Name: ______________________________________

Mastery ELA8

Date: _____________
Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

Chapter 6 Formative Writing Response Outline
Every event in John Steinbecks novel Of Mice and Men led up to the moment when George pulled the trigger
and killed Lennie. At the beginning of the novel, the audience learned that Lennie frequently killed mice.
Throughout the novel, the audience learned that Lennie was a nice and caring individual who did not know his
own strength. Toward the end of the novel, the audience saw the destruction of Lennie was ultimately capable
of: killing an innocent bystander.
At the end of Steinbecks novella, readers are left with the question of whether or not George was justified in
his actions. Did George do the right thing by killing Lennie, or did he commit a vicious crime?
Your Task: In a one paragraph persuasive response, briefly summarize the events from chapter six. Then,
state whether or not George was justified in his actions and identify if he did the right thing or not by Lennie.
Be sure to support your claim with details from the text. Your body paragraph must contain a topic sentence,
at least four supporting sentences, at least 2 quotes, and an original concluding sentence, without saying "In
conclusion".

Directions: Complete the following graphic organizer in preparation for your one paragraph response to the
task. Your work will be collected and graded as a formative writing response.
Check one of the following:
______ George did the right thing by killing Lennie.
_______ George committed a vicious crime.
Original Paragraph Title
Paragraph Elements
1. Topic Sentence: What is the paragraph about? (Be
sure to include title, author, and genre.)

Formative Paragraph Outline

1. Topic Sentence:

2. Summary: Keep the summary brief and concise. Try to 2. Summary:

think of the most important events that have happened
so far. Your summary should be no more than 3-5
sentences. An effective summary does not include an
opinion.

3. State your claim: Directly state whether or not George 3. State your claim:
was justified in his action. Did he or did he not do the
right thing?

4. Provide reasoning: Explain why you feel the way that 4. Provide reasoning:
you do without using they I.

5. Cite textual evidence: Provide a quote that supports

your claim and cite it in MLA format. A quote cannot
stand alone as a sentence. It needs to be introduced.

5. Cite textual evidence: Introduce quote for

example : explain what is happening in the story before
the quote as an introduction,

(Steinbeck

).

6. Explanation: Explain why this quote supports your

claim.

7. Cite textual evidence: Provide a quote that supports

your claim and cite it in MLA format. A quote cannot
stand alone as a sentence. It needs to be introduced.

6. Explanation:

7. Cite textual evidence: Introduce quote for

example : explain what is happening in the story before
the quote as an introduction,

(Steinbeck
8. Explanation: Explain why this quote supports your
claim.

8. Explanation:

9. Concluding statement:
9. Concluding Sentence: Provide a final thought on the
events from the final chapter.

).