Being word friendly or porous

We all know the importance of vocabulary. We all know that ‘tier 2’ words are a sticking point for students. We all know that students will struggle to read some texts without a good level of vocabulary.  The problem is the method in which we use to teach that vocabulary to ensure it is of benefit and not just simply a case of cramming them full of impressive vocabulary. Or ‘WOW words’.


I feel that as teachers we need to be more porous to words. By that, I mean we should be prepared to make the words an important part of the lesson, planning and discussion. How many times in lessons do we ask students for the meaning of a word? How many times in a lesson do we stop a lesson for a discussion on the use of one word? How many times do we stop a conversation with a student and we question them on their choice of words?

What does lanced mean?

Why did the writer use silently instead of stealthily?

Why did you use the word ‘it’ to describe the Tom?


There’s lots out there about vocabulary and people are trying to find their own little way or system for imparting vocabulary. However, there’s so many words and so little time. Being porous to words is the key. If a teacher is porous to words, then the students will be. Students don’t need endless lists of words that they might never ever face or use in their own reading, writing and speech. They need to be a sponge with vocabulary, meaning that they must have the ability to suck up a word and store it.


This blog is about the ‘sucking up’ part of vocabulary. I am going to talk about a lesson which, for me, is about being porous and sucking up words. I am going to simply explain what I did and why I did it.



Part 1:

The class have been working on ‘Of Mice and Men’. At the start of the lesson, I gave students an extract from the text and gave them a few minutes to think about the words in read and what do they mean. Then I selected students to tell me what a word meant.



Extract 1
Lennie begged, "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now."

"Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta."

And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.

George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes.

The brush seemed filled with cries and with the sound of running feet. Slim's voice shouted. "George. Where you at, George?“



Students are unprepared to give meanings to words. Historically, I’d say we have generally shied away from using students to generate the meanings of words or providing definitions. We’ve provided glossaries and given our personal meanings of words, linking to our first holiday as a child and the obscure etymology of the word that will only be of use to a person watching ‘University Challenge’ episode 4 in 1982. 


This task was interesting because without preparation students are pretty bad at giving definitions.


What does the word ‘begging’ mean, Sue? 


Umm. It means begging. You know. Like you are begging for something.


Often or not, the students repeated the word in their explanation and showed me how difficult students actually find defining words. This carried on with the rest of the words. It got to the point where some students we quite frustrated that they used hand actions to enable the meaning rather than repeat the word steadied. Clearly, there’s room for some work there on explanation and clarification.



Part 2

I then gave students another extract. This time I asked them to do two things. Think of a synonym to use instead of the word. Think of a definition for the word here. Each pair had a particular word.

I read aloud the extract twice. The first time when I got to a focus word they said a synonym. The second time they said their definition.



Extract 2

The deep green pool of the Salinas River was still in the late afternoon. Already the sun had left the valley to 

go climbing up the slopes of the Gabilan Mountains, and the hilltops were rosy in the sun. But by the pool 

among the mottled sycamores, a pleasant shade had fallen.

A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the 

length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and 

beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved
frantically.

A far rush of wind sounded and a gust drove through the tops of the trees like a wave. The sycamore leaves 

turned up their silver sides, the brown, dry leaves on the ground scudded a few feet. And row on row of tiny 

wind waves flowed up the pool's green surface.

As quickly as it had come, the wind died, and the clearing was quiet again. The heron stood in the shallows, 

motionless and waiting.

Another little water snake swam up the pool, turning its periscope head from side to side.

Suddenly Lennie appeared out of the brush, and he came as silently as a creeping bear moves.



This for me built up their confidence around the use of language. It adds some problem solving element. They heard me push to develop the definitions in Part 1, so they knew they had to avoid repeating the word in their definition. 


Personally, I’d say students are far more comfortable with providing a synonym rather than defining words. Verbally, we don’t define words in our everyday conversation but we do use synonyms. What was the person like? Small, petit, tiny. We do this naturally because we sort through our brain for the right word for the context. X doesn’t fit so I will use Y. Y is not quite right so I will use Z. We scroll through words.



Part 3

For the final part of the lesson, we narrowed the focus on one particular line from the extract. This part was about connections. We connected the words to different aspects. We recapped the word’s meaning and possible synonyms. Then, I used a PowerPoint to show words to build connections.



A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically.   



Slide 1 – Connections

Reminds me of

Echoes

Links to

Mirrors

Makes me think of

Foreshadows



Slide 2 – Purpose

Question

Highlights

Emphasises

Understands

Prepares

Draws attention to



Slide 3 – Effect

Think that

Feel that

Understand that

Imagine that





This started students on thinking of the words’ connection to the text and the rest of the text. We were connecting it to the reader’s thoughts, the writer’s intention and structure. It made for an interesting discussion on the symbolic identity of the heron and snake. The heron was possibly George, Lennie or even Curley’s wife. There was talk of the ‘lanced’ reflecting what George does to Lennie and the pain and violence associated with the word. We also talked about ‘lancing’ a boil and how that could be what George does.

For me, once they had the concrete aspect of meaning secure it made the students far more confident when talking about the connections with the rest of the text. This staggered approach helped a lot of my students build up understanding.



Overall, the whole experience for me has highlighted how we make assumptions about words and their meanings. We assume students know certain words and assume that they can articulate a word’s meaning. In English, we often ask students to comment on the language used by the writer. That often entails looking for patterns or easily recognisable techniques. We miss a large part of the understanding when doing that. I talk a lot in lessons about ‘false confidence’. Complex words provide students with a false confidence in the subject. Because they can use complex words they feel that have mastered things. We know that English is vast and complex as a subject that the subtle, nuanced meanings could be hidden behind one word.  Every word is important. Take the use of the word ‘it’ instead of ‘murder’ when Macbeth comments on killing King Duncan. Students need to be sponges for words and we have got to make active processes in lessons that allows this. They have to be part of the definition learning and clarifying. We have to keep going back and keep asking for the meaning of words. Something we have lost over time. Yes, we might do it here or there, but do we regularly ask students to give meanings to words?


Do students have false confidence around vocabulary because we have made too many assumptions about them? I bet when looking at the extracts above people thought some of the words were easy. I bet people were thinking that some of the words are not challenging students. I bet people were thinking that the words would never develop a student’s vocabulary.


Look at a glossary provided for texts. It is interesting. There’s an assumption that the reader knows some words and an assumption that the reader doesn’t know some other words. Should we so easily make that distinction in the classroom?


Maybe, we should be stating that any and every word is game in the classroom. That’ why the simple definition of a word is paramount. Asking students to verbally define words in the classroom is the starting point for making a word porous environment. The choice of words is important. Students need to be exposed to all levels of word. Timothy, define the word ‘exposed’. Martha, explain to me what the word ‘porous’ means.  



Thanks for reading,

Xris

Of Mice and Men and Religion

As part of developing our curriculum in KS3, we are placing emphasis on three cross topic components.

For Year 7, we, like most, are focusing on classical myths, which is great when we cover aspects such as the Victorian novel and Shakespeare.

For Year 8, we are looking at fairy tales which makes some great connections with Gothic horror and Charles Dicken’s ‘Great Expectation’.

For Year 9, we are looking at stories from the Old Testament and New Testament. But, in looking at these stories it made me revise my thoughts on the John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. Now, I am not the novel’s biggest fan and like a lot of teachers we just got a little bit fed up of teaching it, but I do have a new appreciation of the book now.

A lot of what I am exploring is interpretation and like most interpretations you are free to think ‘yep’, ‘no’ or ‘ what utter codswallop!’.

The Garden of Eden?

Since the dawn of time, teachers have been making associations between the opening and ending of the novel with the ‘Garden of Eden’. It is so perfect. So calm. So innocent. It even has rabbits and nothing says garden at the beginning of the world like big fluffy rabbits. In fact, so determined are we to extend the interpretation we try to crowbar the serpent in with the water snake. That isn't tree climbing snake.  

I believe we have become so blindsided that we make the setting the ‘Garden of Eden’ for simplicity. Aside from Steinbeck’s theme of nature, I feel that there is a different garden we should be thinking about when looking at the novel.

There is a path through the willows and among the sycamores, a path beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by tramps who come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water.

The novel doesn’t make the opening setting a place devoid of humanity. It makes it clear that is frequented by humanity on a regular basis. And, if your knowledge of the bible is a little bit dodgy, then you might have missed that there was only two humans in the Garden of Eden. Not lots of them. Not a few living in a village nearby.

I feel that the opening has more akin to the Garden of Gethsemane. A garden associated with friendship. A garden associated with reflection. A garden associated with betrayal.

The Garden of Gethsemane was a garden on Mount of Olives (I know, California doesn’t have that many olive groves but it does have mounts) outside Jerusalem. After the Last Supper, Jesus goes to pray with his disciples. At this point, he is betrayed by Judas, captured and then crucified.

Let that sink in. After his last bowl of slop, Lennie goes to the brush to seek mental and emotional solace from his disciple, George. At this point, he is betrayed by George and killed. I know that there are no olives, but the similarities are striking. For years, I have sold the idea that the brush was an allusion to the ‘Garden of Eden’ and how sin changed everything. Of course, there are other interpretations. For this blog, I am focusing solely on the religious interpretations.

The Judas Kiss

Now, let’s look at George’s …sob…sob…sob betrayal. The infamous Judas kiss was an act that could be open to two interpretations. One: a kiss is an act of affection and respect. You only kiss the ones you love and respect. Two: a kiss is the signal that the person kissed is Jesus so the soldiers can capture him.

 "No," said George. "No, Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know." The voices came close now. George raised the gun and listened to the voices.                                                                        Lennie begged, "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now."  "Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta."                                        And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head.

If we take this interpretation further, we need to look Judas’ role. George’s telling of the dream is both an act of affection and a betrayal. He is telling the story out of love for Lennie because it mentally and emotionally calms him down, but at the same time it is a distraction for the act of shooting him in the head.

Judas isn’t the only disciple to betray Jesus. Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. George often hides the truth about Lennie several times. Although, he doesn’t actual deny knowing Lennie, he fails to tell the truth numerous times in the story.

An' you got it away from him and you took it an' you killed him?"

 "Yeah. Tha's how." George's voice was almost a whisper. He looked steadily at his right hand that had held the gun.  

So is George and amalgamation of Judas, Peter and the soldiers who took pity on Jesus when he was crucified. This for me possibly heightens the complexity of George’s character. Possibly, George even plays the role of Mary / Joseph. He treats Lennie as his own flesh and blood as a promise to somebody– ummm sounds familiar.

And the ending for George. Judas committed suicide after the Garden of Gethsemane. I cannot help but think something similar would happen  

“Woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Mark 14:21

Jesus

We know that literature throws up lots of allusions in relation to Jesus Christ. If there was someone presented with Christ-like perfection, it would have to be Slim.  I think interpreting Lennie as Jesus Christ figure is complicated given that Lennie kills people. However, there is an interesting relationship between innocence and power. Jesus was an innocent and kind man who was feared because of his powerful influence on others. With Lennie we have a largely innocent and kind man who cannot control his power. His power has a destructive influence.  Therefore, both die to prevent their power increasing. They both have visions when travelling through the wilderness. Only one has rabbits.

Now, here is where the story diverges from the crucifixion story. Most certainly Curley would have crucified Lennie and made him walk the streets with a wooden cross. Here, we have something more humane. Judas, I mean, George, prevents the crucifixion.

Added to this is the idea of sacrifice. The sacrifice of a loved one to atone for past sin.

 Other interesting religious interpretations

·         David and Goliath – a childlike Lennie defeats a (short) powerful figure of hatred Curley

·         Samson and Delilah  – a man with some interesting hair (might have curls) is obsessed with a woman. Look at how pleased Curley’s wife is when Curley’s power is taken away from him. Who asked Curley to wear the glove?

‘yep’, ‘no’ or ‘ what utter codswallop!’ – I will let you decide.

Thanks for reading,

Xris

Last few bits and bobs before the final exams

As a school, we teach English in sets and with each new year we get a different ‘kettle of fish’. Last year I had a shiny, deluxe kettle with salmon in it. This year’s kettle is somewhat different. Still, a great kettle with unique fish. Just a bit different. They are in that difficult place of hoping to secure a C based on their controlled assessments and their exam result. Some lack drive. Some lack speed. Some direction.

It is always the saddest thing with Year 11s that some only start listening when the exams get close. The same messages I have been repeatedly saying for the last few years only starts to be heard to. when weeks away from the exam. And boy have I tried. I have said the message in a high voice, a low voice, a fast voice, a shouting voice, a sarcastic voice, a friendly voice and various other voices, including the voice of doom. So, some of them have switched on and there is still hope to make improvements.

Moving from a top set to a lower set has meant that I have seen big differences between what our top and other students do. Therefore, this year has been to look at mimicking the behaviour and approaches top set students do and seeing if they could apply things to their work.

1: Think of complex ideas  - this but this

Curley’s wife is fragile, but strong in her behaviour and attitude.

Lennie is caring, yet unknowingly cruel.

Our students when explaining an interpretation they tend to focus on one, sole, aspect. For example, in ‘Of Mice and Men’ we often get students describing Curley as a bully. Then students spend their time explaining when and where he is a bully. The problem is that limits their understanding of a character. Characters are full of contradictions. They are never one thing. Yet, students focus on one thing. Therefore, the lovely conjunction ‘but’ or ‘yet’ helps to get students to subtly extend their interpretations in a more detail.

Curley is an aggressive yet gentle character. He’s aggressive towards men, but he keeps his gentle side for his wife. This is reflected with his gloved hand. The two hands show the two different sides to Curley.

2: Build up the interpretations in layers

SHOWS / SUGGESTS / SYMBOLISES

Sheila shows us how the young in society don’t understand the consequences of their actions.

Sheila suggests to us how children copy the behaviour of their parents.
Sheila symbolises how parenting is partly responsible for a lack of change in society.

Originally, I used the shows/suggests/ symbolises structure for exploring pictures in the AQA English exam. However, it developed further when a student used it in an essay on ‘Of Mice and Men’. The great thing about it was that it made students actively look at the text in three different ways and it actively moved students away from literal readings of texts. But, it didn’t negate a literal reading of the text. What happens is important, but the subtext is more important.  Some students have experimented with this structure and inverted it. It worked for them.

3: Focus on sentences

Less able students often drown in texts. They spend either too longer finding a quote or the sink under the text by simply retelling things. The best students often zoom in on one aspects and make connections to other parts. Therefore, I have been teaching students to pick a sentence and use that as your starting point.

They have done this with the poems, non-fiction texts, novels and plays. It narrows their focus and it is amazing how original their thoughts and idea are. Bright students are especially precise with their ideas. When looking at the non-fiction paper, I get students to pick a line in the opening, middle and closing paragraphs. It gets them on track quicker and faster than before.

Below is an approach used with ‘An Inspector Calls’. It is always hard for students to comment on the presentation of a character as there is so much to choose from. Students were able to make some perceptive observations based on three quotes for a character and they were able to spot how the presentation of the character changes.   

Mr Birling

Act 1
‘….perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together…’ 
Act 2
‘I must say, Sybil, that when this comes out in the inquest, it isn’t going to do us much good. The Press might take it up.’
Act 3
‘Now look at the pair of them – the famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke-’

Mrs Birling
Act 1
‘Now, Arthur, I don’t think you ought to talk business on an occasion like this.’
Act 2
‘ Secondly, I blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have. If, as she said, he didn’t belong to her class, and was some drunken young idler, then that’s all the more reason why he shouldn’t escape.’
Act 3
‘Well, why shouldn’t we?’ [carry on]

Shelia
Act 1
‘Oh – it’s wonderful! Look – Mummy – isn’t it a beauty? Oh –darling.’
Act 2
‘It means that we’ve no excuse now for putting on airs and that if we’ve any sense we won’t try.’
Act 3
‘But you’re forgetting one thing I still can’t forget. Everything we said had happened really happened.’

Eric

Act 1
‘Mother says we musn’t stay too long. But I don’t think it matters. I left ‘em talking about clothes again.’ 
Act 2
No dialogue – only enters at the end of the scene
Act 3
‘I don’t see much nonsense about it when a girl goes and kills herself. You lot may be letting yourselves out nicely, but I can’t. Nor can mother.’

Gerald
Act 1
‘Wouldn’t dream of it. In fact, I insist upon being one of the family now. I’ve been trying long enough, haven’t I?’
Act 2
‘All right – I did for a time. Nearly any man would have done.’
Act 3
‘Everything’s all right now, Sheila. What about this ring?’

Inspector Goole
Act 1
‘It’s the way I like to go to work. One person and one line of inquiry at a time. Otherwise, there’s a muddle.’
Act 2
‘Do you want me to tell you – in plain words?’
Act 3
‘This girl killed herself – and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.’

4: Micro quotes

The most able students tend to pepper their writing with quotes. Less able students tend to pick one big quote and leave it smack in the middle. Therefore, I have been getting students to use micro quotes or single worded quotes. We all know Mr Birling refers to the ‘Titanic’ and being in a time of ‘prosperity’. In one sentence, they can integrate points from different parts of the text quickly and it is so easy to do. Think of five micro quotes for Lennie – bear, paws, mouse, behind, shapeless.

5: Linking techniques

Weaker students tend to feature spot, or technique vomiting, as I like to call it. Better students show how two things combine to create an effect. Discussions in lessons have been around what two things create a particular feeling or sense. Therefore, when writing, I’d expect them to say: ‘The writer uses X and Y to create a sense of …’

6: Structure    

 It sounds silly, but students struggle with structure and we can easily rectify that. The new GCSE specs have made me go structure mad, but simply teaching students to write points in a logical structure of how the text is presented in the text.

Take ‘An Inspector Calls’:

Point 1 Act 1
Point 2 Act 2
Point 3 Act 3

It’s not rocket science, but giving this structure helps some students to explain how things develop across a text. At the start…. By Act 2…. By the end…. This structure ensures that they address the structure of the text implicitly. Look at the presentation of a character. How is the character introduced? How does the character develop? What does the character learn at the end?

The same applies with the themes. Each stage is looking at how the aspect develops. Weaker students just look for examples. Better students explore how something develops across a text. This approach allows for some students to do this.

7: Get them talking in abstract nouns

The more a student uses abstract nouns the more abstract and complex their ideas will be. Getting students comfortable with using more abstract words in lessons has been my goal this year. Only this week, we were applying ‘inferior’ and ‘superior’ to aspects of the language example. We were exploring how the writer shows their thoughts and feelings in a text.

8: Adverbs are your friends

Emotionally, physically, mentally the poet is exploring the consequences of war. Unusually he uses exaggeration to covey feelings of frustration. The challenge is for the students to use the most appropriate ones to use. But giving students the words ‘emotionally’, ‘psychologically’, ‘physically’ and ‘mentally’ can help students to comment on presentational aspects of a text. The words ‘surprisingly’, ‘disappointingly’ and ‘unusually’ allow students to subtly evaluate the text or aspect.

Aside from all these things, nothing replaces knowing the texts well. With only a few weeks before the final exams, I have a few lessons and in those lessons I am being precise, simple and clear about what they need to do. Their brains are cluttered with a lot at the moment. Now that some of them have decided to listen, I am hoping that my message is clear. Learn from the best. Do what the best do. You might be a D, but you can copy what an A does in their writing. Aim higher.

Time to put the kettle on. First, I’ll just check that there are no fish in it.

Thanks for reading,
Xris    

Novel settings as poetry

This week I have been working on teaching students how writers structure a setting in a novel. At the same time, I have been also teaching how Steinbeck uses setting in ‘Of Mice and Men’. And, in the interest of making my workload lighter, I discovered a nice, easy approach.

A few years ago, people started making blacked-out poetry. A nice simple idea whereby students remove large chunks of a text and boil it down to what, the student thinks, are the most important words.  

This time around I decided to work backwards and I must say I am pleased with the result. I produced setting poems for the different places in ‘Of Mice and Men’. I selected the key parts of a setting and binned the rest. The result was a messy bit of poetry. Nonetheless, it did fit together.

Students analysed the setting as a poem. This made for some interesting comments about the writer’s choice of words. The bunkhouse provoked questions about the use of paint and the size of the windows. But, importantly, it helped students to spot patterns in the text and explore the structure of the descriptions (again, a link to the new GCSEs) in relation to the text’s meaning.

I suppose in terms of the new exams we need to help train student to search for links, connection and ideas across a text, yet they are often dealing with large blocks of text in the exam. This approach of boiling the text down and analysing it will be an approach I will be using with Year 10s so they can build their confidence at looking at larger texts. All too often, the questioning we use in lessons is directing students to particular idea in the text. This approach allows students to be precise yet also concentrate on the whole text at the same time. The poems kept the structure and order of things as well as the language choices.  

After student had analysed a setting poem they compared it with others. They discussed the use of windows in the novel – something I have never given a second thought to. One student suggested the window represented freedom or, interestingly, intelligence. Another, student explored the use of the word shed for Crook’s setting. A shed being something where you store machines or tools. Others spotted the use of cleanliness in Old Suzy’s Place and how this contrasted with the other settings. One student thought the use of the word ‘clean’ was actually sarcasm.    

I suppose the beauty of this approach is it declutters the text for student. Sometimes, it is too hard to find points of interest when they are so many things and points in a text. This helps narrow the little grey cells and see the wood for the tree. Plus, I am comparing texts and analysing ‘poems’ all at the same time.

Thanks for reading,

Xris  

Here are some examples:

Bunkhouse

long, rectangular building

whitewashed

unpainted

small, square windows,

eight bunks

showing their burlap ticking

shelves were loaded

Western magazines

a big square table littered with playing cards

flies shot like rushing stars

Crook’s Bunk

a little shed

square four-paned window

leather-working tools

a range of medicine bottles

both for himself and for the horses

scattered about the floor were a number of personal possessions

several pairs of shoes

a big alarm clock

a single-barreled shotgun.

a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905

battered magazines

a few dirty books on a special shelf over his bunk

a proud, aloof man

sound of moving horses, of feet stirring, of teeth champing on hay, of the rattle

of halter chains

threw a meagre yellow light

The Barn

 the great barn

piled high with new hay

hay came down like a mountain slope to the other end of the barn

the feeding racks were visible

between the slats the heads of horses could be seen

Sunday afternoon

resting horses nibbled the remaining wisps of

hay

afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the

barn walls

bright lines on the hay

buzz of flies

outside came the clang of horseshoes on the playing peg

shouts of men, playing, encouraging, jeering

quiet and humming

lazy and warm

Old Susy’s Place

old Susy’s place

a nice place

a laugh

always crackin’ jokes

never talks dirty

get a shot for two bits

nice chairs

Susy don’t give a damn

ain’t rushin’ guys through and kickin’ ‘em

a hell of a lot of fun

crackin’ jokes all the time

My girls is clean

no water in my whisky

clean and she got nice chairs

no goo-goos

The Dream Farm

An’ live off the fatta the lan

the garden

the rabbits

in the cages

the rain in the winter

the stove

how thick the

cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it

a big vegetable patch

up a fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the

rain comin’ down on the roof

a little house an’ a room to ourself

Little fat iron stove

We’d belong there

The End of 'Of Mice and Men'

I write this blog with tears in my eyes. Big fat tears are streaming down my cheeks as I contemplate teaching ‘Of Mice and Men’ for the … last…time. Compose yourself, Chris. You can do it. In fact, you can do it!  Again. Next year. Just with Year 9. The lorry that is ‘Of Mice and Men’ is going to be delivered a year or two early for most people.

When I think back to the furore last year about the sudden demise of the novel from the curriculum, I am confused. Part of me adores the book and its subtleties and nuances. Another part of me despises the book because of the exam focus that surrounds it. Then another part of me, because I am a man made of many parts, thinks it is so important that people read the book’s ideas on friendship, disability and outsiders. Finally, a part of me is frustrated that this is the general ‘go to’ book for most teachers when there are others next to it in the stock cupboard. The fact that I have so many conflicting parts is probably one of the reasons I walk funny.

Recently, I sent ‘Of Mice and Men’ off on holiday. For a year, I cleansed my palate with Harper Lees’ ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Then, I came back to the little old novella I have been teaching for what seems years and I discovered a few things. I don’t think they are mind blowing, but for me, they were gaps in the curtains of something deeper in the novel.

‘those Western magazines ranch men love to read and scoff at and secretly believe’

When looking at the description of the bunkhouse, one student piped up, looking for a way to avoid doing work, ‘Can we watch a Western?’ Usually, I skim over this, but this time, looking for an opportunity to do some more work, I said: ‘Yeah.’ Now, I am not a big fan of Westerns and, to be honest, I have never read one or seen one. Therefore, I got researching.

These points I discovered:

·         There is very little moral ambiguity in the story. The villains and heroes are clear from the start. Often the hero wears a ‘star’. The purpose of the story is to purge the bad elements from the community or story.

·         There is an ongoing battle with nature. The Western tends to set in physically harsh environments. Men try to live in barren and inhospitable places and if they succeed they have beaten nature.

·         They tend set in the furthest reaches of humanity. The further away from mankind you are the closer you are to discovering something new.

·         There is usually a power struggle at the heart of the story. Let’s call it a showdown. Two people have to meet at midday in the centre of town to shoot it out. Only one person can win.

·         There is a big contrast between the barren external environment and the exciting places inside – brothels and bars.

·         Oh yeah. They always feature horses, hats, guns and nice boots.

The simple throwaway comment from a student made me see the novel in a new light. What is the novel’s link to pulp Westerns? They were incredibly common and popular at the time, so people reading the books would have known the reference and the allusions that maybe fly straight over my head.

It is interesting to note that, in way, John Steinbeck’s story can be seen as an ‘anti-Western’ story. The characters aren’t clearly defined as heroes and villains. We are made to feel sympathy for Curley’s wife, and in some ways, Curley. They show unpleasant characteristics in their behaviour, but these usually stem from an insecurity or a fear and not out of pure hared or greed. The heroes commit bad deeds, but for good or misguided reasons.

Then, look at the way that nature is used in the book. Mankind rules nature throughout the story. It farms it and controls it, but the start and opening contain dominant images of nature in control. The world is beautiful yet man is dangerous. Compare this view of nature to that of a Western. The world is ugly and dangerous and man has to fix things and make it habitable.   

We even have a showdown in the form of Curley and Lennie. It isn’t a gun and quickness that defeats the other person. It is pure physical strength. In a Western, the fastest gunslinger is the winner in society. In Soledad, the strongest and smartest is the winner in society. Lennie sadly learns this lesson.

In fact, if you look at the book from a ‘Western’ perspective, you see how the novel is an inversion of the typical cowboy story. It is often commented that Steinbeck worked hard to be realistic with his storytelling. However, I’d suggest that he isn’t being realistic, but writing a Western with humanity. Or, a modern Western.  

 

There are usually seven types of Western stories.

1. The Union Pacific story. The plot concerns construction of a railroad, a telegraph line, or some other type of modern technology or transportation. Wagon train stories probably fall into this category.
2. The ranch story. The plot concerns threats to the ranch from rustlers or large landowners attempting to force out the proper owners.  – Curley clearly fears this happening.
3. The empire story. The plot might involve building up a ranch empire or an oil empire from scratch, a classic rags-to-riches plot.  – The dream of the farm
4. The revenge story. The plot often involves an elaborate chase and pursuit, but it may also include elements of the classic mystery story. – Curley search for Lennie  / the death of Curley’s wife   
5. The cavalry and Indian story. The plot revolves around taming the wilderness for white settlers. – There is the constant farming on the ranch, but also the taming of characters such as Lennie and Curley; they make the ranch inhospitable
6. The outlaw story. The outlaw gangs dominate the action. – Curley’s actions go against the natural law of the ranch  
7. The marshal story. The lawman and his challenges drive the plot. – George

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_(genre)

The characters make an interesting point of comparison too. I think that we can safely establish that Slim is the typical cowboy. He is a foil for the other characters. We see how Curley fails to meet the typical view of a cowboy. Look at some of the adjectives Steinbeck used to describe his and Slim’s physical appearance:

Slim: tall, long, black, damp, hatchet, ageless, slow, large, lean, delicate, calm

Curley: young, thin, young, brown, brown, tightly curled

Our image of a cowboy does not feature a tight perm. The curly hair of Curley highlights how biologically he is on the losing path already. (I suggest he invests in a pair of GHDs.) Then, there is the body. One is ‘lean’ while the other one is ‘thin’. Then there is experience. One is ‘young’ whereas the other one is ‘ageless’. I could go on with the comparison between Curley and Slim. In fact, all the characters contrast with the typical view of a cowboy. Even, George is short. They show how the ‘normal’ man cannot ever match up to this idealised view of cowboys. Look at how Slim is presented as a divine being. He represents what the others want to be. It is quite telling how the character of Slim is never really developed beyond being the nice guy that calms the situation down. Yes, he is the Sherriff of the set up, and, isn’t…. he ….dull. That is the problem with Westerns: they don’t make interesting characters. They make great cardboard cut outs, but very limited characters. Does Slim have a wife? Does Slim have a hobby? Does Slim have an interesting backstory? He doesn’t. He fixes things and that is it.

So, if Slim represents the typical Western character, the position he holds in the story is to highlight how real the other people are in the story. He also symbolises the idea that Westerns are something to ‘scoff’ at. Slim is too good to be true, yet all the characters ‘believe’ in him. This blind acceptance is at the heart of the story. We accept things when we know that they can’t possibly be real, true or possible. Nobody can be like Slim. He is just too good to be true, but nobody can blame a man for trying. That’s what society does. It puts images of things that look attainable and achievable, but the reality is that nobody can attain to that level of perfection. We can try, but we will never get there.  

‘those Western magazines ranch men love to read and scoff at and secretly believe’

Every Year 10 / 11 student remembers what magazines were in Crooks’ ‘room’, but interestingly he doesn’t have a Western magazine. Why? Maybe Crooks doesn’t ‘secretly believe’ in the Western stories. He is constantly reminded by others of his non-conformity in a world. Crook is the complete opposite of Slim and so has to travel the most to become like him.  However, his routes of escapism is probably more realistic than any of the other characters. And, that is a tough thing to say given the historical context. I always teach my classes to see that Crook’s is the most intelligent character in the book. He reads books to improve himself and escape from the world he finds himself in. The classic Western story is a world not populated by black people, so not only is the world not accepting of black people in those days, but the dreams and ideals are also not accepting of Crooks.

Then, we get to Bill Tenner.

“’Dear Editor,’” Slim read slowly. “’I read your mag for six years and I think it is the best on the market. I like stories by Peter Rand. I think he is a whingding. Give us more like the Dark Rider. I don’t write many letters. Just thought I would tell you I think your mag is the best dime’s worth I ever spent.’”

This is always one of the oddest things in the book and don’t get me on to the talking rabbit. One day I will solve that ‘elephant in the room’ or ‘talking bunny in a dream sequence’. The men see this letter as a sign of success. There is one person that has made it. But, what has he made. He has written a letter. That’s all. Bill has not made a family. Bill has not started his own ranch. Bill has not won a million pounds. No, the sign of success is a letter that has been published. Not a farm. Not a ranch.

It is interesting to see that success is closely linked to the Western again. He is successful because his name is printed next to a Western story. The closest thing to being in the story.  He has achieved his dream by being linked to a Western story in a magazine. Bill hasn’t become a cowboy, but he has become the next best thing. So is that what John Steinbeck is teaching us in the book: You cannot achieve your dreams, but if you can settle for the next best thing, you will be happy.

I am sad that I will not be teaching at GCSE ‘Of Mice and Men’, but I am happy because I can teach this rich text with another year group. But, do you know what? There are benefits to having a break from studying a text for a bit. You get to see things again in a new light….

The saloon bar doors swung open. A girl was standing there looking in. The piano stopped. Heads looked up from their table. The sunlight silhouetted the girl.  

She had full, rouged lips and widespaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers. “I’m lookin’ for Curley,” she said. Her voice had a nasal, brittle quality.

Nobody answered her.

The two new strangers to town held their heads down, avoiding any contact. The larger of the two men couldn’t help but look up. The other man punched him hard in the arm.

She looked around again. ‘Any of you?’ An old man with his lame dog hidden at his feet by the bar continued wiping the bar down, ignoring her.

The Sherriff was at the back of the room. His head was down covered by his Stetson. His ageless face obscured by the hat. His hand gently went to gun on the table. He sensed trouble. It always walked into his town, his way, his life. This time it wore red.

The sunlight held dust in the air and painted the room with like a thin layer of gauze.   

 

Thanks for reading,

Xris

Of Mice and Men and symbols

I make no apologies for this, but my blog’s content is often inspired by my teaching that week or what I am planning to teach next week. This week, I am doing a bit of both. Most of us are in that awful stage that is the equivalent of holding someone’s hand over a cliff. You can see you haven’t much time as your grip on their hand is weakening. They could plunge or they might at the last minute find something else to hold on to. I mean: the last few lessons before the Year 11s sail off into the sunset.

Like most of us, we are cramming and hoping that something sticks. The lessons tick by and we panic that there is less and less time. The help sheet left on the desk becomes a symbol of a missed chance, less marks in the question or a defiant student.

Over the years, I have learnt that less is best in the revision process. It is better not to revise everything, but focus on a few key things and subtly cover a few more things along the way. This week we were preparing for the ‘Of Mice and Men’ Literature exam. We were looking at extracts and analysing them in detail. During those lessons, I came across two symbols.

 

Symbol 1: The red shoes, nails and lipstick of Curley’s wife symbolise danger.

 

Symbol 2: Curley’s wife is only seen in buildings in the novel which symbolises how women are trapped and locked away in society.

 

Both comments were made by the same student. But, for me, they highlight an aspect of teaching that might help my Year 11 students. The use of symbolism. Or, importantly, how to make effective comments about symbolism. Both comments warrant merit, but for me the second one is insightful, and shows original thought. The other, dare I say it, is clichéd and predictable. There’s the obvious thing to say and there is the not so obvious to say. And, I’d even go so far to say that the ‘not so obvious’ is what we aim to develop in students, but often or not we teach them the ‘not so obvious stuff’.

Then symbols then started to roll out in the lesson and I came up with one:

Symbol 3: Slim’s smoothing of his crumpled hat symbolises his role in the novel; he fixes the problems on the farm.

Symbol 4: Curley’s hair is curly to symbolise his lack of masculinity.

Symbol 5: Curley’s curly hair symbolises his tightly wound personality. Like a tightly wound spring, he is ready to pounce.

 

But, aside from being original, what makes some symbols better than others? It is the connection with something far greater in the story. The structure. The plotting. The themes. The writer’s intent.

Take symbol 1 again:

The red shoes, nails and lipstick of Curley’s wife symbolise danger.

Becomes, when linked to other aspects:   

The red shoes, nails and lipstick of Curley’s wife symbolise a desire to be noticed and how she is so different to others in the farm. (theme)

The red shoes, nails and lipstick of Curley’s wife symbolise danger for the reader. This ‘red’ is a warning to the reader that she will cause trouble for the protagonists. (structure)

So, I am going to work on looking at linking symbols to the wider picture. But, what else develops an explanation of a theme? A connection. A student’s understanding of a novel is what usually shows in an explanation. Those that make links to other aspects make better explanations than those who don’t.

Symbol 3: Slim’s smoothing of his crumpled hat symbolises his role in the novel; he fixes the problems on the farm.

Becomes:

Symbol 3: Slim’s smoothing of his crumpled hat symbolises his role in the novel; he fixes the problems on the farm such as when Curley’s hand is crushed. Slim takes charge and resolves the conflict.

Then, there is the alternative interpretation:

Symbol 3: Slim’s smoothing of his crumpled hat symbolises his role in the novel; he fixes the problems on the farm such as when Curley’s hand is crushed. Slim takes charge and resolves the conflict. Or, the smoothing of the hat could symbolise just how perfect he is.

Next week, we are going to look a symbols in another text and look at developing insightful explanations about symbolism.

We’ll focus on events and objects.

We’ll explore the deeper meaning.

We’ll explore the links to the structure, themes and ideas.

We’ll explore the links to other parts of the novel.

We’ll make alternative interpretations.

 

Oh, but then there are metaphors – and those are a just a little bit more complex.

 

The grass outside needs cutting. It is a symbol of my tardiness. It stands tall and unkempt. It is a symbol of my role in the household. But it is a metaphor for ….

Thanks for reading,

Xris32