Worksheet Chapter V,2: Of Mice and Men

 Vocabulary: look up the following words. Then do the vocabulary exercise on Lectio
p. 96 bounce, mound, (page numbers refer to the book)
p.97 sullenly
p. 98-99 soothingly
p. 102 contorted
p. 103 writhe, muffled (screaming)
p. 105 sluggish
p. 108 bristly (whiskers)

Analysis and Interpretation

1. How is Curley’s wife described on p. 104-05. Is there a point?

2. What does Candy do when he discovers Curley’s wife? Why?
3. What thoughts go through George’s mind when he finds out that
Curley’s wife is dead? How can you tell? What does George plan to do? p.
106, 107, 110
4. Why does Candy feel such strong anger and sorrow in this chapter? Is it
fair to blame Curley’s wife? What is Candy called on p. 105, 109, 111?
5. In this chapter, the symbolic meaning of animals is important. How do
different animals like the horses, the pigeon and the shepherd dog react
in this chapter, and what might the meaning be?
6. What other animals do we meet in the novel?

 
Language:
Conjugate:
present tense past tense present perfect

Strike  He she strikes struck Has struck

(hit)

stroke  He she strokes stroked Has stroked

(caress)

Transform these sentences into proper English. Explain what is wrong with them.
What is the point of making the characters in the novel speak like that?
 
‘All the guys got a horseshoe tenement goin’ on’ p. 98
‘An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me…’ p. 100
‘If I’d went…’
‘Maybe if I took this pup out and throwed him away, George wouldn’t never know… ‘p. 101
‘I di’n’t know you was here… ‘p. 105
‘I should of knew …’ p.106
‘You wasn’t no good…’ p. 108
‘Lennie coulda did that…’ p. 109
‘he would of went south…’ p. 110
‘he never done this to be mean…´p. 110
‘No, it’s been took …’ p. 111 What does ‘it’ refer to?

Summary: Chapter 5

The following scenes all appear in chapter 5. However, the scenes have been jumbled up.
Read the scenes aloud and place them in the right order:

1. Candy comes into to Barn, looking for Lennie. He sees Curley's wife, and assumes she's
sleeping. When he realizes his error, he immediately runs to get George.
2. Curley's wife enters the barn and walks up to Lennie. She is wearing her bright dress and her
red shoes trimmed with ostrich feathers. Her face is made up, and her hair is perfectly
curled. Lennie is startled when he sees her and rushes to hide his puppy. She asks him what
he's hiding. Lennie simply tells her George said he isn't supposed to talk to her. Curley's wife
thinks George must be scared Curley will get mad at him. She tells Lennie she knows he
broke Curley's hand, but Lennie does not say anything, except that he isn't supposed to talk
to her.
3. Lennie sits in the hay and strokes his dead puppy. He accidentally hit it, killing it. Lennie
doesn't understand why the puppy got killed, since it is so much bigger than a rabbit. His
thoughts turn now from the puppy to the rabbits, and Lennie is afraid that George won't let
him tend them since he killed the puppy.
4. Lennie lays her down in the hay, telling her he didn't want to hurt her. When she doesn't
move, Lennie realizes she is dead. Confused and then terrified, he covers her with hay.
Realizing he has done something bad, he remembers George's instruction to go hide by the
river. He takes his puppy with him and leaves quietly.
5. It is Sunday afternoon, and bright sun falls into the barn. Hay forms large mounds, and
horses' heads peek out of the stables. It is quiet inside the barn; outside is the clang of
horseshoes. The men are having a horseshoe tournament, and Lennie is alone inside.
6. Curley's wife asks Lennie what he has hidden in the hay. Lennie moves the hay and tells her
it's his pup. She sees that its dead and Lennie tells her what happened: he thought the pup
was going to bite him, so he pretended to hit it, and then he did hit it, accidentally killing it.
Curley's wife is comforting. But Lennie is still worried he won't get to tend the rabbits. Her
own needs on her mind, Curley's wife again reassures Lennie it's okay to talk to her.
7. They return to the barn, and George looks at her, hopeless. He knows it was Lennie, just as
he had always feared this would happen. George asks Candy to wait a few minutes before
telling the others. He wants time to go into the bunkhouse so it'll look like he had nothing to
do with it. Candy cautiously asks George if they can still get their farm. George leaves the
barn.
8. Curley’s wife offers to let Lennie touch her hair to feel how soft it is. Lennie starts to stroke
it, then presses harder, and she tells him to stop or he'll mess it up. Lennie holds on tighter
as she yells for him to let go. He covers her mouth, in a panic. He tells her not to yell, or
 George won't let him tend the rabbits. She continues to struggle, and Lennie shakes her,
telling her to stop yelling. Curley's wife stops moving then, since Lennie has broken her neck.
9. The men come in and stand over Curley's wife. Slim quietly feels her twisted neck, and
Curley explodes with anger. He knows it was Lennie, and he plans to shoot him for it.
Carlson runs to the barn for his gun. In the face of all this blood lust, George tells them
Lennie probably headed south, and asks if they could just lock Lennie up. Slim reminds
George that jail would be no good for Lennie. Carlson comes running in – his gun has been
stolen.

Transform these sentences into proper English. Explain what is wrong with them.
What is the point of making the characters in the novel speak like that?
 
‘All the guys got a horseshoe tenement goin’ on’ p. 98
‘An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me…’ p. 100
‘If I’d went…’
‘Maybe if I took this pup out and throwed him away, George wouldn’t never know… ‘p. 101
‘I di’n’t know you was here… ‘p. 105
‘I should of knew …’ p.106
‘You wasn’t no good…’ p. 108
‘Lennie coulda did that…’ p. 109
‘he would of went south…’ p. 110
‘he never done this to be mean…´p. 110
‘No, it’s been took …’ p. 111 What does ‘it’ refer to?