Analysing the novel:
Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
Student: ________________________________
English B
Glasir
Erla Bech Nolsø
Of Mice and Men – chapter 1
Answer these questions based solely on chapter 1. No internet searches or other chapters.
Use quotes and examples with page numbers for every answer.
1. Characterise George.
2. Characterise Lennie.
3. In what ways is Lennie like a child? Give examples.
4. Describe their situation (where are they coming from/going to, why did they have to
leave, etc.).
5. Outline their relationship and their significance to each other.
6. What does Lennie do with mice, and why won’t George allow it? Is he fair?
7. Outline their dream (p. 15-16 in the book, p. 7 on PDF). Is it realistic?
8. Find 3-5 examples of ungrammatical writing/misspellings which reflect their idiom
(the way they speak).
9. Find 5 words from the first chapter to look up on WordWeb and write their
definitions. We will collect these in a glossary later.
Answers:
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Of Mice and Men – chapter 2
Use quotes and examples with page numbers for every answer.
1. Briefly characterise the old man and the stable buck.
2. Characterise the boss.
3. How does George describe Lennie to the boss and, later, to Slim?
4. Characterise Curley.
5. What is the potential trouble between Curley and Lennie? What is George’s solution?
6. Characterise Curley’s wife (reputation, appearance, way of talking, etc.).
7. Briefly characterise Slim and Carlson.
8. What prospect excites Lennie at the end of the chapter?
9. Find and look up 5 words for the glossary.
Answers:
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Of Mice and Men – chapter 3
Use quotes and examples with page numbers for every answer.
1. At one point, George describes playing jokes on Lenny but then he stopped. Why did
he stop? What did we learn about the loyalty in George and Lennie’s relationship?
2. What are Carlson’s reasons for shooting Candy’s dog?
3. What are Candy’s reasons for not shooting the dog?
4. In what ways is Candy like his dog?
5. Discuss the simplicity of George and Lenny’s dream. What role does the dream of
“livin’ off the fatta the lan’” play in Chapter 3? How does the dream affect the
characters? What mood does it create in this scene? Why is that important? (hint –
think about what else happens in the chapter)
6. Why should Candy have shot his dog instead of letting Carlson do it? Do you agree?
Explain.
7. How is Slim described in this chapter? Refer to examples from the text.
8. Find and look up 5 words for the glossary.
Answers:
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Of Mice and Men – chapter 4
Use quotes and examples with page numbers for every answer.
1. What are we told about Crooks’ room?
2. What reason does Crooks first give for Lennie not being welcome in his room?
3. According to Crooks, why does a person need a companion?
4. What is Crooks’ initial response to Candy’s account of the dream farm? What causes
Crooks to become interested in joining?
5. According to Curley’s wife, why are the men afraid to talk to her when there is more
than one present?
6. Why doesn’t Curley’s wife like talking to her husband?
7. What reason does Candy give when he says that Crooks, Lennie, and himself are no
longer afraid that Curley’s wife will have them fired?
8. What motivates Crooks to confront Curley’s wife and tell her to leave his room?
9. How does Candy finally make Curley’s wife leave the barn?
10. What does George say about Candy and Lennie visiting with Crooks?
11. Crooks, Candy, Lennie, and Curley’s wife are lonely people with specific needs.
Compare the four characters and evaluate what each one would need to end their
particular kind of loneliness.
12. Find and look up 5 words for the glossary.
Answers:
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Of Mice and Men – chapter 5
Use quotes and examples with page numbers for every answer.
1. How does Lennie feel about the dead puppy?
2. How did he kill it?
3. Describe the communication between Lennie and Curley’s wife.
4. How have Curley's wife's dreams for her life changed or been lost?
5. Why does Curley's wife tell Lennie about "the letter"?
a. What do you think the letter symbolises?
b. What do you believe happened to the letter?
6. How does Lennie's killing of the puppy parallel his killing of Curley's wife and the
mice?
7. How does Candy react to the death of Curley's wife?
8. What options do George and Candy discuss after the discovery of the body?
a. What would you have done and why?
b. ‘He (Candy) looked helplessly back at Curley’s wife, and gradually his sorrow
and his anger grew into words.’ p. 94. Why is Candy so upset?
9. How does Curley react to the death of his own wife? What does his reaction say about
what she meant to him?
10. Find and look up 5 words for the glossary.
Answers:
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Of Mice and Men – chapter 6
Use quotes and examples with page numbers for every answer.
1. Where does Lennie go after he kills Curley’s wife?
2. Describe Lennie’s conversation with Aunt Clara.
a. What is its significance?
3. What is the significance of the rabbit appearing before Lennie?
4. Describe George and Lennie’s reunion up to the shooting.
5. Why did George kill Lennie?
a. Was he justified in doing that?
b. Where in the book was this event foreshadowed? Compare the events.
6. Explain what happens to the dream at the end of the novel for both Lennie and
George.
7. In what way does Slim show understanding for George's decision?
8. Why does Carlson ask the last question?
9. Find and look up 5 words for the glossary.
Answers:
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Complete glossary:
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