We concluded our study of the novel"Of Mice and Men" by discussing the two major themes: the loneliness of societal misfits and the myth of the American Dream. I placed the themes on the board and Marcel offered examples illustrating the isolation of the outsiders: Candy, Curley's wife, and Lennie. We noted how these characters stand in contrast to the strong relationship between George and Lennie. As Marcel's study guide addressed the second theme, we explored his analysis which addressed the circular force of fate as controlling the inevitable tragic conclusion of the novel as well as the relationship between the destruction of Eden and the false illusion of the American dream .For the last segment of the session, Marcel competed SAT prep exercises on punctuation and sentence structure as we will study grammar this year by studying and completing SAT practice questions, He displayed strong mastery of these skills. For homework due Monday, study for final test on the novel and read three page hand out -an introduction to our next novel, "Great Expectations".