Of Mice and MenKS4

Connector:

Here are 2 statements. How would you respond to them?

If I shout at you to protect you am I your friend?

Can you be friends and not friends at the same time?

Learning Objectives

• Learn the role of George and Lennie in society.

• Recap details on these characters.

• Understand section 2 of the novella.

BigPic

• Reading / discussion / note taking

Itinerant Workers In the 1930s, a combination of droughts,

the depression, and the increased mechanization of farming prompted a migration of small farmers and labourers from Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas to the W United States. It was estimated that this type of permanent migrant worker, without home, voting privileges, or union representation, numbered more than 3 million. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a dramatic representation of the life of those migrants.

Itinerant Workers

Conditions were often bad and

Disease and ill health common.

The Life of a Migrant Worker

• Steinbeck worked on a ranch when he was 19, and used his experiences in ‘Of Mice and Men’.

• The living conditions for the farm workers were very poor.

• Often men travelled alone but sometimes whole families had to move and all live in their car.‘

George & Lennie

Jot down on a post it note a few words to describe the characters of George and then a separate one for Lennie.

George & Lennie

Place your post it notes on each character under and around the characters

Reading

Section 2

Remember to take notes – writing key quotations down

in your book.

• Chapter 1 has a mood of optimism.

With a partner find a quotation that shows or implies optimism.

How does the mood change in chapter 2?

Of Mice and Men

Review

What do you think are the key quotes?

Connector

• What type of workers are George and Lennie?

• What has happened so far?

Reading

Section 3

Remember to take notes – writing key quotations down

in your book.

“Of Mice and Men” Section 3

Death of the dog

Dream a reality?

Crushing of Curley’s hand.

“He ain’t no cuckoo.”

“He’s jes’ like a kid.”

“I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I get old an’ a cripple.”

“I’ll put the old devil out of his misery.”

“Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal.”

“She ain’t concealin’ nothing.”

“Curley’s pants is just crawlin’ with ants.”

“I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”

“Curley was flopping like a fish on a line.”

“I didn’t want no trouble.”

“He ain’t no ________.”

“He’s jes’ like a ______.”

“I wisht somebody’d _______ me if I get old an’ a ______.”

“I’ll put the old ______ out of his _______.”

“Candy looked a long time at _____ to try to find some ______.”

“She ain’t __________ nothing.”

“Curley’s _______ is just crawlin’ with ______.”

“I shouldn’t ought to of let no _______ shoot my _____.”

“Curley was _______ like a ______ on a line.”

“I didn’t want no _________.”

“____ ______ no ________.”

“He’s ______ _____ a ______.”

“I _____ _________ _______ me if I get ____ an’ a ______.”

“I’ll _____ the old ______ out of his _______.”

“______looked a ___ time at _____ to try to ___ some ______.”

“She ain’t __________ nothing.”

“Curley’s _______ is just _______ with ______.”

“I ________ _____ to of let no _______ ______ my _____.”

“______ was _______ like a ______ on a _____.”

“I ______ want no _________.”

Review

What do you think are the key quotes?

Connector

If you had to tell someone what the most important thing to know about Of Mice and

Men is, what would it be?

John Steinbeck• He wrote the book ‘ Of Mice and

Men’ in 1936• He came from Salinas, California• Like ‘Of Mice and Men’ many of

his books deal with the lives and problems of working people.

• Many of his characters in his books are immigrants who went to California looking for work or a better life.

1930s USA

• Mass unemployment and poverty because of the collapse of the New York Wall Street stock market.

The FarmersIt was worst for the farmers in the country.

On top of the economic crisis, a series of droughts had ruined the crops and dried up the soil so the farmers were driven off their farms because of lack of money.

These droughts mainly affected the mid-West – Oklahoma and Arkansas – also known as the ‘Dust Bowl’

‘The Great Dust Storm’

Where did they go?

• They headed west to California where the soil was good and there was supposed to be plenty of room.

• America has always been seen as the Land of Opportunity, partly because immigrants from Europe saw it as a place of freedom, a place to begin a new life, a place for real possibilities and wealth for all.

• This belief in America as a country where ordinary people could create a better life for themselves is often referred to as ….

The American Dream!

The American Dream

• ‘The American Dream’ has been a concept since the 17th century. Immigrants dreamed of a better life in America. They dreamed of making their fortunes in the goldfields.

• For many the dream became a nightmare.

• The Wall Street Crash was the start of the Great Depression.

The Dream survivedFor many people the dream survived. Thousands

left the mid-West and made their way west to California just like the characters George and Lennie in ‘Of Mice and Men’. They hung on to the dream that one day they would earn enough money to buy a little house.

Reading

Section 4

Remember to take notes – writing key quotations down

in your book.

Review

What do you think are the key quotes?

Connector

List all of the characters you can remember from the

text.

Reading

Section 5

Remember to take notes – writing key quotations down

in your book.

Review

What do you think are the key quotes?

Connector

Predict how the book will end

Reading

Section 6

Remember to take notes – writing key quotations down

in your book.

Review

What do you think are the key quotes?

Review

Is this murder?

Of Mice and MenCharacteristic L/G? Evidence Characteristic L/G? Evidence

Likes soft things Protective

Takes control Strong leader

The carer Clumsy

Tough & sensitive Rude

Itinerant worker Animal like

Dominant Small

Copies Child like

Forgetful Snappy

Good worker Not very bright

We have done a lot of work on George and Lennie.

Make a spider diagram for each and around it, put key quotes from the text that link to

the characters

GEORGE

LENNIE

To a MouseOn turning up her nest with a plough

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best laid schemes o' mice an‘men

Gang aft agley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an‘ pain,

For promis'd joy!

But Mouse, you are not alone,

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best laid schemes of mice and men

Go often askew,

And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,

For promised joy!

Robert Burns, 1785

Extract from…

How does this link with the novel?

What is the significance of the title?

1.

2.

3.

The ‘best laid plans’ or dreams of the characters show us the harsh

reality of 1930’s California….

What does each character dream of?

• In your book draw and label Lennie and George’s dream.

Of Mice and Men

What are the dreams of the following characters -

• Curley’s wife – p.124

• Crooks – p.105

• Candy – p.88

Why?

LONELINESS

Key quotes to show loneliness?

• • • • • • • •

Why does George kill Lennie?

•

•

•

The Ranch

• Look at the names of the inhabitants of the ranch.

• Do they mean anything?

• What about ‘Soledad’ and ‘Weed’?

Soledad means loneliness and a weed is a plant that nobody wants.

Of Mice and Men

Look at these characters. How would you rank them in status and power?

Explain your reasons

Most

Least

Key quote to show the hierarchy on the ranch?

“they left all the weak ones here”

Slim

• Look at the description of Slim on page 55/56. What are the key words used to describe him?

• Slim is there for key events: Candy’s dog, the killing of Lennie, Curley’s hand, etc.

• Why? What role does he play?

Slim

What do Slim and George have in common?

At the bottom of this hierarchy is…

CROOKS

Key quotes - Crooks

• ‘The negro stable buck’ p.98• ‘The door opened quietly and the stable

buck put in his head; a lean negro head, lined with pain, the eye patient’ p.77

• ‘Crooks was a proud, aloof man’ p. 99• ‘he had accumulated more possessions

than he could carry’ p. 98• ‘Crooks seemed to come slowly out of the

layers of protection he had put on’ p. 115

What crooks says

• ‘I ain’t wanted in the bunk house. And you ain’t wanted in my room’ p.100

• ‘They say I stink’ p.100

• ‘Yes Ma’am’ p.113

• ‘I’d come an’ lend a hand’ p.109

• ‘You won’t get no land’ p.108

• ‘Hell, I seen too many guys’ p.108

From 1776 American constitution:

“all men are created equal”

Is this true in the novel?

Why do you think John Steinbeck included racism in the novel?

• To show the mindset (way of thinking) at the time.

• Prove the American Dream is unobtainable.

• To show the injustices of society.

• DO YOU THINK HE AGREED WITH IT??

NO!

This can be seen in the novel – • Crooks is permanent on the ranch.• He is educated, he reads. Not all black

men are the same stereotype.• He doesn’t believe in the ‘American

Dream’.• Lennie cannot comprehend racism.• In some ways, Crooks represents JS’s

message in the novel

Racism

Lynchings

• Lynching is extrajudicial punishment carried out by a mob, usually by hanging in order to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people, however large or small. It is related to other means of social control that arise in communities.

• Lynchings were more frequent in times of social and economic tension, and often were means by the politically dominant population to oppress social challenges.

• Violence in the United States against African Americans, especially in the South, rose in the aftermath of the American Civil War, after slavery had been abolished and recently freed black men were given the right to vote.

Who could be lynched?

Crooks

or

Lennie

Why is Crooks such a realist?

• Does he believe in the American Dream?

• How do you know?

• Do you feel sorry for Crooks?

Curley’s Wife

Curley’s wife

Find three descriptions of her.

Why doesn’t she have a name?

Look at section 5 and as you read think about the choice of language and how it

contributes to build mood and atmosphere

• Section 5 • ‘Lennie sat in the

barn and looked at the little dead puppy …’

• ‘Lennie began to cry … tend no rabbits.’

• Foreshadowing. Symbolic. Uncontrolled power.

• He panics. Doesn’t know own strength.

Foreshadowing • Foreshadowing is a device that Steinbeck uses to

create tension and build atmosphere – it casts a dark shadow over events and people.

• The killing of Candy's old dog is the ending of a hard life and foreshadows the death of Lennie. At the same time, the killing of the dog represents the end of a relationship that made life worth living and provided hope. This, too, foreshadows Lennie's death.

• The death of the mouse in the first chapter foreshadows the later death of the pup and the death of Curley's wife. When Curley's wife suggests that Lennie stroke her hair, we know she, too, is doomed.

•

Curley's Wife• Most of the ranch hands except for Slim brand Curley's wife as

a 'tart'. In fact, she is portrayed as such whenever she appears, obviously playing up to and teasing the men.

• She is cruel to Crooks, Candy and Lennie in Crooks' room, and later on she tempts Lennie, letting him stroke her hair in the barn, and kneeling beside him in the hay in a provocative way.

• She is lonely. She says so several times, and that is to be expected since she is stuck on a ranch with men who dislike her and rarely talk to her.

• George immediately realises that she means trouble when she first turns up in the bunkhouse, she does make her new husband to be fiercely jealous.

Curley's Wife

• She walks around the ranch, dressed inappropriately – RED is a key colour and seductively and remember that she has only been married a couple of weeks. She admits to Lennie that she doesn't like her husband and regrets marrying him. She seems to be of limited intelligence, as she was taken in by other men's promises of film parts.

• It is partly her desire to be petted and admired which leads her to allow Lennie to stroke her hair, which in turn leads to her death at Lennie's hands.

• She is only ever known as 'Curley's wife' she is a possession of Curley's rather than a human being. She is linked with the colour red - a symbol of sex and a colour that would enrage a 'bull' like as Lennie. When she dies she is free and all the meanness and planning are gone from her face.

HANDS

How many links to ‘hands’ can you recall from the novel?

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•

•

•

Metonym

When part is named but stands for the whole thing.

Eg. She is the brain of the operation.

My children are my eyes.

They are just the hands.