Mrs. Bennett English 10A
Of Mice and Men
Mrs. Bennett
Activating Prior Knowledge Group Work
Activating Prior Knowledge Group Work
Book Summary:
Steinbeck's short novella follows two men, George, the caretaker, and Lennie, the childlike man, as they take on a new job working on a ranch in central California "bucking barley" for the ranch owner and his son. George and Lennie begin the story at the Salinas River where they discuss their past (the immediate past and the more distant past), discussing how they have come to be here and where they are going (narrative and character exposition). The men have come from "up north" where Lennie has done something that got the men chased out of town. They are on their way to a ranch where they have been hired as laborers. The two men arrive at the ranch the following day, begin work, and meet the other characters of the novel. These characters are a mixture of ranch hands and ranch owners. Lennie encounters the boss's son, Curley, and is threatened by him. The men also meet Curley's wife. George predicts that she will bring trouble to them. Lennie feels the threat from both Curley and Curley's wife as well, at one point saying: “I don’t like this place, George. This ain’t no good place. I wanna get outta here.” The book progresses through a series of conversations relating to isolation, dreams of financial and social upward movement, and general fear/intimidation. Ultimately, the ending of the novel is one of the most controversial. |
Pre-reading Activity: Click on the above Group Project to view the Activating Prior Knowledge information page for "Of Mice and Men."
Essential Questions: What historical, geographic, or social issues influenced John Steinbeck to write Of Mice and Men? How is this book relevant to us today? Steps to Group Project: 1) Choose to be one of the following: biographer, historian, sociologist, or psychiatrist. 2) You may answer questions in pairs. You must write down each question, & answer(s) fully, and be sure to choose reliable websites (consider when last updated and if the sources have references or author(s)). ALSO Answer the EQ from the perspective that you have researched. For example: 1) What ____________ issues influenced John Steinbeck to write Of Mice and Men? 2) How is this issue/book relevant to us today? 4) Individually you will create a mini poster using the information that you have collected. You must also prepare to share the information in small groups. 5) The poster must contain:
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Parts of SpeechYou must know your parts of speech.
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PunctuationGrammar and Punctuation
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Essay Writing
Theme Essay: Of Mice and Men
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