Name



Of Mice and Men Project

You will be responsible for representing one chapter, or part of a chapter, to your class in a visual fashion. Your goal is to show the class the important actions, dialogue, themes and literary elements found in your chapter.

As a group you should select a medium that allows you to move the characters around within the setting and reenact important events. Some suggestions: puppets, dioramas, in-class acting and prerecorded acting. If you have your own idea please see Ms. VanBlargan to ensure you will receive full credit.

Each group will Type and turn in:

_____ A list of the events from a specific section or chapter

_____ A key explaining what figures, actors, drawings or puppets represent

_____ Presentation information including:

1. An introduction- brief summary of events leading up to your chapter

2. Describe two themes that are expanded in your chapter (provide textual

examples and reference page numbers for each)

3. Discuss two literary devices found in your chapter and provide 2

examples via quotes and page numbers

4. A conclusion wrapping up your chapter, fielding questions from the class and preparing a discussion question for the class to answer

_____Visual Representation of the Chapter or section (diorama, movie, scenery for you

performance, etc.)

Each Individual will turn in:

Self-Evaluation Form- On the final project day Ms. VanBlargan will distribute an evaluation about you and your group’s interaction during the project.

Everyone will vote for the presentation that they think was THE MOST informative and well done. This group will have An Opportunity to display and Present their project to the other Ninth grade class.

Grades

Your grade will be based on the following rubric. Each individual will receive a participation grade based upon the amount of work he or she completes and his or her behavior during class time. If a student disrupts the class during designated project work days she or he will be required to complete a project alone. This student must meet all of the requirements of the group project.

EXAMPLE

Chapter one

1. Setting- Salinas River, South of Soledad and the Gabilan Mountains. Sometime during the depression.

2. Lennie follows George down to the creek Lennie walks slowly like a bear and drags his feet, but his hands do not swing at his sides.

3. Lennie kneels down and drinks from the stream. He then sticks his entire head under the water and continues to drink. George yells at Lennie to stop because the water is not moving much. Lennie then splashes his fingers into the water and is delighted by the rings that float across to the other side.

4. George complains that the bus driver told them it was only a short way to the ranch, when it was really more like four miles.

5. Lennie forgets where they are going. Lennie is worried because he doesn’t have his work cards. He says “I ain’t got mine George.” George replies, “You never had none, your crazy bastard. I got both of ‘em here. Think I’d let you carry your own work card?”

6. George asks Lennie what he does have in his pocket. Lennie has the mouse. George yells and throws it away.

7. George gives Lennie the rules about not talking to the boss when they get to the ranch. George starts to rant about how Lennie spoke when he was told not to.

8. Lennie wants dinner. George tells him to go get fire wood. When Lennie goes to get the wood you can here him tramp through the stream to get the mouse.

9. Lennie comes back to the fire with a few sticks and George asks for the mouse.

10. George yells at Lennie in detail about how he would be better off without him around.

11. Lennie says George could have all of the ketchup and that he could go away and leave George alone.

12. George gives in and Lennie knows he has an advantage so he says he could leave one more time and then asks George to tell him the story.

13. George tells the story of the farm.

14. George explains how he and Lennie are different from other guys. “With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got some body to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go.” Lennie said “Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.”

15. They eat the beans and George gives Lennie the rules of not speaking at the ranch and to remember to follow the river if he gets into trouble.

16. They go to sleep by the fire and the stream.

Key

Lennie-Bear

George- little guy in blue

Mouse-Mouse

Box-Theatre and Stage

Chapter one opens up with a long description of the setting. Not only because the author lived near this place for part of his life, but also to show the beauty of the country that Lennie and George have been walking through on their way to different jobs. The scene is also important because it shows how Lennie and George live, camp and get along with one another. I am going to show using this pretend theatre and these figures, to show how actors would stage this scene. The bear represents Lennie, the Guy is George and the mouse will play himself.

The first major theme found in this chapter is friendship. Even though George and Lennie get mad at one another they continue to travel together and help each other out. Lennie gets the fire wood, but George supplies the food. George yells at Lennie and gives him rules, but he also carries his working papers for him and finds him a job. (6, 11, 5) Lennie says that he would give George all the ketchup he could. (Steinbeck, 11) Unlike many of the hobos during the depression Lennie and George travel together and have some one who will help them if they get into trouble. (14)

Another theme found in several scenes of chapter one is the pursuit of the American Dream. Both men like to hear about their future home. Lennie likes to interrupt George, just as much as he likes hearing about, a farm where they will have animals, fields, a home and responsibilities of their own. Both men long for a place to stay where they will not have to follow orders and work eleven hour days. Lennie anticipates taking care of the rabbits and living without a long list of rules.

Two literary devices Steinbeck uses in this chapter are foreshadowing and characterization. Steinbeck uses indirect characterization: telling his audience how George and Lennie look and act through their actions. For example, Lennie always watches George and mimics the way he sits or wears his hat. Steinbeck also uses some direct characterization when he describes how George has sharp features and Lennie has rounded shoulders. “The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features…Behind him walked his opposite, a huge, man, shapeless of face with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders ;and he walked heavily , dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” (Steinbeck 2).

The author frequently uses foreshadowing in chapter one. Because Lennie continuously kills mice, has already had trouble in Weed, and needs to have a place to hide just in case something happens, the audience knows that Lennie is likely to get into trouble in the future. “If you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush” (Steinbeck 15). Lennie’s inability to realize his own strength also implies that he might hurt another animal or person.

Steinbeck ends the chapter with another lengthy description of the setting. George seems to enjoy being outside, as well as the freedom the wilderness provides. The camp is described as beautiful; the firelight bounces off the sycamores and slowly the embers die.

Discussion Question: Was there anything else that happened in chapter one that tipped you off that Lennie would get into trouble? What kind of things did you think that Lennie might do wrong?

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