1. The American Dream
LO: to explore ‘the American Dream’ and to see how this applies to George and Lennie.

2. What are your dreams? On post-it...
1 – Write what your dreams are for the summer holidays?
2 – If you were given £10,000 what would your dream be? What would you do with the money?
3 – What would be your dream job?

3. The American Dream was the idea that people could achieve whatever they wanted through hard work, regardless of class.
America was known as ‘the land of the free’ or ‘the land of opportunity’.
These ideals clashed with the great depression. Think credit crunch…but a lot worse!
Lennie dreams of "living off the fatta' the lan.'" He and George dream of being self sufficient, working hard enough to have their own farm, crops and rabbits!

4. Pick 4 questions to answer on this section of the novel.
Page 2 – What animal is Lennie compared to? What impression does this give of him?
Page 3 – How does Lennie drink the water? What animal is he compared to this time? (this is known as animal imagery)
Page 3 – What are the first words that George speaks to Lennie? What does this tell you about their relationship?
Page 3 – What is Lennie’s hand called when he dabbles it in the water?
Page 4 – What does Lennie copy George doing? Why do you think he does this?
Page 5 – George says to Lennie: “Think I’d let you carry your own work card?” What does this suggest about the relationship between the two men? What does George think of Lennie?
Page 7 – Why does Lennie repeat a phrase over and over again? What does this tell you about him?
Page 8 – George calls Lennie a ‘poor bastard.’ What does this tell you about how George feels about him?
Page 10 – Why does Lennie want to hold mice? What happens when he does?
Page 11 – List the things that George says he could do if he wasn’t with Lennie.
Page 14 – George describes the dream that he and Lennie have. Describe their dream in your own words.
Page 16 – What is Lennie to do if he gets in trouble at his new job?