1. Mr Peel’s revision: The SHEEP group!
OMAM – essay suggestions.
Friday, 09 November 2018

2. 3 questions in 30 minutes Approach is everything.
Understand the purpose of the question – never simply to see if you know the story.
3 essay stems:
Setting
Importance of a character
How does Steinbeck present a given theme?
3 questions in 30 minutes

3. Setting 4 strands to this question Time Era Time when Place
Nature/weather…
Setting

4. An idea:

5. Back to the text What settings are used?
Nature as a frame, bunkhouse, barn, Crooks’ Room
What is significant about each?
Look at what they suggest related to themes…
Back to the text

6. Nature 1 freedom watersnake peace Nature No human interference
companionship
calmness
No human interference
watersnake
Killed at end
Nature 1

7. Nature 2 Season has moved on Used to comfort Lennie
Heron kills watersnake
Wind ripples the water
No longer recumbent…
Noises off of pursuit
Associated with emergency
Nature 2

8. The Bunkhouse is the opposite -look at the e C. S
The Bunkhouse is the opposite -look at the e C.S.I – white or bare wood, nature is tamed to man’s needs. The talk is of cooties and a lack of privacy.
Where is this best seen?
CANDY DOG…
See how it works?

9. Bunkhouse= harsh life of itinerants
Shown by Candy Dog scene… (don’t retell the story)
Dark outside, all trapped within the bunkhouse, Carlson is relentless (as Crooks will be later with Lennie), Candy is ISOLATED and has to resort to turning to “face the wall”.
Bunkhouse as setting is used to explore the harsh and inhumane life of these men.
Use also for “arrival and disappointment” and “establishing the dream”.
Also sets up a MALE environment that only real men can enter…
Bunkhouse= harsh life of itinerants

10. The Barn Half way between the two – how is it described.
C.S.I What does the fork signify?
Why are the animals so evident here? Horses, puppies, pigeon etc
Does it provide Curley’s wife with a peaceful resting place – more natural than the male dominated ranch?
The Barn

11. IMPORTANCE OF A CHARACTER:
Not the same as “tell us what X does in the novella…”
Think about the role of the character in the story
Do they help to develop a particular theme?
( CW/Crooks: discrimination; Candy: Loneliness and the dream; CW appearance and reality (dreams)…)
IMPORTANCE OF A CHARACTER:

12. In a book “about” the collapse of a humane society, look for relationships…
George and Lennie are obvious and begin to rectify the situation on the ranch…
Is the end positive or negative? Slim and George are together, but Carlson has the last word…
Relationships

13. Crooks is both discriminated against and discriminatory – why
Crooks is both discriminated against and discriminatory – why? What is Steinbeck trying to say here?
Lennie is focus of the dream, but what else does his character enable to happen? How do we know the truth about CW for example? How does Steinbeck use this character in the narrative?
Individuals

14. NOTE: most questions will want you to discuss how the writer presents a theme, not simply write about it in abstract terms.
Major themes:
Loneliness/Isolation - Discrimination
Appearance/Reality
Dreams
Collapse of society
THEMES

15. Loneliness/Isolation
Shown in Crooks – “man gets sick…”
Discrimination is a two way thing…
Chooses isolation but is not happy
Unlike Candy, who is isolated within the bunkhouse after death of dog…
And unlike CW who is isolated by gender
And by a cruel husband –she becomes lonely
Which Steinbeck hides by writing from a male perspective at the start of the novel
She presents loneliness when she tells her story – achieves greater impact this way

16. In the time that is left, look at the other themes
Always remember that English Literature is testing you on whether you can comment about the choices made by the author.
It is assumed that you know the texts!
Try to write in an impersonal 3rd person and avoid immature subjectivity ( “Steinbeck cleverly uses a brilliant adjective…”).
PLAN before you write for 5 minutes minimum – think of the quotations you will embed at this point.
GOOD LUCK
In the time that is left, look at the other themes