November 2015 feedback: Many of you are not connecting with the extract enough ie ACTUALLY READING IT CLOSELY AND REFERRING BACK TO IT! You seem to dip in and out quite randomly, whereas you need to show a sustained investigation of the whole extract, not just 2 or 3 most obvious things. Many of you are not including ANY READER RESPONSE! You HAVE TO show awareness of this in terms of the IMPACT of how characters are presented (sympathy, empathy, pity and also OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION!). Context comments were either basic or non-existent (links to American Dream, attitudes of the 1930s, The Great Depression etc). As virtually half the marks are given for this, you are failing big time if you ignore this. These are mainly included in b but can be included in a as well. For b AGAIN you were not connecting with the text closely- I WATCHED YOU!!! You have to feel you can dip back into anywhere in the novel to find specific moments you can analyse in terms of how language, structure and form are used for effects. Generalised and vague references hardly even get you into Band 2. Not enough written- YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO SIT GAZING INTO SPACE!!! Every second of your time should be spent squeezing as much out of the extract and text as possible right upto the final second.

Literature exam Exploring Modern Texts (40%) Section A: Modern prose or drama (20%) ‘Lord of the Flies’ Section B: Exploring cultures (20%) ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck 1 hour 30 minutes

Assessment Objectives Section B ‘Of Mice and Men’: A01: respond to text critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate textual detail to support interpretations (5%) A02: explain how language, structure and form present ideas, themes and settings (5%) A04: relate text to social, cultural and historical contexts; explain how text is significant to self and other readers in different contexts at different times (10%)

Question break-down: (extract focused) (rest of the novel) Why is this important? Timing in the exam?

Mark scheme bands... Band 6: 26-30 marks Band 5: 21-25 marks 1. Thoughtful/considered response to ideas/themes 2. Details linked to interpretation 3. Appreciation/consideration of writer’s use of lang, structure and form 4. Considered/qualified response to context 5. Thoughtful selection and consideration of details to support context comments Sustained response to ideas/themes Effective use of details to support interpretation Explanation of effects of lang, structure and form Sustained response to context. Selection of effective details to support response to context

Structure... 6 chapters/sections Chapter 1 establishes the main characters Chapter 2 introduces the others and the main conflict Drama and tension in final chapters leading to climaxes in Chapter 5 and 6 Cyclical structure- comes back to where it all began- the setting is the same- balanced Foreshadowing woven throughout the text to suggest fates of characters are inevitable: red dress; escape plan; violence escalates; dead mice; dead girl; setting Setting description positioned at the beginning of each chapter

Form... Novella- a tragedy A novel written like a play: important exits and entrances; one location for each chapter/section; setting descriptions are like stage directions Dialogue Physical descriptions Third person omniscient narrator Doomed tone

Read and annotate the extract and PLAN... b) Question focus for a)- Curley’s Wife Look for telling moments when we can infer something deeper in her presentation- both her character presentation and the attitudes shown from those characters around her. Look for techniques used (lang, structure, form) to present her character. Position of this in the text- anything obvious? Chapter 2 her first introduction which closely follows Curley’s. Structure can also be within the passage. Choose moments throughout the novel where Curley’s Wife or other female characters are used to show ideas of: *Attitudes towards women in in the society in which the novel is set

5 minutes for your plan!

Add to your plan! A01 A02 Curley’s Wife immediately attracts attention- ‘Both men glanced up’ Attitude of George- dismissive Lennie’s fascination Change in her attitude from provocative to ‘apprehensive’ when told Curley was going to the house- what this shows Curley’s wife/Slim- their relationship Foreshadowing- ‘the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’ Language used to present her appearance and its significance Other language choices- ‘nasal, brittle quality’, ‘brusquely’, ‘archly’, ‘playfully’ Reference back to the girl in the red dress in Weed Curley’s Wife no name AO4 Different women- prostitutes, married women, Aunt Clara Where CW ‘belongs’- told to get back to the house Attitudes to the cathouse and the women there Status/hierarchy of ranch- CW place Characters used to present attitudes Steinbeck allows US to JUDGE- he simple shows what some 1930s attitudes were in the 1930s.

What other moments would you use to answer the b) part of the question?

b) Suggested moments to explore in the rest of the text: The way her physical appearance always come first when she enters a scene. Chapter 2- attitudes to Curley’s Wife (her introduction) and George’s reaction after she leaves plus Candy- contrast with how the men are allowed to visit prostitutes. Chapter 4- ‘…they left all the weak ones here…’- however hierarchy as well/ the way she treats Crooks, ‘You know what I can do…’ Chapter 5- her background and loneliness are revealed in the barn/ her death brings her peace. References to other women: prostitutes, married women, nurturers (Aunt Clara)

Exemplar of close analysis from the rest of the novel for b) part. Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife’s death in the penultimate chapter as the tragedy we have all expected unfolds so quickly in front of our eyes. He allows us to see how harsh and ruthless life can be in the context of this time period during the Great Depression and the quickness of her death emphasises how unforgiving the natural world can be. Animal imagery is used again as it has already been established throughout the novel for Lennie’s character so we regard his instinctive panic as part of his defence rather than simply a man killing a woman. When he has broken her neck Steinbeck uses the same bear image from the beginning for him, ‘…pawed up the hay until it partly covered her.’ and this reminds us we view him as a mixture of child and animal as he pathetically attempts to hide her. The sympathy we feel for both the killer and the victim is interesting as we almost believe the inevitability of the act means we do not blame Lennie’s character. What is perhaps more surprising is our reaction to Curley’s Wife’s death as during the previous chapter Steinbeck revealed her ugly and cruel side when she attacked Crooks, particularly shocking for a modern reader, yet still Steinbeck is able to portray her in a deeply sensitive way, perhaps suggesting that she has been freed from the prison of her life which many women of her time would have been trapped in as well, ‘…the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone…’ She returns to being a sleeping child and as Steinbeck has allowed her to speak about her dreams before she is killed, this reminds us that all these vulnerable characters are trapped in their own prisons because of this harsh world they are part of.

Look at the plan used for full marks response! * Now finalise your own plan for this essay for both a) and b). * Now we will read together a) and b) from the full marks essay- highlight 3 of the most BRILLIANT things he writes. * Add to your plan if you do not think there are enough detailed references to allow you opportunities to explore effects.

Feedback this time last year… Not enough close analysis of the passage- sometimes hardly any quotes have been picked out to explore. When you have picked out a quote you must really explore everything relevant about it: lang, structure, form, alternative interpretation, context, reader response (1930s/modern)- DON’T JUST SAY WHAT’S HAPPENING IN IT! 3. Not enough/ ANY close references to the rest of the novel in part b- at least 3 moments need to be explored closely! Cunning strategy is to try and link to character introduction and setting whatever the question is so you can easily get some close lang, structure, form in straight away.

5. Don’t write about characters as if they are real people- try and use phrases like ‘Steinbeck uses...presents...constructs...’ Context comments need to be as sophisticated as possible and most things link back to the characters eg George and Lennie’s impossible personal dream of having a ranch is linked to the idea of how faded and out of many people’s reach the American Dream was. Reader response missing! Most comments can be linked to how a reader is affected by the presentation- sympathy, empathy, pity, pathos, complicit... 8. You need to know the text and ideas much better so you can quickly decide what parts to look at and analyse.