Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Grade descriptors with examples

The following grid is designed to give you an idea of how a GCSE examiner would grade your work. The first and last column have been completed
for you, all that is left for you to do is identify each the skills being demonstrated by the example and its description.
The first one has been done for you as an example.

Example Description of skills Grade

You make a statement or remark, you comment on an G

Steinbeck writes about nature
aspect of the text.

Steinbeck writes about nature. He uses a metaphor. You pinpoint or spot a device, you: F

Steinbeck writes about nature. He uses a metaphor to show that Lennie is like an You back up your statement with some evidence or some E
animal. detail, you:

Steinbeck writes about nature. He uses a metaphor to show that Lennie is like an You organise your points so that they answer the question, D
animal. This shows that he can be dangerous. you:

Steinbeck writes about nature. He uses a metaphor to show that Lennie is like an You give details to make your point clear, you: C
animal when Curley ‘stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw’. This shows that
he can be dangerous.

Steinbeck writes about nature. He uses a metaphor to show that Lennie is like an You investigate and look at points in detail. You see that B
animal when Curley ‘stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw…’ This shows that there is more to discover, you:
Lennie is dangerous and can perhaps be unpredictable when, moments before, he
had been ‘smiling with delight at the memory of the ranch.’
A
Steinbeck writes about nature. He uses a metaphor to show that Lennie is like an You delve deeper into the author’s methods. You examine
animal when Curley ‘stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw…’ This shows that them as if under a microscope, you:
Lennie is dangerous and can perhaps be unpredictable when, moments before, he
had been ‘smiling with delight at the memory of the ranch.’ Steinbeck describes
Lennie in this way to subtly suggest that he, like an animal, reacts instinctively to
the immediate situation.
A*
Steinbeck writes about nature. He uses a metaphor to show that Lennie is like an You weigh up how effective the method is. You use your
animal when Curley ‘stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw…’ This shows that own judgements and invent your own ways of looking at
Lennie is dangerous and can perhaps be unpredictable when, moments before, he the novel, you:
had been ‘smiling with delight at the memory of the ranch.’ Steinbeck describes
Lennie in this way to subtly suggest that he, like an animal, reacts instinctively to
the immediate situation, but also forms a pattern of behaviour which can traced
throughout the novel and leads to the death of Curley’s wife.