"The best laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray…"
Robert Burns, 1785
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Mrs. Constant
Mrs. Tuccillo
English 12
Of Mice and Men
Anticipation Guide
Part I: Before reading Of Mice and Men, respond to each statement by putting a PLUS sign (+) if you agree with it, and a MINUS sign (-) if you disagree. You may put a QUESTION MARK (?) if you are unsure.
Part II: For ONE of the statements below, respond in your journal as to why you have the belief you do. You should write for a minimum of TEN minutes.
We will revisit this anticipation guide after reading the novel, to see if and where your beliefs have changed since reading the book. You will either reply to a statement where your belief has changed, or choose a different statement than you responded to in Part I.
1. People that are poor should rely on their friends, family, or church for help, not the government.
2. A true friend will tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it.
3. The n-word is more offensive than other racial slurs because of the history of hate behind it.
4. Women today are more often treated by men as equals rather than objects.
5. When people are a victim of a crime, they should be able to take the law into their own hands.
6. States with the death penalty have lower murder rates.
7. The best place for justice to be determined is in a court of law.
8. Being rich is more important than having close friends.
9. Sometimes a person has to break the law to make sure justice is served.
10. Life today is more difficult than it was in the 1930’s.
Finding the answers to these questions will give you valuable information about the life of John Steinbeck and the era during which he lived. This will prepare you for reading Of Mice and Men.
YOU MAY NOT USE WIKIPEDIA FOR THESE RESPONSES!
This assignment MUST be word processed!
You MUST answer in complete sentences.
1. Explain TWO causes of the Great Depression.
2. What was life like during the Great Depression? Give THREE concrete responses please.
3. When did the Great Depression take place?
4. What is the “Dust Bowl”? What was the cause and where did it take place?
5. What led to the existence of migrant workers in America in the 1930s?
6. What do you know about migrant workers in our area? (Think about this question…. Do not look up an answer on the web!)
7. Where are there migrant workers today? Describe the types of people they are and what kind of lives they live.
8. Why did workers want to move to California in the 1930s?
9. Describe what life was like for migrant workers in the 1930s.
10. When was John Steinbeck born? When did he die?
11. How many wives did Steinbeck have? Did he have children? How many?
12. What was John Steinbeck’s educational background?
13. What was Steinbeck’s job during the Second World War?
14. When and for what did he receive the Nobel Prize? When and for what did he receive the Pulitzer Prize?
15. List THREE other novels John Steinbeck wrote.
16. Describe the geographical features of the Salinas Valley in California?
17. What was John Steinbeck’s relationship to the Salinas Valley?
18. What is the definition of mental retardation?
19. What are some of the difficulties in caring for a mentally challenged/disabled person?
20. Go to this website: www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/escuela/migrant.html
a. List THREE facts about the education of migrant workers.
PART II: Go to this website: www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/index.html
There are several pictures on this page that represent life for migrant workers during the 1930s. Write one paragraph using this prompt:
What do you think the people in these pictures are feeling? What are your feelings when you view these photos? Answer with specificity and using details.
Slang Terms of the Time
1. Bindle – a bed roll and/or pack of personal belongings.
2. Jack – money
3. Graybacks – lice
4. Tick – mattress
5. Buck – a man who
6. Buckers – those who move or load heavy objects (like grain)
7. Skinner – a driver of a draft (team of animals)
8. Tart – a prostitute
9. Mules – shoes or slippers
10. Found – free food and lodgings in addition to wages
11. Hoosegow – jail
12. Hame – part of the collar for a draft animal
13. Booby hatch – insane asylum
14. Floozy – cheap, immoral woman
15. Snooker – a variation of pool played with 15 red balls and 6 balls of assorted colors
16. Cat house – a whore house, house of prostitution
17. Jerkline skinner - A skinner is the driver of a team of mules. A jerkline skinner is the main driver of a mule team who handles the jerkline (reins).
18. Stable buck – a stable is where horses are kept – a buck, in this case, is a derogatory word for a black man.
19. Wheeler – the horse harnessed nearest to the front wheels of a vehicle
20. Swamper – a handyman – someone who performs odd jobs often involving cleaning
21. Candy wagon - a crew bus or truck used for transporting people
22. “watchin’ that blackboard” – during this era, employment agencies would post available jobs on a blackboard in front of their offices. Prospective employees would wait in front of the offices, watching the blackboard for any new jobs.
23. Work cards – a job assignment from an employment agency would be written on a work card to be presented by the worker to the employer.
24. “writin’ to the patent medicine houses” – patent medicine are medications that can be purchased without a doctor’s prescription and often through the mail. Some of these medicines would claim to increase sexual performance.
25. “walkin’ bow- legged” – To walk bow-legged is to walk with the knees turned out. Whit’s reference here is to the way a man might walk who had contract6ed a venereal disease from Clara’s place.
26. “bum steer” - bum, in this instance, means false or erroneous. A bum steer is false information or directions.
27. “got the eye”: Candy is referring to the fact that, instead of being faithful to her husband, Curley's wife tends to look around at other men.
28. pants rabbits: any type of parasites, such as lice; especially those that might affect the genital area
29. rattrap: a rattrap is a hopeless situation; one that no good can come from. George is warning Lennie to stay away from Curley's wife because getting involved with her would only result in a bad situation.
30. “what the hell's he got on his shoulder?”: This refers to the expression "to have a chip on one's shoulder," which is used to describe someone who is bad tempered, easily angered, or always ready for a fight. George is wondering why Curley seems so bad tempered.
Name: English 12
Character Name / Personality / Relationship to OthersLennie Small
George Milton
Candy
Curley
Curley’s Wife
Slim
Carlson
Crooks
Name: English 12
Each Character’s Major Desires/Dreams
As you are reading Of Mice and Men, keep a running list of each character’s major desires/dreams. Change your list as you learn more. Be sure to write the page number as a reference next to the description. Include at least 5 or 6 points for each character.
Lennie:George:
Candy:
Slim:
Curley:
Curley’s Wife
Crooks:
Name: English 12
Please rate the following things in order of severity (how SEVERE or SERIOUS each of these are). Use #1 for the LEAST severe and the easiest to overcome, and #10 for the one you think is the MOST severe and the most difficult to overcome.
Blindness
Anxiety
Dyslexia
Deafness
Depression
ADHD
Wheelchair bound
Being a Minority
Loss of Limb
Obsessive Compulsive
Please use at least THREE sentences to answer these questions:
1. What do you think is the most difficult to overcome based on the society in which we live?
2. What do you think is the least difficult to overcome based on the society in which we live?
Name: English 12
We are going to be looking at images in small groups. After discussing the photos in the group, each of you will respond to the following TWO questions. Each response should be a paragraph. These questions will be collected and graded.
1. Using a full paragraph, describe the photo. Imagine what is going on in the photo. Explain what you think is going on in the image. What time period do you think this photo represents?
2. Pretend you are a person in this picture. Using first person point of view, tell me who you are, what you are feeling, and what is going on in your life.
Chapter One
1. Describe the setting of Chapter One.2. List words that describe Lennie. What animal is he compared to?
3. List words that describe George. What animal could he be compared to?
4. What things does Lennie say and do that make him seem like a child? How would estimate Lennie's "mental" age.
5. Why did George and Lennie need to leave the town of Weed so quickly?
6. What is the dream that Lennie begs George to repeat to him? What does Lennie mean by the phrase "an live off the fatta the lan"?
7. Near the end of the chapter, what are two things that George wants Lennie to remember?
Chapter Two
1. Describe the man who meets George and Lennie at the bunkhouse.2. Who was Whitey and why is George concerned about "pant's-rabbits"? As described, is a bunkhouse a very good home? Why or why not?
3. Whom did the boss punish when George and Lennie were late? Is he, as Candy asserts, a "nice" guy?
4. What are two good reasons that George doesn't let Lennie answer any questions?
5. What excuse does George give for Lennie's slowness?
6. How does Curly react to Lennie's silence and what does this reveal about his character?
7. What does Candy, the swamper, mean when he states that "Curley's pretty handy"?
8. What is Curley's wife really looking for? How is she trying to get it, and do you think that makes her bad?
9. Why does George have an uneasy feeling at the chapter's end?
10. Who is Slim and how does Steinbeck describe him? What do the men think of him?
11. What is Carlson's problem and what solution does he suggest?
Chapter Three
1. What kind act does Slim do for Lennie?2. What two embarrassing things does George tell Slim about? Why does George reveal these things?
3. What does Whit excitedly show Slim and why is it so important to him?
4. Before Carlson leaves with the dog, what does Slim remind him of? Why does he need to do this?
5. George and Lennie discuss their dream. What details can you add now? Who might be able to help them realize their goals and how?
6. What motivates Curley's anger and what is the result of it?
Chapter Four
1. Describe Crook's living arrangements. Why are they different?2. What does Crooks say about the bunkhouse and the men who live in it?
3. How does Crooks fill his loneliness?
4. How does Crooks feel about Lennie's dream of "livin' off the fatta the lan'"? Why is he so bitter?
5. What is Crooks sometimes afraid of late at night in his little room?
6. What cruel and unjust thing does Curley's wife threaten Crooks with? How do you feel about her?
7. What gives Candy the confidence to argue with Curley's wife?
Chapter Five
1. Chapter Five begins with an accident. Why did it happen and what consequence does Lennie fear?2. How does Curley's wife react when Lennie says he's not supposed to talk to her?
3. What, according to Curley's wife, will keep people from knowing that they are speaking alone in the barn?
4. What feelings does she reveal in their conversation? What situations from her past does she reveal?
5. Do you feel more sympathetic towards her character after this conversation? How does she fit into the broader themes of the novel?
6. What does she invite Lennie to do that proves to be a serious mistake?
7. What terrible event occurs in Chapter Five and how was it foreshadowed?
Chapter Six
1. What does Lennie remember that George has told him?2. Lennie has two unusual hallucinations. Describe them.
3. How do the characters in Lennie's dream treat him? What emotional needs do these hallucinations fulfill?
4. How does George try to make Lennie's final moments special and free from guilt and pain?
5. Why did George lie to the others about what really happened?
6. Do you think this story has a positive or negative ending? Why?
7. Write down FIVE things that you either learned or understood more clearly when you watched the film version of Of Mice and Men. Look especially for additional or missing scenes and consider how the story is developed