Assignment:
Of Mice and Men
Theme Final
For this assignment, you will need to examine the plot and characters of Of Mice and Men to extract a theme. A theme is a complete sentence of topic and opinion, a judgment about life. Themes should be complex and not obvious statements. In a short essay, you will introduce your theme and support it with evidence from the novel.
Necessary components:
Introduction
Discuss history context
Introduce the novel
Introduce theme (CLAIM)
Body
Each paragraph focused on claim
Separate ideas into paragraphs
Conclusion
Summary of claim and support
Implications for how we live
You will need:
4+ substantial quotations
Correct punctuation
Paragraphs
To help arrive at the theme, complete the graphic organizer:
Topic: Responsibility
(Examples: oppression (racism/sexism), workers, friendship, responsibility, loneliness
1. Which characters exhibit this topic?
George,
Candy
2. How is the topic being demonstrated?
George is responsible for Lennie
Candy - the dog.
Slim is responsible for the ranch and its workers
2 a. Quotation that shows how a character acts, thinks, or feels about the topic
"An' whatta I got...I got you! You can't keep a job and you lose me ever' job I get. Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time. An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out...you keep me in hot water all the time".
3. Incorporating all the above ideas together, what is being said about the topic? 1 Complete sentence. This will be your theme
In Of Mice and Men, the theme of responsibility keeps men from unraveling is shown through George, Candy, and Slim.