Characteristics/Associations Spider Diagram

1. Characteristics/Associations Spider Diagram

2. Characteristics/Associations Spider Diagram

3. Characteristics/Associations Spider Diagram

4. Characteristics/Associations Spider Diagram

5. Objectives By the end of today’s lesson you will be able to: • Discuss the ways in which animal imagery foreshadows the ending of the novel.

6. Chapter One Page 19

7. How does Steinbeck strike an immediate contrast between the two characters? In particular, find words within each description that are direct ‘opposites’ to each other. • George and Lennie take very different approaches to drinking the water. What does each man’s approach say about his character? • What do George’s first words to Lennie tell us about the relationship between the two men? • What other examples of imagery (metaphors and similes) can you find in the extract? How do they give us a clearer picture of the two men and their environment? • Compare the ways in which the two characters talk. How does Lennie’s grammar and sentence construction differ from George’s? What is particularly characteristic of George’s speech, especially when he ‘gets mad’?

8. The American Dream One of the major themes in the book is ‘The American Dream’, the hope of creating a better life. Look at the story about their farm that George and Lennie share. How does this story relate to ‘The American Dream’? Add your ideas to the image below. They could work for themselves

9. Describing Lennie • Find quotations on the second and third page that describe Lennie using characteristics normally associated with animals. • Why do you think Steinbeck describes Lennie in this way? • What happened to George and Lennie that meant they had to leave Weed? • Why do you think Lennie likes hearing the story about the ranch so much?

10. Foreshadowing • What is foreshadowing? • A subtle hint about something that will happen later in the book. • Often a signal that warns of danger for one of the characters. • A way of creating anticipation and tension for the reader. • A way of making the reader want to find out what happens next. Look at the end of Section One. Can you find an example of foreshadowing here? What do you think might happen later on in the book that is being hinted at here?

11. Foreshadowing and Animals • Steinbeck provides clues that the novel will end tragically and, in the tradition of Greek Tragedy, this outcome is inevitable from the outset. One of the unifying devices in providing the sense of tragic inevitability is the use of animals and animal imagery, in the title and in the opening.

12. Exam Question:Discuss Steinbeck’s use of animals/ animal imagery as a clue to the novel’s outcome.

13. Discuss Steinbeck’s use of animals/ animal imagery as a clue to the novel’s outcome. Choose 1 area and use the bullet points as a guide to answering the question.

14. Discuss Steinbeck’s use of animals/ animal imagery as a clue to the novel’s outcome. Choose 1 area and use the bullet points as a guide to answering the question.