Analysing and evaluating in Of Mice and Men
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This document provides information on analyzing and evaluating texts. It explains that analyzing involves zooming in on details like specific words or phrases to examine writing techniques. Evaluating requires zooming out to see the big picture and discuss how techniques help understand the author's intentions. The document gives an example of analyzing dialogue in Of Mice and Men by focusing on language used to describe Curley's wife. It then evaluates by linking this to Steinbeck's reasons for creating the character and showing how the ranch's harshness makes the characters mean-spirited. The learning objectives are to understand how to analyze language, evaluate impact, and zoom in and out when writing.
Analysing and evaluating in Of Mice and Men
- 1. ANALYSING & EVALUATING LINK: What is the difference between these skills?
- 2. Learning objective: to understand how to analyse language and evaluate the impact of a text I can see when a reader is focusing on detail and looking at the ‘big picture’ I can explain how to zoom in and out in my writing I can be analytical and evaluative in my writing ESTABLISH
- 3. ANALYSING Extreme close up Allows you to examine tiny details and discuss how writers use techniques. Focus on single words or short phrases
- 4. EVALUATING Wide shot Allows you to see the ‘big picture’ and discuss how the writers’ use of techniques help us to understand their intentions. Focus on the whole text (or texts)
- 5. Zooming in and out Zooming in (analysing) allows us to see detail we would otherwise miss we need to zoom out (evaluating) to show that we can understand how the detail fits into the big picture
- 6. Of Mice & Men - Analysing • ZOOM IN on Steinbeck’s use of language to describe a character • Candy calls Curley’s wife a ‘tramp’ and a ‘tart’, derogatory terms that are only applicable to women. Candy’s words are direct and vicious, he repeatedly uses the second person pronoun ‘you’ making his tone accusing and pinpointing his anger specifically at her. Candy blames her for wrecking his dream, expressing his hatred for her (‘… he said viciously. “You done it, di’n’t you?” ’), putting words into the dead body’s mouth, like forcing a false confession.
- 7. Of Mice & Men - Evaluating • ZOOM OUT to show how this links to Steinbeck’s reasons for creating this character • Curley’s wife cannot be held responsible for her own death; Steinbeck always presented her as the underdog at the bottom of the hierarchy, not having her own name and simply referring to her as one of Curley’s possessions. I feel that it was easier for Candy to blame her for the loss of the dream. He had colluded with George to defer revealing her death and because of George’s friendship with Lennie, it was difficult for Candy to focus his blame on to Lennie. Steinbeck is showing how the harshness and brutality of life on the ranch makes his characters mean spirited and ungenerous.
- 8. Learning objective: to understand how to analyse language and evaluate the impact of a text I can see when a reader is focusing on detail and looking at the ‘big picture’ I can explain how to zoom in and out in my writing I can be analytical and evaluative in my writing Where are you?
- 9. ACHIEVE How does chapter 1 prepare us for what happens in the novel? Focus on – Characters – Themes – Language
- 10. • Steinbeck describes Lennie as being like an animal “ ...and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.” This makes us think about his huge size and physical strength which suggests a capacity for violence as bears can be very fierce. It also makes him sound clumsy and awkward which might prepare us for the fact that he will not fit in with life on the ranch. Steinbeck has done this to warn us that Lennie will go on to be violent. Maybe he is making a point about how a gentle, childlike character can be driven to violence by an uncaring and brutal world. All Lennie’s violent acts are either provoked or innocently intended. However, as Steinbeck reminds us with his title, the best laid plans of mice and men are sure to go wrong and this description is a clear clue as to why and how this might happen
- 11. Learning objective: to understand how to analyse language and evaluate the impact of a text I can see when a reader is focusing on detail and looking at the ‘big picture’ I can explain how to zoom in and out in my writing I can be analytical and evaluative in my writing How far did you get?
- 12. NEXT STEPS… • How will you remember this learning?