Unlike the Inspector Calls question… What do you think is the importance of Inspector Goole and how does Priestley present him? The Of Mice and Men question is in two parts (a and b). Part a asks you to closely analyse a short extract. Part b then picks up on an aspect of part a’s extract and asks you to write about the rest of the book and how it reflects the time it was set.

George’s hands stopped working with the cards. His voice was growing warmer. “An’ we could have a few pigs. I could build a smoke house like the one gran’pa had, an’ when we kill a pig we can smoke the bacon and the hams, and make sausage an’ all like that. An’ when the salmon run up river we could catch a hundred of ‘em an’ salt ‘em down or smoke ‘em. We could have them for breakfast. They ain’t nothing so nice as smoked salmon. When the fruit come in we could can it—and tomatoes, they’re easy to can. Ever’ Sunday we’d kill a chicken or a rabbit. Maybe we’d have a cow or a goat, and the cream is so God damn thick you got to cut it with a knife and take it out with a spoon.” Lennie watched him with wide eyes, and old Candy watched him too. Lennie said softly, “We could live offa the fatta the lan’.” “Sure,” said George. “All kin’s a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk. We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there. There wouldn’t be no more runnin’ round the country and gettin’ fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we’d have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house.” “Tell about the house, George,” Lennie begged. “Sure, we’d have a little house an’ a room to ourself. Little fat iron stove, an’ in the winter we’d keep a fire goin’ in it. It ain’t enough land so we’d have to work too hard. Maybe six, seven hours a day. We wouldn’t have to buck no barley eleven hours a day. An’ when we put in a crop, why, we’d be there to take the crop up. We’d know what come of our planting.” “An’ rabbits,” Lennie said eagerly. “An’ I’d take care of ‘em. Tell how I’d do that, George.”

Let’s look at part A: The wording of the question asks: “How does Steinbeck use details in this passage to” … From our work in year 10, what do you remember about Steinbeck’s writing techniques? Foreshadowing Animal Imagery Dialogue – slang/ colloquial style Description- use of metaphor and simile Means of Characterisation Contrast between light and dark Noise and silence Irony Cyclical Structure Repetition Symbolism

Consider the passage on your handout A) How does Steinbeck use details in this passage to describe the dream? Individually: Underline five key quotations in this passage What techniques do you recognise here? (Remember the golden rule - Write a lot about a little)

Class Thought Shower Write a lot about a little about the following quotations in your groups and then feedback: “George’s hands stopped working with the cards. His voice was growing warmer.” “Lennie said softly, “We could live offa the fatta the lan’.” “An’ rabbits,” Lennie said eagerly. “An’ I’d take care of ‘em. Tell how I’d do that, George.” “When we kill a pig we can smoke the bacon and the hams, and make sausage an’ all like that.

Section A Continued: Find a quote to support the following ideas: Steinbeck makes George talk wistfully about his mental picture of the farm George’s dream like description slows down the pace of the novel at this point and provides a period of calm (before the storm) Steinbeck reveals how George’s and Lennie’s life would be more closely related to nature on his dream farm so the cycle of the natural rhythms of nature would be complete.

Section B - Class thought shower on this topic How are dreams presented throughout the novel and what does this show us about the society the novel is set in? Remember to include the contextual/ background details

Have we thought about? The significance of the title – “Of Mice and Men” comes from a Robert Burns poem and means that even the best planned ideas and dreams often turn out wrongly. The American Dream – America was seen as a land of opportunity where people could get away from political unrest. The Great Depression shattered the dreams of many. Many farmers moved to California and dreamed of having their own land and possessions. George/ Lennie and Candy dream of a small farm or a patch of land which will allow them to be self-sufficient. The overriding theme of the novel that humanity is small and fragile in comparison with the forces that control our lives. The hope of freedom, the hope of being an individual is a prominent theme in the novel. Curley’s wife has a dream of being a movie star. Her dream is partly rooted in vanity and partly in her insecurity and loneliness, much of which is brought about by her husband’s inadequacies. The ranch hands dream of being the cowboy heroes they read about in the pulp magazines. Lennie's dream holds the whole novel together. We hear it at the beginning, when it sounds like fantasy. We hear it in the middle, when it seems likely it may come true, then we hear it again at the end when everybody's dreams have been shattered The dream is shattered at the end of the novel and is shown to be unreliable in the real world; reflecting Steinbeck’s realism.