After reviewing the two major themes of the novel- the American Dream and loneliness- we examined the provenance of the novel's title. To do so, Bobby re -read and discussed the opening scene wherein Lennie has accidentally killed a "pet "mouse by crushing it. We discussed Lennie's strength and innocence as well as the irony of his name -Lennie Small. We then studied Robert Burn's poem "To A Mouse", with an emphasis on the critical line,"The Best laid schemes of Mice and Men oft go awry". We discussed the meaning of this line and the poem and after defining "foreshadowing " analyzed what the poem might foreshadow with respect to George and Lennie's future and dreams. In the context of the poem, I further discussed the novel's fatalistic naturalist genre. For homework, read pages 33-47 and complete assigned study guide questions.