Of Mice and Men Essay

Gianni Giovanni
March 28th,2014
Ever noticed how a book almost never stays true to the story? Well thats exactly the case in Of mice and
men, a story of 2 migrant workers attempting to achieve the american dream. The books 1992 movie
adaptation differs greatly from the actual book.
In the book George seems illiterate but in the movie he is able to read at least twice. Once reading a can of bug
spray out loud Kills mites and lice and later he is seen reading a magazine. This dispells the books notion
that George is uneducated.
In the scene where Lennie enters crooks shed George intervenes quickly (in the movie). But rather in the book
Crooks, Lennie, and Candy have a long conversation about dreams and hopes. The move actually seemed to
cut this part out for time reasons.
Furthermore, the book made Crooks seem lonely, until later on. But the movie showed otherwise. "S'pose you
didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd
you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but
then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he
ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too
lonely an' he gets sick" That is direct quote from the book, which Crooks basically explains his nature of
loneliness. Rather in the movie he seemed more hostile, yelling at Lennie and telling him that George wont
come back. But later in the movie he helps the other ranchers saddle up to catch Lennie.
At the end of the book, George went to get a drink with slim, Come on, George. Me an youll go in an get a
drink. George let himself up to his feet Yeah, a drink. The book made George seem like he didnt care
about killing his best friend. The books ending differs greatly from the movies.
The movie is overall different from the book. The movie is shorter, less detailed, but unlike the book showed
better emotions. Movies ussually never stay true to its book counterpart.


Criteria Value
Comment [JP1]: Your thesis HAS to
explain what exactly those differences are,
and what the author was trying to say about
them. You can say that George is used
differently in the movie than in the book,
but your job is to explain WHY the author
did this.
Comment [JP2]: You need to show
evidence from the book where he doesnt
seem to be literate for your point from the
movie to stand up.
Comment [JP3]: Crooks
Comment [JP4]: Or is it more to put a
focus on George and Lennie? You need to tie
all of these points together in a stronger
way
Comment [JP5]: I dont think this point
about Crooks has anything to do about what
youre arguing. This comes back to having to
tie everything together
Comment [JP6]: Which was what? And I
disagree with you that George doesnt care
about killing him. I think LEADING UP TO IT,
he shows disregard, as you said, by leaving
Lennie alone, but actually killing him weighs
on Georges conscious.
Comment [JP7]: Give more in your
conclusion
Paper Format: Includes proper heading and title, typed in Times New Roman size
12 font and is double-spaced.
8 / 10
Introduction: Includes a hook and background information. Title of novel is
italicized. Authors name included. Ends with clear and focused thesis statement.
8 / 10
Thesis: Thesis is clear and concise, and takes a stance on a topic or question. The
thesis focuses the content and argument for the rest of the essay.
10 / 15
Body Paragraphs Organization: Each body paragraph begins with a clear topic
sentence. Includes at least one direct quote from the text. Ends with a summative
closing statement.
10 / 15
Body Paragraphs Content: Writer includes relevant evidence and examples from
the text. Writer clearly elaborates why evidence is important and explains how it
connects to the thesis. Each topic sentence relates back to the thesis. Evidence and
argument focuses on the thesis statement.
42 / 45
Conclusion: Conclusion restates thesis in different words, summarizes main
arguments, and explains why the writers point is important.
7 / 10
Writing Conventions: Demonstrates proper spelling, grammar, capitalization and
other writing conventions.
15 / 20
Total 100 /
125

Gianni,

Firstly, Id like to tip my hat off to you for taking on a really difficult task of comparing two
pieces of fiction in one piece of writing. This is something that people in college struggle to
do well. The tip in writing that compares one thing to another is making sure that every
time you say that the movie does something differently than the book, you have to go two
pieces of evidence, one from the movie and one from the book. It makes structure pretty
easy, but you have to abide by that rule always.

GRADE: B-, 80