omam revision booklet 2016

7/24/2019 OMAM Revision Booklet 2016

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A novella

by

John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck and 1930s America

John Steinbeck was born in 1902. His father was an accountant and his

mother was a teacher. Steinbeck had a fairly comfortable upbrinin and


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was born and raised in Salinas! "alifornia. He spent his summers workin

on nearby ranches and later with mirant workers on Spreckels ranch. He

became aware of the harsher aspects of mirant life and the darker side

of human nature! which supplied him with material e#pressed in such

works as $f %ice and %en. He also e#plored his surroundins! walkinacross local forests! &elds! and farms.

America e#perienced some of its harshest times in

the 1920s and '0s. (owards the end of the 20s!

money was di)cult to come by and the cost of

livin was constantly risin. *n 1929! America+s bi

banks su,ered the -all Street "rash! losin billions

of dollars of people+s money. usinesses and

families lost everythin they had saved.

/nemployment was at an all time hih! with a third

of the population out of work. eople livin in cities ocked to the

countryside to &nd work on farms and ranches. (hose fortunate enouh

to &nd work clun on to it with all they had!

sometimes earnin only a pittance! because a

pittance was better than nothin.

ad farmin! combined with severe weather

conditions resulted in much of the fertile farmin

land bein destroyed. (hose workers! who had

already struled to &nd work when leavin the city! were forced to

uproot aain and leave the socalled 34ustbowl lains+ of 5ansas!

$klahoma and (e#as in favour of "alifornia 6 the olden state.

(he American 4ream 6 the /S overnment! to try and combat the

4epression of the 19'0s created a 37ew 4eal+ for Americans! ettin them

back into work and tellin them that if they worked their hardest! they

could achieve the American 4ream 6 ownin their own land! bein their

own bosses and livin happy successful lives.

$f %ice and %en was published in 19'8.

"omplete the tasks on the followin pae about

the conte#t of this book.


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1. How did Steinbeck use his personal e#periences to help him write the

book

2. :#plain three ways $f %ice and %en reects the time in which it was

written.

a.

b.

c.

'. -hat messaes of American life and society did Steinbeck

communicate in his book

Setting

(here are many settins in the book that have important meanins.

;eore and

(he farm that ;eore constantly describes to


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drawn in by the dream! and even the cynical "rooks hopes that (he book starts and ends at the same place> a peaceful! idyllic river bank.

(he location is beautiful> lush! reen! fertile! cool! full of wildlife.


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(he unk House>

All the men e#cept "rooksB share the bunk house as theiraccommodation. *t is where they discuss their workin days and

important issues! such as "andy+s do and the farm that ;eore and


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Any more

"an you think of any other settins which may be important to the story

Possible Text Question:

Steinbeck uses many settings in his noel! "iscuss ho# settings

are im$ortant in Of Mice and Men.

Plan your ans#er belo#.


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%haracters:

&ead the 'ollo#ing character analyses and( in each box that

'ollo#s( summarise the im$ortant in'ormation and add your o#n

ideas or obserations!

)ennie

Althouh


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reader encounters him in the openin paes. Simply put! he loves to pet

soft thins! is blindly devoted to ;eore and their vision of the farm! and

possesses incredible physical strenth. 7early every scene in which


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/nlike


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toothless! foulsmellin! and brittle with ae?supports "andy+s fears. ast

accomplishments and current emotional ties matter little! as "arson

makes clear when he insists that "andy let him put the do out of its

misery. *n such a world! "andy+s do serves as a harsh reminder of the

fate that awaits anyone who outlives his usefulness.

=or a brief time! however! the dream of livin out his days with ;eore

and


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enerally depicts women as troublemakers who brin ruin on men and

drive them mad. "urley+s wife! who walks the ranch as a temptress!

seems to be a prime e#ample of this destructive tendency?"urley+s

already bad temper has only worsened since their weddin. Aside from

wearisome wives! $f %ice and %en o,ers limited! rather misoynistic!descriptions of women who are either dead maternal &ures or

prostitutes.

4espite Steinbeck+s renderin! "urley+s wife emeres as a relatively

comple# and interestin character. Althouh her purpose is rather simple

in the book+s openin paes?she is the Ftramp!G Ftart!G and FbitchG that

threatens to destroy male happiness and lonevity?her appearances later

in the novella become more comple#. -hen she confronts


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%rooks

"rooks is a lively! sharpwitted! black stablehand! who takes his name

from his crooked back.


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Themes and symbols:

Atheme is an underlying issue( idea( or message that isim$ortant to the story! Symbols are items( characters( oreents that are used to re$resent something else!

,a-or themes:

%ake notes under each of the headin below about theme>

)oneliness

.riendshi$

"reams

/neuality

Po#er or the lack o' it2 in its many 'orms

/m$ortant Symbols


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Animals are im$ortant symbols in the book! See i' you can ll this

table out #ith ideas o' their signicance!

Animal &elating to #hichcharacter and #hich

eents4

5hy is it im$ortant4

%ouse

"andy+s

4o

(he puppy

A 3bear+(his animaldoesn+tactuallyappear in

the book!but thinkabout itI

/m$ortant Quotes


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)ook at each o' the uotes and make brie' notes under each

about their context:

#here they+re 'rom in the book

#ho says them

about #hom

to #hom

#hy they are im$ortant

1. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.

They got no family. They don't elong no place. . . . With us it ain't like

that. We got a future. We got someody to talk to that gi!es a damn

aout us.

#. "Whate!er we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if $ was

alone $ could li!e so easy. $ could go get a %o an' work, an no troule.

&. "We could li!e oa the fatta the lan'."

(. ")'pose you didn't ha!e noody. )'pose you couldn't go into the unkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was lack. *ow'd you like that?

+. They fell into a silence. They looked at one another, ama-ed. This

thing they had ne!er really elie!ed in was coming true.


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. /ennie, who had een watching, imitated George e0actly.

. "Well, you keep your place then, 2igger. $ could get you strung up on a

tree so easy it ain3t e!en funny."

4. /ook, 5andy. This ol3 dog %us3 suers hisself all the time. $f you was

to take him out and shoot him right in the ack of the head, rightthere,

why he3d ne!er know what hit him.

6. George said, ")he3s gonna make a mess. They3s gonna e a ad mess

aout her. )he3s a %ail ait all set on the trigger. That 5urley got his

work cut out for him. 7anch with a unch of guys on it ain3t no place

for a girl, specially like her."

18. )he had full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, hea!ily

made up. *er 9ngernails were red. *er hair hung in little rolled

clusters, like sausages. )he wore a cotton house dress and red mules,

on the insteps of which were little ou:uets of red ostrich feathers.

Sam$le Questions:


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All taken 'rom $ast $a$ers( so these are not likely to be in yourexam! 6ut $re$aring #ouldn+t hurt7 Also( it gies you an idea o'#hat they are like( #hat to ex$ect and #hat to $ractise!

5hole Text Questions

1. How does Steinbeck present the theme of friendship in the book

2. *maine you are Slim. At the end of the novel you think back overwhat has happened since ;eore and


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-rite down your thouhts and feelins. @emember how Slim wouldspeak when you write your answer.

'. How does John Steinbeck+s presentation of ;eore throuhout thenovel a,ect your feelins towards him

. F

omam revision booklet 2016

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