Curley- angry rich men of the world
Ancient dog- wisdom and knowledge but also pity for those who cannot make a life for themselves
Curley’s wife: looking for anything but friendship. Also represents trouble.
Baby Pupies: innocent. How innocent things (Lennie) have to kill other innocent things

*spoliers*
Lennie’s death: mercy of men to kill things that cannot survive any themselves. Pity for the innocent

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For context-
The events that led to Lennie and George being forced to find work are the Great Depression and presumably dust bowl.
The Great Depression occurred because of a stock market crash which made many people lose their stocks or money in banks. It put many people out of a job and made them lose their homes. The Great Depression ended partially because of the new deal, a plan by FDR to get more people into jobs and to get more government money to the people. It also ended because of the Second World War which allowed the government to gather money making and selling weapons and eventually getting war bonds.
As for the dust bowl, a big sand storm came to the west and destroyed a lot of crops and thus farmers life incomes.

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Chapter 4:

1. Crooks asks if he might be able to join Lennie, Candy, and George on the land they are planning to buy. He says that he would be able to do odd jobs and help, but later changes his mind (likely because of his interaction with Curley’s wife).

Chapter 5:
1. Lennie accidentally kills the puppy Slim gave him.

2. When Curley’s wife comes into the barn while Lennie is alone, Lennie originally refuses to engage beyond saying he shouldn’t talk to her. Eventually though, Curley’s wife gets him to feel how soft her hair is. When Lennie doesn’t want to let go, Curley’s wife starts panicking. She starts screaming, and Lennie tries to keep here from making noise (he doesn’t want George to decide he can’t tend the rabbits) but ends up snapping her neck.

3. Lennie follows George’s directions and leaves the barn to hide in the brush until George can come for him.

4. Candy discovers that Curley’s wife is dead. He first shows George who knows it was Lennie’s doing and then waits to alert the others until George has returned to the bunkroom so that George doesn’t seem guilty. Curley and the laborers decide to start a lynching party, and George is forced to participate.

Chapter 6:

1. George finds Lennie and while he distracts Lennie with talk of their plans for their own land, he shoots Lennie in the head. Before he does so, George also apologizes for all the times he got mad and is clearly heartbroken over his decision (thought Lennie fails to pick up on George’s sadness).

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Today, I read chapter 2 of Of Mice and Men, I was able to brainstorm more ideas for my part of the project. At first, I decided to draw the beginning scene described in the book. However, the book describes various, intersting and important settings.

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Chapter 1:
1. George becomes very mad and goes on a rant about how difficult Lennie makes things for him. He claims he would have more freedom without Lennie and mentions an incident with a girl that drove them out of Weed.
2. After George’s outburst, Lennie convinces George to talk to him about the rabbits. George’s ensuing story reveals that they have plans to save money for a house and some land. They have talked about living together and living off of their own garden and animals they would raise on their land.

Chapter 2:
1. Lennie and George meet their new boss. They decide he seems nice, but he is suspicious of the reason George provides to explain why the left Weed.
2. Lennie and George meet Curly who is the boss’s son. George detests him, and he finds out the other laborers feel the same. George warns Lennie to avoid fighting with Curly, though he has no doubt Lennie would win easily.
3. Lennie and George meet Slim. Slim is the skinner who is in charge of the team they will work for. The learn that Slim is at the top of the hierarchy, and everyone listens to his directives.

Chapter 3:
1. George divulges the full details of Lennie’s incident in Weed to Slim. Lennie wanted to feel a girl’s dress. When she squawks, he becomes so scared he keeps holding on to her dress until George gets him to let go. She claims she was raped, and George and Lennie have to leave to keep Lennie from being lynched.
2. When George is talking to Lennie again about their plans for the future, Candy is also in the bunkroom. He voices his interest and says he’ll put in $350 to buying the house they’re talking about if George and Lennie will let him stay with them. They accept and realize they will soon be able to stop living as laborers.
3. Curly come into the bunkroom, and, misinterpreting Lennie’s smile, he begins punching Lennie in the face. George tells Lennie to fight back, and he ends up crushing Curly’s hand. Slim interjects and says Curly needs to leave for the hospital, but makes sure to extract a promise from him that he’ll blame his injury on a machine.

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Today, I read chapters 3 and 4, and I typed out the most important events in chapters 1, 2, and 3.

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Today I read chapter two. We decided as a group that the best character to interview would be George, so I started coming up with ideas for questions/answers. Since I am going to be writing the book blurb, I looked at the blurbs of other books to get an idea of what they say and what things I should include when writing one for this book.

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Also here is a picture of lennie and George from the movie

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The historical setting remains the however now the setting of a farm for barley pickers. I took a look at some of the photos from the time period.

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My job in the scrapbook is Illustration. In the first parts of the book there is heavy imagery and description about the setting of the book. While reading this I was able to draw a picture of the setting in my mind. :)

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Yesterday, I read the first two chapters and I jotted down the three most important events in each chapter to help me complete the Story Plotline. I also took note that, currently, Lennie and George are the most viable candidates for the Character Interview.

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I began contemplating the setting of the book. It takes place somewhere in the Great Depression in the west.
Here is a library of Congress link I found on the Great Depression and migrants:
https://www.loc.gov/collections/todd-and-sonkin-migrant-workers-from-1940-to-1941/articles-and-essays/the-migrant-experience/
Additionally I researched a bit about Steinbeck because I feel that knowing about an author is necessary to interpret a book. Here’s his biography
https://www.steinbeck.org/about-john/biography/
Finally for fun I found the lyrics to Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”. It is written about the Great Depression and can either be interpreted as patriotic or as a protest.
https://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/This_Land.htm

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I finished chapter one and started getting ideas for the interview questions.

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hi

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Hello! It’s Fiona

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Hello everyone 🐼

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Hi it’s Sophie, Im the queen.