LITERARY ANALYSIS

Common Mistakes

THINGS TO AVOID

Contractions• Do not use contractions in formal

writing• Lennie and George aren’t

similar• Lennie and George are not

similar

DO NOT ADDRESS THE READER

You will see that Lennie is very strong• Lennie is very strong

I am going to tell you about how strong

Lennie is• Lennie is very strong

EACH QUOTE MUST HAVE A LEAD IN

Every quote must be introduced with a lead in• Someone says

• George says, “’Lennie, stop drinking or you will be sick like last night’” (Steinbeck 8).

• Blended • George warns Lennie that is he continues to drink he will

be “’sick like last night’” (Steinbeck 8). • Sentence

• George is a caretaker for Lennie and does not want him to get sick: “’Lennie, stop drinking or you will be sick like last night’” (Steinbeck 8).

PUNCTUATE ALL QUOTES CORRECTLY

You have to punctuate quotes correctly or you will be

plagiarizing!!! No one wants a “0” on this assignment,

right?

Dialogue ONLY- 3 marks on both sides• “’Lennie, stop drinking or you will be sick like last night’”

(Steinbeck 8).

Steinbeck's words ONLY- 2 marks on each side• “Two men walked, one behind the other” (Steinbeck 2).

Mixture of both• “George looks over at Lennie and warns, ‘Lennie, stop

drinking or you will be sick like last night!’ Lennie pauses and says, ‘Ok George’” (Steinbeck 5).

CHARACTER NAMES SHOULD BE SPELLED CORRECTLY!

Lennie- NOT LENNY

George

Curley- NOT CURLY

Slim

Crooks- NOT CROOK

AVOID PERSONAL PRONOUNS

I

You

Me

My

Us

We

AVOID SLANG

Lennie and George had each other’s

backs.

Lennie and George were tight.

The story is about two guys.

DO NOT REFER TO THE QUOTE…

JUST DISCUSS IT

• This quote shows that Lennie and George depended on each other.• Lennie and George depend on each

other. • This part of the book is showing that

Lennie and George are good friends. • It is evident that Lennie and George

are good friends.

DISCUSSION SHOULD BE IN PRESENT TENSE

All of your discussion should be in present

tense. When talking about literature, you must

always discuss it in present tense.• When George killed Lennie…

• When George kills Lennie…• George had to take care of Lennie when they

were walking to the farm.• George has to take care of Lennie as they

make their way to the new farm.