exam question 'Of Mice and Men' HELLLLPPPPP!!

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xleahx

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ive got this exam question which i need help answering! my brain has gone totally dead and i need to get it done.

the more i look at the question and try and make sense of it and think of answers, the more confused and frustrated i get
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QUESTION:

REMIND YOURSELF OF THE OPENING CHAPTER OF THE NOVEL

IN WHAT WAYS AND TO WHAT EXTENT DOES IT PREPARE YOU FOR THE REST OF THE NOVEL?

WRITE ABOUT :
THE CHARACTERS THAT WE MEET?
THE IDEAS THAT ARE INTRODUCED?
STEINBECKS STYLE OF WRITING?

if anyone has any suggestions or answers then please reply to this post!
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thankyou
x
 
So do you have/have you read, the opening chapter?

If so this really shouldnt be difficult to answer.
 
yeh i have read it of course but my brain has jus gone dead. ive got answers but i cant put them into words
 
I love that book! and steinbeck is OH's favourite author.

I would be looking to discuss the relationship between lenny and george as it is first put to us in this chapter, one of responability and possibly burden. also the dynamic of the relationship with Lenny being a bit spesh! How does this play a part later in the novel? is the sense of burden continued, any resentment, George's need to protect etc.

With regards to style I would take it down the descriptive route with plenty of quotes to support your comments.

Any help?...... Probably not, over 12 yrs since I was at school
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You might find that you get a better response to this post in the soapbox as this area is for horse related chat!
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Basically just comment loads on the language. I haven't read of Mice and Men properly but isn't it Lennie and George??
Just go on about
"Lennie is first introduced with ....... this is gearing the reader up to think ........ about him which is shown later on in the book when etc etc".
Then, the ideas that are introduced, well George is devoted to Lennie but Lennie has learning difficulties (if I remember) so, obviously that will have something made out of it later on (with the puppies and all that murdering the women) or the writer wouldn't put it in.
Steinbecks style of writing, can't really help much with but doesn't he use lots of American slang and stuff? But basically just pick any random point, find something from the book that backs it up, then explain it
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Hope thats helped
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Also for extra brownie points I would re read the first two paragraphs over. These are actually very renound for description in which Stienbeck literally paints the picture in words. It would be prudent to mention this under style of writing. x
 
Is the bit about Lenny stroking the mouse and killing it in the first chapter. This foreshadows the later bit about accidentally killing things he likes and strokes the farmer's wife???

They haven't changed the set text options since I did my GCSEs 10 years ago!!!!!!

Hated the choices - Mice and Men was OK I suppose - would have preferred some Jane Austen really.
 
I loved this book but like others, my memory of it's probably a bit hazy now!!

From memory, I'd mention points such as:

Nature - a huge theme in this novel. The pool described in the first paragraph is a recurrent theme throughout. Some of the major events take place around this pool, and Steinbeck's description of it, and the nature around it, are central to some of his ideas.
Steinbeck consistently refers to Lennie using animal comparisons in this section (as a bear, he drinks like a horse from the pool etc) which could be said to hint at how Lennie doesn't fit into the 'human world'.

As Bex7 says, it also introduces us at this point to the relationship between Lennie and George - the dependency Lennie has on George, and the history they have together.
George is described as 'sharply defined' whereas Lennie is referred to as 'shapeless' with arms that hung loosely. It shows the sharp contrast between the pair - Lennie being likened to a bear (hinting at his huge physical strength), whereas George is alert and on edge. George's authority is clearly stamped in his instructions to Lennie, and the way he reminds him of what has happened in the past - the attitude is reminiscent of talking to a child, but also lets the reader know they have shared history.

At this point the characters are travelling to find work - they are itinerant workers. This is another major theme of Steinbeck's - his use of the era of the setting, ie. the American Depression - and in particular the west coast where workers would travel for days on end to find work.
This lack of stability could be said to go some way to explain the relationship between Lennie and George as it offers familiarity and comfort.

Steinbeck's use of language is very colloquial in terms of the characters' speech - abbreviations and slang are used, and the different ways in which each character talks shows the personalities in each.

The narrative is incredibly descriptive, especially the first paragraphs describing the pool - it is made to sound like a sort of Eden, with lush nature and teeming with wildlife. This could be said to be used as a contrast between the natural world and the depression, oppression and fear that is felt at the ranch when other characters are introduced.

Hope some of this rambling helps.......two things though:

1st - i cheated and just grabbed the book of my shelf, so not from memory at all
2nd - this should have been in soapbox! although there are horses mentioned in the novel??!
 
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