Of Mice and Men Questions (adapted from http://homepages.wmich.edu/~a1phill1/mice_and_men_study_questions1)
PLEASE NOTE: You should do EITHER the 5 short answer questions OR the two thought questions, which are fewer but more complicated to answer. You should do these each night as the reading is assigned, or, if you read ahead, do them early. I may check them, but I will not collect them until the book’s done. Please don’t lose them: save them in a special file on your computer--do not answer them on this paper!
•YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO BOTH SETS OF QUESTIONS! CHOOSE EITHER SHORT ANSWERS OR THOUGHT QUESTIONS! •
Section/Chapter One (p. 1- 16):
1. What’s the setting at the start of the chapter?
2. What does George tell Lennie to do when they get to the ranch and meet the ranch boss?
3. What does George hope will happen if the boss sees Lennie work before he hears Lennie talk?
4. What does George say is the difference between the two of them and most of the men who work the ranches?
5. Why does George tell Lennie to remember the place by the river where they are now?
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: Answer each in 2 - 5 sentences.
A. Discuss George and Lennie’s dream in detail.
B. Why do you think George stays with Lennie?
Section/Chapter Two (p. 17 - 37):
1. What are two lies George tells the Boss?
2. Who is Curly, and why does he dislike Lennie so much?
3. What is the swamper's opinion of Curley's wife?
4. How does Lennie feel about the ranch so far?
Who is Slim, and what does he do on the ranch?
Section/Chapter Two (p. 17 - 37):
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: Answer each in 2 - 5 sentences.
A. Describe Candy, “the old swamper”, in careful detail. What is he like?
Look at the description of Slim. How is he different from the other men? What is he like?
Study questions for Chapter 3a. (up to page 52ish )
1. What does George say made him stop being mean to Lennie?
2. What happened in Weed?
3. What is Carlson pressuring Candy to do?
4. Why does Candy finally go along with Carlson? Who makes up his mind for him?
5. As the events with the dog are going on in the bunkhouse, what is going on outside, in the rest of the ranch? What is Whit so curious about?
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: Answer in 2 - 5 sentences.
A. How is George and Lennie’s relationship SIMILAR TO the relationship between Candy and his dog? Think carefully.
B. Why did Steinbeck include the little bit about “Bill Tenner” having a letter published in a magazine? Why is that important in this book? Think!
Study questions for Chapter 3b. (up to page 65 )
1. Where have the rest of the men gone?
2. Why does Candy want to “get in on” George and Lennie’s dream? What would it offer to him that he doesn’t have now?
3. FOR THE FIRST TIME, how does George seem to feel about the dream of the farm? What has Candy made possible?
4. Why is Curley upset when he comes into the bunkhouse? Why does he turn on Lennie?
5. At the end of the chapter, what kind of deal does Slim make with Curly?
THOUGHT QUESTIONS for Chapter 3b. (up to page 65 ): Answer in 2 - 5 sentences.
A. What does Candy mean when he says, “I ought to have shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog”? Why does he feel that way?
Discuss two events in the chapter that show the POWER that Slim holds on the ranch. Be specific.
Study Questions for Section/Chapter Four (66 - 83)
1. Most of the men live in the bunkhouse together. Why is Crooks living in the barn, with a room all to himself?
2. How do Lennie and Candy treat Crooks? WHY, do you think?
3. What is Crooks’s first response when he hears about the plan to buy the land?
4. On the bottom of page 76, right before Curley’s wife comes in, what does Crooks say? Why would he make that offer? Think about why Candy likes the idea of the farm so much and see if you can connect that to Crooks’s response.
5. When the men try to make Curley’s wife leave, how does she react?
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: Answer in 2 - 5 sentences.
A. Why is Crooks so mean to Lennie in the beginning of the chapter, do you think?
B. Why does Steinbeck begin and end the chapter with the same image of Crooks, rubbing lotion on his sore back? What point is the author trying to make?
Study Questions for Section Five (84 - 98)
1. Why is Lennie angry at his puppy in the opening scene?
2. Notice how Curley’s wife opens up and talks to Lennie in the same way that Crooks did. What are two things she admits to Lennie that we didn’t know about her before? NOTE: You can’t all have the same things!!!!
3. What is the “bad thing” that occurs after their conversation? How does the accident show Lennie’s weaknesses that we’ve seen before?
4. What will happen to the dream of the farm now, according to George?
Study Questions for Section Five (84 - 98), continued
5. What is Curley’s reaction? What does he plan to do?
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: Answer in 2 - 5 sentences.
A. What is George going to do? Write your answer as if you are George, and tell us what you’re going to do.
FORESHADOWING is when an author hints about something bad that is going to happen in the rest of the book. Discuss an example of foreshadowing that Steinbeck uses earlier in the book to hint about something that happens in chapter five.
Study Questions for Section/Chapter Six (99 - 107)
1. Where has Lennie gone?
2. A really weird part (and my least favorite) is when “Aunt Clara” and a giant rabbit show up and start yelling at Lennie. Why did Steinbeck have that section in the story? What is he trying to show the readers? Do you think it works or not?
3. How can you tell that Lennie doesn’t understand the seriousness of what he has done? List one or two questions he asks or things he says.
4. Why does George ask Lennie to “look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see [the farm]” just before the end? What is he trying to do for Lennie?
5. Who is the only person who really understands what George has had to do? Why do you think so?
THOUGHT QUESTIONS: Answer in 2 - 5 sentences.
A. Agree or disagree and defend your thinking: George and Candy are going to go get the farm by themselves. In fact, they are relieved that Lennie won’t be there!
Why does Steinbeck end the book with Carlson talking to Candy: “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” What’s he trying to point out?
OMM Reading Notes
As you read OMM, keep in mind some of the major ideas that Steinbeck examines in the book:
•human need for companionship
•loneliness and its effects
•power: who has it; how it’s used
• friendship and its demands
•the importance of dreams/hope
•the need for security.
When you find a passage or quote that develops one of these themes, mark it with a sticky note! We will be using these quotations for a group and an individual assignment when you’re done with the book.
Enjoy the book, and don’t let ANYONE tell you the ending before you’re done!
Off the cuff, I’d say you should use at least three sticky notes per reading assignment. More is fine, but don’t get too obsessive!
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