Evidence that literary characters' school reports show early troubling signs

Lennie Small - Of Mice and Men

Lennie has been seated at the very back of the class so that other pupils can see the board. He cannot be faulted for effort in his academic studies but struggles with most aspects of the curriculum. He does love nature, especially animals, although since the unfortunate incident when Lennie was allowed to take the class gerbils home for the holidays, we have tried to divert his interests. He is generally well-behaved in school; nevertheless, he did receive a detention for shouting 'I like my beans with ketchup' repeatedly across the school dining room, upsetting the catering staff. Also, he has joined the after-school Film Studies club but continually insists they watch clips of 'Watership Down'; other pupils are wearying of this. Lennie usually does relate well to other pupils, but is less popular with the girls, most of whom have taken to wearing pastel colours to school. With further work on his social skills, Lennie should have a bright future. 

Macbeth - Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'

Macbeth shows extraordinary promise as a pupil and excels particularly in Design and Technology. His GCSE project of a dagger and sheath looks as though it will gain high marks, although Macbeth is sometimes found staring at it as though he can't believe what he is seeing. This is modest of him as it really is an outstanding piece of work. He is also a talented drama student and a recent workshop on stage fighting exhibited his not inconsiderable skill, combining clever stagework with imaginative dialogue. He did have to be reprimanded, though, as threatening to 'unseam' his classmates by dividing them in half was perhaps taking the exercise too far. He is applying to join the army once leaving school, we understand, and we applaud this move, although there are warning signs. For instance, failing to become Head Boy this year did cause him some personal distress and we are sure that Macbeth will work hard to curb these less pleasant aspects of his personality.

Arthur Birling - 'An Inspector Calls'

Arthur is a hard-working pupil, fond of Maths and Business Studies, and an involved member of the school's Conservative Society. His recent written project on The Advantages of Capitalism lost marks for lack of diligent research and some unsubstantiated opinions but overall he shows promise. He has recently completed his three-minute Speaking & Listening presentation in English, choosing to speak on the same subject of capitalism, and it was unfortunate that the teacher had to stop him after 23 minutes, half his classmates having fallen asleep on their desks. Unfortunately, Arthur does suffer from delusions of grandeur and was recently found telling his fellow pupils that he expected to be made Senior Prefect next year, which was not the case. He is self-conscious about his accent and pronounced 'year' as 'yah' and the resultant teasing led to an unpleasant confrontation in the playground. Arthur is making a telephone table in Design & Technology although he seems nervous around it. We have yet to discover why.  

 

Arthur, still going strong at 22 minutes