Alfie's English Journal

Steinbeck demonstrates and develops characters through the idea of isolation, effects he uses contribute to the development of characters, such as loneliness, prejudice, the American dream, Broken dreams and relationships between individuals.

Paragraph 1: ISOLATION: ” This is just a nigger talkin’, an’ a busted-black nigger. So it don’t mean nothing, see?”
“Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.”

Paragraph 2: LONELINESS: “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley.”
“S’pose you had to sit in here an’ read books.”
“A guy needs somebody- to be near him”

Paragraph 3: PREJUDICE: “S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ’cause you was black.”
“If George sees me talkin’ to you he’ll give me hell”

Paragraph 4: The American dream: “We got a future”
“We’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and…”

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  1. Christopher Waugh Avatar
    Christopher Waugh

    This is good planning – it makes good sense to sequence your ideas like this. Remember in the end you have to talk about the language and structure of the novel, the ideas it communicates and the historical context. You will definitely do that using this plan as long as you make sure you take time to look into the language features you notice in the quotes you choose – and you’ll do well if you link the language effects to the main point you’re making about isolation.

    Keep in mind that everything you’re talking about should build on the main pojnt that prejudice leads to isolation which Steinbeck is showing us is what has happened to society at the time of the Depression. He thinks people are poor not because they have no money, but more because they have no-one to care about and no dreams. Hence the tragedy of Lennie’s death.

    Let me know if you want me to expand on these thoughts further. Do they ring true to you? What do you think Steinbeck is showing this loneliness for? How do you think it’s seen in the language of the book?

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