"How does Steinbeck create drama through changes in mood and atmosphere in 'the barn scene' of Of Mice and Men? Show your understanding of how this relates to the rest of the novella.”

Your notes must:

§ All fit on a single side of A4 paper.

§ Not be a detailed plan or structure for your essay.

§ Be a sort of ‘shopping list’ of key quotes and ideas you want to talk about.

§Be bullet-pointed (not full sentences)

§ How Lennie killing the puppy (and other damage he has done before) builds tension because we expect something else bad to happen.

§ The sounds coming in from outside.

§ The use of light in the scene.

§ How Curley’s Wife ignores the danger signs of Lennie, and why.

§ The symbolism around Curley’s Wife, eg. “red”, “sausages”.

§ Words, phrases, and descriptive techniques which create both calm and tense atmospheres at different times.

§ How Curley’s Wife and Lennie move closer and further apart during the scene.

§ George’s (and others’) warnings about Curley’s Wife here, repeated by Lennie, and before.

§ Words and phrases used to describe Lennie struggling against Curley’s Wife.

§ Words and phrases used to describe Curley’s Wife lying dead in the hay.

§ How the scene changes once the men come into the barn, particularly how Curley reacts.

§ The atmosphere at the end of the scene (time of day, use of light), and what we know will come next.