At the start of Y10, you will be studying Of Mice and Men as part of the Edexcel IGCSE syllabus.
Details about the syllabus can be found here: Edexcel International GCSE English Literature | Pearson qualifications
Of Mice and Men
To prepare, please read the novella in advance of starting the course. You can find an online copy here: Of Mice and Men - Full Text.pdf (google.com)
Or, if you would like to purchase a copy, we would recommend: Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck: Amazon.co.uk: Steinbeck, Mr John: 9780141023571: Books
Two migrant field workers in California on their plantation during the Great Depression—George Milton, an intelligent but uneducated man, and Lennie Small, a bulky, strong man but mentally disabled, are in Soledad on their way to another part of California.
They hope to one day attain the dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie's part of the dream is merely to tend and pet rabbits. On the way to this dream though, things start to fall apart...
Further links to details about plot, theme, and character can be found here:
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z8q3dmn
Watching the video below, develop your understanding of the plot and the author's intentions!
Following studying Of Mice and Men, you will be studying poetry, plays, and developing your English Language skills. Alongside the English literature specification included earlier, you can find details about the English language course here:
Extension Reading:
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on the Joads, a poor family of tenant farmers driven from their Oklahoma home by drought, economic hardship, agricultural industry changes, and bank foreclosures forcing tenant farmers out of work. Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they are trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California along with thousands of other "Okies" seeking jobs, land, dignity, and a future. The Grapes of Wrath is frequently read in American high school and college literature classes due to its historical context and enduring legacy.
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- The Pearl by John Steinbeck
- The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
The two short novellas above would be a great choice for a further taster of Steinbeck, if you do not have the time to read the longer novels!
Joining in January
If you are a late starter and joining us in January, as well as reading and analysing Of Mice and Men (and ideally watching the movie on Amazon prime), you also need to read and annotate these 10 anthology extracts:
- Between a Rock and A Hard Place
- Beyond the Sky and Earth
- Chinese Cinderella
- Explorer's Daughter
- Explorers or boys messing about?
- H is for Hawk
- A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat
- Passage to Africa
- The Danger of a Single Story
- Young and Dyslexic
These can all be found in this anthology below. Please print and annotate, using each YouTube video to guide you: