Edexcel International GCSE English Literature Of Mice and Men Exam Questions

About Edexcel International GCSE English Literature Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men is a Modern Prose set text in Paper 1, Section C of the Edexcel International GCSE in English Literature. John Steinbeck's 1937 novella follows George and Lennie, two migrant workers on a California ranch during the Great Depression. You choose one of two essay questions worth 40 marks, assessed on AO1 (knowledge and response) and AO4 (context). Examiners reward answers that use examples from across the whole novel and explain how the 1930s setting shapes characters such as Crooks, Candy and Curley's wife, rather than answers that simply retell events.

Key themes, characters and context

• George and Lennie Their friendship is unusual among ranch workers. George protects Lennie, a strong man with a learning disability, and the shared dream of owning a farm holds them together until George shoots Lennie to spare him Curley's lynch mob.
• Loneliness Most characters are isolated: Crooks because of racism, Candy because of age and disability, Curley's wife because she is the only woman. George says ranch workers are 'the loneliest guys in the world'.
• The American Dream The farm dream spreads to Candy and briefly to Crooks, but every dream fails. The title, from Burns's poem 'To a Mouse', suggests that plans go wrong.
• Power and weakness Curley uses his status as the boss's son, Curley's wife threatens Crooks with lynching, and Slim holds natural authority. Steinbeck shows the weak turning on those even weaker.
• Foreshadowing and structure The novella is built like a play in six scenes, opening and closing by the pool. Candy's dog being shot and Lennie killing the mouse and puppy foreshadow the ending.
• Context for AO4 The Depression and the Dust Bowl drove itinerant workers to California; Black Americans faced segregation and the threat of lynching; women had few rights and limited roles.

Common mistakes in Of Mice and Men

• Narrating events in order instead of building an argument. Each paragraph should make a point about the question.
• Using examples only from one section. Examiners want references from across the novella, for example Slim in sections 2, 3 and 6.
• Treating context as a separate history lesson. Explain how the Depression explains a character's behaviour, such as why Candy fears being 'canned'.
• Calling Curley's wife simply a 'tart'. Show how Steinbeck reveals her loneliness and lost dreams, especially in section 5.
• Getting basic details wrong, such as who shoots Candy's dog (Carlson) or where George and Lennie arrive from (Weed, after trouble with a girl).

Try three Of Mice and Men practice questions