Of Mice and Men: Formalist Lens

1. Of Mice and Men: Formalist Lens By: Bri Davidson

2. What does this mean? • A formalist lens is a lens that expresses a metaphor, a simile, personification, etc. in literature. Also it often relates to biblical items. • Example: The water was ascold as ice.

3. Some more examples from “ Of Mice and Men!!! • “ On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones.” ( John Steinbeck, page 2) • The above quote in the formalist lens means that the rabbits were very quiet and still like statues. This is a simile.

4. Quote 2 • “…dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.” ( John Steinbeck, Page 2) • The above quote means that the way this man being Lennie represents a bear in the way he walks, dragging his feet slightly. This is a metaphor.

5. Quote 3 • “ drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse.” (John Steinbeck, page 3) • The above quote implies that Lennie the man drinking the water is drinking the water the way a horse would seem to. Long gulps and breathing heavily into the water as doing so. This is a simile.

6. Quote 4 • “ Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master…” ( John Steinbeck, page 9) • The above quote is showing that Lennie is trying to deny his master but is being over ruled because the master has more power. This is a simile.

7. Quote 5 • “ Its head held up like a little periscope.” ( John Steinbeck, page 7) • The above quote is giving an image to the reader of how the area looks with descriptive words. This is a simile.

8. Quote 6 • “ The shade climbed up the hills towards the top.” ( John Steinbeck, Page 2) • This shows personification and imagery for the reader to understand the setting.