Download doc - Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - Gstoun Year 11 ... · Web viewIn Of Mice and Men the characters use different a non-standard dialect. Steinbeck writes in Standard English in his

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Setting the scene – the clearing by the riverLanguage, Structure and Form: SettingTo identify, explore and analyse the

techniques Steinbeck uses in the novella’s

opening paragraph in his description of the

setting – the clearing by the river.

Task The Salinas River today

Read the following list of words and then read the extract from the novella’s

opening paragraph. Working in pairs, copy the adjectives into the extract.

strong green golden warm crisp

yellow close sandy spread pads twinkling

lined evening night rocky split-wedge

green mottled fresh great deep

recumbent deep narrow white damp

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in ________ to the hillside bank and

runs ________ and ________. The water is ________ too, for it has slipped ________ over

the _______ sands before reaching the ________ pool. On one side of the river the

________ foothill slopes curve up to the ________ and ________ Gabilan mountains, but on

the valley side the water is ________ with trees – willows ________ and ________ with

every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding; and

sycamores with ________, ________, ________ limbs and branches that arch over the pool.

On the ________ bank under the trees the leaves lie ________ and so ________ that a lizard

makes a ________ skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on

the sand in the ________, and the ________ flats are covered with the ________ tracks of

‘coons, and with the ________ ________ of dogs from the ranches, and with the ________-

________ tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.

Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk/ofmiceandmen

1


Ran

ch li

fe a

nd m

igra

nt

wor

kers

Th

e bu

nk h

ouse

is a

n im

porta

nt s

ettin

g in

the

nove

lla; a

num

ber o

f im

porta

nt a

nd d

ram

atic

even

ts ta

ke p

lace

ther

e.

Ste

inbe

ck’s

des

crip

tion

of th

e bu

nk h

ouse

giv

es u

s

man

y cl

ues

abou

t ran

ch li

fe a

nd th

e w

ider

issu

es

affe

ctin

g th

e liv

es o

f the

mig

rant

farm

wor

kers

.1930s Depression Era migrant farm workers, one

carrying his ‘bindle’ and the other a guitar, find a

moment together away from their rootless and

often lonely existence on the road.

Setti

ng th

e sc

ene

– th

e bu

nk

hous

e

Lang

uage

, Str

uctu

re a

nd F

orm

: Set

ting

To id

entif

y, e

xplo

re a

nd a

naly

se th

e te

chni

ques

Ste

inbe

ck u

ses

in h

is

desc

riptio

n of

the

setti

ng –

the

bunk

hou

se.

Task

R

ead

the

open

ing

para

grap

h of

cha

pter

two.

In

it, G

eorg

e an

d

Lenn

ie h

ave

arriv

ed a

t the

ranc

h an

d go

to th

e bu

nk h

ouse

.

U

sing

the

deta

ils in

the

desc

riptio

n, d

raw

a p

lan

of th

e la

yout

in

the

bunk

hou

se -

a bi

rd’s

eye

vie

w, l

ike

a se

t des

ign.

Lab

el y

our

draw

ing

with

rele

vant

quo

tes

from

the

text

.

L

ife fo

r mig

rant

farm

wor

kers

was

not

eas

y. S

ome

of th

e pr

oble

ms

they

face

d w

ere

linke

d no

t jus

t to

the

diffi

cult

wor

k bu

t als

o to

ranc

h

lifes

tyle

.


2


The bunk houseThe description of the ‘decoration’ in the bunk house highlights the fact that the room is plain and

practical.

Furnishings, too, are provided for practical reasons only – there are no luxuries. Boxes are used

both as shelves and as chairs.

Storage is unsophisticated and limited – a reflection of the fact that the men travel lightly and have

very few personal possessions.

It is a basic building that meets the basic needs of the men. We get the sense that it is a dark and

gloomy room, built cheaply and quickly.

The bunk house is described as a very functional place with one main purpose. It is a place for the

men to sleep after long days working in the fields.

The emptiness of the bunk house reflects the emptiness of the men’s lives. There are not many

things that they can do to entertain themselves in the bunk house.

The men’s belongings relate to health and, for some, small items of clothing. This highlights the

sadness of the men’s’ plight as they seem, in spite of all of the hardships they suffer, desperate to

maintain some form of dignity and wellbeing in hygiene, health and dress.

Cut out these comments about the bunk house. Find a quote from the text to go

with each. Glue the comment next to the quote you have identified.

The dream Reread the extract where George first describes the ’dream’ in Chapter one.

In pairs, make a list of aspects of the dream that are in complete contrast to their

lives as migrant ranch workers.

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Grabbing the reader


3


Language, Structure and Form: Novel OpeningsTo explore the techniques Steinbeck uses in the novella’s opening pages and to

assess their effectiveness.

Read the opening of the novella again and then read the following list of techniques that Steinbeck uses to grab our attention as readers.

Techniques used by Steinbeck Evidence from the text

Includes description of real places

Describes an interesting, unusual setting

Written in the present tense

Uses vivid, descriptive language

Describes interesting characters that you want to find out more about

Describes the actions of the characters

Describes the personality of the characters

Uses dialogue to portray character

Portrays interesting character relationships

Describes moments of drama and tension

Gives clues about events that have happened before the novel’s opening

Drops hints about might what happen in the future

Work in pairs to:


4


number and rank the techniques used by Steinbeck. Place what you consider

to be the most effective technique at the top, and the least effective at the

bottom; *

explain and make a note of your decisions and reasons in the space below;

*(Hint: you might want to give some techniques equal weighting.)

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5


DialectIn Of Mice and Men the characters use different a non-standard dialect.

Accent: the specific way words are pronounced according to geographical

region. For example, Geordie.

Dialect: the language variety of a geographical region or social

background. Different forms of grammar, lexis, phonology and semantics affect

dialect.

Standard English: This is a dialect which has acquired the status of

representing the English language. It is the ‘proper’ or ‘correct’ way to speak.

In Of Mice and Men the characters use different a non-standard dialect. Steinbeck

writes in Standard English in his descriptions, but why does he use non-standard

dialects when the characters are speaking? What effect does it have?

Make note of your thoughts below:

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Read the dialogue on the first two pages (3-4). See if you can pick out the non-

standard features of dialect. Write both the non-standard feature and the standard

way to write it. The person with the most features wins! You have 6 minutes.

Common features of the non-standard American Vernacular dialect


6


Elision - combining the main word with the preposition e.g. ‘going to’ is ‘gonna’

Multiple negation

Using ‘ain’t’ instead of ‘isn’t’

Deletion of consonants at the end of a word (e.g. ‘t’, ‘d’ and ‘g’)

Non-standard use of the past tense verb ‘to be’

Using the s-ending of singular third person (‘She goes to the store) and

extending it to all verb forms

Consonant cluster reductions (deletion of consonants)

With a partner, analyse your assigned pieces of dialogue. Annotate your extract

for non-standard dialect features, and then make a note of your findings below. You

will be expected to feed back to the group.


7

“Gonna be sick like you was last night.” and “we hadda walk”

“Now you listen and this time you got to remember so we don’t get in no trouble.”

“No, ‘course I ain’t. Why ya think I’m selling him out?”

“An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither.”

“Says we was here when we wasn’t.”

“so I comes running…” and “Me an’ him goes ever’ place together…”

“las’ Sat’day night” and “It’s on’y about four o’clock.”


Depending on your surname, analyse the examples that fall into your surname initial.

Work together with someone who is in the same category.

Surnames A-F Quotes 1-2 Surnames G-L Quotes 3-4

Surnames M-R Quotes 5-6 Surnames S-Z Quotes 7-8

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1. George, on the worker's dream:

"All kin's a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or

something, or some milk. We'd jus' live there. We'd belong there. There wouldn't be no more


8


runnin' round the country and gettin' fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we'd have our own place

where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house".

2. The Boss, on George and Lennie:

"Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what

your interest is"

3. George, on loneliness and Lennie:

"I ain't got no people. I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good.

They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the

time... 'Course Lennie's a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin'

around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him".

4. Crooks, on a black man's loneliness:

"S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy

'cause you was black. How'd you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books. Sure

you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain't no

good. A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't

make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too

lonely an' he gets sick"

5. Crooks, on George and Lennie's dream

"I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an' on the ranches, with their bindles on their

back an' that same damn thing in their heads. Hunderds of them. They come, an' they quit an'


9


go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God

damn one of 'em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Everybody wants a little piece of lan'. I read

plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in

their head. They're all the time talkin' about it, but it's jus' in their head"

6. Crooks, on human rights

“Maybe you guys better go. I ain't sure I want you in here no more. A colored man got to

have some rights even if he don't like 'em.”

7. Curley's wife, on men

"If I catch any one man, and he's alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys

get together an' you won't talk. Jus' nothing but mad. You're all scared of each other, that's

what. Ever' one of you's scared the rest is goin' to get something on you"

8. George, on the lost dream

"I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we'd never do her. He usta like to hear

about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would"

What is the American Dream?


10


Read the following definition of the American Dream, from James Truslow Adams’

book, The Epic of America, which was written in 1931. He was the one to first use

the term.

Now, define, in your own words, what you think the term, ‘American Dream’

means.

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America has always been seen as a ‘land of opportunity’ where, with hard work,

any dream can be accomplished. Immigrants from all over the world came to

America in the 1800s and 1900s to start a new life and gain new freedoms and

opportunities; freedom and opportunity were once foreign and unattainable to many


11

“The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer

and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It

is not a dream of motor cars and high wages, but a dream of social order in which each

man and each woman shall be able to achieve the fullest stature of which they are capable

of, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the circumstances of birth

or position."


of America’s newcomers. However, although many people did achieve their dreams,

there were even more people who struggled to survive.

Considering the historical context of the novel, do you think the American Dream

is achievable? Why or why not? Write your ideas below.

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Some people still oppose the idea of the American Dream in today’s society.

Look at political cartoon A. What do you think the message is about the

American Dream?

Others think that the American Dream is still attainable. Barack Obama has

been considered to achieve the American Dream. Why would people say

this? How is the message alluded to in political cartoon B.

Political Cartoon A


12


Political Cartoon B


13


Steinbeck’s characterisationLearning Objective:

To find out how Steinbeck lets us know which characters are the good, the bad, the

good looking and the ugly …

Curley

Read from “At that moment a young man

came into the bunk house…” to the end of

chapter 2 (page 46-60). In this section,

we meet Curley and his wife for the first

time.

First impressions count. On your own, take 2 minutes to write down 3 adjectives

to describe your first impressions of Curley.

1. _________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ___________________

Now, swap your adjectives with your partner.

Take 3 minutes to discuss your opinions and justify your impressions.

Write down any new adjectives you come up with as a team. Use a thesaurus to

develop your ideas and expand your vocabulary.

1. _______________________

2. _______________________

3. _______________________


14


Feedback your ideas to the rest of the class.

Annotate the image of Curley below with the character traits you have discussed.

How did you know Curley had those characteristics? What literary devices were

used to convey this personality? Picture Steinbeck digging into his writer’s toolkit,

pulling out ways to build his different characters.

On the next page, some quotations from this chapter are listed.

Cut out these quotations and then glue them under the relevant headings. These

are the techniques used by Steinbeck to create character. Glue the quotations in the

space under the most relevant heading.


15


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Seen my old man?”, he asked.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------‘…a thin young man with a brown face, with brown eyes and a head of tightly curled hair.’

‘He wore a work glove on his left hand, and, like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots.’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“By Christ, he’s gotta talk when he’s spoke to. What the hell are you getting’ into it for?”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“An you won’t let the big guy talk, is that it?”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“That’s the boss’s son,” he said quietly. “Curley’s pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the

ring. He’s a lightweight, and he’s handy.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys… kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because

he ain’t a big guy.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He’d slough me. He just don’t give a damn. Won’t ever

get canned ‘cause his old man’s the boss.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Well, that glove’s fulla Vaseline”… “Curley says he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Know what I think?”… “Well, I think Curley’s married… a tart.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Look Lennie… I’m scared. You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy. I seen that kind

before…”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


16


The character’s dialogue - including sentence length, use of slang, repetition, questioning and accent.___________________________________________________________________

Physical images ___________________________________________________________________

Association: who or what do they associate with that might tell us about the type of person they are?___________________________________________________________________


17


Their reactions: how do they relate to others?___________________________________________________________________

Other characters’ opinions: what do others say about them?___________________________________________________________________

Their actions: what they do.___________________________________________________________________


18


Women and femininity

Learning Objective:

To understand the portrayal of women in Of Mice and Men in terms of the social and

historical context

Look at the words and references used to describe Curley’s wife below:

Curley’s wife‘bitch’ ‘a tramp’ ‘tart’‘GOOD-LOOKIN’’ ‘jail bait’

‘got the eye’ ‘purty’‘rattrap’

Having considered these words, how might you describe the role of women and

the nature of femininity in Steinbeck’s novella?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Share your ideas with the rest of the class.

Research the role of women in the 1930s. Find information on the following topics

and influential figures.


19


The Role of Women in the 1930sfamily roles Gertrude Stein wages

MRS WALLIS SIMPSON taboos for women

Margaret Mitchell the work place

Jane Addams fashion

Pearl S. Buck careers Amelia EarharAmelia Earhar

1. Once you have completed your research and formulated an opinion, you will

organise your ideas and practice your speaking and listening skills by

preparing a class presentation on your research. A minimum of 3 sources

and 6 note cards are required per person.

2. Think of a creative way to present your information. Examples: PowerPoint,

role-play, poster, movie, etc. It is important to also consider necessary props.

3. Practice your presentation and time yourself.

4. Deliver your 5-minute presentation to the class.

The following websites may be useful. You may also wish to visit the library to find

information in encyclopedias, biographies, newspapers and so on.

- http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/

- http://frank.mtsu.edu/%7Ekmiddlet/history/women/wh-educ.html

- http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women/wh-rite.html

- http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women.html

- http://www.historynet.com/topics/womens-history

- http://search.eb.com/women/


20

http://search.eb.com/women/

http://www.historynet.com/topics/womens-history

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women.html

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women/wh-rite.html

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women/wh-educ.html

http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/


Answer the following questions

1. What women appear or are referred to in the novella?

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2. According to the male view on the ranch, what limited roles / functions does this

show a woman can provide?

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3. Why do you think Curley’s wife is never given a name?

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4. Do you think the attitudes of the men on the ranch still exist today?

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5. Think of a recent T.V. advert you have seen. What part does the woman play?

Could this be evidence of the limited idea of women’s function in today’s society?

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6. What is the male equivalent of the word slut?

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7. Does your choice of word convey the same insult in general society that the word

slut conveys?

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21


8. What do you think might be the result of this double standard in both our and

Curley’s wife’s society?

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22


Steinbeck’s characterisationLearning Objective:

To find out how Steinbeck lets us know which characters are the good, the bad, the

good looking and the ugly…

Curley’s wife Read from “Seems to me like he’s worse lately…” to “You see if she ain’t a tart” (pages

49-50). In this section, we hear about Curley’s wife for the first time, before we

actually meet her.

1. Whose opinion of Curley’s wife does Steinbeck give us first?

2. What impression does he give us? Draw these impressions around this

character’s eye view on the image below:

3. Now match each impression with a quotation from the text. The first one has

been done for you.


23

Flirtatious and unfaithful.‘Well - she got the eye’ p. 49.


Steinbeck never uses his narrative voice to tell us what to think. Just like in real life

we are given the other characters’ opinions, and images of how Curely’s wife looks

physically. We are shown how she treats others, what she actually says and how

she says it. We are then left to form our own opinions.

Might taking the first character’s ideas about Curley’s wife be unfair? Why?

In pairs, think of any reasons there might be that this character might be prejudiced

against Curley’s wife.

What might influence his opinions?

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Now read from “A brake screeched outside. A call came, ‘Stable – Buck. Oh! Sta-able

buck” to “An I bet he’s eatin’ raw eggs and writin’ to the patent medicine houses” (page 50-

55). In this section, we meet Curley’s wife for the first time.

Below and on the next page, there are some quotations relating to Curley’s wife.

Cut out these quotations and then glue them under the relevant headings. These

are the techniques used by Steinbeck to create character. Glue the quotations in the

space under the most relevant heading.

‘A girl was standing there, looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes,

heavily made up. Her fingernails were red.’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------‘Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages.’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of

red ostrich feathers.’


24


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------‘She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was

thrown forward.’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------‘She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was

thrown forward.’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“If he ain’t, I guess I better look some place else,” she said playfully.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘She smiled archly and twitched her body. “Nobody can’t blame a person for lookin’”, she

said.’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“I’m tryin’ to find Curley, Slim”.

“Well, you ain’t tryin’ very hard. I seen him goin’ into your house.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘She was suddenly apprehensive. “Bye, boys” she called into the bunk house, and she

hurried away.’

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Jesus, what a tramp,” he said. “So that’s what Curley picks for a wife.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “She’s purty,” said Lennie, defensively.

“I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her

be.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Well, you keep away from her, ‘cause she’s a rattrap if I ever seen one.”


25


The character’s dialogue - including sentence length, use of slang, repetition, questioning and accent.___________________________________________________________________

Physical images ___________________________________________________________________

Association: who or what do they associate with that might tell us about the type of person they are?___________________________________________________________________


26


Their reactions: how do they relate to others?___________________________________________________________________

Other characters’ opinions: what do others say about them?___________________________________________________________________

Their actions: what they do.___________________________________________________________________


27


Arrange these five ways we first get to know Curley’s wife in order of

importance to your own opinion of her:

Rank order

(1-5)

Point

She is never given a name – she’s referred to only as ‘Curley’s wife’

Her dress and appearance – she is out of place on a working ranch.

Her image suggests that the way she is living is not the way she

would like to live

Her provocative body language

Her reaction when Slim tells her where Curley is. Why do you think

she is here in the men’s bunkhouse? Look carefully!

George’s feelings about her and his warnings to Lennie after she

leaves and after Curley has been looking for her.


28


Curley’s wifeAs we read on, it is possible to feel sorry for Curley’s wife. After all, as the only woman on

the ranch she is lonely and sad. She is the only female character who appears in the

novella. As a woman, and because she is a woman, she cannot live the life she dreams of.

Indeed, she has precious little control over her own life.

Arrange the points below in the Venn diagram in order to decide whether you think that her

actions are a reaction to how she is treated, or if her character is just petty, cruel and self-

obsessed.

1. Her marriage to Curley is rotten. He seems to care little for her, and is really more

interested in talking about himself than taking an interest in her.

2. She laments her lost potential; she details twice that she could have been a

Hollywood movie star and tells us that her mother took the chance from her.

3. Her only chance to escape her mother was marriage to Curley. She is presented

almost as a desperate captive of the ranch.

4. She flirts deliberately with the ranch hands and causes them to suffer Curley’s anger.

5. She does little to hide these flirtations from her husband, as if she is doing it to make

him feel small/er

6. She barges in on Lennie, Crooks, and Candy, calling them the weaklings of the pack.

She makes herself feel bigger by cruelly cutting down Candy for his old age and

meekness, Lennie for being "a dum dum," and most harshly, she threatens Crooks

with a lynching.

7. While she scorns and mocks Lennie, Crooks and Candy, they are the only ones she

has to talk to.

8. She has convinced herself that her mother stole the letter from the actor inviting her

to Hollywood when this could have been a pretty standard pick-up line.

9. She thrives on attention and is desperate enough to want Lennie’s praise for her soft

hair.

10.She frightens Lennie by screaming when he is stroking her hair. She loses her life

just because she didn’t want him to ‘mess up’ her hair.


29


Rea

sons

to fe

el u

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path

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tow

ards

her

Rea

sons

to fe

el s

ympa

thet

ic to

war

ds C

urle

y’s

wife


30


Casting Curley and Curley’s wife

Work in small groups on this task. You are casting directors who have been asked

to cast actors to play the parts of Curley and Curley’s wife in a forthcoming star-

studded film adaptation of Of Mice and Men.

You must have very good reasons for choosing your particular actors – this is a big

blockbuster opportunity, the production team are very discerning and there is a lot of

money riding on the success of the film! You will be presenting your choices to your

board of producers (otherwise known as the rest of the class).

1. Write a brief summary of the both characters’ looks, personality, qualities

and actions. Use the Internet Movie Database – www.imdb.com to research

your choice of modern day actors.

2. Make a visual aid to present to your producers. This could be a poster,

PowerPoint or Moviemaker presentation. Stick on or paste in the picture of

your choice of a modern day actors that you think would perform the role of

the characters beautifully and match it to your summary of the character you

cast them to play.

3. Be justified: don't simply match actors' pictures to character names - show

that you have a clear understanding of each character and the demands that

the role requires. You may want to list previous roles played by the actor, or

write a few of the traits you see in your chosen actor that fit his or her

assigned character.

4. Be prepared to present your casting list to your board of producers – the rest

of the class - when it is finished.


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typecast v. To repeatedly cast (an actor) in the same type of role because their appearance is appropriate or they are known for such roles.