Learning Objective:
•To consider some of the qualities that George and Lennie
have.
•To Learn how to analyse an extract for a question on
character.
•To explore how to write a PEE
Can you unscramble these words
that apply to George or Lennie
•Racgin
•Tronsg
•Yalol
•etdreinmed
On your Whiteboard....
Write whether you think George or
Lennie best fits the following words.
Loyal
A good friend
imaginative
childlike
Uncontrollable
lonely
determined
Responsible
In the exam you will get 3 questions on Of Mice
and Men.
One of the questions is on character and looks like
this:
•What does this extract tell you about _______?
•Or
•What can you tell about the character of
__________ from this extract?
What does this extract tell you about George?
He ain't no cuckoo," said George. "He's dumb as hell, but he ain't
crazy. An' I ain't so bright neither, or I wouldn't be buckin' barley for
my fifty and found. If I was bright, if I was even a little bit smart, I'd
have my own little place, an' I'd be bringin' in my own crops, 'stead of
doin' all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground."
George fell silent. He wanted to talk. Slim neither encouraged nor
discouraged him. He just sat back quiet and receptive.
"It ain't so funny, him an' me goin' aroun' together," George said at
last. "Him and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara.
She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt
Clara died, Lennie just came along with me out workin'. Got kinda
used to each other after a little while."
"Umm," said Slim.
George looked over at Slim and saw the calm godlike eyes fastened on
him. "Funny," said George. "I used to have a hell of a lot of fun with
'im. Used to play jokes on 'im 'cause he was too dumb to take care of
'imself. But he was too dumb even to know he had a joke played on
him. I had fun. Made me seem god-damn smart alongside of him. Why
he'd do any damn thing I tol' him .
What does this extract tell you about Lennie?
George shook himself again. "No," he said. "I want you to stay with me here."
Lennie said craftily, "Tell me like you done before."
"Tell you what?"
"'Bout the other guys an' about us."
George said, "Guys like us go no fambly. They make a little stake an' then they blow it in. They ain't got nobody in the
worl' that gives a hoot in hell about 'em ---"
"But not us," Lennie cried happily. "Tell about us, now."
George was quiet for a moment. "But not us," he said.
"Because ---"
"Because I got you an' ---------"
"An' I got you. We got each other, that's what, that gives a hoot in hell about us." Lennie cried in triumph.
The little evening breeze blew over the clearing and the leaves rustled and the wind waves flowed up the green pool.
And the shouts of men sounded again, this time much closer than before.
George took off his hat. He said shakily, "Take off your hat, Lennie. The air feels fine."
Lennie removed his hat dutifully and laid it on the ground in front of him. The shadow in the valley was bluer and the
evening came fast. On the wind the sound of crashing in the brush came to them.
Lennie said, "Tell how it's gonna be."
George had been listening to the distant sounds. For a moment he was business-like. "Look acrost the river, Lennie, an'
I'll tell you so you can almost see it."
Lennie turned his head and looked off across the pool and up the darkening slopes of the Gabilans. "We gonna get a
little place," George began. He reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson's Luger; he snapped off the safety,
and the hand and gun lay on the ground behind Lennie's back. He looked at the back of Lennie's head, at the place
where the spine and skull were joined.
Analysing an Extract
•Highlight anything that George says or does that
you think is important.
•Try and think which of the words from the starter
(or of your own) it shows you. Write the word next
to it.
•Write notes explaining why you think it shows you
that.
How do I turn this into a PEE?
Key Phrases: One thing I learn is....., The quote that
shows me that is...., It shows me this because....
Writing your PEE
You need to state at least four things you learn
Use the phrases
•From this extract I learn...
•One quote that shows this is.....
AND
Choose your quote carefully
•Explain each quote- it shows me this because.....
Checking time
•Highlight the word you used to describe George.
•Highlight your quote in one colour.
•Highlight the phrase that starts “because”...
Checking time
•Highlight the word you used to describe
George.
•Highlight your quote in one colour.
•Highlight the phrase that starts “because”...
One your postcard write down
1 thing you learnt about George today.
2 key phrases you could use in the exam.
3 Character qualities we learnt at the
beginning of the lesson.