Uncle John's Place? - Grapes of Wrath (sitios de interés)
Descripción del sitio
Chapter Eight: At Uncle John's house, we meet several members of the Joad family who will be making the trip to California.
Photo Source"Pretty Boy" Floyd
Read the official FBI version of the "Pretty Boy" Floyd story.
If you had to make a quick judgment about the following characters, how would you describe each one's character in one sentence? Uncle John? Pa Joad? Ma Joad? Grandpa Joad? Grandma Joad?
Chapter Nine: Because there were usually several people and very little extra space in the car, the tenants had to sell nearly everything they owned.
Have you ever been taken advantage of by someone who knew that you were powerless to do anything about it? Have you ever taken advantage of, or seen someone take advantage of, another person's misfortune? What was the hardest part about selling all their belonging? Have you ever had to leave "parts of your life behind"? Does your extended family ever get together, perhaps at holidays, and sit around telling stories about their lives in other places? What is your reaction when the "old folks" start remembering the old times? If your home suddenly caught on fire and you only had a few minutes to save what you could, what would you save? Why? Have you ever had a yard sale where you sold your memories for "pennies" or gone to a yard sale or flea market and perhaps bought someone else's memories for "pennies?
Chapter Ten: Getting ready to leave.
Though it is a sad time, what are some of the reasons why some family members are optimistic at the out set of the journey? What do you make of the information that Tom says he heard from a man who had actually been in California?
In this chapter we learn more about Uncle John, Rosasharn (see biblical reference to Rose of Sharon? Connie? Which of these characters do you think Steinbeck wants us to like? Why?
Steinbeck spends several pages describing the slaughter of some pigs. Have you hunted or fished and had to kill and clean food before you could eat it? Have you ever grown vegetables and had to work the soil, tend the plants, and wait before you could harvest and eat? When we buy food at supermarkets have we separated ourselves from "something important" sort of like the bankers in earlier chapters who owned land that they didn't work?
Photo Source
Families had to leave everything behind that they could not pack onto their old beat-up cars.
Towards the end of the chapter, Grandpa suddenly declares that he "ain't goin'." This is odd given how much he talked about how much he was looking forward to eating grapes and oranges out in California. What's gotten into Grandpa? Have you ever experienced an older person who was forced to leave his or her home, perhaps to move closer to family because he or she couldn't take care of him or herself adequately or into an assisted living situation? How easy do you suppose it is to leave a place where so much of one's life has been lived to move to a place where so little has meaning or memories?
Chapter Eleven: The old home begins to die.
Immediately upon the departure of the Joad family, the abandoned home begins to deteriorate and die. What might Steinbeck be foreshadowing in this short chapter?