I-Search paper parts 1 and 2

Part I:
My genuine need for knowing more about the topic Of Mice and Men is that it is a book that I will most likely teach in secondary English. I remember reading the book when I was in high school (probably 10th grade), but I don’t remember much about it. That being said, I feel the need to become more familiar with this piece of literature for several reasons; I want to understand the central message and theme of this book on more than just a surface level, I want to be able to help my students interpret the meaning and messages in the story, I want to find out how those interpretations affect our feelings about the book, I want to understand what has been seen as so controversial about this book, and I want to become enthusiastic about this book so that I can pass on the enthusiasm to my students. On top of that, I need to learn how to successfully teach this book so that the unit is both interesting and insightful for my students. I don’t want them to go through this book with apprehension or dread, but instead I want them to be excited, hopefully even passionate, about exploring a classic piece of literature. And I know that any research I can do on this book will help me with creative and fun lesson plans for the unit.

Part II:
I don’t know much about this topic because although I remember that I did read the book, I remember very few details from/about it. Now that I am older and have more of an appreciation for such literature, I imagine that this is a beautifully written story about much more than just friendship. There are probably some very dark issues looming in this book, but these are the parts of the book that I think students will be most interested in. I assume that there are some controversial issues woven into this book because during my initial stages of research for the I-Search paper there were countless articles pertaining to the fact that it has been banned in several areas of the country. Controversy aside, I imagine that this book is one that my students will be able to relate to on some level, and I truly feel that if the students are open to being affected by a story such as this one, they will see that classic works can and do have a place in their lives.