<p> Of Mice and Men poem connection</p><p>Robert Burns “To a Mouse” On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough, November, 1785</p><p>Summary of the stanzas: A mouse runs out of its den in a field because a plow tears the den up. The narrator is apologetic and feels guilty about the fright of the mouse. The narrator knows that the mouse eats his corn, but realizes that the mouse must eat to live and, therefore, doesn’t hold a grudge over the small amount damaged. The house is destroyed, and it is winter and windy. The narrator looks at life from the mouse’s point of view and understands the trauma of having its house destroyed; especially after spending so much time to build the den and how it’s now exposed to sleet and the cold weather. [Stanza seven]. The narrator then says that the mouse is fortunate in that he’s only disturbed at present, but the narrator himself looks at his past in sadness and at his future in fear. </p><p>Stanza 7: “But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought by grief an’ pain For promised joy!</p><p>Dissection: But Mouse, you are not on a set course, It is proven that trying to plan ahead may be useless: The best planned out schemes of mice and men Often go astray, And leave us nothing except grief and pain As our final result!</p><p>Questions: 1) How do George and Lennie’s lives parallel that of the mouse in the poem?</p><p>2) How is Lennie like the mouse? How is George like the narrator? Why then is life more difficult for George?</p><p>3) List all of the reasons Steinbeck may have titled his book Of Mice and Men. </p>