The mighty travelers

Our LibGuide


B Block
Eli & Katie
Devan & Erika
Laine & Olivia
Emi & Kyle
Julia P & Eliza
John & Ju Ro
Chris & Claire
Brian & Bryce

F Block
Patrick & Hannah H
Trevor & Kate
Kevin & Albert
Caleb & Aislinn
Chloe & Katarina
Hannah B & Chely
Lindsay & Eric
Ally & Grace
Mitchell & Lotte

Blogger tips

Here's a quick informational sheet to help you with Blogger. If you have other questions, I'll help you out as best I can.

How to share blog authorship

To share authorship of the blog go to Settings --> Basic. Scroll down a bit to Permissions. You'll see a section called "Blog Authors". Click on "Add Authors", and send your partner an email to invite her/him to be an author. Once your partner has signed in, change his/her permission to ADMIN. Then you'll both have writing abilities.


Hope this helps.

GOW 16-19 plot fun

The Bible & The Grapes of Wrath


Discussion questions from lots and lots of reading

1. When the car breaks down, what is significant about Ma's reaction? How does this mechanical difficulty affect the relationship between Ma & Pa? Ma and the family? Tom & Al?

2. What advice does Tom offer the one-eyed man in the junkyard? What might the one-eyed man represent, metaphorically?

3. In the camping area, what information does the ragged man give to Pa about California? What effect does this information have on the Joads? (Pa, Tom, Al, & Ma)

4. What effect does the nightly camping have on the people heading for California? How does it give them strength and power? In what way does the night camp influence the identity of the migrant people?

5. What is the Joads' first view of California? What impressions of California do the father and son from the Panhandle provide?

6. p. 233: let's look at the use of the word Okie and how the narrator, a person we assume sides with the migrant worker, is able to turn the word around into something powerful instead of a slur of weakness.

GoW: Let's write a thesis!

Question: In what ways does the language of this passage exemplify the differences between Ma and Rose of Sharon?

"Ma, beside him, had folded her hands in her lap, had retired into a resistance against weariness. She sat loosely, letting the movement of the car sway her body and her head. She squinted her eyes ahead at the mountains. Rose of Sharon was braced against the movement of the car, her feet pushed tight against the floor, and her right elbow hooked over the door. And her plump face was tight against the movement, and her head jiggled sharply because her neck muscles were tight. She tried to arch her whole body as a rigid container to preserve her fetus from shock." (164)

Come up with a thesis statement for a paragraph on this subject. You are only writing a thesis statement.

Help with thesis:

• Identify a cause or an effect
• Answer how or why
• Evaluate / make a distinction between the two things being compared (think about words like more, most, greater)
• Take a stand on a controversial issue.

Reminder: close readings begin with an examination of language.

Step 1: Write a thesis statement

Step 2: Work through the check-list in groups
_____ answers the question asked.
_____ makes an argument rather than states an observation or fact.
_____ presents the argument of my essay in one complete sentence.
_____ expresses just one main idea – my argument is focused and can be answered thoroughly and well in a 1-2-paragraphs.
_____ is original – my argument aims to present a new idea or conclusion, and doesn’t just repeat what we’ve already talked a lot about in class.
_____ uses active, engaging, and specific words.

Step 3:
Pick the best/your favorite from the group to rewrite/revise into an awesome thesis.

Step 4:
Put thesis on the board.

GoW: Chpts 14 & 15

A little music to get us going .... and some lyrics

Character Groups: check in. What have we learned about your character?

Discussion questions:

1. Chpt 14 repeats the following line:

"The Western land, nervous under the beginning change." (150)

"The Western States nervous under the beginning change." (151)

"The Western States are nervous under the beginning change." (152)

What are the literal differences between these lines? What impact do those differences have on the meanings of these lines? And why repeat this idea?

2. Chpt 15: What causes Mae's prejudice to fade?

GoW: Chpts. 12 & 13: We Migrate!

Free write: "66 is the path of people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert's slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight" (118).

1. List all the significant verbs

2. List all the significant adjectives

3. List all the significant nouns

4. Using your word lists, describe the tone of this passage. Remember that when you talk about tone you use adjectives, and link your tone directly to the words of the passage.

Character groups: Quick check in with your group to add to your lists (5 min max)

Discussion questions:

1. Chapter 12 is somewhat chaotic in its narrative. Why do you think Steinbeck did that?

2. What is xenophobia and how can we see it expressed in these two chapters? How can you foresee it playing a large role in the remainder of the novel?

3. What is the first unpleasant event on the Joad's journey and what does it foreshadow about what lies ahead?

4. What's the significance of Granpa's death?

5. What is the value of Jim Casy's prayer on p.144? What are the Joads and the reader to take away from it?