AP Lit: APick Data Sheet

Your name: My Jones

DO ONE OF THESE SHEETS FOR EACH OF YOUR APick BOOKS!! Title of Work: Of Mice and Men Author: John Steinbeck Plot Summary (bullets are fine) Use plot structure as guide. George and Lennie receive work tickets They take a bus part-way but have to walk about 10 miles to the ranch The two meet everyone in their first afternoon George warns Lennie that Curly and his wife are trouble Lennie gets on Curlys bad side Curly thinks that Lennie is laughing at him; he starts a fight George tells him to defend himself, he crushes Curlys hand Lennie sits in the barn by himself Curlys wife walks in on him upset with himself because he accidentally killed his pup Lennie panics as he strokes her hair and unintentionally breaks her neck Everyone but Candy and the Boss chase after him George kills Lennie just before the others spot them in the area Significant historical, geographical, social or political info related to this novel The Great Depression October 24th, 1929: Black Tuesday Market loses 11% of its value that morning Output shrinks 10% a year from 1929 to 1932 Tens of thousands of migrant workers travel the nation The Dust Bowl Severe dust storms damage prairie lands (1930 to 1936) Important literary characteristics of this novel: (In other words, characteristics of genre of lit period) Modernist Novel Loss Individualism Improper grammar to reflect dialect Untrustworthy authority figure Ambiguity

Describe the authors style/tone: Steinbecks writing style reflects the characters. The language is simple, mirroring characters, yet gripping to convey weighty themes in a universally understood dialect. By his use of the naturalist approach, the narrators tone for the novel remains honest, realistic, and sympathetic to the times, to the lives of the migrant farm workers, and especially to Lennie and his handicap.

An example(s) that demonstrate the style/tone: Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place....With us it aint like that. We got a future.... An why? Because...because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and thats why.( 16-17) Aint many guys travel around together, he mused. I dont know why. Maybe everbody in the whole damn world is scared of each other.(28)

Setting(s) and its (their) significance: The short time frame, three days, and specific locations, the woods, the bunkhouse, Crooks room, and the barn, give the novella a play like read (close to Steinbecks original intentions for first draft of novel?). Some typical literary devices this author uses with examples: Simile Slowly, like a terrier who doesnt want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again Flashback Jus wanted to feel that girls dressjus wanted to pet it like it was a mouse Well, how the hell did she know you jus wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the country. Foreshadowing Well, look. Lennieif you jus happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an hide in the brush.

Memorable Quotes (that you might use on the examat LEAST five) Quotation and page # Significance of quote
1. Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place. . . . With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We dont have to sit in no bar room blowin in our jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us. (16) 2. Spose they was a carnival or a circus come to town, or a ball game, or any damn thing. Old Candy nodded in appreciation of the idea. Wed just go to her, George said. We wouldnt ask nobody if we could. Jus say, Well go to her, an we would. Jus milk the cow and sling some grain to the chickens an go to her.(44) 3. A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin books or thinkin or stuff like that. Sometimes he gets thinkin, an he got nothing to tell him whats so an what aint so. Maybe if he sees somethin, he dont know whether its right or not. He cant turn to some other guy and ast him if he sees it too. He cant tell. He got nothing to measure by. I seen things out here. I wasnt drunk. I dont know if I was asleep. If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, an then it would be all right. But I jus dont know. (51) 4. I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ems got a little piece of land in his head. An never a God damn one of em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Everbody wants a little piece of lan. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. (51) 5. A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically. (68) George explains their friendship and why it so extraordinary in a time when many people are constantly wandering and few can trust others.

After Candy overhears Georges story about the farm, he offers up his savingsif they two could just include him. This is the first time their dream seems to be within reach.

Crooks shows a more vulnerable side to Lennie. The passage serves to emphasize Georges earlier words on the loneliness of migrant workers.

Crooks injects a bit of realism into the conversation and reminds the readers as well as Lennie that the farm is just a dream that nearly every worker had at that time.

Quote serves to foreshadow Lennies imminent death. His life will be taken from him and he will be just as unsuspecting as the water snake here.

Name George Milton

Role in the story Protagonist Georges friend The ranchs handyman

Characters Significance Lennies friend and Guardian Travels with George; dependent on George Invested his saving in George and Lennies dream Named because of his back; wanted to be a part of George and Lennies dream The ranchs prince; the voice of advice Puts down candys dog Starts a fight with Lennie; was always looking for his wife A tart; wanted to be an actress; likes attention

Adjectives Sharp, quick-witted, small Dependent, Large, Child-like Aging, Cripple

Lennie Small

Candy

Crooks

The stable manager

Proud, Bitter, Cynical

Slim

The ranchs mule worker A ranch-hand The boss son

Ageless, Calm, Understanding Frank, Bitter, Insensitive Hot-headed, Violent, Insecure

Carlson

Curly

Curlys Wife

Curlys Wife

Flirty, Sexy, Lonely

The Boss

The ranchs boss

Only shows up once Stocky, Well-dressed, to talk to George upon Fair-minded arrival Dead; used to give Lennie mice; appeared in a vision before Lennie just prior to his death Kind, Patient

Aunt Clara

Lennies aunt and prior guardian

Scenes Describe the opening scene and its significance The opening scene places us near a river next to wooded area four miles into a too-long walk being taken by our two main characters, George and Lennie, to a ranch just outside of Soledad, CA. The opening scene establishes setting, one of the specific areas and the only one that will be used again, the innocence of Lennie, and the relationship between characters. It serves as exposition. Describe the closing scene and its significance The closing scene takes place in the same setting as the opening scene. George has run to the brush George told him to go to if he ever were to get in trouble. George finds him shortly before the others and tells him one last time of their dream before he gave Lennie a shot to the back of the head. The recurrence of the setting makes the story seems cyclical. The ease with which the other men regard Lennies lifeless body shows that they saw task on the same level as putting down Candys dog; he was of no use so he needed to be put down. Other really important scenes and their significance (insert another sheet if necessary) Lennie stops in the door of Crooks room. He tries to kick the big man out, but instead invites him in. Crooks talks about the loneliness of his time on the ranch and when Lennie chatters on about his and Georges dream farm, Crooks tells them that it will never happen even though he admits to wanting to be a part of it. Crooks becomes a source of realism after being pretty much ignored until, and after, this point. The mans loneliness emphasizes what George said earlier in the book concerning the nature of migrant workers. This point is especially true because of the time period and Crooks skin color. Curlys wife enters the barn as Lennie is sitting there with his dead puppy. He tells her that hes not allowed to talk to her. She convinces him to keep talking by letting him stroke her hair. She tells him to let go and in a panic, he unintentionally breaks her neck. Curlys only approached Lennie because she wanted attention. Like the other men on the ranch she sacrificed her hopes and suffered from loneliness. Unlike the men on the ranch though, she made up for giving up her hopes for Curly seeking attention.

List symbols and motifs and their significance Mice All that Lennie really remembers about his Aunt Clara A source of comfort George and Lennies Farm The American Dream Mirage of paradise for the two workers Rabbits Represent Lennies innocence; also a part of paradise for the two Candys Dog Foreshadows Lennies death; only the strong would survive during the Great Depression Lennies Pup Represents the fate of the weak among the strong Themes Express each as a universal statement Dreams are a double-edged sword Justice is not easily served Plans are meant to be broken Speculate about questions this book could be used to answer (write the questions; use the sheet of previous questions or write your own AP style prompts). Construct at least three higher level questions. In a novel or play, a confidant (male) or a confidante (female) is a character, often a friend or relative of the hero or heroine, whose role is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. Frequently the result is, as Henry James remarked, that the confidant or confidante can be as much the readers friend as the protagonists. However, the author sometimes uses this character for other purposes as well. Choose a confidant or confidante from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you discuss the various ways this character functions in the work. In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a mans mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time. From a novel or play choose a character (not necessarily the protagonist) whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences. Then, in a well-organized essay, identify each of the two conflicting forces and explain how this conflict with one character illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole.

Critical Theories Analysis. Select two critical theories by which to analyze the book. Identity the critical theory you are using and write a paragraph for each theory in which you detail what a reader might glean from this book using each of the critical theories as your lens. Historical Criticism Taking place in a time at which the country was its lowest economically, the novella is filled with mostly poor people desperate for work. A general distrust of others is reasonable because of poverty and tough times caused by the depression. This setting succeeds to make both the friendship between George and Lennie seem all the more incredible and the way with which the men deal with Lennie more realistic. Feminist Criticism The limited number of women in the novella, distasteful description of the girl, and her lack of a name gives the readers the impression that the author did not see women highly. Curlys wife was only referred to as such (possibly to keep her at a distance socially from the workers at the ranch) and thus labeled her as his property and only his.