Somewhere Along the Road... - Grapes of Wrath (sitios de interés)
Descripción del sitio
Chapter Seventeen: Life in the campsCompare the way the famiies on the road treat strangers with the way the migrants as a group are treated by non-migrants.
Steinbeck describes the "evolution" of civilization among the migrants. What are the driving forces behind some of the rules and behaviors that evolve in this chapter? Are those the same forces behind some of the "social rules" we have regarding things like waiting in line, cell phone "manners", behavior in elevators, other people's privacy, etc.?
The migrants spend much time "connecting" to each other, often finding links to friends, listening to music together, etc. Have you ever had an experience with "strangers" that involved spending a short time together "finding connections"? Think about summer camps and family vacations when "you were on the road."
One of the "rules" of the camps was that those who had, shared and that it was considered unkind and impolite to "eat well" among those who had so little. Compare this social rule to the tendency we have developed to "show off" our fancy clothing labels and "bling, bling." What are the forces behind the current popularity of ostentatious behavior today?
At the end of the chapter, Steinbeck mentions several specific song titles that were popular songs for the migrants to sing in the camps. Though each song was known by several names, much can be told about the lives of the migrants by the songs they chose to sing. Read some of the lyrics below and discuss why you think these particular songs were so popular.
Lyrics for songs mentioned at the end of the chapter...
'Leven Cent Cotton (Forty Cent Meat) (Also known as Ten-Cent Cotton and Forty-Cent Meat)
Why Bob Your Hair, Girls? (Why Do You Cut Your Hair, Girls?)
I'm Leaving Old Texas (Also known as "The Cowman's Lament"). Listen to Leaving Old Texas