OMAM: Socratic Seminar

Important Dates Coming Up:

Tuesday, Jan. 31:     

--OMAM Socratic Seminar
Friday, Feb. 3:        

--OMAM Packet due 

Wed., Feb. 8:          

--FD Tribute Speech due
Thurs. Feb. 9:          

--Tribute Speeches begin--this may change. 

HW for tonight (Wed., 1/25) is to begin preparing for next week's Socratic Seminar.

Here are your questions. Please respond to them on a separate sheet of paper (not in your journal). You may be able to cut and paste this chart onto a blank document, but I'm not sure. If not,  you can copy the questions. 

You can respond either in a bulleted list or in complete sentences, but have the question and the response on your page (not just the response).

Questions 2-3-4-8-9 require that you include some references and pg. #'s fromthe text to support your answer. The others are higher level thought questions, so they're more open-ended.

For tomorrow, I expect you to have at least #1-5 finished.

 

Question	From OMAM Text: Ideas & text. refs. w/pg. #’s	Your Personal Connections and Thoughts
1. Was George justified in his actions at the end of the book? Why or why not? What should happen to him legally, if anything?
2. What event earlier in the story foreshadowed Lennie’s death? Was that event justifiable? Why or why not?
3. Each character has a dream. How do the dreams differ from character to character?	George & Lennie Candy Curley's Wife Crooks Whit Others?
4. How and why does G & L's dream change over the course of the book? What makes it stronger or weaker?
5. In the novel, what is the purpose of “the dream”? Connect the idea of “the dream” to loneliness vs. friendship. How does it create loneliness or isolation? How does it encourage friendship?
6. What do the different dreams suggest about class, race, and gender during the  time  the novel occurs?
7. The title, Of Mice and Men, is an allusion to a Robert Burns poem. How is this allusion meaningful in the novel?
8. Analyze Steinbeck’s portrayal of Curley’s wife as the lone female on the all-male ranch. Is she to blame for Lennie’s death?
9. How is Of Mice and Men an allegory (look it up!) ? What does each of the characters represent?
10. Of Mice and Men has a controversial history. It has been repeatedly banned by school boards. Why might this book have been banned? Is such an action justified?	http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Are you your brother’s (or sister's) keeper?  --To what extent are we responsible for each other? --Are we inherently responsible for people who are less fortunate than we are—personally? As a society?