1. Of Mice and Men
Themes and Crooks
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2. TITLE: Themes
Learning Objectives
We are learning to...
• Consider the themes that emerge
from the text
• Analyse text for meaning
Skills for Life: Questioning –
how and why?
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3. Theme
The theme of a piece of fiction is
its view about life and how
people behave.
In fiction, the theme is not
intended to teach or preach. In
fact, it is not presented directly
at all. You extract it from the
characters, action, and setting
that make up the story. The
reader must figure out the
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themes themselves. Page 3

4. What’s are the themes in The
Three Little Pigs?
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5. Steinbeck Diary 1938
In every bit of honest writing in the
world there is a base theme. Try
to understand men, [for] if you
understand each other you will
be kind to each other. Knowing
a man well never leads to hate
and nearly always leads to love.
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6. What are the themes in
OMAM?
• Dreams (and the fragility of the
American Dream)
• Friendship
• Loneliness
• The natural world
• Weakness
• The cycle of hopelessness
• Prejudice
• And others...Templates
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7. What are the themes in
OMAM?
• Dreams (and the fragility of the
American Dream)
• Friendship
• Loneliness
• The natural world
• Weakness
• The cycle of hopelessness
• Prejudice
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• And others... Page 7

8. Loneliness and Crooks
How does Steinbeck present
Crooks as a lonely character?
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9. TASK: Find quote and analyse
them using TEPEE
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10. How does Steinbeck present
Crooks as lonely character?
Skilled work 6 sections – perfect!
• Identify features of Steinbeck’s use of
will language with some explanation of layers
of meaning.
• Have some links between Crooks and
loneliness
Excellent work • Have a detailed explanation, with
will appropriate terminology, of how
language and linguistic features are used
with a developed perceptive identification
of layers of meaning
• Show sophisticated links to language
used about and by Crooks that show him
to be a lonely character
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11. This bit, this
Technique bit
really small
Evidence
at the top,
holds it all
Purpose
together.
Effect
Extension

12. Technique
Evidence
Purpose
Effect
Extension

13. Technique Write Less
Evidence
Purpose
Effect
Extension Write More

14. Technique Write Less
Evidence
Purpose
Effect
Extension
Write More

15. The author’s use of language / words / tone of voice is significant.
T Imagery is significant in this section.
The imagery of .... is especially significant in this section.
The author uses setting to convey ...
The characterisation of ... is developed in this section.
Structurally, this section is significant.
We can see this in the quotation ...
E We hear the character described as ...
The word ... demonstrates this.
Arguably, the most significant words are ... and ...
The image of the ... is crucial to our understanding.
The author seems to be suggesting ...
P The author is, perhaps, exploring the idea of ...
The author is explaining, illustrating, uncovering, hiding, illuminating, developing,
The words suggest / imply / convey ...
E This word / phrase / image / character makes me think of ... because...
This conveys feelings of ... because....
The word / image contains several ideas. For example...
The author seems to be exploring the them / idea of ...
E From one perspective we could say ... From another we might consider...
Developing the interpretation further, we could argue that...
This links with.....
This idea is repeated when......

16. The characterisation of Crooks as a lonely character
is developed in Chapter four.

17. The characterisation of Crooks as a lonely character
is developed in Chapter four. Steinbeck describes
the character as ‘a proud, aloof man. He kept his
distance and demanded that other people keep
theirs.’

18. The characterisation of Crooks as a lonely character
is developed in Chapter four. Steinbeck describes
the character as ‘a proud, aloof man. He kept his
distance and demanded that other people keep
theirs.’ The author seems to be suggesting that
Crooks’ isolation is self-imposed.

19. The characterisation of Crooks as a lonely character
is developed in Chapter four. Steinbeck describes
the character as ‘a proud, aloof man. He kept his
distance and demanded that other people keep
theirs.’ The author seems to be suggesting that
Crooks’ isolation is self-imposed. The word
‘proud’ suggests Crooks’ intelligence and dignity
and conveys the idea that he is acutely aware of
his prejudicial treatment. ‘Aloof’ also suggests
that his disinterest is conspicuous.

20. The characterisation of Crooks as a lonely character is
developed in Chapter four. Steinbeck describes the
character as ‘a proud, aloof man. He kept his distance
and demanded that other people keep theirs.’ The
author seems to be suggesting that Crooks’ isolation
is self-imposed. The word ‘proud’ suggests Crooks’
intelligence and dignity and conveys the idea that he
is acutely aware of his prejudicial treatment. ‘Aloof’
also suggests that his disinterest is conspicuous. The
author seems to be exploring the idea that loneliness
can be a way of protection and this real danger is
made more obvious later in the chapter when
Curley’s wife threatens him.

21. How does Steinbeck present Crooks
as lonely character?
Skilled work will 6• sectionsfeatures of Steinbeck’s use of
Identify – perfect!
language with some explanation of layers of
meaning.
• Have some links between Crooks and loneliness
Excellent work • Have a detailed explanation, with appropriate
will terminology, of how language and linguistic
features are used with a develop perceptive
identification of layers of meaning
• Show sophisticated links to language used
about and by Crooks that show him to be a
lonely character

22. Crooks’ bleak view...
I seen hundreds of men come by on
the road an’ on the ranches, with
their bindles on their back an’ that
same damn thing in their heads . . .
every damn one of ’em’s got a little
piece of land in his head. An’ never
a God damn one of ’em ever gets it.
Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a
little piece of lan’. I read plenty of
books out here. Nobody never gets
to heaven, and nobody gets no
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23. The imagery of Crooks as a disabled man is
especially significant in this section. We can
see this when the character described as ‘his
body was bent to the left by his crooked
spine’. This gives a clear image of Crooks as a
disabled man, but Steinbeck could be
suggesting that Crooks’ prejudicial treatment
disables him. His name, Crooks, emphasises
this.