Descibe an event that was a surprise and explain why this event is important.

In the novel Of Mice and Men' by John Steinberg, an event that was a shocking surprise was when George shot Lennie at the back of the head. This event is important as it marks the ending of a strong dynamic relationship between two best friends.

It was very unlikely for the reader to have predicted that George will ever have the nerve to put Lennie out of his misery by putting a bullet through his head. George was not mad at Lennie because he knew that deep down, Lennie was not capable of hurting anyone on purpose. George's last words to Lennie shortly before he pulled the trigger was "...I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know." This event was a shocking surprise as George's last words were so sympathetic and almost forgiving.

The setting of this event makes it very important. It was set in the late afternoon on the yellow sands of the Salinas River. Steinberg describes this scenery as 'already the sun had left the valley to go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun'. This description of the setting gives off a peaceful feeling to the place. When compared to the tragic event that took place, it contrasts the peaceful setting to the tragic event that took place making it very important.

This event is also important as it marks the end of a strong, dynamic friendship between two men. It was very unlikely to see two men working side by side, supporting each other at the time of the depression. A quote from Slim (another character in the novel) to support this is "Ain't many guys travel around together, I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."

To conclude, the surprising event of George having to shoot Lennie makes it an important event as he did this to put Lennie out of his misery. The event also marks the ending of a long, strong and dynamic friendship between two hard working men; a relationship, unusual to find in the times of the Great depression.

Describe a character in the text and explain why he/she is important.

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, an important character is George Milton. He is an important character as he helps to portray the central themes in the novel and is involved in the most important event in the story.

George is a small, lean, quick- witted, short tempered and caring man who travels with Lennie Small. He sometimes says to Lennie "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl." He is always there for Lennie even though he often talks about how better his life will be without him. At times George might be snappy and impatient but he never failed to protect Lennie.

George Milton is an important character because of his prolonged relationship with Lennie which helps to convey the theme of friendship and the American Dream. A quote from George to support how strong their friendship was is "Guys like us that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place... With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us." Another quote from Lennie that supports this is "An' why? Because... because I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you, and that's why." The American Dream was to live off the fat of the land. George is important in keeping this dream alive by ensuring Lennie "we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof..." Holding on to this dream made life a little bit easier knowing that they have something to aim for. George always made Lennie happy when he tells him that when they get the farm he will get to 'tend em rabbits'.

A key event that happened was when George shot Lennie after he accidentally killed Curley's wife. George did this out of mercy to prevent him from getting shot from one of the men on the ranch who would have killed him brutally. George is important in this event as we remember him foretelling Lennie about their dream to live the fat of the land. He did this because he knew this was the last time Lennie was ever going to hear about owning a farm and tending rabbits. A quote from George to show his feelings before he shot Lennie was "...I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know." George said this shortly before he pulled the trigger on the back of Lennie's head.

To conclude, George plays an important role in keeping alive the friendship and the American dream with Lennie. He is also an important character as he accepts the relationship between him and Lennie as a father and his son relationship.

Social Networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook are endangering NZ teenagers

Social Networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook has truly transformed the way we interact and communicate with each other. The claims of these social networking sites is to build communities of people who share common interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of the other. In my opinion it is not a safe virtual meeting place for NZ teenagers to hang out. I firmly believe that they are endangering NZ teenagers because of identity theft, cyberstalking and sexual predators.

'Identity theft'. Myspace and Facebook requires or gives you the option to give out your personal details like your name, where you live and your email address. In real life, you would not give out these details to people you do not know, so why do it on the net? This is when identity theft comes in. As a virtual public meeting place, anyone can view your profile and pretend to be you. Someone can copy down your information and pretend to be 'you' when taking part in illegal activities like crime, theft and so on. When legal authorities like the police gets involved and investigate the source of the illegal activity, they will find your name and all your other personal details and track you down. This is why I find social networking sites a dangerous playground to hang out.

'Cyberstalking'. Cyberstalking is the use of electronic communication like pagers, cellphones, emails and the internet to bully, harass, threaten and intimidate a victim. Whether it is done in person or over a computer, the effects of being stalked can be very devastating to anyone who endures it. Cyberstalking is a real and fast increasing global problem with most of its victims targeted at young and females. How this is associated with social networking sites? When you post your profile on facebook and myspace, it helps you to connect with your friends more easily as well as making you vulnerable to these cyber predators. The difference between cyberstalking and identity theft is that cyberstalking does evolve into physical stalking, unlike identity theft where you never get to meet the person or see the person. Cyberstalkers also search for their victims by using search engines, online forums, discussion boards and chat rooms. The scary thing about being cyberstalked is that most of the victims never know that they are being followed.

'Sexual predators'. Myspace is in the spotlight today after revealing that 90,000 registered sex offenders have been kicked off its site in the past two years! This is a ridiculously huge amount of low lifes who would do whatever it takes to crush the freedom of others. Again, letting out your details and posting your pictures on these sites makes you vulnerable to these sick people. There is a true story about a 13 year old girl who got murdered by an internet sexual predator. She was just like any other teenager, a good student and co-captain of her Catholic school cheerleading team. Christina Long lead a double life online, pretending to be a tough girl who boasted that she was ready to face anything. She was strangled by a married restaurant worker, who she met in the chat room. The name of this sexual predator is Saul Dos Reis, 25 years of age and an undocumented immigrant from Brazil.

Social networking sites really are a threat to NZ teenagers. What teenagers like Christina Long tend to forget, is that "little drops of water makes a mighty ocean". What this means is that every little piece of information you leak out in facebook or myspace makes you the more vulnerable to the world of cyber crime. So Beware!

The Internet Should Be banned

I firmly disagree with the fact that the internet should be banned. The reasons why I think this is because it is an easier way of researching information, reuniting with relatives through cheap communication and shopping online.

This 21st century is a whole new world of technology. It is a virtual era where knowledge is always power and can be easily obtained through the internet. It provides search engines such as Google, dictionary.com, ask.com, Google maps and Wikipedia. Google is one of the biggest search engine on the net, providing access to a wide range of information ranging from the latest flu epidemic occurring in another country to watching the latest movie online. Another example of researching information is through Wikipedia a very effective online encyclopedia. I personally find it very helpful in doing my history assignments because it has got all the chronological dates and events in one place.

The internet has given the word 'communication' a whole different meaning. Talk is cheap online because the net enables instantaneous contact with people all over the world without spending a dime. Examples of this is emails and skype. Email is basically an electronic way of sending messages or letters. It is extremely fast and inexpensive and there are no long distant bills for you to pay. Another example of cheap communication is through skype. Skype is quite similar to emails. It is a software that allows its users to make person-to-person calls over the internet. I find skype very useful and cheap when contacting my relatives in Ghana. Other than calling them though skype, the only other option I have is to buy a calling card which costs me 10 dollars, an amount of money I can use to buy fish and chips. I would rather much prefer the easier, cheaper, simpler way through skype over the internet.

Shopping.Shopping.Shopping. Shopping could not get anymore convenient. Why? Well because you can shop 24/7 from the comfort of your own home within a few clicks browsing a whole range of stores and shop whenever you want. If you want to buy a new Alexander McQueen smoke jacquard dress at 3a.m you can! Another reason why it is so effective is because of privacy. There are times when privacy really matters especially when you need to buy condoms, tampons or Viagra. Many of us will be too embarassed to buy these things in a store where we would have to make some eye contact with at least one other person who knows what we are buying. So when we buy these kind of things online, that embarrassment is very, very minimised.

However, as the saying goes, 'for every positive, there will be an equal and balancing negative'. Hackers, sexual predators and cyber bullying are all problems associated with the internet. Any program that is communicating over the internet, can be tricked into downloading and installing unwanted programs on your computer. Chatting programs, surfing programs and even the program that enables us to connect to our internet provider fall victims to hackers. A way this problem can be solved is by downloading the latest security service pack for your windows version. I highly recommend ZoneAlarm. This software is a seriously good firewall and it actually works. When you connect your computer to the internet it prevents hackers from getting into your system at all.

To conclude, the positives such as researching information, reuniting with relatives through cheap communication and shopping online definitely outweighs the negatives such as been worried of your system getting hacked into, cyber bulling and sexual predators. After all, just like anything in this world, you have to take precautions. on the net, you have to make sure you do not give out your private details and you have to make sure you have downloaded or installed some kind of trusted firewall to ensure security.

Shattered Dreams

There's a point in life,
sorta like an opportunity
to climb the ladder
sometimes its a ladder leading to our dreams
other times, its just plain fantasy

in times of the great depression
they seek out this ladder
to drown out the recession

keeping alive the dream
of a farm fullo- dem rabbits
gave life a lil bit of flavour
with sugar and cream

but unknownst to its seekers
is what lies at the very end of this ladder

cos lennie never got to climb this ladder
and he never got to tend 'em rabbits.