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Really struggling on of mice and men have a controlled assessment coming up - help!!!

So, I'm doing AQA Eng and Lit, and rn we are doing Of mice and men, and I'm really struggling of grasping the main points, and explaining them, and the technical terms! I'm in set 1 targeted an A-A*(i just moved up to set 1!) but everyone else in the class seems so much more advanced and ahead of me in terms of understanding.. We've already done one controlled assessment on creative writing; I've pretty much ruined 7.5% of my GCSE, and this is just the beginning of Y10! Now soon we're going to do the second part of the C.A on Of mice and men and I'm just really struggling. I try to participate and answer questions but then I some wrong and I feel humiliated it really lowers my self esteem of how the teacher looks at me when I get it wrong. I have a literature mock coming up on it as well(I might have Language one as well!), I really need help but I'm too embarrassed to put my hand up or talk to the teacher because everyone else is able to do it but me :emo:

can someone please help? Please? I feel more comfortable asking people anonymously (Really bad structure, I know.. I just said it all at once I'm sorry :frown:

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Reply 1

somemightsay888

Hey! I did of mice and men for my GCSE and got an A* in it, what do you need help with :smile:

Reply 2

rzi999

Original post by somemightsay888

Hey! I did of mice and men for my GCSE and got an A* in it, what do you need help with :smile:

so i need help with like understanding the themes of the story and the characters.. my teacher said the controlled assessment is going to be based on the good and bad in each of the characters, i just struggle understanding it

Reply 3

rzi999

Original post by somemightsay888

Hey! I did of mice and men for my GCSE and got an A* in it, what do you need help with :smile:

any tips?

Reply 4

somemightsay888

Original post by EverythingGreen

any tips?

Have you covered the context of the novel in class?

The themes of dreams is a major one in this too, dreams and aspirations of the characters

Lennie's naivety and relative innocence is what I wrote about him, his penchant for soft objects too. Lennie is a child in a man's body, so the innocence and goodness of a child etc.

America itself; What is it in reality, discuss how it isn't this land of hope and glory. The failure of the American Dream, how what they're living is in fact the opposite. Once again, ties into unrealised dreams.

The Farm is the idyllic place where George and Lennie are masters of their own life, the farm is in essence the American dream.

Lennie's "bad" is his failure to realise his own strength; it mentions how he's killed animals before due to this and we see him kill the dog and Curley's wife albeit accidentally. I suppose you could also argue that because of his innocence, as he doesn't realise what he's doing, he's the one true good character in the book.

George's good is how he keeps Lennie grounded and makes sure to his best he stays out of trouble. However we learn he did abuse Lennie for his own enjoyment. George is the one who maintains Lennie's belief in The Farm. Is this good that he gives Lennie something to look forward too, something he can find solace in, or is it bad that he deluded Lennie and encourages a dream that will never be realised? Also, the shooting of Lennie, George spares his friend death by lynching. Does George here finally give up and become part of the predatory world he fought against or does he spare his friend a cruel fate?

I'll try and dig more out if I can, I still have a lot of my GCSE Notes :smile:

Although, a lot of this can be found on Sparknotes, Shmoop etc