1. Of Mice and Men Answering the Literature question.

3. Common Mistakes How is Lennie portrayed in the opening chapter? Lennie is described as an animal in the opening chapter. This is an example of an G or F Level answer Here the person is able to come up with an answer to the question that is basic with no quotations to back up their points. An examiner might comment that the candidate shows a simple knowledge of the text

4. Common Mistakes How is Lennie portrayed in the opening chapter? Lennie is described as an animal in the opening chapter, ‘snorting water like a horse’. This is an example of an E or D Level answer Here the person is able to come up with an answer to the question with a quotation to show where they got their idea from. An examiner might comment that the candidate shows an understanding of the question with close reference to the text.

5. C Grade and above answers How is Lennie portrayed in the opening chapter? Lennie is described as an animal in the opening chapter, ‘snorting water like a horse’. This portrays Lennie as a horse which makes the audience realise he is strong like a horse but also lacking the mental capacity of a human. This is an example of an C or B Level answer Here the person is able to come up with an answer to the question with a quotation to show where they got their idea from. They are then able to tell the reader what effect that quotation has. An examiner might comment that the candidate shows an understanding of the question with close reference to the text, making judgements on the writer’s intentions.

6. Bonus Points These tricks get you higher marks ‘ snorting like a horse’ ‘ carrying in their lower leaf…’ ‘ large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders’ ‘ dabbled his big paw’ Simile Personification Descriptive adjectives Metaphor Commenting on the techniques used by the writer get you higher marks still.

9. Explanations English is just like Maths in that the examiner wants to see your working. Your explanation is your working; it basically says ‘I came up with my answer because of this piece of evidence that made me think the author meant…’. Take the point and evidence you used in the previous section and add an explanation to take the grade from an E to a C or above.

10. Show me you’ve listened. How does pages 89-93 show that Slim is respected character? (10 Marks) 15 minutes. Hint: Remember to show your working and use part of the question in your explanations. Aim for between 3 and 5 quotes.