Jess+and+Tom

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Setting: 1931, a farm in California

Characters:

George, short tempered, can be rude at times, protects Lennie, wants to save up money to buy a farm for him and Lennie.

Lennie, has a mental disability, kind hearted, loves to pet things, wants to own a farm with George and take care of rabbits.

Curly, boss’s son, likes to fight people taller than him, hates it when other people talk or look at his wife, champion prizefighter.

Curly’s wife, only female character in the story, referred as a tramp to the men on the farm, dressed in fancy, feathery clothes.

Candy, old handyman, thinks his age makes him useless on the farm, lost his hand in an accident on the farm.

Crooks, black stable-hand, isolated from the other men, is fond of Lennie.

Slim, mule driver, always calm, everyone looks to him for advice.

Plot:
 * George and Lennie sit by a river talking about how they will own a farm and Lennie will take care of the rabbits.
 * George and Lennie go to a new farm for work.
 * George tells Lennie not to talk at the ranch because he is afraid that Lennie will mess up their chances to get a job.
 * George lies to the boss that him and Lennie are cousins and that Lennie was kicked the head by a horse when he was little.
 * They meet everyone in the ranch and Curly’s wife tries to flirt with them when they are alone.
 * The next day George tells Slim that he Lennie aren’t related and that they were fired from their last job because Lennie grabbed a women’s dress and he was accused of rape.
 * Carlson complains to Candy that his dog smells and should be put to sleep, after an argument and Slim’s advice they decide that Carlson will shoot Candy’s dog.
 * Candy overhears George and Lennie talking about owning a farm and will help them by giving him his life savings if he can help on the farm.
 * Curly comes back to the bunk house angry at Slim for teasing him about being suspicious about his wife and decides to take his anger on Lennie. He fights Lennie but Lennie breaks his hand.
 * Lennie is alone in the barn where Slim’s puppies are and he accidentally kills one. Curly’s wife comes in and comforts him by letting him pet her hair. Lennie accidentally kills Curly’s wife and he runs away.
 * Lennie heads back to the river where George told him to go if he got in trouble. George finds him there and talks to him about their dream farm. George shoots Lennie and the others come.

Carlson shooting Candy’s dog foreshadows Lennie’s death.

The way Curly’s wife dresses in fancy clothes represents the temptation of sexual desires.

Slim represents the voice of reason to all the workers.

George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm symbolizes freedom and safety.

Lennie’s strength and small furry things shows power over the weak.

Candy’s dog represents people that out live their purpose in life.

Themes: Everyone has loneliness, the impossibilities of the American dream, the nature of human existence.

Jessica Tolton: Friday Flashback

Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Setting: The Tabard Inn/ the road to Canterbury

Important characters: Narrator (Chaucer) - judges people before and after he meets them and thinks he knows everything about them. The Knight - very brave and cocky, he is at the top of the social status because of his ranking. He tells a tale about two prisoners who fight for the marriage of a beautiful woman, and how the gods decide the fate of each character. The Miller - is drunk throughout the book, he is crude and offensive to many of the other travelers on the voyage. he tells a story about a scholar Nicholas, his lover Alisoun, her husband John, and Absolon who also lover Alisoun. Nicholas tells John God told him a flood is coming and they need to sleep in tubs tied to the garage roof in order to survive. John follows orders and when he falls asleep Nichilas and Alisoun sleep together. But Absolon visits and wants a kiss from Alisoun, but instead he kisses her butt, then as revenge he goes back and when Nicholas stickis his butt out he burns him with a blacksmiths stake. The Reeve - is a shrewd worker who makes money for his boss but steals it. He tells a story about two guys who go to buy corn from the miller, while they were preparing it the miller untied there horses and stole their corn. They had to stay the night at the miller's house and on order to get back at him one sleeps with his daughter and the other sleeps with his wife, when the miller finds out he attacks the guys, but since it was dark no one could tell who was who and the miller's wife struck the miller and the two men got away with their corn and horses. The Wife of Bath - is fairly deaf, has been married five times and admits to using her womanly power to have her husbands give her anything she asked for. She tells a story about a knight who rapes a woman and is ordered to figure out what women want most in the world as his punishment; he has a year to do so or he will be beheaded. He gets the answer from an old hag who then asks him to marry her, he is miserable because she i hideous but goes by her answer that what women want most is complete power over their husband and she turns into a beautiful young woman. The Friar - a priest who takes bribes from anyone who wants to be pardoned of their sin, he lies and tells them they are forgiven.He tells a tale about summoner who offers pardons of sins for bribes; he happens to meet the devil diguised as a yeoman. They share trade secrets and talk business, on the departure the devil tells the summoner if he takes another bribe and gives a fake pardon he will see him again in hell; the summoner ignores the devils advice and continues his evil trade, seeing this the devils brings the summoner to live in hell for the rest of his life. The Host - is loud and obnoxious, he owns the Tabard Inn and accompanies the pilgrams on their voyage. He comes up with the plan for each pilgram to come up with two stories going to and from Canterbury. The Pardoner - a cheap fraud who lies to people about his relics and pardons of sins to make money off of them. He tells a tale of three men who hear of the loss of their close friend, it is told he has been killed by a strange figure called death. They feel the need for revenge so they embark on a revengeful mission to find death. Instead they find eight sacks of gold coins under a tree, they decide to split it but have to wait for night fall, so they draw stralls and the youngest goes to get them bread and wine until the can leave; the other two men deicde to kill the youngest and have greater shares of the money, and the youngest decides to poison the other two men's wine so he can have all of the money for himself. When the youngest returns the other tow jump out and kill him, they celebrate by drinking the poisoned wine and end up dying themselves, therfore all three found what they were looking for, death. The Nun's Priest - a very agreeable man who isn't a fraud or vulger like some other chracaters in the book. He tells a story about a rooster named Chanticleer and his favorite wife out of ten, Pertelote; Chanticleer has a nightmare about being attacked and killed by a giant red creature, he shares this story with Pertelote because he is fearful that it might come true, she reassures him it will not. The next day a fox approaches him and he shows off his amazing singing, the fox snatches him and runs away. The entire farm chases after the fox, Chanticleer suggests to the fox that he turn around and boast to the others about how he out smarted the rooster and was going to eat him, the gullible fox does this and as he opens his mouth to brag Chanticleer escapes and flys to the top of a tree, not being fooled again by the foxs flattery. The Parson - is a serious man who ends the story telling with a sermon about being moral and explaining sins, he believes it is necessary to live a wholesome complete life.

Plot summary: The story begins at the Tabard Inn where the narrator, Chaucer, meets up with tweny other pilgrams and asks if he can join their voyage to Canterbury and back. At the Inn the Host, Bailey, suggests the group travel together and each character shares two stories on the journey there and back. He says the whoever tells the best story will win a meal paid by the rest of the travelers when they return back to the Tabard Inn at the end of their journey. He decided he will accompany the pilgrims and be the judge of each tale and decide the winner. As the book goes on each character shares his or her individual story with the group; some stories are funny, others are tragic or make said to make fun of other characters within the group.

Important devices: Love: the different characters portrayal of romance within their stories. Fabliaux: some stories ended in a crude manner usually set to mock another character.

Themes: The importance of social status. The influence of the Church. The differences in traits of individuals.

Critical Analysis: Criticism by Phyllis Hodgson- http://find.galegroup.com/srcx/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252C%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528su%252CNone%252C16%2529canterbury%2Btales%2524&contentSet=GSRC&sort=Relevance&tabID=T001&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=DISPLAY_SUBJECTS&prodId=SRC-2&searchId=R3&currentPosition=2&userGroupName=abin93897&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28SU%2CNone%2C16%29canterbury+tales%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=EJ2101202529&docType=GSRC