The Joads' Blvd of Broken Dreams

Discuss how this song is representative of The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 9.
Have you ever been in a situation like the farmers in Chapter 9? How do these kinds of situations affect you as a person? As a family? As a parent?

This Land is Your Land, right??

Woody Guthrie is known for the songs he wrote about the same time that the Joads and many other families were experiencing what we see in the story.....


Bruce Springsteen, as well as a few others, did a remake of Woody Guthrie's old song "This land is your land"...considered to be one of the greatest songs in American history....

Before singing it recently at a concert , Bruce said that he is not sure if this song is true anymore, but that it "oughta be"...

Listen and reflect on the words Woody Guthrie wrote as Springsteen sings....

Do you hear promise? or despair?

Do you hear hope? or disappointment?

What caused these emotions in the hearts of the people of this time?

The GOW Family

What is your definition of "family"? Is a family made up of only relatives or are there others that could be included? What keeps a family together? And of what importance is family today as compared to the time of the Joads?

The Family Portrait, Pink

The Ghost of Tom Joad

Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about The Grapes of Wrath protagonist, Tom Joad. In fact, it was the title track for his album in 1995.

For most song writers this might be a strange topic for a song or for an album, but Springsteen tends to write lyrics that are about real life in America....about the working man...about the struggles that people go through in their everyday lives.

"The Ghost Of Tom Joad"
Man walks along the railroad track
He's Goin' some place, there's no turnin' back
The Highway Patrol chopper comin' up over the ridge
Man sleeps by a campfire under the bridge
The shelter line stretchin' around the corner
Welcome to the New World Order
Families sleepin' in their cars out in the Southwest
No job, no home, no peace, no rest, NO REST!
And The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody is to where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the Ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls his prayer book out of a sleepin' bag
The preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
He's waitin' for the time when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
With a one way ticket to the promised land
With a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Lookin' for a pillow of solid rockBathin' in the cities' aqueducts
And The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody is to where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the Ghost of old Tom Joad

Now Tom Said; "Ma, whenever ya see a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry new born baby cries
Whereever there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me ma' I'll be there
Wherever somebodies stuglin' for a place to stand
For a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody is strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes ma, You'll see me!
And the highway is alive tonight
nobody's foolin' nobody is to where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the Ghost of Tom Joad.

Your group's task is to analyze the music of the Boss, Bruce Springsteen. His WEBSITE has a comprehensive list of all of his albums, songs, and lyrics. You must find between 12 and 15 Springsteen songs that tell ONE PROTAGONIST'S STORY. Choose a "person" and find lines from 12-15 songs that "weave" his story.....

You should not use the full lyrics from all the songs you choose, but you must choose 12-15 "pieces" (one line/sentence from each song you choose) that you can put together to tell the story from beginning to end... where the story begins, what he/she experiences along the way, and what those experiences do to him/her. You are actually DEVELOPING A PLOT that builds as you add one more element........

You must:

1. Introduce the character
2. and introduce the setting (Either #1 or #2 can come first...)
3. Then you will create actions/conflicts/situations for the character to experience
4. as you build up the rising action to the climax (highpoint) of the story
5....which leads to the falling action
6. ....and finally the denouement (resolution)... The Denouement is derived from the term in French and Latin for "untying the knot".... It may not be an ending that your character wanted, but it is a resolution from the events/struggles.

(Note: There is a "search the lyrics" feature that will help you find key words or phrases to get started.)

After you put these together to tell your story, you will tell it to the class as an electronic story book.....(using PPT or another format). Each piece (from each song) should have its own slide. AS you present it to us, one person will read the text as it cycles through the slideshow but with no commentary or explanation.....just the lyrics as they tell the story.

The Protagonist

Before we can really understand TOM JOAD from The Grapes of Wrath, we must understand WHO the protagonist is in a story and what purpose he/she serves.
What is the reader/viewer expected to "do" with the protagonist?

Who is the protagonist is this story:


How do you KNOW he/she is the protagonist?

GOW- the TITLE & its symbolism

John Steinbeck took the name for his novel from a very well-known song in US History "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".

First read through the lyrics and talk with your group about where you think the title came from. What kind of tone do you think the words set?

Then listen to the song as you read the lyrics again and see if the tone of the music helps you decide why he chose a line from THIS SONG to represent 570+ pages....

Question of Humanity

As we enter this study of "The Face(s) of Humanity", look at this picture recently released by the Dansk Folkeparti and share what you think about when you see this image.

Introduction to the GOW

The situation:
Due to a situation beyond your control,your family is being forced to leave the only home you have ever known; the place where you and your siblings have all grown up; the place you come to at the end of a long day when you just need a place where you feel safe; home....

The dilemma:
You cannot take everything with you. There is very limited space in the truck that will move your family, so you have to prioritize what you will take and what you will leave. You can only take what you can carry by yourself.

The questions:
What do you take with you and why?
And what things would be the hardest to leave behind?