Open a chapter after you've read it. Characters, context, a passage to find, and questions to carry.
Summer Foundations · Of Mice and Men
1
Chapter 1
The pool · George and Lennie · the dream
Characters
George Milton
Lennie Small
What's happening
Two migrant workers make camp by a pool in the Salinas Valley. George is sharp and watchful; Lennie is large and childlike. George tells Lennie the dream — a small farm, rabbits, independence — for what sounds like the hundredth time. Lennie waits for it like a story he loves to hear again.
Watch for
Steinbeck gives you the world before he gives you the people. Pay attention to what the opening description does before George and Lennie arrive. And notice the last word of the paragraph that introduces them: emerged.
Featured Passage
Penguin edition, p. 1 — the first full paragraph, from "A few miles south of Soledad" through "came into the open space."
Questions to carry in
George and Lennie's relationship is established through action and dialogue alone. What do you understand about them before anyone explains anything?
George sounds tired of the dream speech. Lennie can't wait to hear it. Are they dreaming the same dream?
Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse" is where Steinbeck took his title. What gap does it describe — and where do you already see that gap in Chapter 1?
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Steinbeck describes the world before he introduces a single person. What kind of world is it? What does it make you feel before anyone arrives?
◆ Book of Mottos
Find one sentence from Chapter 1 worth keeping. Write it by hand in your Book of Mottos — on paper.
2
Chapter 2
The ranch · Candy · Curley · his wife
Characters
GeorgeLennie
CandyThe Boss
CurleyCurley's wife
Slim
What's happening
George and Lennie arrive at the ranch bunkhouse. Candy, an old handyman, explains who's who. Curley — the boss's son, small and combative — takes an immediate dislike to Lennie. Curley's wife appears in the doorway, looking for Curley. Slim, the jerkline skinner, enters with quiet authority that everyone in the room feels immediately.
Watch for
Each character enters the bunkhouse differently. Watch what Steinbeck shows you about a person through how they enter a room — before they speak a word.
Featured Passage
Penguin edition, p. 26 — Candy's speech about Curley, beginning "Curley's like a lot of little guys" through "Always scrappy?"
Questions to carry in
Curley's wife is given no name in this novel. She is "Curley's wife" from the first page to the last. What does Steinbeck want you to understand about that?
Why does Steinbeck need a character like Slim — what does he represent that no one else does?
George already senses danger by the end of Chapter 2. Name the two specific things that worry him most.
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George says the dream speech like he's tired of it. Lennie waits for it like a bedtime story. Are they even dreaming the same dream?
◆ Book of Mottos
Find the sentence in this chapter that made you most uncomfortable. It may be the one worth keeping. Write it in your Book of Mottos.
3
Chapter 3
Candy's dog · the dream becomes real · Curley's hand
Characters
GeorgeLennie
CandySlim
CarlsonCurley
What's happening
The longest chapter. Carlson insists on shooting Candy's old dog; Candy cannot bring himself to refuse. The shot happens offstage — the men sit in silence and listen. Then Candy overhears George telling Lennie about the farm, offers his savings, and suddenly the dream is real. The chapter ends with Lennie crushing Curley's hand — on George's instruction.
Watch for
Watch the room during the dog scene — not just what happens, but what every person does and does not do. Then watch what changes the moment Candy's money makes the dream possible.
Featured Passage
Penguin edition, p. 14 — the dream speech, "Guys like us, that work on ranches" through "that's why." (Also in Chapter 1 — the repetition is intentional.)
Questions to carry in
Candy says he should have shot the dog himself. He means something specific by that. What does it mean to him to have let a stranger do it?
When Candy's money enters the picture, something changes in the room. What changes, and why? What happens when a private dream becomes real?
George tells Lennie to fight Curley. What does that instruction reveal about how George navigates a world where Lennie is always one moment from disaster?
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Candy's dog was suffering. The men were right to end it. Say where you stand — and what your answer has to do with the rest of this novel.
◆ Book of Mottos
Copy the dream speech phrase that stopped you most. Write it alone on its own line in your Book of Mottos.
4
Chapter 4
Crooks's room · exclusion · the double negative
Characters
CrooksLennie
CandyCurley's wife
What's happening
Saturday night. The other men have gone to town. Lennie wanders into Crooks's room — the segregated quarters off the barn. Crooks, who lives alone by force, briefly torments Lennie by suggesting George might not come back. Then Candy joins them and the farm dream is shared. Curley's wife arrives and with one sentence dismantles whatever fragile belonging has formed.
Watch for
Notice what Steinbeck puts in Crooks's room before anyone speaks. A room is a portrait. Then watch what happens to Crooks when he allows himself to hope — and exactly what makes him stop.
Featured Passage
Penguin edition, p. 72 — Crooks's speech on loneliness, "A guy needs somebody — to be near him" through "he gets sick."
Questions to carry in
Crooks says "a guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody" — a double negative, technically wrong. Does it say something that correct grammar couldn't? What does the mistake do that the correction can't?
Crooks briefly allows himself to hope, then pulls back. What makes him pull back? What does he know that the others won't admit?
Curley's wife tells Crooks she could have him lynched. What does that moment do to the room — and to your reading of her as a character?
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Crooks says "a guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody" — a double negative, technically wrong. Does it say something that correct grammar couldn't?
◆ Book of Mottos
Copy one line from Crooks's speech worth sitting with. Write it in your Book of Mottos.
5
Chapter 5
The barn · Curley's wife · what innocence costs
Characters
LennieCurley's wife
CandyGeorge
Curley
What's happening
Sunday afternoon. Lennie is alone in the barn with a dead puppy he has accidentally killed. Curley's wife finds him and talks — more than she has been allowed to talk in the entire novel. She tells him about her life, her dreams, her loneliness. Lennie strokes her hair. He panics. She is dead. Candy finds them and immediately thinks of the farm. George already knows what has to happen.
Watch for
Watch how Steinbeck handles the scene — the prose stays quiet and measured, then suddenly the rhythm breaks. Find the exact sentence where it accelerates and ask yourself what that formal choice mirrors.
Featured Passage
Penguin edition, p. 92 — the description after her death, "And Curley's wife was dead" through "her face was sweet and young."
Questions to carry in
This is the only time Curley's wife speaks at length about her own life. What do you understand about her now that the novel has kept from you until this moment? Why do you think Steinbeck waited?
Lennie doesn't understand what he has done. What is Steinbeck saying about innocence — about whether it excuses harm?
After she dies, Steinbeck describes her face as "sweet and young." What is he asking you to feel? What is the problem with feeling it?
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Curley's wife is more dangerous than Curley. Make the case.
◆ Book of Mottos
Copy the sentence in this chapter you will carry longest. It may be about Curley's wife. It may not be. Write it in your Book of Mottos.
6
Chapter 6
The pool again · the dream one last time · the ending
Characters
GeorgeLennie
SlimCarlson
What's happening
The novel ends where it began — the same pool, nearly the same words. But a water snake that appeared peacefully in Chapter 1 is now eaten by a heron. Lennie arrives. George tells him the dream one last time, then does what he has understood since Chapter 5 he will have to do. Slim says "You hadda, George." Carlson doesn't understand why either of them is upset.
Watch for
Before class: reread the first paragraph of Chapter 1. Then read the first paragraph of Chapter 6. The words are nearly the same. You are not the same reader. Notice what Steinbeck added and what he removed.
Featured Passage
Penguin edition, p. 99 — the opening of Chapter 6, "A water snake glided smoothly" through "silently as a creeping bear moves."
Questions to carry in
The snake in Chapter 1 is peaceful. The snake in Chapter 6 is eaten. What has changed in the world of the novel that this image captures?
George tells Lennie the dream one last time before the end. Why? What does it mean to tell someone a dream in that moment?
Slim says "You hadda, George. I swear you hadda." Carlson asks "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" These are the last lines. Say what Steinbeck wants you to feel in the gap between them.
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What George did at the end was an act of love. There is no other honest way to read it. Agree or disagree.
◆ Book of Mottos
Your final entry: the sentence from this novel that is now yours. Write it in your Book of Mottos.
Narration is the foundation of everything else we do. Tell back what you read — in your own words, without notes. Then let the coach respond.
Which chapter are you narrating?
Ch. 1
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Ch. 4
Ch. 5
Ch. 6
Whole novel
D · Describe · Narration Coach
In 2–3 sentences, tell back what happened in Chapter 1. Your words. No notes. Just what you remember.
Reading your narration…
Kim · Delight & Savor
What narration is
Narration is not summary and it is not retelling a plot. It is the act of telling back what a living text put into you, in your own voice. When you narrate well, you find out what you actually understood — and what you only thought you did.
DELIGHT is not a checklist — it's a set of moves. Each letter is something a careful reader does. Together they become a way of reading anything.
D
Describe
Narrate the passage in your own words
Tell back what you see — not what it means, not what you think about it. Just what happens. This is the first move and the foundation of everything else. We open every session with it.
E
Examine
What does each character desire?
Surface want vs. deeper need. What a character says they want is almost never the whole story. Look underneath the stated want for the thing the character may not even be able to name.
L
Look
Study the author's word choices
Find the one word that's doing the most work — the word Steinbeck couldn't have replaced. Not the most beautiful word. The keystone word. Pull it out and the arch falls.
I
Identify
Name the tone in 2–3 words
Tone is not plot and it's not theme. It's the emotional register — how a passage feels in the body when you read it. "Sad" is a start. What kind of sad? What texture? Find words precise enough to actually point at the feeling.
G
Gather
Choose a lens — commit to it
A lens is one word that lets you read the whole novel as one argument. Loneliness. Innocence. Belonging. Mercy. Exclusion. Choose one that opens something up — not one that shuts things down. Your final narration organizes around it.
H
Highlight
Weave a quotation into your sentence
Find a phrase from the novel — four to eight words. Write a sentence of your own that carries that phrase inside it, woven in rather than bolted on at the end. Your sentence and Steinbeck's voice become one thing.
T
Tell
State the deeper truth about human nature
No character names. No plot summary. One sentence about what this novel knows — about longing, belonging, or what people do when the dream gets close enough to touch. Write it last. Write it like you mean it.
Your Book of Mottos lives on paper — not here. This page is just the reminder and the prompt for each week.
What is a Book of Mottos?
A Book of Mottos is a collection of sentences worth keeping — lines from your reading that stopped you, that said something you'd felt but never found words for, that you want to carry with you. Charlotte Mason called this the habit of attention. Your book is attention made visible.
Write by hand. On paper. One entry per week, minimum.
Your six prompts
Week 1 · Chapter 1
Copy one sentence from the opening description — the one that gave you the clearest picture.
Week 2 · Chapters 2–3
Copy the phrase from the dream speech that stopped you most. Write it alone on its own line.
Week 3 · Chapters 4–5
Copy one line from Crooks's speech worth sitting with.
Week 4 · Chapter 6
Copy one line from Chapter 6 to carry with you.
Week 5 · Your passage
Copy the passage you marked — the one you're bringing to class. Or one line from it.
Week 6 · Final entry
The sentence from this novel that is now yours. Write it last. Make it matter.
"Don't copy passages that impressed you. Copy the ones that moved you. Don't fill every line. White space is part of the practice."
The world behind the book. Read this before or alongside the novel.
John Steinbeck
Born in 1902 in Salinas, California — the same valley where this novel is set. Before he became a novelist, Steinbeck worked alongside migrant laborers on ranches. He knew their speech, their humor, their exhaustion from the inside. When he wrote George and Lennie, he wasn't inventing — he was transcribing.
He published Of Mice and Men in 1937. He reportedly lost an early draft when his dog chewed through it. He rewrote it from memory. The dog's name was Toby.
He published Of Mice and Men in 1937. He reportedly lost an early draft when his dog chewed through it. He rewrote it from memory. The dog's name was Toby.
The Great Depression & Migrant Labor
In the 1930s, an estimated 300,000–400,000 migrant workers followed the California harvests from ranch to ranch — no job security, no permanence, barely enough to survive. Race shaped this world brutally: Black workers like Crooks were segregated, stripped of what little social belonging even the poorest white laborer could claim. Curley's wife has no name in the novel. That is not an oversight.
The Play-Novelette Form
Steinbeck called this a "play-novelette" — designed to be read as a novel and performed as a play with almost no revision. Notice how each chapter works: it opens by establishing a setting, introduces characters into that space, and ends with a scene change. Almost nothing is told to you directly. Almost everything is shown.
Robert Burns · "To a Mouse"
Steinbeck took his title from Burns's 1785 poem: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." In plain English: the best plans of mice and men often go wrong. Burns wrote it after accidentally destroying a mouse's nest while plowing. Read the poem — it's short, and it tells you what this novel is about before the first chapter begins.
Timeline
1929
Stock market crashes. The Great Depression begins.
1936
Dorothea Lange photographs "Migrant Mother" in Nipomo, California — thirty miles from Soledad, where this novel opens.
1937
Steinbeck publishes Of Mice and Men. Stage adaptation opens in New York the same year.
1938
Woody Guthrie records "I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore."
1939
Aaron Copland writes the film score for Of Mice and Men.
1951
Langston Hughes writes "A Dream Deferred."
1962
Steinbeck receives the Nobel Prize in Literature.