Chapter 1

1. Identify and give a physical description of Lennie and George (5+ details each).
2. How does Steinbeck convey Lennie’s animal-like qualities?
a. What kinds of words/literary techniques does he use?
3. What is George's first complaint to Lennie?
4. What trouble did George and Lennie have in Weed?
5. What is in Lennie's pocket? Why does he have it?
6. Why does George get Mad at Lennie early in the section?
7. Explain the connection between what is in Lennie’s pocket and the incident at Weed.
8. George bursts into a long speech about what he could do if he were alone. What could he do?
9. Lennie offers to go away and live in a cave. What is George's response?
10. Why are George and Lennie different from the other "guys like us that work on ranches"?
11. Explain the two most important reasons George stays with Lennie.
12. What are George and Lennie going to do someday?
a. Why is this dream unrealistic?
13. What two things does George want Lennie to remember?
14. Why did George want to camp overnight instead of going another quarter of a mile to the ranch?

Chapter 2
1. What does George answer when the boss asks what he is trying to put over?
2. Why is the stable buck set apart from the other men?
3. Identify and describe Curley.
4. Why is the boss suspicious of George and Lennie?
5. What explanation is given for Lennie’s mental condition?
a. Is it accurate? Explain.
6. The swamper said, "Seems like Curley ain't givin' nobody a chance" (Steinbeck 27). Explain.
7. What advice does George give Lennie after Curley and the swamper leave?
a. Why?
8. Identify Slim and Carlson.
9. What is the significance of Slim and Carlson’s remarks about the dogs?
10. What is the irony of the last name George gives to Lennie?
11. What does Slim have that Lennie wants?
12. What do mice, puppies, rabbits, etc. symbolize to Lennie?
13. Give at least two examples of foreshadowing found in this section?

Chapter 3
1. Slim and George have a long conversation. Slim says it's funny how George and Lennie go around together.
What is George's answer?
2. What does George’s conversation with Slim reveal about his past treatment of Lennie?
3. What exactly happened in Weed?
4. What is George’s analysis of Lennie’s attack on the girl?
5. Identify Candy.
6. What comparison does Candy make between his condition and the dog’s?
a. How does this reinforce the theme of responsibility?
7. What did Carlson do with his Luger? Why?
8. What card game does George play?
9. Describe Curley's wife. What's the problem about her?
10. What will Lennie's job be when he and George get their land?
11. What does Candy want when he hears about George's and Lennie's plans? What is he willing to contribute?
12. Besides being a fairly good boxer, what is the main advantage Curley holds over all the other men?
13. Why did Curley fight with Lennie, and what happened? Describe in detail.
14. What does Slim tell Curley to say when the boss asks how his hand was broken?
15. Give two examples of foreshadowing in this section.

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 Chapter 4
1. Identify Crooks.
2. Why is Crooks so mean to Lennie when he first comes into his stable?
3. Why, then, does Crooks allow Lennie to enter his room?
4. Why does Crooks think Lennie is crazy?
a. What is Crooks’s reply at first?
5. What does Crooks want when he believes there might really be land?
6. What stark reality does Crooks want Lennie to face?
7. The paragraph that starts with “Candy cried, ‘Sure, they all want it’” sums up a major theme from the novel
(Steinbeck 76). What is this theme?
8. Why did Curley's wife come to the barn?
9. How does the behavior of Curley’s wife seem deliberately designed to provoke the men?
10. How is Curley’s wife’s nature as a destructive character most clearly revealed?
11. How does Curley’s wife know that it was Lennie, and not a machine, that crushed Curley’s hand?
12. Why did Crooks change his mind after Curley's wife left?
13. Give two examples of foreshadowing in this section.

Chapter 5
1. What happened to Lennie's puppy?
2. What is his reaction?
a. How is this typical of his animalistic, child-like character?
3. Why did Curley's wife come to see Lennie?
4. She too; like George, Lennie, and Curley; had a dream. What was this dream?
5. What did she tell Lennie about her husband and marriage?
6. How does Curley’s wife entice Lennie into touching her hair?
7. Why did Lennie kill Curley's wife?
8. How does Lennie react to what he has done?
9. What was George's reaction when he found out about Curley's wife's death?
10. How does George’s reaction relate to his belief in the dream?
11. What is George’s immediate plan?
12. What was Curley's reaction to his wife's death?
13. Compare the reactions of Curley and Slim to the death.
14. Give two examples of foreshadowing in this section.

Chapter 6
1. Describe Lennie’s state of mind as he goes to hide in the brush.
2. While hiding in the brush, Lennie starts to hallucinate from fear. Who does he see and what do they tell him?
3. George reiterates the story of their dreams – even under these circumstances. Why does he do this?
4. Explain George’s last remarks to Lennie.
5. How did George kill Lennie?
6. Why did George prefer to kill Lennie himself?
7. Who is the only one who really understands what George did?
8. What does Slim mean when he says, “Never you mind…A guy got to sometime”? (Steinbeck 107).
9. Why does George lie about the gun?
10. What would have happened if George would not have shot Lennie?
11. Does George think he’ll ever actually get a piece of land?
12. What is the last line of the novel? Explain its significance.

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 Review – Of Mice and Men

Review: Via Topic

What are the affects of the following topics on this piece of literature?
1. Landscape
2. Friendship
3. Dreams

Review: Via Theme

Make a theme statement for each of the following themes, and provide and cite examples to prove that the theme
statement is accurate.

1. The American Dream

a. Statement
b. Evidence
2. Loneliness
a. Statement
b. Evidence
3. The common man
a. Statement
b. Evidence

Review: Via Connections

How is Of Mice and Men connected to the following? Look up the terms/concepts, and use evidence from Of
Mice and Men in the answers.

1. Naturalism
2. Realism
3. The search for the Holy Grail
4. The story of Cain and Abel
5. Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse"

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