Meetings of May 9th, 15th an 30th

On May 9Th, when the Childhood Cancer came together, we talked about how the Franks For Frankie Fundraiser went. I didn't not attend to fundraiser but I heard that is was a great success, they raised over 1,100 dollars. We also wrote an apology letter to all the teachers for the behavior of some students in our group who had acted poorly while giving out fliers for the fundraiser.

On May 15Th, we discussed what we would do for the few meetings we had left. We discussed going to a hospital to visit and read to children suffering from illness, unfortunately we knew it would take too long to make an appointment. So, we started to discuss that we may want to go to a hospital next year.

On May 30Th, we went on a walking trip to McCaw, were we we talked to the Principal, we will most likely be going back to McCaw to talk to some students. We then went to the park and discussed what we would be doing to gather more funds for next year. We talked about a dance, another fundraiser and a every few weeks selling food, for next year.

Of Mice and Men- Motifs

Laugh at my expense, you'll never see who I am, you'll never see the beauty under this mask, you'll never see the tears I've cried because of your laughter, you'll never see the smile under my scowl.-Stephanie Townsend-"You'll never see"

A motif of, Of Mice and Men is the feel of loneliness and the need for companionship from a few of the characters in this book. The characters that has this feeling the most is Curly’s wife, George, and Candy, who all, first start out with a companion but is soon found in loneliness.

Even though she is married to Curly, Curly’s wife is lonely. Curly is very cruel to her and is always out fighting to prove his manhood, so she is very lonely. Curly is always telling her to back into the house and then leaving her alone for hours.

While Curly'ss wife is lonely, Candy is also lonely. Candy once had a dog who was his companion but, then the men decided that the dogwas too old. So, they shot Candy's dog. After the dog was shot Candy became reclusive and therefore became lonely.

George is another character who is lonely. George traveled everywhere with Lennie, even Lennie says, " George and I go everywhere together." But at the end of the book George shots Lennie, so sadly George is then left alone.

Companionship: A feeling of friendship or fellowship.
Loneliness: a sad feeling one gets when they have no friends or companions. Come together, go apart; companionship and loneliness, we are all lonely and yet we all have companions.

Of Mice and Men- Themes (unfinished)

Nature-Natural. Lion-Predator. Human- has the natural predator instincts of a lion. Human-the most dangerous creature on Earth.

A theme of this book is that people have a nature that is predatory. Examples of human predators are Crooks treatment of Lennie, Curly’s treatment of everyone, and Curly’s wife’s treatment of Curly, Lennie, and George.

First, Crooks’ treatment Lennie is very sad. At first Lennie goes in and is nice to Crooks, but Crooks saw it as a way to pick on him. So, as a way to get back at the world for treating him badly for being black he starts to picking at Lennie’s insecurities, of George not coming back or something happening to George, so that he leaves Lennie.

Second, Curly’s treatment of everyone on the ranch and his wife is nothing but down right cruel. Curly is short and is ashamed of it so he goes around and picks fights with men who are bigger then him. So, when Lennie and George come to the ranch and Curly sees Lennie and how big his is, Curly sees this as a chance to so how much of a man he is. Also, Curly always suspects his wife of cheating, so every time he can’t find her he starts thinking she is with someone other then him. He is always sending her back to the house and yelling at her.

Of Mice and Men- Symbols (GRADE THIS)

Dream of a better life. Your life in those dreams dies. Death. Lingering grieve, lose, unfulfillment. All these are elements in Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, were we meet an old men, Candy, who owns a dog. Candy has had this dog for years since the dog was a puppy, and was very reluctant to shoot the dog, unfortunately the men have already decided that the dog is too old and is shot. Now, I bet, you’re wondering how is that a symbol? It is a symbol of the grieve of losing a friend, the death that now lingers in Candy’s mind, and the end of old dreams that were not filled.

One way this is a symbol is it shows how Candy grieved the loss of his dog. Candy and his dog were very good friends, when the dog was shot, Candy did not let anyone see the tears he shed. He also grieved by becoming a recluse and sticking to himself.

Without death you cannot have grief. After the death of his dog, Candy realizes that if that is want they do to a dog, then what is stopping them from "canning" him? If they fire him where would he go? What would he do, he has one hand. Who would a one hand man? Candy knows he is old and he is going to be fired one day and soon afterward would die. This terrifies him. Death, to Candy, isn't far away.

When Candy's dog is shot he realizes, that the dreams he had when he was young went unfulfilled. He gets new dreams when George and Lennie, promise to let him in the farm with them, even while the promise of living on a farm raised his spirits, his dreams were gone. Unfortunately, when George shots Lennie those dreams are taken away and despair settles in.

Ending this essay, I would like to say this: All dreams are not fulfilled. All hopes can be dashed, and although not many think about it, Death is there. It lingerings in grief, in ones own thoughts. It lingerings in the feeling of loss, it's always there.

May 1's Meeting

On May 1, when the meeting began we took a break and ate candy, but soon the fun ended and we went back to work. The rifle basket's were brought in and we took a look at them, we also decided that, we wanted to tell the other service learning groups that the fundraiser would be Saturday. So a few students were chosen and a lot copies were made then the students went around (including myself) and we spilt up and covered all the service learning groups. At the end of the meeting we had want we hoped to be the completed plans of the Franks for Frankie Fundraiser.

Third Meeting

In the third meeting of the Childhood Cancer group, we continued the planning for May 3rd's fundraiser. We also look and decide who needed to bring in what, and what was still needed. We talked about what the rifle's would hold, and the different ways to put them together. At the end of the meeting, we knew what was to be brought in.

Empire of The Sun?

To tell the truth this movie got on my last nerves. I mean, the boy's name if Jamie, but then the guy, Basie (did I spell that right), changes it to Jim, where does that make sense? Oh, and Jamie ( or is it Jim?) is a spoiled rich little brat in the beginning of the movie, (at least that's what I hear, I wasn't there for the beginning), and throughout the whole movie he's so naive, I mean, through the whole war he's always saying "I surrender," like it means something, and it takes until they kill he's Japanese friend that he becomes at least a little smarter. But, I like the end when he finds his mother and father.