Reading and Writing Assignments for July 14th 19th Class

At first glance, George in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men seems to be the one in control of his hulking sidekick Lennie. But on closer inspection, it's clear that there's is a symbiotic relationship between the two men in which each needs the other to survive. George is clever but not so strong and Lennie is quite different. If there hadn't been Lennie, George can't work so well and can't get enough money. If there hadn't been George, Lennie can't keep alive for that long time. So I think that George is like the head of Lennie's and Lennie is like the body of George's. They need each other so much.

This is really, really well done. I like the conscious use of repetition, "If there hand't been...., which is also perfectly punctuated, and I am awestruck by your head and body analogy (an analogy is an extended comparison used to make a point). That is exactly right, although I never thought of it that way before! 

Here is Alice's response:

At first glance, George in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men seems to be the one in control of his hulking sidekick Lennie. But on closer inspection, it's clear that there’s a symbiotic relationship between the two men in which each needs the other to survive. First, Lennie has enormous size of body but couldn’t think so fast, so he needs George to guide him, to help him do the right thing. Secondly, sometimes George is to impulsion, so he will need Lennie to pacify his emotion. Both of them are important to each other, so they can’t leave one another.

 

Nicely done Alice. I have sent you a response via e-mail but just quickly, I want to point out how perfectly you have made the opening point more specific. I am also impressed that you know and use correctly the word "pacify " and like how neatly you bring the paragraph to a conclusion. 

  At first glance, George in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men seems to be the one in control of his hulking sidekick Lennie. But on closer inspection, it's clear that there's is a symbiotic relationship between the two men in which each needs the other to survive. Lennie Small, a strong and simple man who had an ironic name. Because of his personality, he couldn’t go to work by himself. Fortunately, George, a man who was really good at talking led him since his grandmother died. This group had two members, one could always talk wisely and sharply, and the other one always listened and could work very hard. Every boss would like to hire a man who had both of these two merits—clever and hardworking. No one would like to hired a man who could speak well but not very strong and good at working, and no one would like to hired a man who wasn’t clever but only hardworking, either. Lennie couldn’t control himself. For instance, when he wanted to fight back Curley, he couldn’t control his strength and when to stop. He needed a person who could remind him and taught him just like George. These two men helped each other, and they couldn’t live without each of them.

Very nice. I am very happy to see you using information from the book to support what you say. I like, too, your point about a boss needing to hire both men in order to get one really good worker. That's a good way to indicate how symbiotic the relationship is. 

Nice conclusion too. I will respond as well via e-mail, but glad to see you writing again.