Teaching Imagery while reading Of Mice and Men will help readers understand the novel better.

I taught the elements of literature to my high school English students. I just knew they were all going to get A's on the quiz. Everybody got D's and F's. In despair, I welded a desk to my Oldsmobile and rammed it into my college professor's office as punishment for not teaching imagery very well. The impact knocked me out.

I woke up in my classroom with Helen Keller standing above me. "You must begin teaching imagery in context," she signed, "Teaching imagery must be done with literature. I recommend making it part of your Of Mice and Men lesson plans." She elbowed me in the face and knocked me out again. When I awoke, I found Of Mice and Men lesson plans on my desk.

Here's the one on analyzing imagery.

The following assignments cover the following ELA common core standards for reading and writing.  This is for your administrator, not your kids.  Kids need student-friendly worded objectives.

1. RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
2. RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
3. W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
4. W.9-10.3d Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
5. L.9-10.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Additional resources include this Of Mice and Men Study Guide (for students and teachers) and this brief overview of Naturalism in Literature.

There are four imagery loaded passages in chapter one: page 1, the last paragraph on page 7, the middle paragraph on page 10, and page 16.  There are five recurring images on these pages: trees and leaves, sun and light, water, animals, sound.
1.  Make a chart for each recurring image.

• There should be five rows and 2 columns.
• On the top row write the recurring image (trees/leaves, for example) in the left column. Write quotation in the right hand column.
• Write the page number of the passage you want students to analyze in each row of the left column.
• Leave the right column blank. That's where students write the exact images.

2.  Write a paragraph analyzing the imagery in chapter one. Do not write a separate paragraph for each image. Write about all images together. The paragraph can be a timed writing assignment or a formal essay.

• Make a broad statement about imagery in chapter 1 for the topic sentence.
• Use specific examples for supporting details. Cite them correctly.
• Discuss author's purpose and how imagery affects the theme.
• Consider the following questions:
• How do images change as the chapter progresses? What does that symbolize?
• What might image repetition mean?
• Is there a pattern between the beginning and ending images of chapter one?
• How does water interact with nature? with man?

Because I care, I included a rubric for the assignment along with step-by-step instructions.  I'm perfectly fine with you printing it out and making as many copies as you want.

Use these Of Mice and Men lesson plans to blast student apathy in the back of the head with a luger.

1. An Of Mice and Men Teacher Review
2. Teaching Allegory in Of Mice and Men
3. Teaching Imagery in Of Mice and Men
4. The Best Laid Lesson Plans of Mice and Men
5. Teaching and Analyzing Circular Plot in Of Mice and Men