Teacher-of-English.comOf Mice and Men English Literature

Teacher-of-English.com Of Mice and Men Development of Character Shattered Dreams

Objectives: To develop knowledge and understanding of the character of Curley’s Wife.

Good Girl or Bad Girl? Steinbeck wrote of Curley’s Wife: ‘she’s a nice girl and not a floozy’. What is your impression of her? Good GirlBad Girl Kind and friendly to Lennie Threatens to get Crooks lynched In your opinion, is Steinbeck successful in presenting her as a nice girl?

After Lennie kills her Steinbeck describes Curley’s Wife in detail. She looks very different here. Read the extract on the following slide then connect the comment boxes to the appropriate part of the text. Shattered Dreams

Curley's wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted. As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. All negativity vanishes She looks beautiful in death Long sentence conveys the feeling of time standing still No sound or movement – emphasises death Image of contentment Sympathetic description Dream unfulfilled Loneliness Repetition to emphasise stillness

Curley's wife lay with a half-covering of yellow hay. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly. The curls, tiny little sausages, were spread on the hay behind her head, and her lips were parted. As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. All negativity vanishes She looks beautiful in death Long sentence conveys the feeling of time standing still No sound or movement – emphasises death Image of contentment Sympathetic description Dream unfulfilled Loneliness Repetition to emphasise stillness

Curley’s Wife Find the quotations to support the following points then complete the explanation. PointEvidenceExplain Women are discriminated against in the novel She is called ‘tart’, ‘jailbait’ and ‘bitch’ by the men on the ranch. The ranch is a very hostile and misogynistic place. Curley’s Wife is an outsider and seems very out of place. Curley’s Wife is over dressed and out of place on the ranch Curley’s wife has a dream She is desperate for attention and company George is distrustful of her She is very lonely

Extension – Shattered Dreams 1.What hints has there been before Chapter Five that this could happen? 2.How does Steinbeck influence the reader’s feelings about Curley’s Wife in this extract? 3.How does Steinbeck describe the killing of Curley’s Wife? Look closely at the use of language, does it remind you of any other incidents in the novel? 4.How does Steinbeck use language to create the atmosphere of a lazy Sunday afternoon in the barn? 5.How do you feel about Lennie following the events of this chapter? 6.What do you think will happen next?

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