Part A: First Quarter

Lennie and George drift around looking for work. Lennie is big and has a mental disability. I feel sorry for him because he is also not very smart. George is smaller and takes care of Lennie. I feel like this would be a very challenging job and I would not like taking such responsibility. Currently they are camping. I am jealous because I love to camp. They plan to eventually get a small farm and “live off the fat of the land.” I think that this is a good goal to work toward so that they have a something to look forward to.

At one point George is mean to Lennie. Even though George was mean, I can understand why he would get frustrated when having to deal with Lennie. I was revolted when he describes the dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket. I felt happy for Lennie when George told him that one day, when they had a small farm, that Lennie could have and take care of some rabbits. They are about to go to their new job, but I am worried that something bad will happen, just like it did at the last one in Weed.

Part A: Second Quarter

I like the fact that they get the new job because I think that it is a good fit for Lennie. I think this because Lennie is a hard worker but is not very intelligent. When they meet Curley, they don’t like him. I agree because in my opinion he is mean and is a bully to Lennie. When they meet the other people I think that they are nice and possibly understanding. The other people say that Lennie is not smart but he is not mean, and I agree. Lennie gets a puppy which I am worried about. I am worried because I think that something will happen to the puppy and that they will have to flee again. They also kill Candy’s dog which I think is mean but I can understand because the dog is old.

Part A: Third Quarter

I am pleased about the fact that they are including Candy in their plan to get land. This pleases me because Candy has money. Candy has at least $350 saved in the bank. This means that they won’t have to wait as long. Lennie was smiling because of the land when Curley came in, and Curley took that to mean that he was getting laughed at. Curley tried to beat Lennie but Curley got his hand crushed and broken. I have mixed feelings about this fight. I feel sorry for Lennie because he didn’t mean to hurt Curley. But also to Curley: what goes around comes back around. I also am fond of karma. Lennie goes and visits Crooks the negro stable buck. I think that it is unfair and racist that they will not let him live in the same bunkhouse as the white people. Crooks teases Lennie saying that George will not return. I think that Crooks was being cruel to Lennie, and I feel sorry for Lennie once again.

Part A: Fourth Quarter

I liked that Crooks attempted to stand up to Curley’s wife. I despised how she was so racist and mean to Crooks. I think that it is very odd of Lennie to pet a dead puppy. Even though it wasn’t his fault,  I still don’t like that Lennie was talking to Curley’s wife. She is rude and inconsiderate. I also don’t like the fact that she tricked him. I have mixed feelings about Lennie killing Curley’s wife. Lennie didn’t really mean to kill her. She kind of deserved it in the way that she was being mean to people: it’s karma. Though death is a bit extreme. The fact that George distanced himself from the killing is good. I was very upset when George fatally shot Lennie. I was half crying. Though in some way it was partially okay that he shot Lennie because he died right away rather than being tortured by Curley.

Part B

One character is different because he is of a different colour. The character’s name is Crooks and he is the negro stable buck. They do not let him live in the same bunk house as the white men. He lives in the stables. Crooks doesn’t like having very many/certain people in his bunk room.

To illustrate how a black man was treated in those days, there is the following exchange:

Crooks stood up from his bunk and faced her.

“I had enough,” he said coldly. “You got no rights comin’ in a colored man’s room. You got no rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus’ get out, an’ get out quick. If you don’t, I’m gonna ast the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no more.”

Yet Curley’s wife doesn’t listen. “Listen Nigger, You know what I can do if you open your trap? You know what I can do?... Well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung upon a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” (80)

Another character who is different is one of the main characters - Lennie. We don’t know for sure, but it sounds like he has a mental disability. It is in fact Crooks who is not nice to him.

The following dialog illustrates this:

His [Crooks'] voice grew soft and persuasive. “S’pose George don’t come back no more. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What’ll you do then?”

Lennie’s attention came gradually to what had been said. “What?” he demanded.

“I said s’pose George went into town tonight and you never heard of him no more.” Crooks pressed forward some kind of private victory. “Just s’pose that,” he repeated.

“He won’t do it,” Lennie cried. “George wouldn’t do nothing like that. I been with George a long a time. He’ll come back tonight—” But the doubt was too much for him. “Don’t you think he will?”

Crooks’ face lighted with pleasure in his torture. “Nobody can’t tell what a guy’ll do,” he observed calmly. “Le’s say he wants to come back and can’t. S’pose he gets killed or hurt so he can’t come back.”

Lennie struggled to understand. “George won’t do nothing like that,” he repeated. (71)

Both Crooks and Lennie are different and they are treated poorly by some characters in the novel. Crooks torments Lennie, maybe as a reaction to the way he himself is treated. This also happens in our society today. My cousin Anna had Down Syndrome; people would stare at her because she looked and acted different. It would be good if people were more accepting.

Part C

For my media piece I chose to make a video. The process for creating this video included deciding which parts of the novel to use, writing the screenplay, choosing the setting, assigning actors to characters, filming, editing to produce the final video, and then uploading to YouTube. I chose four scenes from the novel: the opening with George and Lennie talking about their dreams, a conversation about Lennie between George and Slim, the part where Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, and the final part when George shoots Lennie.

Part D

During the summative, I learned how to write a detailed reader response. Sometimes it was difficult to stop and write the response because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I found it hard to write the last one because it was sad that Lennie died. I had the opportunity to make a short film, and I learned how to edit film. One obstacle I encountered was when filming. When filming outside, it is hard to hear the actors. It is hard to control the outside noise. It was an interesting learning experience for me.

What I would have done differently if I were to redo the summative Of Mice and Men is a combination of things. The first thing I would have done is started earlier. I believe, like a fair amount of people,  that I am a procrastinator. I thought to myself, this time I will get it done in time. So I thought I had started it early enough. But at the end of spring is usually a pretty busy time. I was camping for two weekends straight, and I had other homework. So now it is pretty much the end of the time, and I am rushing to finish it. Something that goes with my first thing I would do differently, is better acting. For my media piece, I did a short film. Since we were running out of time, we weren't able to memorize our lines, and also, we are horrible actors.