Not+so+Slim+Jim-hr+1

Alex "The Lame Train" Smith David "Big Bowl O' Puddin'" Jones Jason "Wild Card" Obrycki-Smith Brian "Phoenix" Siwka Daniel "Meanie" Cayo

Summaries: Of Mice and Men tells the story of Lennie and George, two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression era. After an incident before the events of the book in a city called Root, they must move to a new farm for work. We find out that Lennie is a large, unintelligent, kind man, and George is his smarter but sometimes abusive friend who helps protect and look out for him. They also have a dream of perhaps one day having a farm of their own. After being introduced to their new coworkers, they realize if one of their new friends, Candy, joins them in the farm, they can have enough money in a month. The owner's son, Curley, picks a fight with Lennie and nearly has his hand crushed by him. Later Lennie goes into the barn to play with some puppies, when he encounters Curley's flirtatious wife. Not knowing his own strength, he accidentally kills her while feeling her hair. Curley and the rest all go searching for Lennie with revenge on their minds. George goes ahead of the group to the duo's secret hideout, and before Lennie faces Curley's wrath, he regretfully shoots and kills him.

The Pearl revolves around Kino and his family, an impoverished Native Mexican (Mayan? Aztec?) family living on the Western coast of Mexico. He and his neighbors survive by finding pearls in the ocean and selling them. Kino's son, Coyotito is stung by a scorpion, but the local doctor refuses to help. Kino finds a massive pearl, "The Pearl of the World" and has dreams of attaining great wealth. The greedy doctor, desiring Kino's wealth treats Coyotito to little effect, but he heals later. He attempts to sell it to the local buyers, but they try to cheat him with unfairly low offers. He refuses to sell it, and later that night marauders try to steal it from Kino, and his wife tries to throw it in the ocean, fearing the trouble it may cause. Kino stops her and discovers someone cut a hole in the bottom of his canoe and has lit his house on fire. He decides to travel to the capital with his family to sell the pearl. They are hunted by trackers, who kill Coyotito, and who are defeated by Kino. Kino and Juana return to the village and throw the pearl back into the ocean.

-Brian Siwka

//Of Mice and Men// takes place in Soledad, California, sometime around the 1930s. Soledad is only a short distance from the city of Salinas, California. The name "Soledad" means "lonliness" or solitude in Spanish. This is probably part of the reason that Steinbeck chose it for the setting of his novel-to represent George and Lennie being alone in the world together. In the 1930s, Solidad's economy was largely based on row crops, attracting fair amounts of migratory agricultural workers to the city, like George and Lennie. //The Pearl// takes place in La Paz, a city in Baja California. It's a coastal city right along the Pacific Ocean, on the Bay of La Paz. The setting of //The Pearl// is probably around the end of the 1800s or the beginning of the 1900s. La Paz has a warm, fairly dry climate, and doesn't ever get very cold, even in the winter months.

Mrs. Wycoff: I used some information from a website to get this done, but I wasn't sure how to cite it, because I'm not sure whether the cite I used was considered government publication or not. If it's alright with you, I'll ask you about it tomorrow and add the citation tomorrow night.

To my group: I can't believe you all made code names without me. Oh, if you're reading this on Monday, then I'm sorry I couldn't help you guys present. I had to go to some thing over in Grosse Point.

-Daniel

The Song of Evil: Writing On the Walls by Underoath media type="youtube" key="iSYxr-FInPA" width="425" height="350"

The Song of the Family: The Best Day Ever by Sponge Bob Squarepants media type="youtube" key="xLYoeQc5VlU" width="425" height="350"

The Song of the Pearl:Billionaire by Travis McCoy ft. Bruno Mars media type="youtube" key="SED5kzrSzWw" width="425" height="350"

- Jason Obrycki-Smith

-This is Raptor 4-7, requesting airstrike on position 36 30. We got bogeys on our six, pursuing us to our exfil site. Requesting immediate danger close fire support. -Raptor, this is Iceman. Do you have the HIV? -Yes sir, but we won't make it to the evacuation site without air support. -Roger, Raptor, but all gunships are occupied. Initiate protocol Romeo-Lima-Hotel until air support is available. -They ambushed us! Requesting imme- -Raptor, has the HIV been compromised!? Raptor, report! -LOOK OUT! RPG ON THE ROO- *static* -Come in Raptor! RAPTOR!

Sorry, but for funsies, I thought I'd make a nice little story I could continue to follow up on. Moving on to the novels, I think the Pearl had a stronger theme than of Mice and Men. I'm talking about greed. Kino's desire for money, including his son's education and a rifle, leads him from being a content, kind man to an aggressive monster. For example, in the beginning of the novel, Kino's life is described as humble, but quite fulfilling. He had had loving family and lived in a beautiful area, and he was as serene as can be. Upon finding the Pearl, Kino vows not to let wealth go to his head and wants his son to be educated. However, the prospects of being married in a church, owning a carbine, and his son being educated slowly transformed him, causing him to become paranoid about being swindled or thieves stealing the Pearl. He eventually kills a man in self-defense, and his rage fuels his desire to become wealthy. This greed causes him to make the dangerous trip to Mexico, which is decidedly unsafe for him and his family. His anger climaxes as he kills the trackers following him, but he indirectly gets his son shot in the head. The story makes a point of how greed is consuming, a hunger that just makes people want more and more, and causes them to lose their morals and values in pursuit of more. Kino actually feels like a mindless animal, and his actions hurt those around him, and he has little remorse until his actions cause a severe tragedy. Greed like this has unfortunately spread everywhere, with no greater example than large corporations cutting corners to save money on the expense of consumers. For example, major airlines put //just enough// fuel into planes to get them directly from Point A to Point B. This means that if there is any delay or problem in the air causing the trip to be longer, the plane has to land, because it barely has enough fuel to make the trip. Now, isn't the consumer being put at risk because companies want to save money on jet fuel? Yes, yes they are. Similarly, Wal-Mart keeps security to a minimum to save money, and that can be downright dangerous. Like this guy who's death was preventable if there had been more safety precautions taken. Although large corporations are repeat offenders of greed, there are even small things we think of as harmless that translate into greed. For example, have you ever been full at a family dinner, but ate more anyways? The point is, greed for //anything// can and will swallow a person whole, as it did to Kino, and never with good results.

Symbolism

The Pearl (the book) - The pearl (actual pearl) represents greed. At first it was thought as a way to save their baby, but as the town finds out about it, the pearl shifts from a sign of hope to an association with greed and desires. Kino shifts his attention from his family and cultural beliefs to devoting all of his time to defend the pearl. The pearl shows the descructive nature of materialism.

Of Mice and Men - The farm represents the possibility of a free, idyllic life. They hoped that one day their dream would come true and escape their routine lifestyle.

/2 hours later/

-(Cayo) How badly is Freight Train hurt? -He'll make it, but we gotta move. Phoenix, report. Where's our best exit? -No clean way out, Wild Card. Tangos crawling through all the streets and alleys. If I stayed behind, I could provide sniper cover while yo- -No can do. No man gets left behind. (Rescue Heroes theme song plays) -I CAN SEE THE AIR, AND ZEBRAS ARE DANCING! -FT's pain meds kicked in, apparently. -(Raptor rushes in) Alright, I found some ammo, but I think the Tangos heard me. We have to leave, ASAP. -(Phoenix) We have incoming Tangos, north and south, we're trapped! They also are moving the captured HIV north! -NSSJ, reload and roll out!