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Of mice and men

I've got my GCSE's coming up soon and for of mice and men I just don't know how to revise and i keep getting an F, can someone give me some tips on how to revise for it? like what will i need to know? thanks
Reply 1
Watch this playlist over your holidays:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r02N-SM4atE&list=PLqGFsWf-P-cC2JbnhAw88geP1FSkNAcb6

Make notes on notepad.
Original post by rachhhdx
I've got my GCSE's coming up soon and for of mice and men I just don't know how to revise and i keep getting an F, can someone give me some tips on how to revise for it? like what will i need to know? thanks

When are you doing it? Also, have you studied it before? You need to know about characters, themes. language, content etc :smile:
Reply 3
its on May the 22nd and at the moment im learning it chapter by chapter but im not sure if thats right?
Reply 4
Original post by rachhhdx
its on May the 22nd and at the moment im learning it chapter by chapter but im not sure if thats right?


On Youtube, if you look up Mrbruff's of mice and men playlist he will explain some things really well. (My comment up above hasn't been verified yet)

Reading the book is always good, but you need to look at certain words in the book and explain to yourself what they show about the characters and their lives as a whole. Think about the effect on the reader and what message the author wants to say about that character and what they represent.
One tip I found worked quite well is go through the book, pick out 3-4 key quotations for each chapter (covering characters, themes etc) and analyse them in detail.
Original post by rachhhdx
its on May the 22nd and at the moment im learning it chapter by chapter but im not sure if thats right?

It depends on you, whether you can learn easily that way, absorb the information. I think many people do it that way :yep:

Also, like another user said, use MrBruff on YouTube. Currently using him for Romeo and Juliet to revise and making revision notes along with it. And have a look at SparkNotes
Oh I read that book in my spare time and quite enjoyed it :smile:
What I would do for GCSE level is make revision sheets/flashcards/post-its of:
- Major themes (have a good look at what you've done in class, the notes you've taken and if you feel the need to, go on sparknotes for extra info) with 5 (or more) quotes per theme that you ANALYSE. You should generally have a literary technique + analysis
- Main characters -- 5 analysed quotes per.
- Motifs -- are there recurrent symbols? An extended metaphor which runs throughout the novel? Speech mannerism? Analyse the effect Steinbeck wanted to make on the reader and why.

I think all the other suggestions are really good too, and don't be afraid to go to your teacher for help! I'd say once you feel like you know the novel, try to do a couple essay questions and get them marked/corrected by your teacher. Good luck! :smile:
Reply 8
Original post by FlyingUnicorn
Oh I read that book in my spare time and quite enjoyed it :smile:
What I would do for GCSE level is make revision sheets/flashcards/post-its of:
- Major themes (have a good look at what you've done in class, the notes you've taken and if you feel the need to, go on sparknotes for extra info) with 5 (or more) quotes per theme that you ANALYSE. You should generally have a literary technique + analysis
- Main characters -- 5 analysed quotes per.
- Motifs -- are there recurrent symbols? An extended metaphor which runs throughout the novel? Speech mannerism? Analyse the effect Steinbeck wanted to make on the reader and why.

I think all the other suggestions are really good too, and don't be afraid to go to your teacher for help! I'd say once you feel like you know the novel, try to do a couple essay questions and get them marked/corrected by your teacher. Good luck! :smile:


thankyou so much i'll try this x
Reply 9
As well as revising, you may also want to look at exam technique and know what happens in each chapter so you can find quotations easily. The examiner reports are pretty useful and I've noticed a trend in the comments from Omam so you may wanna check them out (:
Original post by rachhhdx
thankyou so much i'll try this x


Happy I could help! :smile: But remember I'm not a teacher, so these are only personal suggestions :smile:
Reply 11
Learn some key themes, that's always helpful and try and be clear and concise in everything you say. For example some of the key themes that you could get are the role of women in 1930's America, discrimination and prejudice, use of imagery (animals specifically etc. These could easily be applied to any number of characters within the novel and if you get a theme question, will be a piece of cake. What I did when I was revising was I made cards about them with quotes on, in different colours for different themes. Sorry I'm a bit rusty on this but I hope it helps. good luck you'll be fine! :smile:
Original post by rachhhdx
I've got my GCSE's coming up soon and for of mice and men I just don't know how to revise and i keep getting an F, can someone give me some tips on how to revise for it? like what will i need to know? thanks


I have studied this doing an exam as we'll soon u just need to know the main character ,theme backGround information about the story line and the language the writer uses
Hope that helps :smile: make detail notes as well



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