the Grapes
of Wrath
In 1939 The Grapes of Wrath was first published and immediately secured its place as one of the most famous novels in the entire American literary canon. Steinbeck witnessed labor struggles as large numbers of migrants arrived in California, and he had the opportunity to tour labor camps and interview migrant families. In the winter of 1938, Steinbeck saw firsthand the miserable conditions brought on by intense flooding in Visalia, CA.
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Prepare students for the controversial issues they will encounter in the classroom while reading The Grapes of Wrath.
A chapter by chapter breakdown of the major discussion topics and writing prompts to help frame an entire unit plan for The Grapes of Wrath.
Introduce students to John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, its characters, the setting, and the contextual background, including the Great Depression.
Short answer questions test student understanding and reading comprehension for The Grapes of Wrath.
Plot and theme are often easily confused. This activity should clear up any confusion.
Besides students’ usual grammar exercises in English class, they can learn literature-based ways to enhance their grammar capabilities.
Work collaboratively to create an in-depth study guide to understand key scenes, quotations, and themes in The Grapes of Wrath.
Students can improve their sentence fluency by emulating the sentence structure of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and those of their classmates.
Why did so many people uproot their lives and head to California and the West? Use first hand accounts from the Library of Congress.
Bring the migrant life of the Great Depression closer to home as students examine what people their own age endured in order to survive.
Examine the lives of migrant workers and learn what kinds of solutions have been attempted, what has been successful, and what has changed since the 1930s.
Several hundred thousand people fled North and West during the 1930s. Yet these regions were not immune from the effects of the Depression.
Understand the rich connection between period music of the 1930s and The Grapes of Wrath using lyric sheets and listening.
The “American Dream” is a constant theme in The Grapes of Wrath. This concept is important to understanding the novel and the motivation of the characters.
Help students understand characters and their motivations through the use of a graphic organizer.
Character Webs are graphic organizers that help students to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and the connections between characters.
This activity helps students to understand characters and their motivations through the use of a graphic organizer.
Examine the push and pull factors families faced during the Great Depression and express those understandings in the form of letters home.
Examine the characters who left the family, their motivations, the results of their departure, and determine if these characters betrayed the family.
For the Joads, and other migrant families, their automobiles became more than a method of transportation, they became a home and a means of survival.
Create a “message board” where students can post and comment upon important, entertaining, and interesting passages from The Grapes of Wrath.
Students will examine Muley and Tom and discuss whether the novel has come full circle at this point.
“There are five layers to this book, a reader will find as many as he can and he won’t find more than he has in himself” (Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, 178-179)
Provide a structure that students of all abilities can utilize to build their analytical skills.
Engage in a beginner level mock trial with the Joad family facing charges of kidnap and murder to help students analyze the family's motivations.
Create radio play adaptations of scenes as live, unseen performances or recorded and edited podcasts.
Examine how the Joads and other families react to the changing conditions around them and strike at the heart of Steinbeck’s major themes.
Prepare students for the controversial issues they will encounter in the classroom while reading The Grapes of Wrath.
Introduce students to John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, its characters, the setting, and the contextual background, including the Great Depression.
Why did so many people uproot their lives and head to California and the West? Use first hand accounts from the Library of Congress.
Bring the migrant life of the Great Depression closer to home as students examine what people their own age endured in order to survive.
Examine the lives of migrant workers and learn what kinds of solutions have been attempted, what has been successful, and what has changed since the 1930s.
Plot and theme are often easily confused. This activity should clear up any confusion.
Examine the transition from small agrarian farming to the large mechanized, industrial farms prevalent in California.
Set the novel into the broader context of what was happening around the country in the 1930s.
A chapter by chapter breakdown of the major discussion topics and writing prompts to help frame an entire unit plan for The Grapes of Wrath.
For the Joads, and other migrant families, their automobiles became more than a method of transportation, they became a home and a means of survival.
Help students understand characters and their motivations through the use of a graphic organizer.
Character Webs are graphic organizers that help students to gain a deeper understanding of the characters and the connections between characters.
Besides students’ usual grammar exercises in English class, they can learn literature-based ways to enhance their grammar capabilities.
Create a “message board” where students can post and comment upon important, entertaining, and interesting passages from The Grapes of Wrath.
This activity helps students to understand characters and their motivations through the use of a graphic organizer.
Examine the push and pull factors families faced during the Great Depression and express those understandings in the form of letters home.
Work collaboratively to create an in-depth study guide to understand key scenes, quotations, and themes in The Grapes of Wrath.
Understand the rich connection between period music of the 1930s and The Grapes of Wrath using lyric sheets and listening.
Students creatively express their understanding of the social and economic tensions present in the novel and during the Great Depression.
Students can improve their sentence fluency by emulating the sentence structure of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and those of their classmates.
Examine how the Joads and other families react to the changing conditions around them and strike at the heart of Steinbeck’s major themes.
During the Great Depression, artists, writers, historians, and photographers traveled the country capturing the lives and histories of people and places.
Short answer questions test student understanding and reading comprehension for The Grapes of Wrath.
Examine the characters who left the family, their motivations, the results of their departure, and determine if these characters betrayed the family.
Steinbeck’s concept of dignity is something that can be lost or gained, and an essential element to society.
Provide students with empathy, sympathy, and a greater understanding, during any point of the novel, of the characters and situations surrounding death.
Students will examine Muley and Tom and discuss whether the novel has come full circle at this point.
Revisit the big moments in the novel where a character (or characters) delivers a meaningful, revealing, or important set of thoughts and ideas.
Convert the classroom into a courtroom to help students understand the legal system and its implications.
Create radio play adaptations of scenes as live, unseen performances or recorded and edited podcasts.
Ma is the center of the family – the “citadel.” In this activity students will examine the central role Ma plays throughout the novel.
“There are five layers to this book, a reader will find as many as he can and he won’t find more than he has in himself” (Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, 178-179)
Provide a structure that students of all abilities can utilize to build their analytical skills.
The Final-Final requires students to take action on writing assignment feedback and to resubmit their work for a last round of teacher feedback.
Students show their position on a specific statement by standing in a particular corner of the room or answering a question with a choice.
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