B. Ten end-of-course exams were failed by ninth graders this year, a first for Lollapalooza High.
Lennie accidentally kills the puppy by petting or squeezing it too hard. Lennie's dream is to take care of rabbits. When the puppy dies, Lennie has no real remorse for the dog- as he's only worried about what George is going to say about the dead dog (and whether or not he'll let Lennie get rabbits). Lennie tries to justify it by saying that dogs aren't rabbits and that it was the dog's fault that it died in the first place. He even considers hiding the body.
Literature can be a very effective form of social commentary. Moreover, it can motivate people to change their social reality through an increase of awareness.
When we read a story that resembles our own reality, we are able to gain some perspective because of the distance that we put between the characters and us. It can also highlight aspects of our social situation that we had not noticed before.
A common example is <em>Uncle Tom's Cabin</em>, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which greatly contributed to the social condemnation of slavery. Similarly, George Orwell's novels, such as <em>Animal Farm</em> and <em>1984</em>, have been very relevant in helping people realize the dangers of extremism and totalitarianism.
D. Being prepared to argue
