Of Mice and Men: Chapter Two

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

In the previous lesson, found in Related Lessons in the right-hand sidebar, you learned why setting is important for a story.

Briefly explain to your parent or teacher how setting influences a story. Another element of writing that helps to develop a story is characterization — the descriptions of the beings that perform the actions of a story. Although characters are usually human, they can be other types of beings as well, such as animals, ghosts, and even aliens! Think about a story that has non-human characters.

• How were they described?

In literature, there are several ways that authors can create a character to make it come alive for the audience. Read the following PowerPoint slide presentation about characterization. As you read, write down the eight ways a writer can use to develop a character. Keep this list of notes because you will use it in the Go! section later in this lesson. Explore The 8 Methods of Characterization PowerPoint, created by Trish Turner (LinkedIn Corporation).

After you have read the presentation, discuss the following questions with your parent or teacher:

• What method or methods do you think are the most effective way to create a character?
• What character or characters in your previous reading experiences have been the most vivid to you? What about their description has made them stand out to you?

Now that you know more about characterization, you are ready to read the next chapter of Of Mice and Men. First, you will need to define the vocabulary from the chapter. Using a print dictionary or Dictionary.com (Dictionary.com, LLC), look up the definitions for the words listed below and write down their definitions on a separate sheet of paper. Then, write a sentence using each word correctly in the sentence's context. When you have finished your definitions and sentences, share them with your parent or teacher:

• scourges
• derogatory
• liniment
• contorted
• rassle
• brusquely
• mollified
• apprehensive
• pugnacious
• complacently

Once you have shared your work with your parent or teacher, take out your Of Mice and Men Reading Log that you printed out in the first lesson in this series, as well as the same copy of Of Mice and Men that you used to read Chapter One in the previous lesson. You can find the Of Mice and Men Reading Log in Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar. You are now ready to read Chapter Two of Of Mice and Men. As you read, fill in the answers for Chapter Two in your reading log.

When you have completed your reading and questions, move on to the Got It? section to check your responses.