OF MICE AND MEN

Ad Astar! OF MICE AND MEN Sunday, 12 February 2012

INTERTEXTUALITY • The deliberate referencing of a well known text within another to create sub-text. • Robert Burns – To a mouse: “The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley…” • The title suggests quite clearly that plans and dreams often go wrong… before we start reading we know things may well not go smoothly. Ad Astar!

Opening: a screenplay? • It is said that Steinbeck wanted to write in a manner that would make the transfer from novel to stage straightforward. How is this reflected in the opening paragraphs of the novel? Ad Astar!

What is the focus of this novel? Ideas please • Themes? • Characterisation? • Issues? • Values? • How do you know? – • give examples Ad Astar!

FORM: The passage question. • RESPOND TO THE WHOLE PASSAGE! • WHAT ARE THE KEY FEATURES OF Steinbeck’s style that you should look out for? • Can you spot his deliberately chosen vocabulary? What words or phrases could you leave out and still understand the passage? – These will be the interesting ones. • PEE! Ad Astar!

Form: • Read the opening again, the read the “closing scene”. Comment on the cyclical layout of the novel and of nature itself. • What image changes between the opening and closing scenes, why? • Consider the nature imagery here… Ad Astar!

Themes/Ideas: Discrimination • Discrimination on its own can be a good thing: “ He is a discriminating reader”. • Discrimination against is not : The ranch hands discriminate against Crooks or Candy or CW… • Can you find and support examples of discrimination in this text? Ad Astar!

THEMES/IDEAS: Loneliness • Candy is saved from loneliness by his dog, George by Lennie. At the end of the novel, George will seem to head off with Slim. What does Steinbeck tell us about those who lose companionship? • Is the fate of Curley’s wife a direct result of her loneliness? Ad Astar!

Animals and images: Characterisation. • Lennie is described variously as a bear or a mouse, and many other images in between… find the imagery and comment on its effectiveness. • How does Steinbeck use animals in the narrative to foreshadow or mirror the human activities? Ad Astar!

Curley • What is he trying to prove and why? • Why does he wear the glove and what does it tell us about his attitude to his wife? Is this borne out in his actions? • He has the security of being the boss’ son. What evidence can you find to show that he will use and abuse this position? • What is Steinbeck’s intention in writing this character? Ad Astar!

Crooks • Read the description of Crooks’ room. What do we learn about his character from this description? • What makes Crooks’ unusual for a negro of the time in the Southern USA? • Are there two types of loneliness? • What is Steinbeck’s intention in writing this character? Ad Astar!

SLIM: • God-like, a giant among men, a skilled worker, priestly, listening, understanding… • Find quotations from the first appearance of Slim to construct his character. • Now find examples of his character from the text to illustrate those quotations. • What function does this character play in the novel? Ad Astar!

Curley’s wife • Re-read the death scene. What theatrical device does Steinbeck use to punctuate the action – why? • We know of “something” in Weed. Comment on the foreshadowing devices used by Steinbeck to set up this scene. Consider: Weed, the puppy, the mouse, and the fight with Curley. • How is this character used in the novel? Ad Astar!

To quote or not to quote… • This is a closed book exam. • DO NOT try to learn great swathes of text to quote. • Focus on simple words or phrases: “the fatta’ the lan’” for example and EMBED them in the text: “L dreams of living off “the fatta the lan’” and his dream is doomed to failure…” • If paraphrasing – be detailed. Ad Astar!

Other tips: • Annotate the passage and PLAN the essay – 10 minutes planning in detail will produce better work than a 3 minute spidergram… • Remember that English Lit looks at how writers write – do not simply retell the story. • Highlight the key words in any question and ensure that you focus your response clearly. Ad Astar!

OF MICE AND MEN

OF MICE AND MEN

Presentation Transcript

Of Mice and men

Of Mice and Men..

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men:

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

“Of Mice and Men”

Of mice and men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

OF MICE AND MEN.

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

“Of Mice and Men”

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men