Guidelines for reference to and quoting from Of Mice and Men
Name______________
Rules:
1. The title of the book is formatted as follows:
Of Mice and Men
(note, book titles are always typed in italics with the first and main words capitalized; when writing
by hand, underline book titles).
2. When introducing the book for the first time, write out the full name of the author:
The novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, contains many important lessons about…
3. After you have introduced the book, use the author’s LAST name only:
In this part of the story, Steinbeck seems to be saying…
Never use an author’s first name.
4. When quoting any part of the book, your quote must be EXACTLY as it appears in the book,
including all punctuation and spelling.
5. If you want to leave out a part in the middle of a quote, use an ellipsis (…) to show there is a
missing part.
6. When quoting any part of the book, use quotation marks. Where it gets tricky is that you are
sometimes quoting description and sometimes dialogue. Instructions for each kind of quote:
a. Put double (“…”) quotation marks around the whole section you are quoting
b. Put double quotation marks around description or dialogue if that is the only thing you
are quoting
c. Put single (‘…’) quotation marks around dialogue that appears within a quote that
contains both description and dialogue
7. When quoting a portion of the book that is longer than four typed lines, indent the entire
portion so that it stands out from your other paragraphs. Do not use quotation marks unless
you are quoting a mixed description/dialogue portion. Your commentary then begins or
continues in a new, regularly formatted paragraph, not indented.
Steinbeck’s use of imagery helps to symbolize his message that the weak and powerless in society
seem to be preyed upon by strong and merciless forces:
A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head
from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and it came to the
legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and
beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed
the little snake while its tail waved frantically.
The heron represents hidden dangers in life, the snake people like George and
Lennie who have no protection against these malignant forces.
8. Don’t follow your quote with a page number as these are different for different books. Instead,
make it clear which part of the book you are talking about:
When Lennie is talking to Crooks in the barn, the stable buck says, “….”
9. When describing events in the book, use the present tense:
Lennie likes to pet soft things. Candy wishes he had shot his dog himself.
Now you try it!
1. Write a sentence that would appear in your introduction in which you demonstrate your
understanding of how to introduce the book’s title and author.
2. Write a sentence that might appear in your third paragraph in which you refer to the book’s author.
3. Write two sentences that include short quotes from Of Mice and Men, demonstrating your
understanding of the use of quotation marks. (Be sure to set your quote up as explained in Rule #6):
4. Write a sentence that uses a quote from Of Mice and Men where the quote contains both description
and dialogue (Be sure to set your quote up as explained in Rule #6:):
5. Write a quote from Of Mice and Men where you leave out a part of the quote in the middle.
6. Choose a long passage that you might need to indent and show how you might write that in your
paper, including a line of introduction to the quote and the beginning of some follow-up commentary:
7. Write two examples of sentences about the book (other than those provided) that show your
understanding of using present tense to talk about events or ideas in a novel: