Starter•

In pairs, think about times in your own lives when things you had wished and planned for never actually happened. Jot down your thoughts.

•You have five minutes before you feed back to the rest of the class.

L.O:To consider the relevance of the title and what it

might tell us about the themes

of the novel.

The TitleThe Title•S

teinbeck originally titled his book Something That Happened.

•However, he changed the title after reading a poem by Robert Burns.

To a MouseTo a Mouse•T

o a Mouse [on turning her up in her nest with the plough], written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785.

•Steinbeck used a line from this poem as the title of his novella. Can you hear the line? Write it down if you hear it.

Why this poem?

Read the translated poem on the handout.

What is happening in the poem?

Summarise your stanza.

Small, crafty, cowering, timorous little beast,O, what a panic is in your little breast!You need not start away so hastyWith hurrying scamper!I would be loath to run and chase you,With murdering plough-staff.

I'm truly sorry man's dominionHas broken Nature's social union,And justifies that ill opinionWhich makes thee startleAt me, thy poor, earth born companionAnd fellow mortal!

I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal;What then? Poor little beast, you must live!An odd ear in twenty-four sheavesIs a small request;I will get a blessing with what is left,And never miss it.

You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,And weary winter coming fast,And cosy here, beneath the blast,You thought to dwell,Till crash! the cruel plough pastOut through your cell.

But little Mouse, you are not alone,In proving foresight may be vain:The best laid schemes of mice and menGo often askew,And leave us nothing but grief and pain,For promised joy!

Still you are blest, compared with me!The present only touches you:But oh! I backward cast my eye,On prospects dreary!And forward, though I cannot see,I guess and fear!

•Imagine the scene. An industrious little mouse has busied away for several weeks to perfect its nest in a field. Then just as it places its final piece of straw and declares it finished, a young farm hand accidentally destroys it with his plough. Being a sensitive soul and not an ASBO with a liking for wanton destruction, the farmhand thinks how both mice and men suffer in life. Sometimes, no matter how much preparation and planning you do, things can easily go wrong and there’s nothing you can do about it. No one can completely plan for the future.

•“But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane*

*alone•I

n proving foresight may be vain:•T

he best-laid schemes o' mice an' men•G

ang aft agley,* *often go awry /wrong

•An' lea'e us nought* but grief an' pain,

•For promised joy.”

*leave us nothing

Why is this passage relevant to the text?

Why this poem?

• Annotate the poem for the following things…

Mankind is killing nature and land A negative view of the future Paradox (the size and strength of the mouse) Similarities to Lennie Confused emotions

So why is the title important?

What does tell us about the themes of the novel?

•Write a paragraph linking the poem to the novella.

•What does using this poem as the novella’s title suggest might happen to George and Lennie’s ‘best laid schemes’ (their dream)?