Vocabulary
Page Number
College Questions
Reading Comprehension
Who Said It?
100

Pugnacious

Willing to fight!

100

"We just come in," said George.

25

100

What is similar about the first and last chapters?

Introduction, setting, Lennie drinking water, 

100

Does the boss believe George?  How do you know? George looked down at his feet. "Bus driver give us a bum steer," he said. "We hadda walk ten miles. Says we was here when we wasn’t. We couldn’t get no rides in the morning." The boss squinted his eyes. "Well, I had to send out the grain teams short two buckers. Won’t do any good to go out now till after dinner."

no, squinty squinty
100

You think we'll hit the highway an' look for another lousy two-bit job like this. You don't know that we got our own ranch to go to, an' our own house.

Candy

200

Hoosegow

Jail

200

Well, get the hell out and wash your face.

65

200

Explain two ways Candy and his dog are similar and their significance.  

Appearance, Usefulness,

Foreshadows Candy's future and shows the men's lack of compassion for others

200

How does Steinbeck make the following dialogue seem natural? 

"Sure he's jes' like a kid. There ain't no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he's so strong. I bet he won't come in here to sleep tonight. He'd sleep right alongside that box in the barn. Well-let 'im. He ain't doin' no harm out there."

Words are spelled like people say them.

200

"I'm jus' tryin' to tell you I didn't mean nothing," said -------. "I jus' thought you might of saw her."

Curley

300

Liniment

Ointment for pain

300

. . . and under the window itself a little bench for leather working tools, curved knives, and needles, and balls of linen thread. . .

66

300

Explain one important aspect of Curley's clothes.  

High heeled shoes show that he's proud/ not a working man

300

Why is the word 'much' said three times? 

As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.

Slows the reader down
300

Baloney

Curley's Wife

400

mollify

to calm down

400

'I've knew people who got a rag-rug on the floor an' a Kewpie doll lamp on the phonograph they think they're runnin' a parlor house.' 

52

400

Explain the significance of one of Lennie's hallucinations at the end of the book.  

Aunt Clara shows Lennie reflecting on his failure to follow advice from the past.  

The rabbit shows Lennie's lost hope for the future.

Both show the audience that Lennie understands the situation he is in.  

400

What makes Whit's dialogue unique? 

Sure. Come along. It's a hell of a lot of fun-her crackin' jokes all the time. Like she says one time, she says, 'I've knew people that if they got a rag rug on the floor an' a kewpie doll lamp on the phonograph they think they're running a parlor house.'

Quick and repetitive
400

"Maybe Carlson lost his gun.

George

500

recumbent

growing close to the ground

500

Well stick around and keep your eyes open.  You'll see plenty.  

51

500

Explain the significance of George's card games.

Cards = fate

Solitaire = one person is involved

Euchre = multiple players are involved in fate

500

How does Crooks add emphasis to the image he portrays? 

"I remember when I was a little kid on my old man's chicken ranch. Had two brothers. They was always near me, always there. Used to sleep right in the same room, right in the same bed-all three. Had a strawberry patch. Had an alfalfa patch. Used to turn the chickens out in the alfalfa on a sunny morning. My brothers'd set on a fence rail an' watch 'em-white chickens they was."

Repetition

500

You'll jus' stick around an' stew the b'Jesus outa George all the time.

Lennie as Aunt Clara