The Grapes of Wrath

1. The Grapes of Wrath A story of The Great Depression Thanks to Ms. Kitchens (Vallhalla HS in El Cajon, CA)

2. Quick Check • Tell me 3 things you know about the Great Depression

3. The Great Depression • Causes • 1920’s economy not in balance • Debt • Speculation on the rise • Overproduction slows industrial growth • Stock market crash-- October 1929

4. The Dust Bowl • “Plant more wheat! Wheat will win the war!” • 4 million acres of grassland turned into wheat • New technology--tractors • Wheat prices fell in early 1920’s

5. The Dust Bowl • Severe drought • No grasses to protect topsoil • Included eastern Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas • “Black blizzards” • 60% of Dust Bowl families lost their farms • Thousands of families moved west • No relief for these families until WWII

6. The Dust Bowl

7. The Grapes of Wrath • John Steinbeck • Grew up in Central California • Went to Oklahoma and rode with Dust Bowl migrants to California

8. The Grapes of Wrath • Lived with migrants in Hoovervilles • Pleaded for a more tolerant help for migrants • Considered a novel of protest/social document

9. The Grapes of Wrath • The story of the Joad family moving from Oklahoma to California • Lots of extra material not included in family struggle • Intercalary chapters • general picture of the society • Background of the Dust Bowl, about Route 66, selling property, etc. • Support for the narrative; historical information