Chapter 3 ~ Identifying Speakers and Significance of Quotations
Identify the speaker and the importance of his or her words for each
quotation below. Also identify to whom he/she is speaking and what his
attitude (tone) is. See the example below. Note that the bold-faced words
show the speaker’s attitude.
Example: “I seen her give Slim the eye. Slim’s a jerkline skinner. Hell of a
nice fella. Slim don’t need to wear no high-heeled boots on a grain team.”
Response: Candy the old Swamper is speaking critically here to George about
Curley’s wife. Candy believes Curley’s wife is a “tart,” and he is proving his
point that she is flirtatious. Candy is also insulting Curley for wearing highheeled cowboy boots to make himself look taller because Slim doesn’t have to
do that.
1. "Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to
know what your interest is."
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2. "I ain't got no people. I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That
ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get
wantin' to fight all the time[…]. 'Course Lennie's a God damn nuisance most of
the time, but you get used to goin' around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him."
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3. “From his pocket [he] took a little leather thong. He stooped over and tied it
around the old dog’s neck. All the men except Candy watched him. ‘Come boy.
Come on, boy,’ he said gently.”
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4. “Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna
laugh at me. I’ll show ya who’s yella.”
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5. “’You got your senses in hand to listen?’ he asked. Curley nodded. ‘Well, then
listen […]. I think you got your han’ caught in a machine. If you don’t tell
nobody what happened, we ain’t going to. But you jus’ tell an’ try to get this guy
canned and we’ll tell ever’body, an’ then will you get the laugh.’”
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