Tag: GCSE

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Of Mice and Men exam questions 2004

Either

Which character in of Mice and Men do you most sympathise with and why? [27]

Write about:

  • Why you sympathise with this character
  • How the writer makes you sympathise with them by he way he writes.

 

 

Or:

When Lennie has killed Curley’s wife, George sys, ‘I should of knew…I guess maybe way back in my head I did.’

How does Steinbeck show that Lennie was always going to get into serious trouble.

Write about:

  • What Lennie is like
  • The things that Lennie does
  • How Lennie behaves with other characters
  • How Steinbeck show that Lennie’s death is unavoidable.

 

Either

Lennie- dumb / gets in trouble / mimics George / can’t remember things / likes soft pretty things / doesn’t know his own strength / no family only George / dreams of rabbits, puppies and soft things / ends up having to be killed by his best friend.

 

George – has to look after Lennie; keep him out of trouble / bitter / frustrated / loyal but responsible / able to lighten his load by confessing his guilt to Slim / visits whorehouse to forget / makes up the dream to keep Lennie happy but sees possibility of it coming true only to have it dashed by Lennie’s actions.

 

Candy – old / lonely / almost useless – old dog same / dog shot by Carlson / buys into George and Lennie’s dream because … / dream wrecked by Lennie’s actions.

 

Crooks – black / crippled /outcast / subject to race hatred / buys into dream for same reasons as Candy / abused by Curley’s wife he retracts offer to help G + L.

 

Curley’s wife – young / pretty / vapid / flirt / bitter / disappointed in her dreams not coming true / only married Curley to spite her mother / lonely / dead!

 

Why you sympathise with them?

Because you feel sorry for them…

Reasons: lonely; disappointed; frustrated; loss of hope; the American Dream has nothing for them.

How their own actions have led to this…

How other people have contributed…

Other outside factors like being born black in other words at the bottom of the heap socially! Or born a woman in this era or being born simple? Or having to great a sense of responsibility? Or being old and no longer valued? etc

 

How the writer makes you feel sympathy by the way he writes:

Description of them; description of the surroundings, harsh environment; also the men competitive, challenging, unforgiving, selfish and jealous. It’s every man for himself and god help those who fall…

Find quotes to support points that you make.

Quotations : Who said this?

 

‘I ought to have shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog.’

‘You guys better go …A colored man got to have some rights even if he don’t like em.’

‘Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world.’

‘He snivelled and his voice shook. I could of hoe’d in the garden and washed dishes…’

‘I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup.’

‘Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in a while?’

‘I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice man.’

‘this here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’

‘I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.’

‘s’pose you didn’t have nobody…?’

‘this is just a nigger talking and a back busted nigger.’

‘I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.’

‘I coulda been somebody… I could a been in pictures.’

‘look Lennie if you just happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right back here and hide in the brush.’

‘Because I got you to look after me and you got me…’

‘Ever’ damn one of ’em’s got land in his head. An never a damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven… nobody ever gets to heaven and nobody never gets no land… it’s just in their head.’

‘Must be nice to have a room all to yourself this way.”

‘you god damn right we’re gonna do it.’

‘Ever’ body wants a little bit of land. Not much. Just somethin’ that was his.’

‘If you guys would want a hand to work for nothing – just his keep, why I’d come and lend a hand.’

 

Or     How does Steinbeck show that Lennie was always going to get into trouble? [Use the bullet points!]

  • What Lennie is like: childlike, animal like, simple, cunning, forgetful, manipulative; also previous incidents – Weed, the Sacramento River; his fondness for soft things; his lack of understanding of the significance of death.
  • The things that Lennie does: takes and hides the puppy; kills the mouse; holds onto the girl’s dress in Weed, jumps into the river…
  • How Lennie behaves with other characters: innocent of undercurrents of tension; admires Curley’s wife; slow to pick up on body language nuance. Looks to George for guidance.
  • How Steinbeck show that Lennie’s death is unavoidable: George’s fall back plan; George recognises Curley’s wife as jail bait and warns Lennie away from her but he likes pretty things and can’t keep his eyes off her; Weed and the dead mouse are obvious omens; Candy’s dog also a clue and Candy’s response after its death
  • Conclusion: Even the dream is a clue; in real life dreams don’t often come true and for theirs to come true would be going against the nature of the story, so we realise something will happen to prevent its realisation.

 

Now find quotes to support your points.

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Weather in I’m the King of the Castle

‘It was raining hard again, and great bruise-coloured clouds hung low over the copse.’

[Before the Kingshaws arrived]

 

‘It had stopped raining. The sky was the colour of dirty sixpences.’

[In Kingshaw’s room before the fight.]

 

‘It was very hot….The cornfield was high up. He stood in the very middle of it, now, and the sun came glaring down…The fields around him were absolutely still.’

[When K goes out for a walk and before being attacked by the crow.]

 

‘…Hooper had locked him in (the Red Room) and the rain had beaten against the window.’

 

‘It was much colder than he had expected… There was a thin grey mist everywhere…He had never experienced such silence…Everything ahead of him was shrouded in mist…He felt absolutely alone…But he was no longer afraid …(Later) the sun had risen …it was still very cold…The sky was a very pale, pearly grey…But the sun was very bright…(as he prepares to enter the wood) the sun had come right out, the sky was clear. The sun was shining directly into (the wood). It looked alright…Safe.’

[In Hang Wood]

 

‘It was darker here…the leaves locked together more tightly overhead, and the sun could not get through…Then he heard the sound.’

 

‘From somewhere, far away, came the first rumble of thunder.’

[Before Hooper loses it and is sick]

 

‘Then the sun came out, and the clearing was full of pale, yellow-green light’

[Upon discovery of the pool in the wood]

 

‘Now everything was revealed by the sun…Kingshaw breathed easily, full of relief.’

[Just before Kingshaw goes for a last swim and they are found.]

 

‘Outside great flat spots of rain began to fall heavily, one by one, like sweat from the sky…’

[As Kingshaw goes back to the house after being locked in the shed.]

 

‘The clouds were still low and misty, pressing in upon them.’

[Arrival at the castle]

 

‘But even up here it was warm and airless.’

[From high up on Leydell Castle.]

 

‘From behind the hills, through the low grey cloud, a rumble of thunder.’

[As Kingshaw stands on the walls watching the scene below him.]

 

The whole of the time with Fielding the weather isn’t even mentioned. We get the impression it is fine dry and sunny but it doesn’t play a significant part.

‘And it doesn’t matter what the weather does to us.’

[ Mrs K when they arrive at the circus.]

 

‘Outside in the cold rain, he thought Oh God, it’s all right, it’s gone, it’s finished…’

[After he’s sick]

 

‘He stood for a moment in the clearing, listening to the water dripping down off the beech leaves, and then he realised what he had done… He had thought he couldn’t be afraid of anything again, but now he was afraid…. It began to rain again.’

[After K burns Hooper’s battle plans.]

 

‘Outside, rain and a high wind…’

[The day before the wedding]

 

‘It was because the morning reminded him of the time before…Outside it was cool and the air felt moist, though it had stopped raining…The only difference today was that there was no mist…the sky was smooth and pale…’

[As K heads back to the wood.]

 

‘The rain had begun again…’

[As the rescue party finds Kingshaw body.]