...Curley’s Wife Impressions of Curleys Wife John Steinbeck sees Curleys wife a 'nice girl' and not a 'floozy' however in the novel 'Of Mice and Men', Steinbeck introduces the character of Curley's wife; she could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel. In the novel Curley's wife is probably the most loathed on the ranch, the way she looks and acts lead others on the ranch to see her as a 'tart'. Additionally Curley might be the reason of Curley's wife behavior; Curley's wife is clearly lonely in the novel because Curley doesn't pay much attention to her. The lack of attention from Curley forces her to seek it elsewhere. She flirts with the other characters on the ranch but they pay her no attention either. In this essay I am going to examine whether Curley's wife is a tart or not. I will consider how some of the other characters in this novel, Of Mice and Men, perceive her. Using this information I will draw a conclusion about her personality and nature. A tart is defined as someone who dresses up gaudily and exposes her body features to attract the opposite sex. It is usually described for someone who is a prostitute. John Steinbeck portrays Curley's wife, as a tart at the beginning of the novel, however as it progresses the way he presents her is opposite. At the end of the novel we see that she presents herself as a tart because of the intense loneliness she experiences. She seems to always to want to get attention from the other men, however this does...
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... Curley’s Wife Impressions of Curleys Wife John Steinbeck sees Curleys wife a 'nice girl' and not a 'floozy' however in the novel 'Of Mice and Men', Steinbeck introduces the character of Curley's wife; she could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel. In the novel Curley's wife is probably the most loathed on the ranch, the way she looks and acts lead others on the ranch to see her as a 'tart'. Additionally Curley might be the reason of Curley's wife behavior; Curley's wife is clearly lonely in the novel because Curley doesn't pay much attention to her. The lack of attention from Curley forces her to seek it elsewhere. She flirts with the other characters on the ranch but they pay her no attention either. In this essay I am going to examine whether Curley's wife is a tart or not. I will consider how some of the other characters in this novel, Of Mice and Men, perceive her. Using this information I will draw a conclusion about her personality and nature. A tart is defined as someone who dresses up gaudily and exposes her body features to attract the opposite sex. It is usually described for someone who is a prostitute. John Steinbeck portrays Curley's wife, as a tart at the beginning of the novel, however as it progresses the way he presents her is opposite. At the end of the novel we see that she presents herself as a tart because of the intense loneliness she experiences. She seems to always to want to get attention from the other men, however...
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...Year group: Title Extended Reading Language Unit 3 A Of Mice and Men 10 Unit description Candidates must make reference to the whole text. Tier ( Higher) Candidates must produce work totalling about 1200 words in a period of up to four hours CA task: Explore the ways sympathy and dislike of ‘Curley’s Wife’ is created in ‘Of Mice and Men.’ CA = Week starting 20 October 2014 (All 4 lessons this week) (Possibility of starting one lesson early at the end of week 6). Level or Grade A*-C Differentiate appropriately for the group that you teach and for individuals within that group th Length 7 weeks (To include CA) Learning objectives AO3 (See mark scheme for band descriptors) Interpretations of texts/understanding significant meanings of the text Engagement with writer’s ideas and attitudes Interpretation of ideas supported with evidence Understanding of features of language and structure Learning outcomes Close analysis of text extracts leading to development of reading skills Consideration of context and writer’s intentions/themes and ideas Speaking and Listening to show understanding of issues and empathy with character Writing a draft essay and set targets for the assessment Produce an analytical essay for CA (New Acronym = SMILE (Structure, Meanings, Ideas, Language, Evidence) Prior knowledge (Enter pre-requisite knowledge and skills.) Analytical essay – Year 9 KS3 reading skills National Framework for Secondary English Strands National Framework for...
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...Celton Brito-Lobato Analyse and compare how Lady Macbeth and Curley's wife are presented Shakespeare’s ' Macbeth' and Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ In the Shakespearean play of ‘Macbeth’ we are introduced to the character of Lady Macbeth. Similarly in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice of Men we also presented with an equally diverse character of Curley's wife. ‘Macbeth’ was written during the early 17th century, and was a play 'fit for a king'. It outlines a couple's ambition to become rulers of Scotland and sees them fulfil this ambition and in doing so, killing the king in the process. Despite being written during patriarchal Jacobean society, Lady Macbeth is a female protagonist. Throughout the play, through Lady Macbeth's actions we are forced to believe that she is evil. In contrast, in the novel John Steinbeck tells a story of dreams, hopes and loneliness. We are introduced to a majorly significant and complex character, named Curley’s wife. Steinbeck shows us that Curley’s wife is flirtatious, mischievous (despite the patriarchal society of the 1930’s) but most of all she is an isolated character. Her hasty marriage to Curley proves to be failed attempt to escape her own spiral of disappointment of not fulfilling her ambition of becoming an actress. This ironically is a main theme in both texts. This essay will analyse and compare the presentation of Lady Macbeth and Curley's wife through structure, themes, what is said about them, their actions and what they themselves...
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...Michael Emminger Ms. Wanczuk English 9 Honors Period 3 11/21/13 Character Analysis Essay A time of sickness, bankruptcy, and underground liquor runs; the 1930’s were a devastating time in which our protagonists lived. Of Mice and Men is a classic book by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, this tale shows the adventures of two poor men, George and Lennie, who are suffering in the Great Depression. The book goes through a portion of their life through different places and roads. Lennie, I believe, is the most interesting character. Lennie shows his strengths and flaws from Of Mice and Men by having a big heart but bigger hands, helping keep George sane, and accidentally killing animals and people. Lennie has extraordinary physical strength, but his mind does not have that type of power. His head and heart did not know what to do when Curley started punching him and: “he was too frightened to defend himself… Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand” (69). Lennie’s brain could not comprehend the events developing around him and his body initially shut off in the process. If it was not for George yelling at him to fight back Lennie could have been really hurt. Some might say fighting is wrong all together, but if it is not possible to walk away from it then it is important to defend yourself. Even though it took him a while to be convinced to hit Curly...
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...How does Steinbeck portray the theme of loneliness and isolation? In Steinbeck’s novel ‘of mice and men’ there is much emphasis on loneliness and isolation. The novel ‘of mice and men’ was set and written in 1920’s America during the great depression. The great depression was the time in which professional workers became migrant, and caused many of them to turn to working in farmland harvesting wheat, and others had to go and possibly try and find work on a ranch. Loneliness and isolation can be defined as when a person is on their own and don’t have anyone to talk to or not allowed to do things, for example, in the novel it mentions that the workers are playing solitaire, “George cut the cards again and put out a solitaire lay…” Solitaire is a one-player card game, so this also emphasizes loneliness. In this essay I will explore how Steinbeck creates loneliness and isolation in his novel ‘of mice and men’. Steinbeck uses a lot of past tense, for example, at the end of the novel, Curley’s wife is talking to Lennie and she said that she ‘had’ a dream, and she could have become famous. Curley’s wife is perhaps the loneliest person of all on the ranch. Since she is the only female on the ranch, she is set apart from the others. She doesn’t have a name because she is a female and women have lower statuses than men. As she is the only female on the ranch, Curley’s wife is lonely and sad- something her marriage to Curley only makes worse she reveals throughout the course of the...
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...Of Mice and Men Essay ‘Of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck in 1937, the same time as the great depression. In ‘Of Mice and Men’, Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife in a variety of different ways. In the novella Curley’s Wife is seen as a villainess. Curley’s Wife is also seen as someone who craves attention which leads to the novellas tragic ending. Steinbeck could also be showing society’s view of how women should behave. In the 1930s women were one of two roles- a ‘tart’ or a ‘mother’ in the both cases they are presented as serving a purpose for men- either to give the man sexual pleasure or to provide a family. Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife in many ways in the novella. Firstly he presents her through the male gaze as a tart and we see this through Candy’s description of her. Steinbeck’s use of description states that she is ‘heavily’ made up and she exhibits extremely flirtatious behaviour. Although this could be because how restricted women were at the time. Curley’s Wife did not have children so she may have been automatically put into the category of a ‘tart’. Curley’s Wife also never had a positive female role model because of her bad relationship with her mother. Throughout the novella the reader’s view of Curley’s Wife changes from her being a ‘tart’ to a lonely figure that just wants attention. Steinbeck also presents her as a victim of prejudice and sexism as the reader’s perceptions change as her character develops but the male view of Curley’s Wife...
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...Katie Oliveira February 22, 2013 Essay #3: Of Mice and Men The American idea of justice sometimes operates under a layer of mythology. Our “innocent until proven guilty” principle predicates itself on the idea that those accused of a crime will have a fair trial and will be justly judged by their peers. It is an elaborate system established to thwart prejudice and to prevent the public from jumping to conclusions, to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. In John Steinbeck’s Great Depression-era story Of Mice and Men, justice is carried out without a trial. No laws are taken into consideration, but instead an angry mob of men with guns is present. Mobs react with violence for real or imagined crimes at their own discretion, not waiting for legal justice to take course. Steinbeck expresses the idea that when justice fails people take matters into their own hands through George’s decision to kill Lennie. On the surface, the answer seems obvious to most people. Of course George should not have killed Lennie; murder, after all, is wrong no matter what the circumstances. Yet it is not as simple as that. Throughout the book, Lennie seems to be unaware of what is right and wrong, and this makes him a burden to George. Every time Lenny did something bad, they had to quit their jobs and start somewhere else. If George had let Lennie live, Lennie would not have been able to look after himself properly. Lennie couldn’t look after a puppy – let alone himself. Lennie...
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...Matthew Bullington 8/31/2012 AP English Period 5 Of Mice and Men Thematic Essay Violence in the novel Of Mice and Men is an everyday reality. With all the hard work that comes from working on a ranch, there always seems to be a significant need for masculine boastfulness which allows for fights, threats, and overall meanness. Violence in this novella is physical, mental, and emotional. Characters are so use to suspicion and failure in life that they will treat each other cruelly, willing to abuse the dreams and the bodies of others as though it were more normal to destroy than to build. In most ways, violence is a normal way for others to relieve the feeling of despair and limited possibilities that all go along with working on the ranch. For example, Lennie tends to be very violent when it comes to people making him angry. This tendency; however is watched over by George, who is supposed to make sure that he is safe and doesn’t get himself into trouble, but at the same time George is physically violent towards lennie because of his mental handicap. Curley, who is the husband of the only woman that lives on the ranch, tends to be very violent toward anyone that he sees as a threat to himself or his power, most of his rage however, is directed to Lennie because of his size. Curley's Wife is also the target of violence because she is seen as the tramp of the ranch for her flirtatious acts with the majority of the ranch men. With all these events in mind, we can paint a pretty...
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...John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice And Men’ is a fictional story, about George and Lennie, the main protagonists, who find work in a ranch and the events and consequences that happen during their time there. The story has become an American classic, partly due to the fact that there are many levels of Disenfranchisement present in the story. Disenfranchisement in it’s simplest form, is the lack of power of individuals, places or animals in the context of the story. This idea of lack of power can be viewed through the lens of various literary theories. The two theories this essay will explore are Marxism, power through property, money and class, and Foucault’s theory on, the power of spaces in relationships. The story of George and Lennie is placed...
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...Of Mice and Men - Curley Essay __________________________________________________________________ In the Novel of mice and men, Steinbeck presents Curley as the evil character due to the fact he tries to live up to his father’s legacy, of being the boss, by making everyone fear him. Does Curley try to prove his masculinity through his actions? Does this make him seem aggressive or vulnerable? Curley picks fights with bigger, tougher men to show that size doesn’t matter and to make people obey him. Curley fights with Lennie unaware of his capabilities. He stepped over to Lennie ‘like a terrier’. The simile links Curley’s size to a small terrier dog but could also suggest vulnerability and an inferior status. Curley threatens Lennie by saying, ‘Come on, ya big bastard’. The ‘ya’ colloquialism shows the slang language was picked up in an uneducated society. Moreover, ‘Come on’ shows how he challenges Lennie which portrays him as aggressive and strong. Furthermore, the consonance ‘big bastard’ is cleverly used and spoken with a plosive sound. This means to say this, the airflow needs to stop which joins in with the fight of Curley and Lennie getting punched which cuff of their wind. In addition the adjective ‘big’ shows how Curley could be jealous of how tall Lennie is as opposed to his short height. Did Steinbeck purposely say this to make Curley seem weak? Therefore, Curley Standing up to Lennie shows his desire to have a higher status than him even though he is much smaller...
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...‘Of Mice and Men’ is written by John Steinbeck, published in 1937. The novel is set in the 1930s during the great depression in California. The two protagonist characters, George and Lennie are farm workers who have a dream of one-day owning their own ranch. They find work in a ranch near Soledad, after escaping from Weed because of George’s incident. They are met by different characters on the farm that all have a dream. To be lonely means to lack friends or companionship and to feel isolated. Most of the characters are lonely and the only thing that keeps them alive is their dreams. Some of the loneliest characters they meet are Candy, an old man with only one hand, Crooks, a black cripple and Curley’s Wife, a woman who has no identity, she is lonely even though she is married. Although they are all on the ranch together, they are lonely because of who they are and their history. ‘Of Mice and Men’ is an emotional story with many different themes and characters. This essay will describe the way loneliness is portrayed in ‘Of Mice and Men.’ George Milton and Lennie Small are friends who travel together. They both share the same dream, which is to one day own their own ranch. George is quick-witted and intelligent. He takes the parental role of looking after Lennie, a simple-minded man who in the book is described as a giant. Lennie is kind hearted with huge physical strength. He does not know how powerful he is and likes to pet animals. The other men on the ranch find their relationship...
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...2nd, 2014 Summer Reading (The Mice and Men) Writing assignments (Essays) Friendship: When we talk about friendship their many places where you can make friends but the most important thing about friendship is what kind of friends you make because it can change your life they can lead you to a good or they could mess up your future but in the Mice and men there are two people who stand out the most and have a strong bond that makes them close friends. They are George and Lennie they are both important to each other especially because of their goal of having their own farm for Lennie his friend George is the most important person in his life because George protects him from trouble. In Lennie’s life George’s approval and disapproval really matters to him because of how close they are whenever he is about to do something wrong he would think back about what would George would think about his decision. But George actually says that he would be happy if he could work alone because doing stuff with Lennie could be really hard since he acts less mature and causes too much trouble. But for George even though he is pretty annoying he knows the fact that both of them have the same dream he would still go through everything to protect him where ever he goes he will always be with him and together they will make sure that they could achieve their goal. Some of the few examples are when Lennie mistakenly kills his own dog and then Curley’s wife but then he is worried that once...
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...Literally essay Of Mice and Men Comparison The experience of the speaker in Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask” is comparable to Crooks experience in chapter 4 of John Steinbach’s Of Mice and Men. The mask being figurative refers to the emotional mask that covers and conceals one emotion which many blacks wore while being segregated because they were afraid of what would happen if they showed their true feelings. Crooks had a similar experience in chapter 4 in Steinbeck’s book in which he backed down from an argument because he was afraid of the consequences that might fall on him because he was black. One of the lines from Dunbar’s poem shows how effective one could use the mask to hide their anguish and sadness. “We wear the mask that grins and lies- It hides our cheeks and shades our eye-“, the people in this poem used this “mask” to shade their eyes and cheeks which made other people incapable of seeing their true. This method of blocking true emotions is effective because often you can see the real feelings and emotions of a person by looking into their eyes and cheeks which are supposedly “gateways” to one’s true self. By putting on an emotionless and blank persona you can show no sign of you ever being tortured by the hateful words thrown at you. Likewise Crooks also has to deal with hurtful comments such as the N word yet he abides and remains throughout the rest of the chapter with a blank emotionless tone and voice. In chapter 4 page 81, Curley’s wife threatens...
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...How is the theme of Broken Dreams And Hopelessness presented In Of Mice And Men and Death Of A Salesman? By: Sara The themes of broken dreams and hopelessness are explored in the novel Of Mice and Men published in 1934 by Steinbeck, and also in the play Death of The Salesman written in 1949 by Miller. The desire to achieve the American dream which is to own land and be self-sufficient by being one's own boss is made evident in both texts as the protagonists Willy, George and Lennie aim to elevate their status and be successful. However, they face many obstacles and difficulties along the way. Miller and Steinbeck both criticize the American value of commercialism, as the dream to be successful is just a delusion; if you cannot sell or earn money to provide for your family then you are seen as weak and incapable of success. In both texts men are, therefore, marginalized and don't know where they belong. The tragic endings in both texts show the hopelessness of characters not achieving their goals and desires. The essay will explore how the writers portray the theme of hopelessness and the desire to achieve a dream that is ultimately unachievable. One of the ways Steinbeck shows how eagerly the protagonists are trying to achieve their dream is when George and Lennie find it difficult to get a job. This is shown when George tells Lennie to stay away from "bad things" like he did in "Weed". Steinbeck also reveals how Lennie acts as a barrier for George, as he prevents him from...
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