����ý

Foundation tier question

Read the extract below. Then answer the following question:

What are your thoughts and feelings as you read this extract? Give reasons for what you say, and remember to support your answer with words and phrases from the extract.

Higher tier question

Read the extract below. Then answer the following question:

With close reference to the extract, show how John Steinbeck creates mood and atmosphere here.

Remember, your key priority should be to analyse and comment on the language and techniques that Steinbeck has used in this extract only. For this question, you will not be given any marks for writing about the context of the book.

Look once again at the extract below and pay particular attention to the highlighted points. Consider your thoughts and feelings in response to these moments. Think about how they create mood and atmosphere.

1. And then he whispered in fright, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing. – Lennie’s sudden realisation of his act and the repetition of bad thing create a sense of panic and fear.
2. From outside the barn came a cry of men and the double clang of shoes on metal. – This reminds the reader (and Lennie) of the outside world and the other men on the ranch. The cry of men and clang of the horseshoes creates an undertone of violence.
3. I shouldn’t of did that. George’ll be mad. – Lennie’s short sentences suggest urgency and panic.
4. Halfway to the packing box where the puppies were she caught the dead scent of Curley’s wife, and the hair rose along her spine. – The room has an atmosphere of death. The dog’s reaction to Curley’s wife’s dead body suggests that the barn is uncomfortable and unnatural.
5. And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. – This creates sympathy for Curley’s wife, reminding the reader that she was just a young woman and suggesting that, in some ways at least, she was innocent.
6. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. – There is a mood of peace and stillness created here, but also a sense of things not moving or changing and therefore being lifeless.