If you are retaking your ‘Of Mice and Men’ Controlled Assessment, work through the activities on the current Independent Learning as a way of recapping the novel and its themes. You MUST work though the ‘Practising and Drafting PEEEL’ PowerPoint, however your questions are different from those included in the slides. Your teacher will have told you which question you should focus on, but they are detailed here so that you can work on them at home. If they have reworded them slightly, double check that you know exactly what you are answering before you begin to draft.

Explore the ways the writer develops and uses contrast in characterisation and voice in ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. Explore the ways the writer presents conflict in ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck.

Explore the ways the writer develops and uses contrast in characterisation and voice in ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. George: “George unslung his bindle and dropped it gently on the bank” “Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin bony nose.” “he said sharply” “George started morosely at the water. The rims of his eyes were red with sun glare” “he said angrily” “The little man jerked down the brim of hit hat and scowled over at Lennie.” “George took the mouse and threw it across the pool to the other side” “George’s hand remained outstretched imperiously.” “George snapped his fingers sharply.” Lennie: “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little like a bear drags his paws.” “Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water” “[he] flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” “Lennie looked timidly over to him” “Lennie’s face broke into a delighted smile” “Lennie’s closed hand slowly obeyed.” “Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball back to its master, Lennie approached.” These quotations are taken from the opening chapter of the novel and may help you in planning your response.

Explore the ways the writer presents conflict in ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. Crooks: “Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes, a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock, and a single- barrelled shot gun. And he had books, too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905.” “Crooks, the negro stable buck, has his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn.” “In one hand he had a bottle of liniment, and with the other he rubbed his spine.” “He flexed his muscles back and forth and shivered.” “Crooks scowled, but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him[…] his tone was a little more friendly.” “Crooks’ face lighted with pleasure in his torture.” “Crooks stood up on his bunk and faced her (stands up to Curley’s wife)” “Crooks stared hopelessly at her, and he sat down on his bunk and drew into himself.” “Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. ‘Yes ma’am’.” “Crooks had reduced to nothing.” “Crooks sat on his bunk and looked at the door for a moment, and then he reached for the liniment bottle. He pulled out his shirt in back, poured a little liniment in his pink palm, and, reaching around, he fell slowly to rubbing his back.” Some of the quotations in the previous slide cold help you to answer this question, or you could look at the events and descriptions surrounding Crooks in Chapter 4.

Steinbeck uses a cyclical narrative to portray the pointlessness of George and Lennie’s friendship and their American Dream. An example of this is, “The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands” at the beginning of the novel, which then becomes a “deep green pool” at the end. This repeated image of the river tells us that no matter what you try to do, you sometimes end up back where you started, as the location is the same. The environment at the beginning is welcoming, perhaps representing hope and the fact that their friendship is strong and that they will achieve their American Dream. At the end of the novel, the environment changes and becomes darker and more mysterious, representing the sad ending to the novel and the loss of the characters’ American Dream and their friendship. Steinbeck has used the cyclical narrative to represent the pointlessness of George and Lennie’s efforts to be friends and make their lives better than other migrant workers’. This also makes us feel sympathy for the two characters, as they have not achieved what they wanted to and have ended up back where they started. This is metaphorical as it represents the American Dream and the fact that sometimes you won’t succeed no matter how hard you try, despite the fact that the American Dream tells us that we will be successful if we work hard. Steinbeck might be trying to tell us that this ideology brainwashes people and sets them up for failure. Identify the parts of PEEEL here and make sure that your paragraphs are the same quality.

Use this mark scheme to self assess. Check that you’ve included a comment about what John Steinbeck is trying to teach us in the novel. You will see this in the PEEEL example on the previous slide. Mark/Ba nd Skills Band 5 A/A* You make original and sophisticated interpretations of characters and events THROUGHOUT your essay. You show that you understand Steinbeck’s ideas and intentions throughout the novel, making sophisticated points. You unpick language and structure in an extremely thorough and sophisticated way (you explore in so much depth that there’s nothing else that you could possibly say) You make interesting links to context, which demonstrate a high level understanding. Band 4 C/B You sustain your interpretations throughout your essay, ensuring that each PEEEL is high quality. You demonstrate a good understanding and interpretations of Steinbeck’s ideas. You analyse language and structure in detail, thoroughly exploring. You make convincing connections between characters and events and the novel’s context.