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Gcse English Literature - Of Mice and Men Thread

Hi there!
Many people are studying Of Mice And Men for the English Literature Unit Two Exam. It can however be challenging to make perceptive, interesting comments - which is crucial for the A* grade. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful if we could discuss ideas on this thread, to gain a variety of ideas and thus make it easier for us all to think of comments which will gain us that A* grade :wink: Feel free to post whatever comment you feel, or ask any questions you want :smile:

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Original post by spurs9393
Hi there!
Many people are studying Of Mice And Men for the English Literature Unit Two Exam. It can however be challenging to make perceptive, interesting comments - which is crucial for the A* grade. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful if we could discuss ideas on this thread, to gain a variety of ideas and thus make it easier for us all to think of comments which will gain us that A* grade :wink: Feel free to post whatever comment you feel, or ask any questions you want :smile:


I don't have any questions right now but it will definitely be useful later thanxx

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spurs9393
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Original post by Fallen99
I don't have any questions right now but it will definitely be useful later thanxx

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Any themes you want to discuss to get the thread going?


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I got an A* in this, so if anyone needs help, hit me up. I really enjoyed Of Mice and Men, I literally just re-watched the film yesterday :wink:
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spurs9393
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Original post by EllainKahlo
I got an A* in this, so if anyone needs help, hit me up. I really enjoyed Of Mice and Men, I literally just re-watched the film yesterday :wink:


How important is analysis of language/context? Or should you just focus on themes and events?


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Original post by spurs9393
How important is analysis of language/context? Or should you just focus on themes and events?


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Themes are incredibly important, the more you can show how these themes run throughout the novel, the better. Context is always helpful too but don't go overboard, only include if it helps broaden your analysis of whatever point you're making. Language is one of the most important things to analyse, both the narrator's language and the characters'.
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Original post by EllainKahlo
Themes are incredibly important, the more you can show how these themes run throughout the novel, the better. Context is always helpful too but don't go overboard, only include if it helps broaden your analysis of whatever point you're making. Language is one of the most important things to analyse, both the narrator's language and the characters'.


What sort of linguistic devices does Steinbeck frequently use and what's the effect?

Btw thanks for your help


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Original post by spurs9393
What sort of linguistic devices does Steinbeck frequently use and what's the effect?

Btw thanks for your help


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You're welcome. Symbolism, symbolism is frickin' huge in Of Mice and Men. In fact almost everything represents something else. I found I could still remember a lot of them when I re-watched the film the other day. :smile:

Remember that the setting of Of Mice and Men is a microcosm for the world in which it is set. Every character seems to symbolise of a part of society i.e. Curley's Wife represents how women are treated, Crooks represents how black people are discriminated against etc. The effect is illuminating the context and allowing the reader to sympathise with the characters because they all want the American Dream, and none of them are going to get it in this type of society.
Can y'all help me out here? My sodding english teacher wants all the notes my class has done on both Of Mice and Men and Lord of the Flies handed in tomorrow. I've gone and feckin lost all my of mice and men ones, so Imma need to redo those completely as well as improve on my half-assed lord of the flies stuff in time for first thing tomorrow morning. Glorious.

Soooo could you lot do me a favour and tell me any decent Of Mice and Men quotes you've got (preferably which chapter/section they're from as well) while I attempt to improve what little I do have of the other thing to avoid my lunch times disappearing for the week? Ye? Cool.



Gonna be a real fun night...
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Original post by EllainKahlo
You're welcome. Symbolism, symbolism is frickin' huge in Of Mice and Men. In fact almost everything represents something else. I found I could still remember a lot of them when I re-watched the film the other day. :smile:

Remember that the setting of Of Mice and Men is a microcosm for the world in which it is set. Every character seems to symbolise of a part of society i.e. Curley's Wife represents how women are treated, Crooks represents how black people are discriminated against etc. The effect is illuminating the context and allowing the reader to sympathise with the characters because they all want the American Dream, and none of them are going to get it in this type of society.


Thanks - hadn't even learn that one!


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spurs9393
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Original post by Retired_Messiah
Can y'all help me out here? My sodding english teacher wants all the notes my class has done on both Of Mice and Men and Lord of the Flies handed in tomorrow. I've gone and feckin lost all my of mice and men ones, so Imma need to redo those completely as well as improve on my half-assed lord of the flies stuff in time for first thing tomorrow morning. Glorious.

Soooo could you lot do me a favour and tell me any decent Of Mice and Men quotes you've got (preferably which chapter/section they're from as well) while I attempt to improve what little I do have of the other thing to avoid my lunch times disappearing for the week? Ye? Cool.



Gonna be a real fun night...


For what themes/characters?




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Original post by spurs9393
Thanks - hadn't even learn that one!


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:smile: A good vocabulary will set you apart from other candidates. So look at synonyms for words you come across a lot in class. Microcosm is good, (God how I wished I had remembered to use that in my exam :/), archetype, symbol etc. It shows you have good understanding of what you're explaining.
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Original post by EllainKahlo
:smile: A good vocabulary will set you apart from other candidates. So look at synonyms for words you come across a lot in class. Microcosm is good, (God how I wished I had remembered to use that in my exam :/), archetype, symbol etc. It shows you have good understanding of what you're explaining.


What essay question did you get last year? Also what was the other text you studied


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Original post by Retired_Messiah
Can y'all help me out here? My sodding english teacher wants all the notes my class has done on both Of Mice and Men and Lord of the Flies handed in tomorrow. I've gone and feckin lost all my of mice and men ones, so Imma need to redo those completely as well as improve on my half-assed lord of the flies stuff in time for first thing tomorrow morning. Glorious.

Soooo could you lot do me a favour and tell me any decent Of Mice and Men quotes you've got (preferably which chapter/section they're from as well) while I attempt to improve what little I do have of the other thing to avoid my lunch times disappearing for the week? Ye? Cool.



Gonna be a real fun night...


Best one for me is on the last page :
"You hadda George - I swear you hadda"

It's basically referring to a moral imperative to protect the vulnerable from persecution - George had to protect Lennie from being lynched because he couldn't protect himself - we can apply this to charitable work, benefits/welfare state, intervening in international conflict, whatever you like really.

Also remember that George and Lennies' American dream (livin' of the fatta' the land etc) is just that - a dream. George lies about buying the farm so we can assume he knew it was never going to happen. Why did he keep lying about it then? I think he clings to it as comfort blanket - is Steinbeck referring to heaven and the promises of religion as mere comfort blankets in a troubled world?

I hope this helps, my memory's not great and it's been nearly a year since I did English lit!
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Original post by spurs9393
For what themes/characters?

Not too important what it's from seeing as I'm currently lacking everything, though if you want something to go off, any George and/or Lennie quotes would be ideal.


Original post by panda14
Best one for me is on the last page :
"You hadda George - I swear you hadda"

It's basically referring to a moral imperative to protect the vulnerable from persecution - George had to protect Lennie from being lynched because he couldn't protect himself - we can apply this to charitable work, benefits/welfare state, intervening in international conflict, whatever you like really.

I hope this helps, my memory's not great and it's been nearly a year since I did English lit!

That'll do nicely, ta very much
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This just came to mind as well? someone in my class used this last year and did really well with it.

http://www.shmoop.com/of-mice-and-men/

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Original post by Retired_Messiah
Not too important what it's from seeing as I'm currently lacking everything, though if you want something to go off, any George and/or Lennie quotes would be ideal.



That'll do nicely, ta very much


Remember Steinbeck introduces the setting immediately as "Soledad." This is Spanish for loneliness and thus introduces this theme immediately


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Original post by panda14
This just came to mind as well? someone in my class used this last year and did really well with it.

http://www.shmoop.com/of-mice-and-men/

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Thanks! Very useful


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live offa the fatta the lan'

this is one of my favourite quotes (:
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I'm in year 10 am currently studying this book. I'm in set 1 and my teacher says talking about the context is CRUCIAL there's no way you can get an A/A* grade without talking about the context.

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