Of Mice and Men: Study Guide for GCSE

Suitable for: WJEC

With its contrasting themes of dreams vs reality and friendship vs loneliness, told through the lens of displaced migrant workers George and Lennie, Of Mice and Men remains an important text of study for GCSE students. This comprehensive study guide offers targeted, detailed notes and analysis that lead students through the novel and aid understanding of Of Mice and Men as a text from a different culture, Great-Depression-stricken North America.

Should be purchased by any school teaching this book. Would save teachers a great deal of time

R Lodge, HoD & Peer Reviewer (Previous GCSE edition)
  1. Walkthrough – Build understanding of the chosen text with insightful and relevant commentary and analysis. All sections are concisely summarised, then examined in detail.
  2. Whole-text Analysis – Explores: Characterisation • Relationships • Setting • Themes • Ideas and Messages • Language • Form • Structure • Context

It does everything 2 or 3 revision guides do

G Bell, English Teacher & Customer (Previous GCSE edition)

Plus!

  • Student-friendly plot summary
  • Key term glossary
  • Original illustrations
  • Exam Guidance section with essay tips, PEE guidance and activities and a revision checklist

Woven into the analysis throughout you will find:

  • ‘Knowledge check’ consolidation questions
  • Discussion prompts to encourage debate and individual interpretation
  • Active learning tasks to deepen understanding
  • Sections focusing in on key quotations
  • Key term definitions to ensure students grasp difficult concepts

Perfect for all sets - flexible usage

E Evans, English Teacher & Customer (Previous GCSE edition)

Includes suggested answers for all activities.

The perfect companion to the Activity Pack for this text.

What do teachers say about this resource? (9951)

Excellent. A thorough, interactive guide to the book. Should be purchased by any school teaching this book. Would save teachers a great deal of time... Detailed analysis and explanation. Plenty of help with exam questions. Lots of tasks... Would lead to thorough knowledge and understanding of the text... Good match to syllabus... It's great!... Congratulations to the author. A lot of work has gone into this. Thanks, that's a big job done for me in preparing for next year.

R Lodge, HoD & Peer Reviewer (Previous GCSE edition)

There is so much within the pack - lots of information and useful sheets to use - we had to break it down to make different sections - that was a good thing!... It was focused and was able to be used with all levels of ability/ages... It does everything 2 or 3 revision guides do and stops me from trawling the internet... This pack will be used for years - it's timeless

G Bell, English Teacher & Customer (Previous GCSE edition)

Very good resource. It is comprehensive and analyses the different sections in great detail. The tasks are accessible to both able and weaker students.... Pupils are given opportunities to revise the Point Evidence Explanation structure and less-able pupils are given sentence starters that are useful when extending answers... Excellent... includes details about the novella's context which is most useful for coursework tasks.

J Sharrock, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer (Previous edition)

Nicely presented. Good focus on content, context and language... It's eye-catching and pushes students accordingly... It's easy to navigate... Its focus on content is more closely linked to the text than other resources... Perfect for all sets - flexible usage.

E Evans, English Teacher & Customer (Previous GCSE edition)

Excellent... we were able to upload it onto our Weblearn site... ZigZag materials are always very useful

S Rollins, English Teacher & Customer (Previous edition)

A very thorough, well-developed resource... Classes using the material would be thoroughly prepared for the examination... the focus on each section of the novel is thorough and would be excellent revision for students. The character notes are excellent in terms of providing quotations for students to learn for a closed book examination. The practice questions are also a good inclusion... thought-provoking and covers a wide range of topics. I particulary liked... the focus on socio-economic factors at the start of the pack would really enhance students' understanding of the text... All specifications are covered in this pack and very well too. The Assessment objectives provided in pupil speak is a useful addition for teachers and students so they can assess what they are being tested on.

M O'Farrell, Tutor & Peer Reviewer (Previous edition)

Gets students to think... supports GCSE criteria...
Enables students to prepare thoroughly for the marking criteria for examination questions

J Lopes, HoD & Peer Reviewer (Previous edition)

There is depth of detail both in relation to the content of the novel and to the idea of how to approach it to prepare for examinations... I particularly liked the way the essay questions at the end referred back to key sections in the pack so students using it could focus on quick revision of the areas relevant to them at that time... I really liked the section on useful quotations and analysis because it focuses on the detail in the text and looks at the nuances of language choices... It covers the main areas for study very comprehensively and is 'stepped through' in approach.

P Ashcroft, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer (Previous edition)

Excellent – a superb resource... I liked all of it – the chapter analysis and detailed section analysis with cloze passages will help all abilities to understand the novel.... The knowledge of the novel, contexts and other cultures is dealt with. The resource helps with comprehension of the play and then tests that knowledge, which is brilliant... I am very impressed. It is unusual to read a resource which matches so many specifications - superb!...
I like the sections on Language and symbolism which are not always covered in GCSE resource guides

S Fallon, Retired Teacher & Peer Reviewer (Previous edition)