1) How is your reading of The Grapes of Wrath going so far? What struck you the most? What challenges are you having?
2) What two things did you bring to class from your research on The Depression? Share them here.
Thanks and look forward to your input!
Mike
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo far the reading's going pretty well, it's all manageable in terms of how much we get assigned per class and the the active reading's becoming easier as time goes on. My two Depression facts were that President Hoover infamously declared that "[Americans] were past the worst" in March of 1930. The Depression, of course, continued unabated for another 9 years, ending with the advent of WW2. My second fact was that "Hoovervilles" were what shantytowns were called in that time.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteReading The Grapes of Wrath is going well. The thing that struck me the most was the dust bowl and how it pretty much ruined the crops and the lives of farmers and their families. It's not really a problem but what bothers me the most is how the dialogue is written in the book. The two things that I found from my research is that throughout the 1930's over 9000 banks failed. Bank deposits were uninsured and people lost their savings. The other thing was that by 1933, 13-15 million Americans were unemployed.
ReplyDeleteMy reading started out rough as you don't learn any names until about page 20, once I got a good grasp on who some of the characters were I found myself more interested in the story. What struck me the most was how Joad asked for a ride even though the truck said "No Riders". Joad had accused the trucker of being forced to carry that sign and how he is a good man which in turn got him a ride.
ReplyDeleteThe story 3 little pigs was based off The Great Depression, and Thousands of families traveled on Route 66 to California looking for work.
The reading is not to bad, some of the language and references are a bit hard to understand but other then that its a good read. What stuck me is how Casy completely lost faith in religion, even though he was a minister. I had that the depression hit not only America but also the global economy. Also Hoovervilles were made due to the poverty of the people.
ReplyDeleteMy reading so far is going well, it is a reread of the book for me, but has been a relatively long time so I am essentially reading the book for the first time. I really enjoy the depth of the characterization that John Steinbeck uses throughout his writing. My facts that I learned about the Great Depression was that it took until 1954 for the stock market to completely recover to levels of that from before the Depression, and that the average family income was cut by 40%. As well as that doctors earned $61 a week, which was over three times as much as a factory worker would earn in the same time, a wage of $17.
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying The Grapes of Wrath. It is an easy read, and i find it easy to relate to because my great grandmother lived as a child through the great depression and because of that she would rinse out zip lock baggies, and reuse almost everything she could to save money. she had no trust in the government and i think she instilled a little bit of that in my grandmother because my grandmother now saves everything and attempts to get as much use out of items as she can. i never got to see my great grandmother much, she passed away a few months ago in California, but i think it would have been really cool to talk to her about growing up and how her family got through the depression.
ReplyDeleteThe reading is good so far. I like the style of writing much better than the style of "The Submission". It's clearer and more interesting without being tedious. The descriptions are enough for you to understand without eliminating your mental image of the characters/setting.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that stuck me about this book is the depravity of the characters. Most of the people I know lead lives that I wouldn't mind living; they have money and they are relatively happy and well off. The characters in this book are not. One of the most well-off characters seems to be the truck driver, who is working a job most people would rather not have. All of the characters seem to be in poverty and not even noticing that they are sitting in economic dust.
I'm not having too many troubles with the book. As I said, it's more enjoyable than the common book and that makes it easier to read. I can read pretty much anything (I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy at age 10) but if it's interesting I will retain it really well.
My fact was that hundreds of thousands of families traveled west on Route 66 to California, following what John Steinbeck in his famous novel The Grapes of Wrath called "The Mother Road."
From http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/04/12_great-depression.html
I enjoy reading The Grapes of Wrath so far. Its not hard to understand and it sounds very interesting. The thing that stuck me the most was when the preacher said that he "would take girls out to the grass" and do sexual things to them, and that this caused him to stop preaching.
ReplyDelete1) Monopoly had become very popular because it allowed the player to feel rich.
2) Over 750,000 farms failed during this time.
my reading is going, that's the best i can say. The character of young Tom Joad, I like him a lot. He seems to have a wily sense about him which is always something i can relate to. The structure of the books so far bothers me, the way it goes from a generic chapter about the times, back to the story of Joad, it drives me nuts. Also I have a bit of problem with the dialog. I understand that that makes sense for the characters, but it makes it awkward to read.
ReplyDeleteThe two facts I found about the Great Depression were that Herbert Hoover declared in March 1930 that we were "past the worst" but the depression continued for another nine years. Another fact I came across was that after the crash of the stock market there was a wave of suicides in the financial district. It was said that at one hotel the clerks asked people as they checked in if they were staying or jumping.
For me reading The Grapes of Wrath is hard, but only because I don't really like historical fiction. So far nothing has really struck me and as I said before the most challenging thing for me is the genre.
ReplyDeleteMy two facts are, that the bonus army, a group of WW1 veterans that were promised financial aid to get in 1945 requested to get at least some of it in1932. My other fact was that 60-80 million people went to movies each week.
My reading in the grapes of wrath is going pretty well, I was most struck by the differences in family roles, compared to today. The only challenge I am having is the slang terms used in the dialect throughout the chapters, although most is self-explanatory. The first thing that I brought to class about the great depression was that many farmers lost land and moved out west, poor farming habits followed by drought caused the Dust Bowl. The second fact i brought was that at the peak of the Great Depression unemployment had been anywhere from 25%-50%.
ReplyDeleteWhen I began reading I really disliked the book since it described the weather and the sun for 3 pages straight. However, after the interaction between the truck driver and Tom Joad, I enjoyed it somewhat and like it more.
ReplyDeleteThe two facts I found were that many people came to farmers during the depression because they were the most secure since they had food. I also found out that though most people know that America was affected by the depression, many other countries were also greatly affected.
The reading is a little difficult for me to get into as it is not something I would normally enjoy reading about. It is however very detailed in descriptions. I think it might be a slight challenge for me to stay focused on. My two facts were Chicago gangster Al Capone opened a soup kitchen and hundreds to thousands traveled Route 66 after John Steinbeck called it "the mother road".
ReplyDeleteThus far I really enjoy the language of the book. The dialogue really sets the scene well for the 30s/depression era. One thing I'm finding a little hard is picking up on the symbolism. A lot of it is very clear but I cant help but think the turtle in chapter three had some deeper meaning than to show how cruel some truck drivers are. I think it has more to do with the form of dialogue. Being that I not as familiar with the words and sentence structure of the time, I don't catch on as quickly to the underlying hints. But overall the first five chapters have done a good job of setting groundwork for the rest of the novel.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the depression goes, I looked into the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The new deal gave inspiration to a lot people living through the Hooverisms of the time. But the reality of it is the new deal provided good ideas to build on but did really help the economy at all at the time. Roosevelt did however crack down on banks. Closing all banks and only allowing them to reopen once they proved their stability. This is one of the first times the federal government stepped in to businesses. And although no tight regulations were adapted immediately, the ideas kindled over time due to the New Deal.
My reading is going alright. I think the hardest thing for me with reading the book is their language and trying to read it in my head. Its not a language I'm really use to and sometimes I don't understand their "slang". I like the book and reading it and the different kinds of details shared in the book make it more interesting. I'm able to imagine it all in my head better. Sometimes I get lost and kindof confused so I have to reread a section to understand what is going on but overrall, its a great read. My 2 facts were that the great depression lasted for about 12 years and in 1933, the unemployment was at its all time high at over 25%.
ReplyDeleteThe reading is going good so far. I do not like the writing that much because I like reading books that have 1st person in it; I wish the book had a little bit more of dialogue. I am having a little trouble with the word choice sometime because the words that the author chose were from the 1930s.
ReplyDeleteOne of the interesting facts that I read was that in 1932 Cleveland, Ohio had half of all the workers jobless. Also during the great depression Gangster Al Capone started a soup kitchen
I am really enjoying the book. It is interesting how Steinbeck used the dialogue from that time era, but it is a little hard to understand at some points. Although it is slightly confusing, it adds to the story in the sense that it shows that during the time many people were lacking education. A connection I made with book is when it mentioned the dust bowl. I kept thinking of the song Johnny Cash covered called "Hurt". The chorus to the song is "you can have it all, my empire of dirt." It made me think about how the farmers made stupid mistakes and caused there once flourishing crops into an "empire of dirt". Another aspect of Steinbeck's writting style is the diction. The words he chooses are the just right words, for example "threshed" when he was describing the turtle crossing the road.
ReplyDeleteTwo facts i discovered about the depression were that so many people were jumping off buildings that clerks to hotels were asking if they were staying or jumping. My other fact i found was that the three little pigs was written, and produced by Disney to symbolize that depression could be beaten if they worked together.
The reading is going well! I have always found the great depression interesting, so im excited to get another perspective from the book! It amazes me what the people that lived through the great depression had to go through. The little things that we take for granted today, was a distant thing for them, a gleaming hope in the future. They lived in one of the hardest times this country went through, and i cant imagine what it would be like to live through that. A few facts i found, were that the people started using zippers instead of buttons, because they were too expensive, and in the years 1932 and 1933, the U.S. did not mint nickles.
ReplyDeleteThe first five chapters of Grapes of Wrath have actually managed to grab my attention. I rarely find books that catch my interest. The ex-preacher Casy is a character that I am looking forward to reading more about.
ReplyDeleteMy research on the Great Depression focused on Roosevelt's efforts to get the US on the road to recovery. He put numerous policies in place that accelerated the recovery process. These policies put a lot of people to work creating the infrastructure of the Country. Many roadways and national parks were created by the WPA(Work Projects Administration).
I think the reading is interesting so far. I think that the part with the truck driver and Tom in the truck was the most interesting because by reading it you learned that Tom had gone to jail for murder. I think that the parts of the book like this that have a dialouge and action by characters are the easiest to read. I think the hardest part for me to read are the physical descriptions of things. They are interesting to a point but get boring and I end up spacing out and don't remember what I read.
ReplyDeleteThe first fact I found about the great depression was that divorce rates dropped and family structure changed. The other was that minorities were the first to be layed off, using the phrase "last one hired, first one fired."
My reading of the first five chapters in "The Grapes of Wrath" is going pretty well.What struck me the most was being able to get a first hand experience, while reading, about what actually happened during this time period. It happened close to 90 years ago and the fact that it still has such an impact on people's lives today is the amazing thing about this historical event. The only challenge I am having is understanding the slang terms being used. I am getting used to them and understanding them as I continue to read. The first fact that I brought to class that during the Depression time 1 out of every 4 people were out of work and could not get a job. The second fact I had was that many towns know as "Hoovervilles" were created for people that did now have homes to live in and live in shanty tents.
ReplyDelete