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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
Section 1 pp. 1-16
1. How does Steinbeck describe the valley and the Salinas River?
- colorful imagery
- peaceful
- describes the river
- undisturbed, serene
2. George yells at Lennie. Explain why George is so angry at the beginning of the book?
- Angry at the bus driver
- loss of the job in Weed
- long walk in the hot sun
3. How is George described?
- small and quick
- restless eyes, bony nose
- dark of shape
- strong, sharp features
4. How is Lennie described?
- huge man, devoid of shape
- sloping shoulders
- shapeless face, large, pale eyes
- walking heavily, dragging his feet
5. What does Lennie do with the water that makes him proud of himself?
- ripples in the pond
6. What does Lennie not have in his pocket?
- working ticket, paper
7. Why does Lennie not have it in his pocket?
- would lose it
8. What does Lennie take out of his pocket that gets him yelled at by George?
- dead mouse
9. What did Lennie want to do with this item?
- pet the mouse, soft fur
10. Where are George and Lennie going?
- to work on a ranch
11. Where are George and Lennie coming from?
- A place called Weed
12. When they get to where they are going, what does George tell Lennie to do?
- keep his mouth shut
- allow George to talk
13. Why did George and Lennie leave the last place they were at?
- Lennie touched a girl’s dress
- scared the girl
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
14. When Lennie goes out to get wood for a fire, what does he bring back that George
takes away?
- dead mouse
15. When Lennie was younger, who would give him mice?
- Aunt Clara
16. What does Lennie want with his dinner that they don’t have?
- Ketchup
17. What does George imply happened in Weed with the girl?
- rape
18. Describe the dream George and Lennie share?
- Own ranch, farm
- crops
- rabbits
- cabin, animals
19. Where does George tell Lennie to go if he gets in trouble?
- return to clearing, hide in the brush
20. What is foreshadowing? Identify two examples of foreshadowing from the first
section.
- If Lennie gets in trouble, return to the clearing
- Stay out of trouble, and the girls dress
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
Section 2 pp. 17-38
1. According to the old man, why was the boss mad at George and Lennie?
- they were to arrive yesterday
2. What does George find in the box by his bed and what does he assume?
- bug spray
3. Describe the “stable buck.” What physical attributes does he have? What does the boss
use him for?
- he is a black man with an injured back - takes care of the animals
- boss also uses him as a target
4. Describe the fight between the “stable buck” and Smitty.
- the men were drinking, tied Smitty’s feet, Stable Buck beat him in a fight
5. What is Lennie’s last name?
- Small
6. Why is Lennie’s last name an example of irony, explain.
- Lennie is a big man
7. What does the boss suspect George of doing to Lennie? What reasons can you think of
that might cause him to believe this?
- George is taking his money
- Men didn’t travel together
- Lennie is not allowed to talk
8. What reason does George give for taking care of Lennie?
- Promised his old lady
- Lennie was kicked in the head
9. What is George’s last name?
- Milton
10. Who is Curley?
- The boss’ son
11. What does the swamper tell George about Curley’s left hand?
- Wears a black glove filled with Vaseline - keeps it soft for his wife
12. Describe Curley’s wife.
- She is very attractive
- nice clothing
- lipstick, heavy make-up, painted nails
- curled hair
13. Why does she come into the bunkhouse?
- claims she is looking for Curley, probably to see Slim
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
14. Describe Slim. What is his job on the ranch? What are some of his character traits?
- Ranch hand
- Mule Skinner (driver)
- Leads the ranch teams
- well respected, mild mannered
15. What did Slim do to four of his pups? Why?
-Drown 4 of the puppies
- Mother couldn’t feed all of them
16. What does Lennie want George to ask Slim?
- Lennie wants a puppy
17. What examples of foreshadowing are evidenced in this section? Write at least two
examples from the section.
- Curley’s wife is trouble
- Curley is trouble
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
Section 3 pp. 38-65
1. What does Slim say he would have done to the dog if he hadn’t given it to Lennie?
- would have drowned them
2. What does Slim say he finds funny?
- That George and Lennie travel together
3. George says if he were really smart he would be doing what?
- He would have his own place, work for himself
4. Why do Lennie and George travel together?
- They grew up together
- George took care of Lennie when his
Aunt died
5. What can the reader infer about Lennie’s childhood and family life?
- orphaned
- unwanted by his parents
- children would make fun of him
6. What did George do that made him stop playing jokes on Lennie?
- told Lennie to jump in a river when he could not swim
7. What card game does George play?
- Solitaire
8. What does George tell Slim happened in Weed?
- Lennie touched a girls dress
- held onto the dress, scared the girl
9. What sneaky thing does Lennie try to do?
- bring a puppy into the bunkhouse
10. What game did the other guys play while George and Slim talk?
- Euchre
11. What is Carlson’s problem and what does he tell Candy to do?
- Hates Candy’s dog
- Tells him to shoot it
12. What reason(s) does Carlson give for wanting Candy’s dog shot?
- Old, no use
- smells badly, lays around
13. What does Whit show Slim?
- magazine
14. What does Carlson say he has?
- A Luger
- former ranch hand wrote a letter
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
15. What does Slim tell Carlson to take with him when goes to shoot Candy’s dog? Why?
- A Shovel
- To bury the dog
16. What does Whit invite George to do “tomorrow” night?
- Invites George to Susy’s place
17. Why does George say he will get a drink but he isn’t going to pay for a flop?
- saving his money for the ranch
18. Candy’s dog is a symbol. What does it represent? How is Candy’s dog an example of
foreshadowing?
- Old age and the usefulness of people
- treatment of elderly
- quick to rid ourselves of old items
- predicts what will happen
to Lennie
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
Section 4 pp. 66-83
1. Identify two books that Crooks owns?
- Dictionary, Civil Code of 1905
- Dirty books
2. How does Crooks react to Lennie when he comes to visit?
- He is upset, wants him out
3. Why did Lennie go to the barn?
- to play with the pups
4. Where is George?
- Went to town
5. What do we learn about Crooks family?
- potentially wealthy
- family owned a ranch
6. What does Lennie tell Crooks, even though he probably shouldn’t have?
- about the dream, ranch
7. What is Crook’s opinion of George and Lennie’s desire to get land?
- the dream is just like everyone else’s
8. What did Candy want to talk to Lennie about?
- The rabbits
9. Where is George’s money going, according to Crooks?
- liquor and women
10. Who visits Crooks, Candy, and Lennie?
- Curley’s wife
11. What do we learn about Curley’s wife?
- She is very lonely
- She hates Curley
12. Before Curley’s wife leaves, what does she notice about Lennie?
- his face is bruised
13. What does Curley’s wife say she could have done to Crooks?
- she could make up lies and have him hung, lynched, fired
14. Why do you suppose Crooks treated Lennie the way he did? Explain.
- it gave him a sense of power, control over someone else
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
Section 5 pp. 84-98
1. What day and time is it at the beginning of chapter 5?
- Sunday afternoon
2. What is Lennie doing in the barn by himself?
- sitting in the barn looking at the dead puppy
3. Why does Lennie think that he might not get to tend the rabbits?
- George will be angry
- Lennie can’t handle the job
4. Who visits Lennie in the barn?
- Curley’s wife
5. According to Curley’s wife, why isn’t anyone going to leave the horseshoe
tournament?
- it’s 4 o’clock, money involved, betting
6. According to Curley’s wife, how come she didn’t get into show business?
- a guy promised to put her in the movies (pitchers)
- guy never came back and left her
7. What can we infer is the reason Curley’s wife married Curley?
- for the money
8. Lennie creates a plan to avoid getting in trouble, what is that plan?
- hiding the dead puppy, throwing it away
9. What did Lennie lose that he wishes he had now?
- the piece of velvet Aunt Clara gave to him
10. What causes Curley’s wife yell at Lennie and what did he do?
- Lennie became excited and pulled her hair
- Lennie grabbed it tighter
11. What does Candy hopefully ask George? What impression do you have of Candy
now?
- Can we still get the ranch
- Candy is selfish
12. What favor does George ask of Candy?
- wait five minutes, then alert the guys
13. What does Carlson think happened to his Luger?
- Lennie stole it
CA 100
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Of Mice and Men
The Study Guide
Section 6 pp. 99-107
1. Where is Lennie hiding?
- In the clearing, by the river
2. With whom does Lennie have his first imaginary conversation?
- Aunt Clara
3. With whom/what does Lennie have his second imaginary conversation?
- A giant rabbit
4. What story does George tell Lennie?
- the story about the ranch
5. What does he do while telling him this story?
- shoots Lennie in the head
6. What opinion(s) do you have of George?
- fill in your own answer