Grapes of Wrath Essay

2. Describe how Steinbeck's description of the characters and setting establish a specific tone for the novel.

Steinbeck uses 3 charaters i think to establish the tone of the book and to show what direction the book is going in. the 3 characters are Jim Casy, Ma Joad, and Tom Joad. These characters directed what direction Grapes of Wrath went.

Jim casy contributed a big roll in the book. The ex-preacher shared alot of his knowlage, and has a big influence on the joad family."Maybe there ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue, they's just what people does. Some things folks do is nice and some ain't so nice, and that's all any man's got a right to say." Jim casy was a preacher and shared some of his knolwegae throughout the trip with everyone they encounted and who he was with. Sin was the reason he stoped becoming a preacher, but he still had knolwge to share and also he would preach of what he knows. He really guieded the Joad family to not give up and believe that they can find work and make it to California.

Tom Joad was another huge influcence on the family for a number of reasons. He just got out of jail for manslaughter and is trying to get home to his family. He hitches a ride and met some new people. One person he met was jim casy. tom has big infulence on how they get to Califronia and through out the whole trip. Tom is also not afarid to get in a fight so he for the trip and is the protector. He is open to everyone and anything, and is not afarid of anything.

The biggest contrubuter and that drives the story is Ma joad. She is “the citadel of the family.” She cares about everyone and helps everyone that needs help. She is the mom of the family and accepts Jim Casy into their family. Everybody can trust her with everything and feels safe around her. "We're going' to California, ain't we? All right then let's go to California."She really modivates the family to go to california.

With these 3 characters, they all play a big role into forming were the book is going to head. Through the different characters they show different prepectives to show the tone of Grapes of Wrath.

Semester 2 Blog 12

What were "public works projects"? What famous ones were part of the New Deal? What public works projects would you recommend for our society today?

Some that i though were interesting were The Golden Gate Bridge, The Hoover Dam, and Del Mar Fairgounds.

It would be good to solve and change the housing and libraries. I have only been to one library were you self check out which is really easy to use and convenient and should be used more. For housing i see a lot of empty and expensive housing. If they were to change the housing projects to make it more afordable less people would be on the street.

Semester 2 Blog 11

Write an open letter to a particular leader (or leading group of people) in which you outline specific advice to improve the American/Californian/local/other economy. Choose a leader that represents a group or place that you are interested in—you might pick the President, the Governor, a corporate leader, local government officials, small businesses, etc.

Dear Obama,

I know were are in a “depression” right now. And you have not done much to get us out. Spending all your time and all the money we do not have towards people that can’t afford healthcare. Maybe if you helped more people get jobs people would have money, less companies would have to shut down, and we would not have to spend money we do not have.

Even around my neighbor and other places lots of houses have been closed down because people do not have the money to pay the rent. If you were to take some control on the banks, people we would not be in this depression. Also spending money that we do not have is not a good idea.

Good Luck,

Corey Murillo

Semester 2 Blog 10

Do you believe that the Grapes of Wrath successfully establishes sympathy for the plight of Dust Bowl farmers? Why or why not?

I think Grapes of Wrath establishes sympathy for the dust bowl workers. He shows it through the migrant Joad family perspective. The Joad family goes through financial issues, losses, and being not so fortunate. Even though the Joad family has survived they still went through a lot. Getting your farm taken away, getting arrested, getting paid very low wages, and getting your house burnt down. The farm is what makes you money. With out the farm you make no money causing you to loose your house.

Semester 2 Blog 9

I think the times we had to work on internship have not been many, and not long enough. We would usually get 15 min max to work on Ampersand. We should have gotten help if we really needed it instead of focusing on a lot of examples and working slowly to get a starting point. I think we just need more open work time to get our thoughts flowing instead of a short amount of time. I have only gotten some points to make my writing good but not enough time to start off my writing. Randy says he wants our Ampersand writing the best, but we do not have much time to work on it. Therefore my writing will not be as good as I hope at this point.

Semester 2 Blog 8

Compare and contrast Barack Obama and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as presidents. Be sure to cover topics such as their responses to the economy, their interactions with the American public and their relationships with other elements of the US government (feel free to write about more, too!).

FDR:

There is a quote that FDR wrote in his first inaugural speech that he made famous: "Only thing we have to fear is fear itself." In the 1920's into the 1930', the U.S. faced the deepest darkest time period in history; The great depression. The stock marked had crashed, banks were bankrupt, people were out of work, and the unemployment rate was sky high. FDR used his positive attitude in his speeches to revitalized people into thinking that despite their poor circumstances they will rise once again out of despair. "Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative support."

FDR was adamant about helping people and changing the economy, and compared it to a "war against the emergency.'' I agree that our country is in the state of emergency. We need a president like FDR that can give us a solid solution to our problems. Our current president has not givens direction or answers to our problems. He has just given us promises and money that we don't have, and has put us in a deeper hole to climb out of.

Obama:

"I dont care weather you're driving a hybrid or an SUV. If you're headed for a cliff, you have to change direction." That's what the american people called in November and that what we intend to deliver.

"Fight the housing and financial crises:

A new housing program has stabilized the market, preventing more foreclosures and helping millions more re-finance at historically low mortgage rates. The Administration is also moving forward with its plans to get credit flowing again to businesses and families, and to reform our regulatory system so we have a set of 21st century rules to match 21st century financial markets."

This is what Obama is trying to do to help the housing and financial crises. Since Obama became president taxes have gone higher, a significant amount of foreclosures, and a lot of promises. Obama promises that there will be change, but so far there has been no change that has helped the housing and finical issues.

Semester 2 Blog 7

Predict how companies or industries similar to the one that you worked at during internship would have fared during the Great Depression. Would your company have thrived or sunk? Why?

Where I interned at, I think if they would thrive and sink at the same time. The coaches for all the sports in the High Tech High Village (HTHV) are volunteers. So that would not affect they way they would coach or interact with the sport. My mentor would have to cut the majority of sports to have 3 or 4 sports due to the lack of money. But the 3 or 4 sports would thrive because they would be few sports, which would make the sports have more money then having all the sports. I think overall for the athletic department would only have to cut some of the sports programs.