Connection of Loneliness & Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

1st Quote: “His ear heard more than what was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought.” 

This quote is

2nd Quote: “Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” 

This quote is important because it is the fear of the character Slim. 

3rd Quote: “A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.” 

This quote is important because it describes the theme of the book, which is loneliness. This quote means doesn't matter if you are physically alone or not alone you can always feel lonely. It teaches me that the characters Lennie and George 

What is the most interesting or thought-provoking idea that was discussed in your SLD this week? What was said about it?
The most interesting or thought-provoking idea that was discussed in my SLD this week was the irony of the ending. The eneding

What Does it Mean to be Lonely to You...

What are the most interesting or surprising ideas you've had as result of the readings for this week?

      The most interesting ideas I've had as result of this week is the change in my idea of loneliness. We had to write in our own word what we thought loneliness meant. After reading the article on Loneliness in the Modern Age my idea changed a little. I knew that being lonely is physically and also mentally, but in the article it went deeper with mentally. One of the paragraphs described how holidays can make one feel lonely. When others are with their loved ones and your by yourself you feel isolated. "To feel lonely is to be overwhelmed by an unbearable feeling of separateness, at a very deep level" quoted by the UK mental health charity. That quote goes with the novel Of Mice and Men pages 1 through 16. The character Lennie has showed me another side of loneliness. He has a partner George that he is with, but they think and act differently. Lennie does not comprehend like others, he doesn't process everything. He can forget things, events, stories etc. quickly, he has Alzheimer's. These disorders separates him from the crowd. As in the story George gets frustrated and don't understand him. This makes me think that Lennie is lonely.

                      Learning About Yourself by Completing The Personal Mandala

       While completing the Mandala i have learned a lot about myself. To identify what animal i am more like i took a quiz and it said i was more like an otter. Then I also found out that i can be like a goat, they have the ability to climb higher than they are, they are surefooted and flexible. I have also learned that the opposite of my animal I am also most like, which is a puma. Puma's are described as procrastinators, I can be described as a procrastinator. I have learned about a lot of objects that can symbolize my personality. Their were multiple and different objects that can symbolize many people in a more deeper meaning then the way the object looks. Such as like a number, the number doesn't have to symbolize you but the way its curved or how straight the line is and etc. During this process you can learn about yourself in a creative way. Especially for me I figured out what colors, numbers, shapes, elements and animals can be described as my personality.

Which part(s) of the writing process for Paper 1 were most helpful or informative?

      The discussion part of the writing process for Paper 1 was most informative. In the beginning of the writing process it was difficult to write the paper. We knew the book had many examples of the themes, but it was difficult to find the examples or explain them. It was more informative because during the discussion we took parts of the book & took out important parts. We discussed parts that didn't seem important, come out and mean something. The discussion helped the people who were doing hypocrisy and ideology. The teacher help us discuss and find parts that describe those themes. It made the process of the paper easier to identify the point of the paper.

What have you enjoyed most from the activities from this week? Why?

       This week the activities i enjoyed were reading the article Loneliness in the Modern Age and making the Loneliness posters and group discussion. I liked reading the Loneliness in the Modern Age and answering the definition of loneliness because it made me think what the definition was. After reading the article, it gave you examples of loneliness and definitions. Once i read it my definition changed, it made me think deeper about the word. I also enjoyed making the loneliness posters because our group came together and used each of our definitions to make one. Then we also used examples to draw out picture and find a lonely quote.Before we did the poster we had to read our context and our question. That help discuss questions that can be answered without reading our book. This could be a good skill builder that's why I like the discussions.

                                              What challenges have you faced?

      The challenges I have faced is the Mandala and finding the correct object to fit my personality. Sometimes its difficult to find an object and find the deeper meaning. Then to find the adjective of the object meaning, and find the antonym , then find an object that can fit that antonym. It's difficult searching for those things.

What is at least one short-term goal you have for yourself for the next week?

       One short-term goal i have for myself tor the next week is to have completed the book and get ready for the next essay. I want to be able to read the book and understand it in a deeper meaning. So when that essay comes up I'm prepared and ready for the challenge.

Ideas and Understanding of The Text

                                       Most profound idea you have had as a result of your reading...
      The most profound idea i have had as a result of my reading is the strict guidelines and punishments that the Puritans community has to live by. Their guidelines basically make the community not have a voice to decide on other ways to live their lives. They live their life through the bible, so they lives are very religious and has their mind set on living all the same way. Then their punishments for going against the way the live are harsh. They can put you in a life or death situation, they get privileges for lying, which they think is the truth and a harsh punishment for telling the truth which is lying.  For an example in the book The Crucible the girls were accused of the witch craft. If they were to tell that they we're doing witch craft they had a chance to change and be with god, but if they were to say they were not doing witch craft they would be hung. Their way of punishing or getting the answers are unusual.

                  What's changing in terms of your understanding of your topic?
      When the girls were shouting out all the names changed in terms of my understanding of the topic.During the discussion we had the teacher has approached us with the names they called and how it important they were.  The names that the students were yelling out were names of poor, non educated, homeless people; people who could not defend themselves. The understanding is that if they named a judge, a priest or someone with high power they would easily defend themselves. In the beginning I thought they were naming names of people they didn't like or just random names.

                                                                                

                                                                                           Enjoying...

      I am enjoying when you read the book it doesn't make sense. Then as you keep reading you can make an inference on what you didn't understand. Also having the group discussions helped understand the things that had you confused. The discussion was a chance to listen to other people understanding of the book and putting the puzzle pieces together.



                                                                 Challenges
      My challenges were how everything in the book got shifted real quick. It started with young girls supposedly doing witch craft, then were brought with a great offer. They were offered to admitting to doing witch craft and to be helped or to say they didn't and be killed. They chose to be helped but yet cause a lot of trouble and death in the end. They made the conflict bigger than what is was suppose to be.  

                                       

                        What are you wondering ?
       I am wondering how all in the end of the book people are being punished for nothing. They caught a few girls dancing naked, to putting a ton of people in jail for not admitting to something they did not do. The judges would listen to these young ladies and not get the truth. They would accept you for a lie and kill you for the truth. It does not make since, because if they want the truth you get the truth and bring evidence along with it and when you lie then you are punished.