What’s your opinion?

Having friends fulfills our basic human

needs.Agree = YES; Disagree = No; ?? = I Don’t Know

Statement

Mentally impaired people are worthless, and cannot function like “regular” people.

Statement

People who are strong know their strength, and how much they

can hurt other people if they wanted to.

Statement

It is unnatural for people to have an attachment to, or

feelings for, an animal.

Statement

The purpose of life is to strive for, and

eventually reach, our goals and dreams.

Statement

Killing another human being is intolerable,

and should be punished.

Statement

Running away from a crime is never

acceptable.

MODERNISM

Disillusionment of the American Dream

Quotes on Modernism

• “The English novelist Virginia Woolf declared that human nature underwent a fundamental change "on or about December 1910." The statement testifies to the modern writer's fervent desire to break with the past, rejecting literary traditions that seemed outmoded and diction that seemed too genteel to suit an era of technological breakthroughs and global violence.”

• —from the EDSITEment reviewed Academy of American Poets “The Modernist Revolution: Make It New”

• “The term modernism refers to the radical shift in aesthetic and cultural sensibilities evident in the art and literature of the post-World War One period. The ordered, stable and inherently meaningful world view of the nineteenth century could not, wrote T.S. Eliot, accord with ‘the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary history.’.. rejecting nineteenth-century optimism, [modernists] presented a profoundly pessimistic picture of a culture in disarray.”

What????

• Disillusioned– World War I & Depression

• Break with Literary Tradition– Playing with technique

Literary Modernism (1915-1945)

Certain ideas taken from: http://www.millikin.edu/aci/Crow/basics/modernism.html Modified for classroom need/use.

1. a response to "sense of social breakdown"-reaction to WW I/Depression

2. sees world as "fragmented"-life is fragmented-Time and Point of View—chronology out the window; multiple narrators

3. poetry is very allusive, like a riddle/labyrinth-allusions to myth, the Bible, foreign languages, street life, personal-highly footnoted (see "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" or “The Wasteland” by T.S. Elliot)-meaning must be searched for by reader

4. Subject: often questions the “truths” of life-what is the use… in a world falling apart?-history, religion…THE AMERICAN DREAM?

Pre-Modern World (e.g., Romantic, Victorian Periods)

Modern World (early 20th century)

Ordered Chaos

Meaningful Futile

Optimistic Pessimistic

Stable Unstable

Faith Loss of Faith

Morality/Values Collapse of Morality/Values

Clear Sense of Identity Confused Sense of Identity and Place in World

THE AMERICAN DREAM

• What is the American Dream?– How would you define?

• Let’s examine Lennie and George’s Dream…– What is the dream exactly? – Why is it impossible? – The Story as an ALEGORY– The title: BEST LAID PLANS…

• What’s the lesson here?

• How does the theme “disillusionment” of the American carry over to today?

Of Mice and Men

• Setting

• Plot– Conflict

• Characters– Protagonist– Antagonist– “The Underdog” (pun intended)

• Symbols– Candy’s Dog, the color red

• Theme– What is Steinbeck saying about society? – How are his themes “MODERN”?

• Other Literary Elements to Consider– Foreshadowing– Analogy…Lennie = Animal