Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

Who else is doing Of Mice and Men?

I know the book, I know the characters, I know the quotes, I know the themes

When it comes to writing an essay and structuring it I HAVE NO CLUE on how to do this, any help on how to improve on this?

Lets say the questions were:
How does Steinbeck present the theme of loneliness in 'Of Mice and Men'
How does Steinbeck present the friendship of George & Lennie in 'Of Mice and Men'

Would reading other people's essays be efficient?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1

afzal123

same here lets just wait for an answer

Reply 2

Rahul.S

dnt 4rget to mention the quote of curly puttin his hand in a vaseline glove for his wife =)...smooth!

Reply 3

JamesJimmyJim

PEE paragraphs are good. - Point, Evidence, Explain. Also :My Bean Sandwhich Ruptured Over The Ceiling. (talk about the Theme, Language, Structure and Feeling)
So maybe: 1st paragraph = intro
2nd paragraph = talk about theme and link to question
3rd paragraph = talk about language and link to question
4th paragraph = talk about structure and link to question
5th paragraph = talk about feeling (how does it make the audience feel) and link to question.
6th paragraph = conclusion
There are loads more but I can't remember - sorry, hopes this helps.

Reply 4

ju1c

Bump

Reply 5

FindBeautyInNegativeSpace

You basically talk about aspects of the book that contribute to the theme of loneliness.

Reply 6

MrsRainey

I did this at GCSE and got 89%, easy peasy!

If you're talking about the theme of loneliness, cycle through all the characters. Curley's Wife is incredibly lonely and desperate for some attention, to the point where it kills her. Of course this has links with sexism. Then you've got George's loneliness because he's not equal to Lenny and has nobody to talk to right at the beginning apart from him, then right at the end that theme is reinforced. You could also write about when Lenny runs off, his sole aim is to do what George said. It's such a strong dedication, like a fear of loneliness. Then you've got Crooks, it's obvious why he's lonely, and the old man with the dog (can't remember his name) is devastated and lonely when his dog dies, when he sees Curley's Wife dead in the barn he gives Lenny a chance, almost like he would have given his dog a chance, like he doesn't want George to go through the same loneliness. I would structure this essay by going through each character in turn.

EDIT: ok here's how I would write an essay plan for this.

INTRO: Introduce the concept of loneliness, contextualise it!! This is important, set the scene - talk about the great depression and the amount of workers forced to travel around like George and Lenny and how most of them were travelling alone. Just set the scene.
PARA.1: George and Lenny
PARA.2: Curley's Wife
PARA.3: Crooks
PARA.4: Old Man With Dog
CONCLUSION: Sum up what you've said and answer the question in the title in a simple quick way, and maybe end with a nice quote on the theme of loneliness.