Of Mice and MenWhat you should know

ContextWhen the novel is set Historical/social factors that are relevant to the time it is setWhere the novel is set and whyHow the context affects the plot, characters and themesCould you answer the question How are the ranch workers affected by the context of the story?

Great DepressionCaliforniaRelationshipsMass unemploymentMigrant/itinerant workers1930sRacism/inequalityDreamsReal placesNo Help WantedRanchesNo benefitsHungerAmerican Dream

The titleAlliterative connection between mice and men both subject to fateContext of title gives biggest clue as to tragedy/pessimism for the dreamThe best laid schemes o mice and menGang aft a-gley (often go wrong)Struggle for survival in Burns poem hints at vulnerability and helplessness of charactersCould you answer the question What is the significance of the title?

PlotKnow the story inside out ie. READ and RE-READWrite detailed summaries of each of the six chapters so you know exactly when all the main events take placeConsider what we learn about the past and the future in each section

When did it happen?Lennie breaks Curleys wifes neckCandy shows them around the bunkhouseLennie goes to the brush, as instructed by GeorgeLennie has a dead mouse in his pocketCandys dog is shotAll the men go into town except Crooks, Candy and Lennie

CharactersPhysical descriptionPersonality and behaviourWhat events/themes they are involved inWhat role they play/their importanceRelationships with other charactersWhat they say/what others say about themUse of languageCould you answer the question It is possible to feel sympathy for all the characters in the novel. Which of the characters do you feel most sympathy for?

CarlsonLennieCandyGeorgeMiceCandys dogSlimThe BossCurleyCurleys wifeCrooksThe pupsWhit

WhoUsed to be a boxer?Is the swamper?Is the jerkline skinner?Likes to gossip about people?Acts like a parent?Taunts Lennie?Shoots Candys dog?

ThemesThemes are the main ideas which run through the novelThey help us to identify Steinbecks intentions when writing the novel ie. the issues he wanted to highlightLink them to characters and eventsCould you answer the question Discuss the importance of dreams in the novel.

Power/authorityHardshipNatureFriendshipDiscriminationIsolation/lonelinessViolenceDreams

SettingEnsure you know where the novel is set and whySetting is made clear at the start of every chapter like stage directions in a play and all the chapter events take place in that locationSteinbeck uses real geographical locationsRemember that Soledad means lonelinessCould you answer the question Choose one of the settings and show how it is important to the novel as a whole.

The BunkhouseThe BunkhouseCrooks room (the harness room)Clearing by the Salinas riverClearing by the Salinas riverBarnWhich chapter?Why important?

Imagery/symbolismAnimalsHandsNamesThe colour redLight and darkness

Key QuotationsLearn some short quotations so that you can use them in your longer essay responseOrganise these under the headings: characters, themes, plot, setting, languageKeep the quotations shortIf you cant remember them exactly, you can paraphrase

Who says?I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That aint no good.You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.Coulda been in the movies an had nice clothes.Why do you got to get killed. You aint so little as mice.Come on ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me.GeorgeCurleySlimCurleys wifeLennie

StructureNovella Similar style to a play - importance of entrances and exits, use of visual descriptionSignificance of opening and endingChronological orderCyclical structure eg. opens and closes in same place and the characters lives are routine so become monotonousUse of foreshadowing eg. which events give hints as to what will happen later on?

ForeshadowingWhat do the following foreshadow?

The shooting of Candys dogThe events in WeedThe dead mouse in chapter oneLennie crushing Curleys hand

Language and styleUse of omniscient narrator (3rd person)Use of unusual metaphors and similesVivid description of landscapes, setting and colourCalifornian accent and dialect to emphasise characters and settingColloquial word choices, specific to ranch lifeSwearing/racist comments to shock? For realism?

*******************