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AQA GCSE English Literature Unit 1H June 2013 Of Mice and Men

OF MICE AND MEN THREAD JUNE 2013
I was wondering what everyone thought the extract could be for the exam this summer - as starting to begin revision for this exam?
I was starting to think certain things that could come up and thought:
Slim - could he come up - because I know he came up in the foundation paper in Jan 2013 but wouldn't know what to write for him - any ideas?
Scenery - I don't know whether this could come up due to what could be written in part b?
The shooting of candys dog
The fight between Curley and Lennie?
The introduction of Curley or the boss? Ranch hierarchy?
Maybe something related to George and Lennie individually - again I would really struggle with this one?
SO SHARE ANY IDEAS BELOW - Do you think my ideas are accurate and what kind fo things would you write for each one? :smile: - im banking that ones like crooks/curleys wife/ slim / george and lennie wont come up as they already have???

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Reply 1
When did Crooks come up?

Personally, I feel it'll be Crooks or Curley. Did Slim not come up in the higher paper in January? Could be him for the highers in June then.

Slim is quite a nice one to write about. He basically keeps the ranch in control and is the cool headed father figure who effectively calls the shots. I'd advice buying a CGP book on Of Mice and Men. I've got it and it goes through all the themes and the main points of all the characters. Really worth investing in. They're only £5-10.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by Jack59
When did Crooks come up?

Personally, I feel it'll be Crooks or Curley. Did Slim not come up in the higher paper in January? Could be him for the highers in June then.

Slim is quite a nice one to write about. He basically keeps the ranch in control and is the cool headed father figure who effectively calls the shots. I'd advice buying a CGP book on Of Mice and Men. I've got it and it goes through all the themes and the main points of all the characters. Really worth investing in. They're only £5-10.


Sorry in the previous post I got the dates a bit muddled:
Crooks came up in the higher tier jan 2013
Slim came up in the foundation tier June 2012

Yeah I'll be hoping for Slim he's a good one to write about!!! Do you think something like scenery could come up or events such as shooting the dog?

And I'll look into it - I have a revision book but don't find it of much use but if you recommend that one ill check it out!

Thanks
Reply 3
Original post by Jack59
When did Crooks come up?

Personally, I feel it'll be Crooks or Curley. Did Slim not come up in the higher paper in January? Could be him for the highers in June then.

Slim is quite a nice one to write about. He basically keeps the ranch in control and is the cool headed father figure who effectively calls the shots. I'd advice buying a CGP book on Of Mice and Men. I've got it and it goes through all the themes and the main points of all the characters. Really worth investing in. They're only £5-10.


Ad naa slim only came up in foundation for June 2012 so hopefully he'll appear in the higher for June 2013 (Y)
Reply 4
Original post by cjslions
Sorry in the previous post I got the dates a bit muddled:
Crooks came up in the higher tier jan 2013
Slim came up in the foundation tier June 2012

Yeah I'll be hoping for Slim he's a good one to write about!!! Do you think something like scenery could come up or events such as shooting the dog?

And I'll look into it - I have a revision book but don't find it of much use but if you recommend that one ill check it out!

Thanks


The bunkhouse came up a few years ago instead of a character, but I do hope that isn't the case in June. I'd much prefer and I am much more ready to write about a character in the book. Scenery could come up, but its normally the case you'll get a character and a question such as ''How does Steinbeck represent prejudice views in the 1930s'' or something like that.

I think we'll get Slim or Curley. I hope we get Crooks or Slim. I find all the characters in Of Mice and Men pretty easy to talk about though, I wouldn't say any of them are complicated to understand. I find the characters in Of Mice and Men easier to write about than the characters in the other book I study at GCSE, The Crucible.

Best of luck! :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by Jack59
The bunkhouse came up a few years ago instead of a character, but I do hope that isn't the case in June. I'd much prefer and I am much more ready to write about a character in the book. Scenery could come up, but its normally the case you'll get a character and a question such as ''How does Steinbeck represent prejudice views in the 1930s'' or something like that.

I think we'll get Slim or Curley. I hope we get Crooks or Slim. I find all the characters in Of Mice and Men pretty easy to talk about though, I wouldn't say any of them are complicated to understand. I find the characters in Of Mice and Men easier to write about than the characters in the other book I study at GCSE, The Crucible.

Best of luck! :smile:


Yeah I'll definitely be hoping for a character - if not ill be screwed... And slim and Curley seem like good bets considering neither have come up in a higher paper yet!!
Yeah there is quite a lot to say about each one - ahh I read an inspector calls which I really enjoy!!!
Original post by Jack59
The bunkhouse came up a few years ago instead of a character, but I do hope that isn't the case in June. I'd much prefer and I am much more ready to write about a character in the book. Scenery could come up, but its normally the case you'll get a character and a question such as ''How does Steinbeck represent prejudice views in the 1930s'' or something like that.

I think we'll get Slim or Curley. I hope we get Crooks or Slim. I find all the characters in Of Mice and Men pretty easy to talk about though, I wouldn't say any of them are complicated to understand. I find the characters in Of Mice and Men easier to write about than the characters in the other book I study at GCSE, The Crucible.

Best of luck! :smile:


Original post by cjslions
Yeah I'll definitely be hoping for a character - if not ill be screwed... And slim and Curley seem like good bets considering neither have come up in a higher paper yet!!
Yeah there is quite a lot to say about each one - ahh I read an inspector calls which I really enjoy!!!


Slim and Curley seem the most likely of the characters to come up, since they haven't come up before. If either of them were indeed to come up, then I assume (a) would be to explain how the character is presented in the given extract, but what could (b) ask? Going by the pattern of the last exams it seems to be something like 'How does Steinbeck use Crooks to present black people', 'How does Steinbeck use Curley's wife to present women' etc. Yet there isn't much to write about how Slim or Curley is used by Steinbeck to convey ideas about America in the 1930s - is there? :s-smilie:

So isn't it more likely that it'll be (a) = setting; (b) = theme?
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 7
Original post by TheWantedGuy
Slim and Curley seem the most likely of the characters to come up, since they haven't come up before. If either of them were indeed to come up, then I assume (a) would be to explain how the character is presented in the given extract, but what could (b) ask? Going by the pattern of the last exams it seems to be something like 'How does Steinbeck use Crooks to present black people', 'How does Steinbeck use Curley's wife to present women' etc. Yet there isn't much to write about how Slim or Curley is used by Steinbeck to convey ideas about America in the 1930s - is there? :s-smilie:

So isn't it more likely that it'll be (a) = setting; (b) = theme?


Do you think they could do that about have differing ideas for part a and b?
And I think there is a lot to write about slim - Curley - not so much!!! :l
Original post by cjslions
Do you think they could do that about have differing ideas for part a and b?
And I think there is a lot to write about slim - Curley - not so much!!! :l


Hmm, in the specification it says - and I quote - 'Part b will ask candidates to link this passage to the whole text', so surely that means (a) and (b) cannot be completely unrelated. But January 2012's paper was:

(a) How does Steinbeck use details in this passage to present the bunkhouse and its inhabitants?
and then Part (b)
(b) In the rest of the novel, how does Steinbeck present the lives of ranch workers at that time?

... which don't seem very related - so I'm not sure.

I wouldn't really know what to write about Slim with regards the context. If he came up, I assume the question would be something like: 'How does Steinbeck use his character to convey ideas about America in the 1930s?' Any ideas on how to answer that?

Agh! It's so annoying that all the major characters have already come up in the previous exam questions; otherwise we'd have been able to work out who would most likely come up. I mean it was pretty obvious that January 2013's was going to be Crooks since he was the only major character that hadn't come up. But now all of them have it's really difficult to work it out - perhaps George and Lennie, but separately? Or perhaps themes or symbolisms? :/
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 9
Hoping for either Slim or Curley. I think for the b part probably a setting.
Reply 10
I just hope part B has a character to talk about, like Crooks and racism for example. Sadly, if it is Curley or Slim, I can't see it being related to them as there isn't really any ideas within their characters in which you can compare to America at the time.

I suspect this is the reason they haven't come up yet.. maybe they won't because of this.

When did Candy last come up? There could be a part B related to him.
Reply 11
Original post by Jack59
I just hope part B has a character to talk about, like Crooks and racism for example. Sadly, if it is Curley or Slim, I can't see it being related to them as there isn't really any ideas within their characters in which you can compare to America at the time.

I suspect this is the reason they haven't come up yet.. maybe they won't because of this.

When did Candy last come up? There could be a part B related to him.

They could ask about Slim/Curley in part a) then the part b) could ask something about hierarchy and how some people had more power at the time, cos you could talk about slim being the prince and curley being the boss' son etc.

Candy came up in jan 2011... i am spending my time stalking past questions and trying to predict rather than revising :/
Reply 12
Could a more minor character such as Carlson come up? He is pretty important to the plot of the novella and there are quite a lot of things to say about him? Just a thought.

(even Whit to an extent - he shows suppression and life away from work?)


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Reply 13
Original post by TheWantedGuy
Hmm, in the specification it says - and I quote - 'Part b will ask candidates to link this passage to the whole text', so surely that means (a) and (b) cannot be completely unrelated. But January 2012's paper was:

(a) How does Steinbeck use details in this passage to present the bunkhouse and its inhabitants?
and then Part (b)
(b) In the rest of the novel, how does Steinbeck present the lives of ranch workers at that time?

... which don't seem very related - so I'm not sure.

I wouldn't really know what to write about Slim with regards the context. If he came up, I assume the question would be something like: 'How does Steinbeck use his character to convey ideas about America in the 1930s?' Any ideas on how to answer that?

Agh! It's so annoying that all the major characters have already come up in the previous exam questions; otherwise we'd have been able to work out who would most likely come up. I mean it was pretty obvious that January 2013's was going to be Crooks since he was the only major character that hadn't come up. But now all of them have it's really difficult to work it out - perhaps George and Lennie, but separately? Or perhaps themes or symbolisms? :/



Questions a) and b) are kind of related because we are talking about the lives of the workers/inhabitants. But you do not refer to your answer in a) when you answer b). Also, in b), you talk about context, so 1930s America and how there was economic depression (remember: wall street crash). So, for example, you would look for a part in the novel that shows ranch workers having a hard life (perhaps George and Lennie's journey to the bunkhouse).

In terms of your question about Slim, I wouldn't be so sure that such a question would come up as it is quite difficult. If a question asks you about 1930s America, it would be a more obvious link.

But, Slim is a a rather practical and logical character and earns lots of respect. He is a trustworthy individual. He has authority. In the novel, there is a semantic field of authority. We are also told that Slim's face is described as "ageless", connoting that he is mature with a large mental capacity and, hence, is an experienced man. This language device is imagery.

If you could think of relevant context from that, for example, then you could revise that, otherwise I wouldn't worry about revising too much context for Slim.

The main context questions would be something along the lines of: women, economic status (men going to work) and relationships (between George and Lennie).

Hope that was useful for you
Reply 14
The context of treatment towards elderly people (Candy) could also come up.
Reply 15
January 2013 Paper:

Passage: from pg 73 "Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes..." to pg 75 "...any right in here but me, Pearson Longman Edition

(a) In this passage, how does Steinbeck present Crooks?

(b) In the rest of the novel, how does Steinbeck use Crooks to present attitudes to black people at the time the novel is set?
Reply 16
Original post by Ryan075
January 2013 Paper:

Passage: from pg 73 "Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes..." to pg 75 "...any right in here but me, Pearson Longman Edition

(a) In this passage, how does Steinbeck present Crooks?

(b) In the rest of the novel, how does Steinbeck use Crooks to present attitudes to black people at the time the novel is set?


Hi, was this for the higher tier exam? :smile:
Reply 17
Which characters have come up in the past papers?
Reply 18
Yeah it was for the higher tier exam :wink:
Reply 19
Characters in past papers:

January 2011- Candy
June 2011- George and Lennie
January 2012-Inhabitants of the bunkhouse
June 2012- Curley's Wife
January 2013- Crooks

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