Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck 

The theme for the unit that John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men falls into is the "American Dream and is it Attainable?"  This novel is taught in conjunction with The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  If time allows, we listen to the audio tape of the story narrated by Gary Sinesse.  If time does not allow, we do the newest video version.  This story is much too good to not cover in some form.  We cover the historical feeling of the 1920's using The Great Gatsby and it spring boards us into The Great Depression of the 1930's.  Of Mice and Men gives a nice contrast from the 20's to the 30's.  During the study of these novels we look at each person's American Dream and whether it was ever one that was attainable by that character.  We also look at our own American Dreams and evaluate whether there is much difference from the past to the present.  Below is a brief description of  Of Mice and Men.
 
 
OF MICE AND MEN The desperate longing of men for some kind of home-roots that they can believe in, land that they can care for-and the painful search for self.  This beautiful, timeless novel speaks of the love that men can feel for each other-one inarticulate, dumb, sometimes violent in his need; the other clever, hopeful, and tied to a responsibility he thinks he doesn't want.

A poem by Robert Burns that talks about the best laid plans of mice and men.
 

To a Mouse, On Turning up her Nest with a Plough
by Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Wee sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
                             Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor earth-born companion,
                             An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave 
'S a sma' request:
I'll get a blessin' wi' the lave,
                             And never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin!
Its silly wa's the win's are strewin':
And naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin'
                             Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare and waste
An' weary winter comin' fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till, crash! the cruel coulter past
                             Out thro' thy cell.

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble
Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald,
To thole the winter's sleety dribble
                         An' cranreuch cauld!

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
                             For promised joy.

Still thou art blest, compared wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But, oh! I backward cast my e'e
On prospects drear!
An' forward , tho' I canna see,
                             I guess an' fear!
 

 
 
The Scarlet Letter The Crucible Harold and Maude
Ethan Frome The Great Gatsby Of Mice and Men
The Moon is Down Henry David Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson
Edgar Allan Poe Walt Whitman Tim O'Brien
Pudd'nhead Wilson Jonathan Livingston Seagull Fahrenheit 451
Stephen King Inherit The Wind

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