Study guide for a collaborative project of the Alabama School of Fine Arts and the University of Alabama at Birmingham A Teacher’s Introduction to Using the Grapes of Wrath Website
	Welcome, teachers! We hope you’ll enjoy perusing the website for your own enjoyment, and we also hope you’ll find it an invaluable teaching tool in your classes as you guide learners through Steinbeck’s masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath. Click any chapter number to see the Discussion Prompts and Web Links for that chapter: 1  2  3  4 5  6  7  8 9  10  11  12 13  14  15  16 17  18  19  20 21  22  23  24 25  26  27  28 29  30 The website is laid out very simply and accessibly. You’ll find wonderful photographs of the era, as well as useful links to more resources on the novel, throughout. Note the chapter table with links to discussion questions for each chapter. By clicking on a chapter number, you and your students open a doorway to discussion! Ideas for Using the Discussion Prompts The discussion questions for each chapter can be used as an individual assignment for your students. You might consider assigning one or two chapters’ questions to each student, setting a deadline for information gathering, and then have students report their findings to the class. You could also assign questions to a small group of students for a collaborative research project. The students could answer the questions and explore the links assigned to that chapter together; they could then make a group presentation to the class, incorporating information from the relevant links. The questions also enable the teacher to lead class discussions along more in-depth and philosophical lines. When students come to class after having read a particular chapter, invite them to explore some of the deeper prompts together in a discussion with you. If you have any questions or ideas you’d like to share, please email me at erohlfs-hill@asfa.k12.al.us Elisabeth Rohlfs-Hill Department of English Alabama School of Fine Arts Some related web sites: Horace Bristol's California Photos - These photos were taken for a proposed LIFE magazine photojournalism spread, by Horace Bristol in 1938. He had planned for John Steinbeck to write the accompanying story, but Steinbeck instead decided -- after seeing these photographs -- to write The Grapes of Wrath. See some of the real people who served as the Joad family models. Another excellent source for the Bristol photos (including several not seen on the other site) is at a site called (oddly enough) "The Scream Online," with the Bristol page here. Overview of the 1930's - Excellent site by the University of Virginia, which covers such areas as the 1930's reflected through its print, film, art, people, sports, slang, etc. The Great Depression - The Free Dictionary's Encyclopedia site with links to a strong overview of the Great world- wide depression of the 1930's. Creation of "The Grapes of Wrath" National Public Radio's Morning Edition sites containing Brian Naylor's original radio report, as well as links to Woody Guthrie's song "Tom Joad" and even a scene from the 1940 film starring Henry Fonda. (Requires RealPlayer.)