Novel Study

Of Mice and Menby

John Steinbeck

Chapters 1 and 2 – do any 10 questions

Answer the following questions using complete and grammatically correct sentences.

1. George asks Lennie to take something out of his pocket that he has been hiding there. What is it?

2. Near the beginning of Chapter 1, as they talk in the clearing, where does George remind Lennie that they are going the next day?

3. What does George keep telling Lennie to remember when they report to work at the ranch the next day?

4. During dinner what does George say after he tells Lennie that he cannot have any ketchup with his beans?

5. What advantages does George list when he describes what life could be like without Lennie?

6. Just before he describes the dream farm to Lennie, George lists the advantages that both he and Lennie enjoy by being together. What are these advantages?

7. What are some of the features of the dream farm that George describes to Lennie near the end of Chapter 1?

8. Near the beginning of Chapter 2, why, according to Candy, is the ranch boss upset when George and Lennie first arrive?

9. What reason does George give the ranch boss for Lennie’s slowness?

10. Curley is nasty to Lennie when they first meet in the bunk house. What reason does Candy give to George for this nastiness?

11. After Curley leaves, where does George tell Lennie to go if he gets into trouble?

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Chapter 3 – do any 10 questions

Answer the following questions using complete and grammatically correct sentences.

1. At the beginning of Chapter 3, George thanks Slim for a kindness to Lennie. What did Slim do for Lennie?

2. What did Lennie do in Weed that forced him and George to leave?

3. When Lennie enters the bunk house as George and Slim talk, what is he secretly carrying?

4. What is it that Carlson wants Candy to do to his old pet? Why does he want Candy to do this?

5. Whose support does Candy successfully try to enlist at the last minute against Carlson’s action?

6. When Crooks, the stable buck, comes into the bunk house, what two pieces of information does he give Slim?

7. In the middle of Chapter 3, when Curley bursts into the bunk house, whom is he looking for?

8. When Curley sees that Slim is not in the bunk house with the other men, what does he assume?

9. When Candy hears George describe their dream home to Lennie, what offer does he make in order to join them?

10. Candy’s unhappiness at the ranch becomes apparent as he talks to George and Lennie. What are some of the reasons for his unhappiness?

11. Near the end of chapter 3, what does Lennie do that provokes Curley’s anger?

12. What does George say to Lennie as he is being attacked by Curley that causes Lennie to defend himself?

13. What injury does Curley sustain in the fight with Lennie?

14. Who convinces Curley not to tell on Lennie?

15. At the end of Chapter 3, what does George say to comfort Lennie after the fight with Curley?

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Chapter 4 - do any 10 questions

Answer the following questions using complete and grammatically correct sentences.

1. What is Crooks doing as he sits alone in the harness room at the beginning of Chapter 4?

2. What explanation does Lennie give Crooks for coming into the barn?

3. Where does Lennie say that George and the other men have gone?

4. What explanation does Lennie give for coming into Crooks’s room?

5. What kind of farm did Crooks grow up on? Where was it located?

6. During their conversation, what does Crooks say that causes Lennie to respond with menacing anger?

7. What is the one thing that Crooks tells Lennie that all the migrant workers dream about but none get?

8. When Candy comes into the barn looking for Lennie, what does he want to discuss with him?

9. What is Crooks’s initial response to Lennie and Curley’s plan for settling down on a small farm of their own?

10. In the middle of Chapter 4, what does Candy tell Crooks that makes him interested in participating in the dream farm?

11. What question does Curley’s wife ask when she first appears in the barn?

12. Why does she think that the men on the ranch won’t talk to her when she approaches a group of them?

13. What happens when Crooks asks Curley wife to leave his room?

14. What is the reaction of Curley’s wife to the injury of her husband’s hand?

15. At the end of Chapter 4, what is Crooks’s final decision on being part of the dream farm?

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Chapters 5 and 6 - do any 10 questions

Answer the following questions using complete and grammatically correct sentences.

1. Who is Lennie talking to in the barn at the beginning of Chapter 5?

2. In what ways does Lennie show that he is confused and nervous?

3. When Curley’s wife comes into the barn, what does Lennie say over and over again to her as she keeps trying to make conversation with him?

4. What does Curley’s wife say to Lennie when she sees how upset he is over his dead puppy?

5. Who does Curley’s wife blame for standing in the way for her show business success?

6. When Curley’s wife asks Lennie why he likes rabbits so much, what is his response?

7. What does Lennie do to Curley’s wife that kills her?

8. What is Candy’s greatest fear now that Lennie can no longer be part of the dream farm?

9. At the end of Chapter 5, what reason does Curley give for insisting that George join the search for Lennie?

10. At the beginning of Chapter 6, where does Lennie run off to after killing Curley’s wife?

11. When Aunt Clara and the gigantic rabbit appear to Lennie and talk to him, in whose voice do they speak?

12. What does George do to Lennie near the end of Chapter 6?

13. What do George and Lennie talk about before George does what he feels he has to do?

14. What does George do with Carlson’s gun just before Curley and the others come into the clearing?

15. What does Slim say to George? What does he do that shows he realizes what George did and that he understands the pain he suffered in doing it?

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Literary Focus

Setting

Setting is the time and place in which the events of a literary work occur. The setting an author chooses and the way he or she describes it can help to create an atmosphere, or mood that contributes to the emotional quality of a story. In some stories the choice of setting can influence the plot and characters.

Steinbeck uses two setting in Of Mice and Men, one outdoors – the clearing near the Salinas River – and one indoors – the various buildings of the ranch where George and Lennie work. Both settings are enclosed spaces and contribute to the emotional tension and constricted feeling that pervade much of the story.

Question:

The small clearing by the green pool near the Salinas River where the novel opens is a kind of secluded haven for weary travelers. Even before George and Lennie appear, however, Steinbeck gives some indications that the place may have a sad and lonely side. What parts of Steinbeck’s description might give you this impression?

Characterization

Characterization is the way in which the narrator shows a character’s personality. In direct characterization the writer makes direct statements about the character. For example, in Chapter 2, Steinbeck states that Curley’s “….glance was at once calculating and pugnacious.

In indirect characterization personality is revealed by the character’s own words and actions and by what other characters say or think about him or her. Later, near the end of Chapter 3, when he picks a fight with Lennie, Curley’s behaviour proves that he is indeed calculating and pugnacious.

Question:

In Chapter 1, Steinbeck characterizes Lennie directly as “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes… and he walked heavily… His arms did not swing at his sides but hung loosely.” What are some of Lennie’s actions in Chapter 3 that support the presentation of him as vague, vacant and slow?

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Theme

A theme is an important idea of a literary work. Some works have a stated theme, which is expressed directly. For example, a frequently stated main theme of Of Mice and Men is the theme of loneliness. Crooks sums it up in Chapter 4 when he says. “A guy goes nuts of he ain’t got nobody….I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.”

Many novels have an implied theme, which is revealed gradually and indirectly as the events of the work unfold. One important implied them of Of Mice and Men is the importance of dreams to sustain and nurture people through difficult situations. Dreams often give us the hope and strength we need to survive.

Question

A major implied theme of the novel, the importance of dreams, is highlighted by George and Lennie’s dream farm. Several other characters, notably Crooks and Curley’s wife, also had dreams that were a part of their lives for many years before the novel begins. What were their dreams? What do their dreams have in common? What differentiates their dreams from George and Lennie’s dream?

Plot

Plot is the sequence of events in a literary work that takes us from a beginning to an end. h event in the plot is related to the conflict, the struggle that the main characters undergo. Usually a story or novel opens with an exposition, background information vital to our understanding of what will follow. The events in the story follow a rising action, until they reach a climax, the point of highest dramatic tension or excitement. After the climax, the falling action leads to a resolution– a conclusion on which the conflict is resolved and the knot of the plot is untied.

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Plot Diagram

Question

In Of Mice and Men the major conflict is George’s struggle to keep Lennie out of trouble. Identify the events that represent the following:

Exposition Rising Action Climax Falling action Resolution

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1. Exposition or Introduction

2. Rising Action

1.2.3.

3. Climax

4. Falling Action

5. Resolution or Conclusion

Writing an Epitaph

Imagine that George is taking care of the burial of his friend Lennie. What epitaph, or tombstone inscription, do you think George would instruct the stone craver to use for Lennie’s grave? In a brief essay write an epitaph that you think George might choose. Then explain why this epitaph probably summarizes Lennie’s best qualities.

Media

1. Media PresentationCreate a power point or Prezi presentation details the plot outline of the story. Use pictures and incorporate music into your presentation.

You should have a minimum of 6 slides and not more than 10.

Show: Introduction, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution

2. Writing a LetterAunt Clara never appears as an actual character in the novel, but the reader is given a number of clues about her character. Imagine that before her death, Aunt Clara write a letter to George. Choose one or more of the topics below and write a letter that Aunt Clara might have written.

Options: discuss how best to take care of Lennie inquire about the men’s plans and goals thanks George for taking care of Lennie

3. AdvertisingImagine that Of Mice and Men was just published and that you have been asked to create a book cover for the first paper-back edition of Of Mice and Men. Include an illustration and write back-cover information that would grad people’s attention and make them want to read the novel.

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