Analysis of chapter 2 - Of Mice and Men

L.O: To consider how space represents mood in the novella.To analyse the introduction of characters in section 2

SPACE AND ANTITHESIS IN ‘OF MICE AND MEN’

Task

• We need to consider locations and places in the text.

• Today we will look at space and room.• We will focus on chapter 2 and consider

how space is used and how this reflects on characters.

Find a quote using…• Death imagery• Lists and long sentences• Any language that suggests the room is

small/cramped• What possessions the men have.• Any language that suggests if this is a

masculine or feminine room?

• What effect does this have on a reader?

Questions1. Find a quote that shows the bunkhouse is like a

coffin. What does this forebode in the novel?

2. Does the Bunkhouse fit with the description of what the American Dream is made out to be?

Themes

•Dreams•Loneliness•The working man•Prejudice and protest•Fate and destiny

Antithesis• What does this term mean?• When two opposite words or two opposite

situations are put together.• Antithesis happens a lot in Of Mice and Men;

and happens in Chapter 2.

Review• Is the Bunkhouse a description of what

the American Dream is made out to be?

• What does this suggest about the American Dream?

Characters•C

andy – Pg 39•T

he Boss – Pg 41•C

urley 46-48•C

urley’s wife 46-48•S

lim 55-56

•Look at these sections and other place in the chapter.

•Find quotations and write key words relating to the first impressions of these characters.

•Focus on physical descriptions and what we (the reader) learn of their characteristics.

Homework•C

hoose any one of the characters and answer the following question.

•How does Steinbeck shape the reader’s opinion of this character in the first two sections of the novella?

•Monday 2nd July 2014