Set in Oklahoma in the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath presents a powerful view of life during the Great Depression. An insightful lesson plan takes a closer look at the characters in John Steinbeck's classic novel, combining the descriptions in the story with primary source documents. Readers use the information they gain to write dramatic monologues.

Concepts

the grapes of wrath, monologues, john steinbeck

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Watch a documentary or other presentation on the Dust Bowl before teaching the novel to learners
• Draw portraits of the characters that appear in the novel and label them with characteristics

Classroom Considerations

• Download images from the Depression era before beginning the lesson

Pros

• Includes links that lead to specific primary source documents for learners to analyze
• Encourages cooperation with collaborative learning tasks

Cons

Common Core

W.9-10.9.a W.11-12.9.a