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What you should know about of mice and men
The document provides an overview and study guide for John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. It discusses the historical context of the Great Depression and migrant worker culture in California in the 1930s. It examines the significance of the title, which alludes to a poem about dashed dreams. Key elements like characters, themes of loneliness and the American Dream, settings, and plot points are summarized to aid understanding of the novel.
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What you should know about of mice and men
- 1. Of Mice andMen What you should know
- 2. Context • When thenovel is set • Historical/social factors that are relevant to the time it is set • Where the novel is set and why • How the context affects the plot, characters and themes • Could you answer the question How are the ranch workers affected by the context of the story?
- 3. Great Depression California Relationships Mass unemployment Migrant/itineran tworkers 1930s Racism/inequality Dreams Real places “No Help Wanted” Ranches No benefits Hunger American Dream
- 4. The title • Alliterativeconnection between mice and men – both subject to fate • Context of title gives biggest clue as to tragedy/pessimism for the dream The best laid schemes o’ mice and men Gang aft a-gley (often go wrong) • Struggle for survival in Burns’ poem hints at vulnerability and helplessness of characters • Could you answer the question What is the significance of the title?
- 5. Plot • Know thestory inside out ie. READ and RE-READ • Write detailed summaries of each of the six chapters so you know exactly when all the main events take place • Consider what we learn about the past and the future in each section
- 6. When did ithappen? • Lennie breaks Curley’s wife’s neck • Candy shows them around the bunkhouse • Lennie goes to the brush, as instructed by George • Lennie has a dead mouse in his pocket • Candy’s dog is shot • All the men go into town except Crooks, Candy and Lennie
- 7. Characters • Physical description •Personality and behaviour • What events/themes they are involved in • What role they play/their importance • Relationships with other characters • What they say/what others say about them • Use of language • Could you answer the question It is possible to feel sympathy for all the characters in the novel. Which of the characters do you feel most sympathy for?
- 8. Carlson Lennie Candy George Mice Candy’s dog Slim The Boss Curley Curley’swife Crooks The pups Whit
- 9. Who… • Used tobe a boxer? • Is the swamper? • Is the jerkline skinner? • Likes to gossip about people? • Acts like a parent? • Taunts Lennie? • Shoots Candy’s dog?
- 10. Themes • Themes arethe main ideas which run through the novel • They help us to identify Steinbeck’s intentions when writing the novel ie. the issues he wanted to highlight • Link them to characters and events • Could you answer the question Discuss the importance of dreams in the novel.
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- 12. Setting • Ensure youknow where the novel is set and why • Setting is made clear at the start of every chapter – like stage directions in a play – and all the chapter events take place in that location • Steinbeck uses real geographical locations • Remember that Soledad means ‘loneliness’ • Could you answer the question Choose one of the settings and show how it is important to the novel as a whole.
- 13. The Bunkhouse TheBunkhouse Crook’s room (the harness room) Clearing by the Salinas river Clearing by the Salinas river Barn Which chapter? Why important?
- 14. Imagery/symbolism • Animals • Hands •Names • The colour red • Light and darkness
- 15. Key Quotations • Learnsome short quotations so that you can use them in your longer essay response • Organise these under the headings: characters, themes, plot, setting, language • Keep the quotations short • If you can’t remember them exactly, you can paraphrase
- 16. Who says? • “Iseen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good.” • “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.” • “Coulda been in the movies an’ had nice clothes.” • “Why do you got to get killed. You ain’t so little as mice.” • “Come on ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me.” George Curley Slim Curley’s wife Lennie
- 17. Structure • Novella • Similarstyle to a play - importance of entrances and exits, use of visual description • Significance of opening and ending • Chronological order • Cyclical structure eg. opens and closes in same place and the characters’ lives are routine so become monotonous • Use of foreshadowing eg. which events give hints as to what will happen later on?
- 18. Foreshadowing What do thefollowing foreshadow? • The shooting of Candy’s dog • The events in Weed • The dead mouse in chapter one • Lennie crushing Curley’s hand
- 19. Language and style •Use of omniscient narrator (3rd person) • Use of unusual metaphors and similes • Vivid description of landscapes, setting and colour • Californian accent and dialect to emphasise characters and setting • Colloquial word choices, specific to ranch life • Swearing/racist comments – to shock? For realism?