2. Opening section
The novel opens with a description of the country
around the Salinas. Steinbeck has a very detailed
descriptive style that I hope you noticed. To help
you get to grips with it I’d like you to work in pairs
to find examples of the following:
• Simlie
• Metaphor
• Personification
• Onomatopoeia
3. • What type of atmosphere is created in the
first three paragraphs?
• Quote a description from the first section that
you think helps to create this atmosphere.
4. Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a technique used to suggest
or predict what might happen next or later.
What foreshadowing has been used so far in
the first section to warn us about what might
happen in the future?
Now in your pairs write a short summary of
what the first section is about.
5. Themes
While we read the next section pay attention
to the following main themes that run through
the novel:
• Loneliness
• Dreams vs Reality
• Injustice
6. Symbols
• A symbol is something which stands for
something more important than it might at
first seem. For example (not in this novel)
some people may see a car as a symbol of
their success (if it’s an expensive one), or as a
symbol of freedom (if they like to be able to
go where they want) or as a symbol of what’s
wrong with their marriage (if a wife thinks that
her husband loves his car more than he loves
her).
7. Curley’s wife
• Re-read the description of Curley’s wife and
write down what you think the symbolism
might be there. The paragraph starts: “Both
men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine
was cut off.
• Pay attention to what she’s wearing
8. Chapter 3 - Dialogue
• Dialogue means conversation so dialogue in
novels means any point where characters are
talking. We learn a lot about characters by what
they say and not just how they are described.
• ‘Of Mice and Men’ has a lot of dialogue because
Steinbeck wanted his novel to be read as a book
as well as a play, without making any changes.
• The biggest effect of this is that Steinbeck is very
distant from his characters and doesn’t tell us
what they think or feel. He expects us to work it
out from how they act and what they say.
9. • This means that you have to think more,
which is a good thing;
• The story also moves at a faster pace because
of dialogue;
• What do you learn about a character when
they say;
“pitcher” instead of ‘picture’. “Ain’t” instead
of ‘ain’t.’ “Jes” instead of ‘just’
10. Activity
Steinbeck introduces us to various new characters:
• Candy, the one-handed “swamper”, who sweeps the place
clean
• Crooks, the black stable hand (we don’t actually meet him
yet)
• The boss
• Curley, the boss’s son
• Curley’s wife
• Slim, the “jerkline skinner” – the main driver of a mule
team who handles the jerkline (reins)
Write a sentence or two about each of these characters,
giving reasons from the novel for what you say.
11. Parallels
• As well as symbols Steinbeck also uses
parallels in this novel to help us to understand
the events and relate them to a bigger
meaning. The first parallel we have come
across is the title of the novel and Burns’
poem “To a Mouse”
12. To a Mouse
• What parallels can you make with the poem
and the story so far?
