Of Mice and Men
CA
Some tips for a good answer
Right first time!
Answer the question (1)
O “presents” = How does Steinbeck use writing to
create the illusion that there are characters
called Lennie and George?
O This is not asking “What is the character like?”.
The character is made up, remember. He doesn’t
exist.
O Avoid saying “Lennie is_____”; say “Steinbeck
presents Lennie as ______ because _______”
O This way, you are obviously discussing the writer’s
ideas = gets more marks!
Answer the question (2)
O “develops” = How does Steinbeck use writing to
create the illusion that there are characters
called Lennie and George, who have different
sides to them or who change over time?
O This is not asking “How do the characters
change?”. The characters are made up,
remember. They don’t exist.
O Avoid saying “Lennie changes_____”; say
“Steinbeck develops Lennie by ______ because
_______”
O This way, you are obviously discussing the writer’s
ideas = gets more marks!
Steinbeck presents…
O Steinbeck presents the characters from the
outside: he gives visual description first, like
stage directions in a play. Then he gives the
characters dialogue. Everything the reader
learns is because we imagine seeing or hearing
it. Steinbeck never tells us what the characters
think or feel; he leaves us to deduce this from
what they do and what they say. Even when
Lennie hallucinates in chapter 6, Steinbeck
presents this through dialogue.
Steinbeck has a purpose
O Crazy as it may sound, writers write novels and
novellas so that people will read them for
pleasure. This is the main purpose of the text.
O This pleasure is the same as in watching films.
We enjoy having our tension levels raised and
lowered.
O For Steinbeck to write an entertaining novella,
he has to move tension levels up and down
effectively.
O His characters were chosen because of the
potential they have for affecting the tension
levels of the readers.
Characters have functions
O Steinbeck made Lennie the way he is so that he could
raise tension levels:
O Steinbeck made Lennie powerful
O Steinbeck made Lennie unpredictable
O Steinbeck made George that way he is so he could lower
tension levels:
O Steinbeck made George streetwise
O Steinbeck made George caring
O Steinbeck made these two characters together so that
he could raise and lower tension by using the two
characters together.
O Think of controlling the temperature of a bath by using a
hot and a cold tap.
O George alone = calm
O Lennie alone = crisis
O George and Lennie together = many different possible
levels of tension
Link small things to big things
O Each thing that happens is an event:
O Lennie kills a mouse
O Lennie kills a puppy
O Lennie kills a woman
O When you see a pattern in the events, this is a
motif:
O Lennie kills the things he loves
O Motifs can be generalised into themes:
O “Each man kills the thing he loves” (Oscar Wilde)
Structure
O You are discussing structure when:
O You compare the start with the end
O You say events in chapter 3 affect events in
chapter 4
O You notice that some small events
foreshadow large events later
O You point out where Steinbeck has placed the
climaxes of tension (chapter 3 and chapter 6,
like the pre-curtain climaxes in a two-act play)
B grade or above
O “confident and developed interpretations of texts”
O You link events to themes and give your personal ideas about what
themes are in the novella
O “engagement with writers’ ideas and attitudes and provide
perceptive interpretations using precisely selected supporting
textual detail”
O
O
O
You discuss Steinbeck’s purpose(s).
You say “Steinbeck presents Lennie as ____ because ____”
You quote and then zoom in on one word, quoting that word again
separately and discussing its meaning.
O “analysis of aspects of language and structure in convincing
detail.”
O
O
Language = word, description, metaphor, verb
Structure = chapter, climax, foreshadowing
An example that covers these
points
O “Throughout the novella, Steinbeck presents the
character of Lennie as animalistic through his
descriptions. When Lennie settles down from being
angry with Crooks, Steinbeck writes, “Lennie growled
back to his seat on the nail-keg”. Using the verb
“growled” makes Lennie seem like an angry bear and
this zoomorphic description helps the reader to imagine
the character as dangerous and uncontrolled.
Steinbeck wants to create tension for the reader, and
having a character as dangerous and unpredictable as
Lennie is a way of creating tension. It helps to make the
killing of Curley’s wife believable when it happens in the
next chapter. Steinbeck often places events and
descriptions that become important later on in the
narrative.”