Dr Matthew Martin of the St Mary’s English Department addressed the entire fourth-year GCSE class at Rathmore Grammar School on Thursday, 3 November 2014. He was invited by Ms Edel Mulligan of Rathmore’s English Department in advance of her students sitting their controlled assessment on John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men.


Dr Martin addressed the major themes of the novel and advised the year group on strategies for writing under the difficult conditions of a controlled assessment.

“A balance needs to be struck,” he said, “in a class like this. On the one hand, we are helping young people in concrete, practical ways to achieve the objectives of the assessment. On the other hand, we must remind them why we read a novel like this—that is, in order to understand Steinbeck’s celebration of human friendship and his tragic plea for mutual understanding.”

In thanking Dr Martin, Ms Mulligan expressed her hope that there would be opportunities for further collaborative work with the St Mary’s English Department.