semester 2 blog 13 (GOW ESSAY)

Throughout the entire book I was just waiting to see who died next, the setting and characters make the whole story seem dramatic and over done. The book starts out miserable, desperate for the reader's sadness and sympathy, mentioning how children and women are looking for their man's reassurance and how there is nothing truly there. Throughout the entire book three people and one dog die and one person runs away. Rose of Sharon’s baby dies and is stillborn.

In the 13th chapter two characters die, the dog and grandpa, the first of many, "a big swift car whisked near, tires squealed. The dog dodged helplessly, and with a shriek, cut off in the middle, went under the wheels. The dog, a blot of blood and tangles, burst intestines, kicked slowly in the road." (pg 130) grandpa was the first out of the Joad family to die “Grandpa seemed to be struggling; all his muscles twitched. And suddenly he jarred as though under a heavy blow. He lay still and his breath was stopped.” (pg 137) So many people are suffering that the death count is very high, no one is getting money in California to pay for food so people are dying of starvation.

Grandma died shortly after grandpa did; at this point it seems like every other chapter a character dies. “I wisht I could wait an’ not tell you. I wisht it could be all-nice…granma’s dead.” The book is really playing on the deaths and misery of the Joad family. The tone that the book is setting is really trying to get sympathy for the Joad family, if so they are emphasizing it way too much.

Tom is on parole so he wasn’t allowed to leave the state, but he still did anyway. If Tom does not cause any trouble then the police won’t catch him, but being tom he gets into a fight with the cops. Casy steps in and takes the blame and says that he knocked the cop out, he went to jail, we lose track of him for a while until Tom runs into him later on at the farm where they are working picking cotton, they get into another fight and Casy ends up being smashed in the head and he dies. “Casy dodged down into the swing. The heavy club crashed into the side of his head with a dull crunch of bone, and Casy fell sideways out of the light.” (pg 386)

Throughout the entire book Rose of Sharon is pregnant, she is weighted down with the burden of a child, but towards the end of the picking season they start to run out of money and food, and Rose of Sharon is starting to get hints of malnutrition so when the baby is born, it turns out to be a stillborn. “She picked up a lantern and held it over an apple box in the corner. On a news paper lay a blue shriveled little mummy.” There is not much else that can happen to the Joad family they have gone through just about everything that a family can.

Being able to connect with the Joad family, and read about their lives crossing America, this book gives me the perspective that when you try to cross the America in a car with little money and 10 people, you don’t always end up with 10 people in the end. With people dying and starving and driving through the desert in the hot weather, it doesn’t always end up like you imagined. I think this book is asking for a lot of sympathy with 3 people dying, Connie running away and Rose of Sharons stillborn baby.

Semester 2 Blog 13

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


through out the entire book i was just waiting to see who died next. the setting and charecters make the whole story seem dramatic and over done. 3 people and 1 dog die and one person runs away. rose of sharons baby dies and

in the 13th chapter the dog dies, the first of many, "a big swift car whisked near, tires squealed. the dog dodged helplessly, and with a shriek, cut off in the middle, went under the wheels. the dog, a blot of blood and tangles, burst intestines, kicked slowly in the road."

character sketch

Tom Joad

· “ever’body’s goin’ west, I got me a parole to keep. Can’t leave the state.” – That he is trying to be a good person and stay out of trouble, by not breaking parole.

· “I figgered her out. They’s lots a fellas out on parole an’ they’s more goin’ in all the time. If I get caught for anything else out west, well, then they got my pitcher an’ my prints in Washington. They’ll sen’ me back. But if I don’t do no crimes, they won’t give a damn.” – His plan is to leave but then not make any trouble, he is slowly going downhill and breaking his parole at the same time.

· “never seen so many guys with guns. Don’ know if they’ll even let a fella talk. An folks don’ pass no time of day. They jus’ hang down their heads an’ won’t even give a fella a howdy.” – This clearly explains how the other people in california are feeling, they are worn out and are just trying to get money to keep moving.

· “they killed ‘im. Busted his head. I was sandin’ there. I went nuts. Grabbed the pick handle. I-I clubbed a guy.” – He broke his parole. If Tom gets caught he will go back to jail for injuring a cop.

· “he says it makes him feel lonesome out there in the open having to think what to do next.”-toms not sure what he is going to do after he gets out of jail, so he went to find his family in oklahoma.

· “ever’body knowed it wasn’t no fault of yours, ol’ man turnbull said he was gonna get you when ya come out. Sayd nobody can kill one a his boys.”-when the guy that tom killed, his dad is gonna go after tom if he gets the chance.

· “’we aint gonna have no goddamn Okies in this town’…Toms shoulders and arms were rigid and a shiver went through him. Ma clung to his arm.”-Tom had a temper but Ma can control him, he gets mad easily.

Physical appearance:

· Is muscular and well built-has good strength to pick crops in California.

· Wears overalls-make from anything easy to keep clean, and easy to patch if ripped.

· Has short cropped hair, usually messy-shows lack of cleanliness and not very many baths in his routine.

· Has a short temper-reason why he went to jail in the first place, he was drunk and got riled up.

Significant moment-he was talking to Casy and some patrol men walked in on them, one clubbed casy and killed him. Tom smashed him with a pick ax and knocked him out; if he gets caught he will go back to jail.

My ideas about Tom:

· He is a strong family guy; he likes to keep them together and help bring income to the family.

· He really does try hard to not fight, but he gets riled up.

· Likes to be good for is ma. Tries to stay out of trouble to please her.

Ma Joad

· “We don’t know yet. Go out and play. But don’t go near your father. He might whale you if you go near him. “– she is protective about the children but at the same time understands the father, and knows when not to bother him when he is under stress.

· “ma’s eyes passed Rose of Sharon’s eyes, and then came back to them. And the two women looked deep into each other. The girl’s breath came short and gasping.”-the woman can have conversations just by looking at each other.

· “you could use your stick, an’ women folks’d sniffle their nose an’ creep-mouse aroun’. But you jus get you a stick now an’ you ain’t lickin’ no women; you’re a-fightin’, ‘cause I got a stick all laid out too.”-she can be a fighter when needed to protect her family.

· The committee, theys a committee-a ladies’ committee a-comin’ to visit. Git up now, an git washed. An’ while we was a-sleepin’ an’ a-snorin’, tom’s went out an got work. Git up, now.”-she takes pride in her family and wants to show them off to the ladies committee.

· “The shadow of a buzzard slid across the earth, and the family all looked up at the sailing black bird.” The buzzard represents their luck in finding jobs, they hasn’t had much luck. Buzzards live on dead animals; the Joad family sees this as dying hope.

· “I wisht I could wait and not tell you. I wisht it could be all-nice”-Ma is trying to protect them from reality and does not want to tell the family that the second family member had died.

· “he headed back the way he had come. Ma released his[Tom] arm and patted it softly. And tom tried to restrain his hard smothered sobbing.”-Ma can keep tom under control and is trying to make sure he doesn’t get sent back to jail.

Physical Appearance:

· She is a good woman in the kitchen and has good strong hand so do cooking and cleaning for the family-can keep everyone in line and doing work and chores.

· Wears an apron-she is good in the kitchen and takes care of the family.

· Usually has her hair up in a bun-a working woman, does not want her hair in her way.

· Her eyes are weary and she looks tired-tired from taking care of everyone, and always moving around trying to settle.

Significant moment-they were driving to California and she was lying in the back with grandma. Grandpa had died so grandma was slowly becoming dysfunctional. The car got to the boarder and they needed to be checked but ma lied and said that grandma was sick when she was already dead. She tried to protect her family and was getting them across the border faster.

My ideas about Ma Joad:

· She is all about family, does not want anyone to split up.

· Tries to keep everyone together no matter what.

· Loves her family, especially Tom.

· Takes care of everything, cooking, cleaning, packing, and children.

Rose of Sharon

· “Ma, Connies gonna study an get to be sompin.”-Rose of Sharon relies on Connie way too much, she puts complete trust in him to get her through this.

· “Connie was no good I seen that a long time. Didn’t have no guts just too big for his overalls”-pa is trying to explain to Rose of Sharon why Connie left in the first place.

· “Maybe he went to get them books to study up, maybe he was a-gonna surprise us.”-she is still holding on to the hope that Connie will come back and they will get a house to live in.

· “Wasn’t new, but they give it a coat a pink paint, an’ it was jus’ like new. An’ they give the baby a name, an’ had a cake. Oh, Lord!”-she is really excited to have this baby, especially in the government camp.

· “No-no-‘course not. But-I didn’ know they was places like this we got to live in…got to get on my feet. Get a little money.”-Connie is making excuses so that rose of Sharon won’t worry and so he doesn’t have to start work right away,

· “He went out of the tent…Rose of Sharon rolled on her back and stared at the top of the tent. And then she put her thumb in her mouth for a gag and she cried silently”-Rose of Sharons pregnancy is finally getting to her, and she is becoming emotional and weak without Connie by her side.

Physical details:

· Is pregnant-makes her weaker than the other characters.

· Connie left her-she is going through a tough time in her life without a husband.

· Is very pretty-all the guys wanted to dance with her.

· Wears a dress and apron-similar to Ma Joad, she is always ready to help unless she does not feel good.

Significant moment-rose of Sharon was pregnant and she was getting sick so I think that made her go into labor faster and when she had the baby it was dead already, so they had to bury it. Since she was pregnant she had milk so she was able to save a man who was dying of hunger with the milk meant for the baby.

My ideas about Rose of Sharon:

· She is pregnant for most of the book, and seems weak with the burden of a baby.

· She does not seem like a good person for Connie he is always whispering in her ear about running away, and then he leaves her.

· Can’t really think for herself, she has to have someone else decide things for her.

Semester 2 Blog 12

a public works project i would recommend today is to take away the self check out line machines. they have always been a problem with me i can never figure out how to work them smoothly. they also take away jobs from cashiers and they need jobs too! if we replaced those with real people the lines would go smoother and people would be employed again.

Semester 2 Blog 11

Dear prez Obama,

the economy crisis has endangered many people of losing their home, job, and/or life. this has been brought to my attention because as a high schooler i am trying to find a job to help support my family and be able to go to college someday. i hope that you understand our countries struggles as people are trying to stay warm, full and be able to have income into their family. some suggestions i give you to kick start the economy would be to pass a bill which includes jobs for some people, kind of what Roosevelt did when we became prez earlier in the great depression.

Kim Mason

Semester 2 Blog 10

grapes of wrath does sucssesfully establish sympathy for the farmers during the dust bowl because it shows the side that no one has seen the side where the crop harvester was paid to kick the people off thier land by running into thier house. i think it is terrible that they would go along with it jus to be able to feed thier families. you are following thie joad family who is struggling to keep everyone alive. grama and granpa have already died, casy is is jail, connie was left behind, and tom is breaking his parole to stay alive with his family. this book, in my opinion does establish sympathy for the joad family, who were farmers originally.

when we have projects i prefer to have them more structured then not, when there is to much freedom im not sure what to write about. but when it is structured i feel more confident that i have the answer or final product up to standards.