Of Mice and Men paragraphs

How to write top band (B,A, A*) analytical paragraphs





Example question: How is the relationship of George and Lennie presented in the novel?
A successful paragraph structure is:
Opening Sentence: 1. What technique is being used? + Why?  
                                                                
The writer
Steinbeck
uses characterisation
-          contrast
-          dramatic irony
-          pathetic fallacy
-          biblical imagery
-          foreshadowing
-          animal imagery
-          pathos
-          body language
-          dramatic action
-          repetition
-          symbolism
-          telling details (e.g.
Curley’s wife’s make-up)
-          onomatopoeia/sound
-          cyclical structure
(begins and ends at the same place)
-          tight setting of the
ranch (and 3 day time period) that symbolises the claustrophobia of characters’ world
to emphasise
-          highlight
-          stress
-          convey
-          to involve
-          to prompt
-          to allow




                           
-          the emotional deprivation
of the migrant workers in the 1930s
-          how close the bond
between George and Lennie is
-          the reader to empathise
with the hopelessness facing George and Lennie
-          make us realise that Lennie
is not as different from ‘normal people’ as it may first appear – that he is like all of us, full of longings that will probably never be realised
-          make us feel a sense of
outrage at how cruel the world of the ranch is/how much discrimination women/black people faced in the 1930s
-          admire the courage of
ordinary men like George and Slim
-          grasp the bankruptcy of the
American Dream
-          the reader to hear the voice
of the voiceless in society

Body sentences:
2. Find good evidence of your technique: juicy quotation/striking example
3. Unpack this evidence in detail. What effect does it have on the audience?
4. Link to other big ideas/themes throughout the play. OR link to context.  
Example paragraph
1.


2.


3.


4.

Remember:
-      Do not tell the story!
-          Focus on Steinbeck and his craft (techniques!)
-          Refer to the key words from the question as often as you can (or similar words) – e.g. ending, effective
-          Remember different readers will respond in different ways…suggest some alternative interpretations – this is something that top grade candidates do!

Key techniques/ideas:

Steinbeck – chronicler of the Great Depression – he wants to give a voice to the voiceless. He doesn’t want people like Lennie to be discarded by society and forgotten forever.
Steinbeck wants to call into question the American Dream and its naïve optimism

-“Playable novel” – body language, focus on action, sparse description, very tight setting – only a few different places/scenes > oppressiveness/claustrophobia of the society
-Tragedy – There isn’t any real hope for Lennie (or anyone) in the tight world of the novel.  Pathos is big in the novel and is heighted through the pathetic fallacy of the heat at the beginning of the novel (>>>Heat>>>> violence) and of the sun setting at the end of the novel (Sunset>>>Lennie’s death)
-Tragedy is also implicit in the title – Robert Burns’ poem is clear that our plans do not work out, and therefore we know from the beginning that the characters’ dreams are going to fail.
-Foreshadowing
-Animal imagery  - snakes/mice/dogs – look particularly at the snake at the beginning and end/foreshadowing
Non-teleological thinking’ or ‘is thinking’ – The novel celebrates that it’s what we have in the present that matters, because we have it.  The novel celebrates ordinariness, friendship and courage.
-Race (Crooks) and the role of women in society is explored
-Contrast/Irony  - there is a strong visual contrast at the beginning Lennie/George ‘Lennie Small’ >>> thought-provoking. Steinbeck wants us to look past the surface. ‘I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.’
-Names – seem symbolic/laden with meaning e.g. Curley’s wife
Remember Slim could be seen as the idealised human/hope for a different kind of society

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