Focus: What background information do we need build before we start Of Mice and Men?
1. Warming up with photos from the Great Depression
Browse through photographs in each of the categories, examining them closely (boot camp style).
On today's class blog, please post the following:
- Three observations/inferences you can make about the Great Depression based on these photos. Describe which photo specifically led you to each observation/question and how.
- Three questions that these photos raise about the Great Depression. What do you want or need to know?
2. Offering you two reading options for Of Mice and Men: The journal vs. annotations
The journal: Please fill out one side per chapter.
Annotations: Please include at least five per chapter.
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3. Improving your mastery of the English language: Apostrophes, Part 2 (www.noredink.com)
HW:
1. Finish Apostrophes, Part 2 if you did not finish in class.
2. Pick one question from today's class blog, perform a little research on the Great Depression, and answer the question right on the blog (reply directly to the comment you're addressing). I've included some good websites below to help you streamline your research.
http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/p/greatdepression.htm
http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/great-depression.cfm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/dustbowl-great-depression/
1. When I saw the picture of the people in line to get some bread from a breadline, it really showed how rough the situation was during the Great Depression.
ReplyDelete2. Seeing the picture with the squatter sitting in her shack was so sad because she had absolutely nothing, not even a solid roof over her head.
3. The dust storms that happened during the depression made things so much worse than it needed to be. People who didn't have a home or anything were most likely in deep trouble when the storm came rolling by.
1. How much money was lost during the Great Depression?
2. Why did everyone suffer from the Great Depression even though it happened in the stock market?
3. Were there any people that made money during the depression? If they did did they make a ton of money?
The stock market itself lost between $8 billion and $9 billion in value.
DeleteWhen I looked at the picture of the workers clearing dead trees off the side of the hill I got the sense that this time period was one where people were not able to clean themselves because of the lack of showers or bathing devices.
ReplyDeleteIn the picture "18 year old mother" you see a migrant worker wife, or a migrant worker herself traveling with her child trying to make a living. Also in "An Unemployed Man Standing Against a Building" you see a man with a sad expression on his face as he searches for jobs that don't exist. Additionally; in the photo entitled "A Group of People at a Breadline", you can see how even people who were in the middle class can be effected by the depression, as masses of people wait to get their food.
ReplyDelete1.) What were some people forced to do to survive?
2.) Who was hit the hardest by the depression
3.) What culture did the great depression create?
Sadly, the Great Depression hit the people who were already poor the hardest. It made the wealth gap even bigger. A lot of the poor lost their jobs and about 40% of the farms that were still useful were put on auction by the owners.
Delete1. I cant believe that so many people could be so poor that they have to travel long distances on foot just to feed them selves.
ReplyDelete2. On the Christmas dinner picture i noticed that they don't even have chairs to sit at. An i wonder where the mom is? could she have possibly died because of the depression.
3. The men outside of employment agency shows how unemployment is a lot different then than it is now. Now when someone is unemployed it usually means they are not trying hard enough to find a job, but back then everyone was trying really hard to find a job but still couldn't get one.
1. Did the great depression cause a lot of death?
2. Why are all of the unemployed men wearing really nice clothes.
3. Why did dust storms all the sudden become a thing during the great depression what causes them.
The great depression did cause a lot of death. About 7 million people died of starvation.
DeleteThe reason all the dust storms occurred was because when people began to farm land they had to pull out all the weeds and shrubs there, and when people farmed wheat they turned over top soil and normally the shrubs and other plants there help regenerate top soil but they were pulled out so, after that soil kept being used it turned into sand and since there were no plants to help regenerate top soil it got worse and worse. So like everything else people were over producing crops which caused acres and acres of scrubs and bushes that had to be removed, preventing any new top soil to develop.
DeleteAfter looking through multiple photos from the Great Depression I noticed that chaos was abundant in all the pictures. In one picture where a family seemed to have packed all of there belongings including a fence onto a pickup truck. Also, the clothing that everyone is wearing seems to be lower class clothing. Such as denim, old dresses, hats, and even the shoes were worn down and beat up. It was almost like everyone had only one pair of everything.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the average family size? Were there a lot of children that were abandoned by there parents? What caused people to move or relocate from their homes?
People moved because of the lack of money that they had. Many became homeless too.
DeleteI chose the photo of the father and kids eating Christmas dinner. I noticed that they are in a really dirty eating environment, almost as if they are living in a shack without any chairs. I also noticed that they barely have any food to eat, it seems that they're really poor and can't afford a big meal. This photo represents how unfortunate some families were in the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteSome questions I had were:
Did families back then get much food to eat?
How hard was it to get a sustainable amount of money during the Great Depression?
What was the average life expectancy?
Surprisingly, the average life expectancy actually rose during the Great Depression. In 1929, the average life expectancy was about 57 years while in 1932 it increased to about 63 and a half years.
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ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the picture of the men standing in the bread line, I noticed that they were all wearing nice coats and suits. I assume that this is because a lot of them use to be wealthy, successful business men. A question this brings up for me is how did all these previously wealthy people get so poor?
ReplyDelete1. The picture of the squatter sitting in her shack made me think that the great depression destroyed so many lives and families. It took away their civilized rights of having shelter, food, and love. The question for it is how long would it take for people to build their shacks after being evicted from their homes?
ReplyDelete2.The dust storm in Colorado shows how having no crops and farmers to hold all the dirt down that big gusts of wind would pick up all the loose dirt and sand. The storm would be hundreds of feet high and pitch black on the inside. It would engulf houses and cars in sand. The question that the picture brings me is how many people died in a dust storm?
3.The unemployed man standing against a building shows how many jobs were lost and the effect of that. People become homeless because they couldn't find work fast enough. Families were forced to live in tents and shacks. The question I have is did crime go up during the great depression?
1. While looking at the images in the dust storm, I noticed that most people had to remain indoors, because of the harsh conditions. Also, I noticed because of the dust, many parts of the land were destroyed, making it harder to farm and make food.
ReplyDelete2. While looking at some of the images in the unemployed category, I noticed that the expressions on most faces were very negative. Because of no employment, people struggled to find money, along with happiness. Men standing on walls, people waiting outside of a bank, all proved that it was a very negative time.
3. While looking at some pictures in the breadlines and soup kitchens, I also noticed that many people were in their own depressions. People struggled to fine food, but when they participated in soup kitchens and bread lines, there attitudes were all changed. The faces of people receiving food were all positive and happy. People really admired the food they received, and were very thankful in such a hard time.
1.Were there a lot of people that were not affected by the Great Depression? Did they stay in there jobs and make a good amount of money?
2. Was there a large suicide rate during this time?
3. What is the statistic for the amount of money lost, and the amount of people out of unemployment?
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Delete2. The suicide rate was 12.1 per every 100,000 people in the decade prior to the Depression, and then it jumped to 18.9 in the year of Wall Street's crash.
Delete1. The picture of the man standing in the dust storm looked like the man was being hurt by the dust.
ReplyDelete2. The dust storm in Colorado looked like the dust cover the whole sky.
3. The migrant family living in the tent looked like the put a lot of work into their tent but it still looked really poor.
Questions
1. Why does the one girl in the picture of two girls near a car have crutches?
2. Why is the 18 year old mother letting her kid eat mud in the 18 year old mother picture?
In the first picture the first thing I saw was this car holding up this tent and this was a families house! The tent has holes in it and isn't very protective. In the same picture I noticed that in the background there are other families living under tents as well. I looked at a different picture and it was this family on a road. The first thing I noticed was all of their faces. They all looked miserable, and in lots of pain. The little kid looks confused as to what is happening and I feel really bad for him.
ReplyDelete1. One think i noticed is not only do people look poor, but they look miserable. In almost every picture the people look sick and tired of life.
ReplyDelete2. Many people were selling their homes and farms because they couldn't afford them. They had to immediately evacuate.
3. Many people lost their jobs and had to drive all the way across the country to looking for new jobs so they could support their families. They had to pack up their cars with most of their possessions and leave everything they had behind.
1. What did it take for the great depression to not get the best of you?
2. Was everyone effected by the Great Depression or did some people "survive" it?
3. What did the dust storms have to do with the Great Depression?
The dust storms were caused by overgrazing of cattle and a severe drought. Also many people who plowed land were unable to grow crops and the the land was bare. Lots of the loose dirt was swept up and caused dust bowls
DeleteThe dust storms affected the farmers during the depression so it kind of had an affect on some people. The farmers also caused some of the dust because of all the plowing they did on their farms.
Delete1.When I was looking at different pictures of the depression and all the people I noticed that all of the people looked sad and depressed.
ReplyDelete2. I couldn't imagine how terrible it would be not to have clothes or even clean clothes. Or go to a school that is so run down that it looks like it could fall apart from the seams.
3. I also noticed that what they had back in the day was so much more different than what we have today, such as how they washed clothes with their hands unlike today.
1 Will the depression ever happen again, and what can we do to not have the ever occur again?
2. How bad did it affect the people mentally and physically when the depression started, was everyone oblivious or was it something that really changed people?
3. Was their any rich people who donated money to people when the depression started, or was there even any rich people?
We can prevent hyper-inflating the economy because that is what happened and caused the depression.
Delete3. What were the civilian conservation corps men planting and how was it supposed to help the economy?
ReplyDelete1. I noticed that the civilian conservation corps is planting in one picture, I had heard of them but did not know exactly what they did.
ReplyDelete2. I am guessing that the people outside the bank were trying to get money out
3. I saw a lot of farms for sale and land, this is probably land that could no longer be afforded by the owners.
1. Who is taking these pictures during this time period. Are the photographers this poor as well?
2. Why were there so many dust storms at this time? I remember last year my history class briefly mentioned this.
3. Why are there so many pictures of people moving? Do. They think that the depression will not effect them as much in other places? what is the advantage of this?
The picture I looked at was the girl making dinner. Some observations I saw while looking at this picture are:
ReplyDelete-She looks dirty and ragged
-She looks tired/worn down
-She looks like she hasn't changed clothes or bathed in a while, and she is cooking on a really small furnace
This picture shows me that people had very little to work with in the Great Depression.
Three questions I have are:
-Why is this girl cooking for the family and not her mother? (She looks pretty young to be cooking for her family)
-Where is she cooking at? (It looks deserted)
-How hard is it to get food to cook back then?
1. In the picture a christmas dinner I noticed that there is a dad and 4 children crowded around a small table with only one chair which the dad is sitting on.
ReplyDelete2. In the picture two children at a rehabilitation clinic it shows two young boys in ripped worn out clothes and are looking at something and the older kid looks happier than the younger one.
3. In the picture of the dust storms it looked like a huge disasterous thing that ruined houses and crops.
1. Did people die during the great depression?
2. If nobody had jobs how did they get food or things they need?
3. Did the storms cause a lot of damage to houses?
2)Food lines in the city. Thousands of people waited in food line with food stamps to receive as little a loaf of bread.
Delete3) The dust storms could damage a house but it mostly just covered it in deep dust kind of like if it was to snow three feet around a house.
DeleteOne observation I have noticed is that all the people in the pictures do not look happy. I feel that is one of the most significant parts because it is what the people are feeling. They can't really do anything for there situation because they can not get food and they are getting more and more poor because they need supplies and they can not pay for it.
ReplyDeleteThe second observation I had was many people had to leave there home and they also had to sell there farms. They basically had to sell there lives away.
The third observation was that the dust storms made everything worse these people. These people had already lost so much and they were very poor then they had these big dust storms come in and they could not really protect themselves because they had nothing.
Question 1: How many jobs were available during the Great Depression
Question 2: How many people where homeless
Question 3: How many people had to relocate
1) I observed the amount of foreclosures and "For Sale" where massive because people had to sell there house and live in their car.
ReplyDelete2)Second, I found the body language to be minimal as well as the facial expressions.
3) Last, I observed the the dust storm ruined the top soil for farmers which caused a mass amount of land abandoned.
Questions:
1) How many houses where sold or bought during the great depression?
2) How many acres of land where ruined through dust storms?
3)What was the poverty rate compared to now?
Unemployment rate ranged from anywhere between 8 and 25 percent.
Delete1. People in depression had permanent depressed facial expressions.
ReplyDelete2. Kids that lived during the depression were more in the country then the city.
3. People went back to a more primitive lifestyle while living the shanty towns.
1. What was the life span of someone living in the depression?
2. How did people manege to not have their farm closed or stay in business?
3. How many people stayed in the dust bowl states during the dust storms?
An Unemployed Man Standing Against a Building
ReplyDelete1. The mans face is the saddest thing I have ever seen on a human being. It is so sad to look it at imagine what these people went through.
2. I notice his hands are in his pocket which almost symbolizes he is scared or has given up.
3. The foot up against the fall shows that he has been standing there waiting for a opportunity a while.
1. Where do most of the people live during this period?
2. Will this ever happen again?
3. How can we prepare for something like this. Did they see it coming?
2) This could happen again. You see, after World War I was won by the allies, the economy boomed into what became known as the Roaring '20s. During this era, the earlier versions of credit cards were invented. People, not knowing how to use them properly, did not think this would pile up on their accounts. So they kept spending and spending their money using credit, or they put their money on the stock market. While this was happening, farming was in a boom too. During the '20s, technology was invented to help farmers make food. They made so much; the population could not keep up. Eventually, they started burning it or the government would sell it to other countries. This over production of crops destroyed vital nutrients in the soil. Eventually, the good times would end. On October 29, 1929, the Stock Market crashed. People fled to get as much money as they possibly could from the banks and their stocks. Droughts ravaged the country side, causing massive decline in food productions. People had little money due to the stock market crashing, bank closure, and credit spending. The answer to your question is yes, except we would need to have spent large amounts of money, experience droughts, and other misfortunes though to cause another depression. We almost did go into a minor depression though. The Great Recession in the late 2000's was a small period of economic decline which we are still feeling small effects from.
Deleteevery body must be sad because in all the pics they are frowning
ReplyDeletepeople must not care about there home =s and more about food because there houses are all dirty
people have to move a lot because they keep losing there jobs.
why people keep having lots of kids
was every one poor during the depression
how much money was lost
When Dow Jones stock went down 23%. The whole stock market lost about 8 to 9 billion dollars.
DeleteWhen I looked at the picture of a worker walking on a California highway I saw that his clothes were very worn down and it seemed like those were the clothes he worked in too. My Question is are those his only clothes and does he work in them as well? Also, how did people acquire new clothes when theirs were to damaged or dirty to work in again?
ReplyDelete1. In all the photos were someone was eating a meal, they look thankful and that it was like a luxury to them.
ReplyDelete2.Everyone seemed angered in one way or another that they were in this situation.
3.Everyone was looking for a job to provide income to take care of their families.
1.Why would people waste gas and money to go on the road to a place where the situation might be worse?
2. What happened to single mothers that couldn't provide income for her self and her children?
3.How many jobs did people have to go through? It seems like they looked like they were always searching for a job.
I believe that people were always moving during the depression because they lost there house and everything thing they possessed, it was like moving on for them. Most people wanted to get away and try to find another area to settle even though it took money and gas, people were always trying to earn a little bit of cash to keep migrating through to their designation. It was different for some people as some people didn't travel and move to different areas but for the people who did they probably did it for mental reasons and for economy reasons. It might have been hard for the people to stay in the area where they lost everything or how it was smarter to move because of better chances of money and living.
DeleteAfter looking at the pics that were taken during the Great Depression I have noticed that it seems that farmers and people in the country and rural areas are the ones that are hardest hit. Also I noticed that everyone's expressions are neutral, the majority of people don't have happy or sad faces, but rather are just blank. I also noticed that the people in the city who don't have a job dress well, even though their clothes are tattered they were originally nice suits and dress. shirts.
ReplyDelete1. Were people afraid of using banks after the Great Depression?
2. Did any middle class families make money?
3. Why did so many people have nice clothes?
Clothes were the only things people didn't sell or give away during the depression. Most the people with nice clothes were the rich people before the depression.
DeletePeople were distrustful of the banks after the depression but, Theodore Roosevelt created broadcasting radio speeches that he himself gave to the nation and the people. He created this to make people feel better about using banks. He talked about new laws and safer outcomes after the depression
Delete1. Dust Storms: When I saw this picture of what would be a relatively small dust storm, it showed how bad years of droughts and high winds can do to a large amount of USA's farming population/
ReplyDelete2. Civilian Conservation Corps: When I saw this picture of men working in a field, it showed how men would leave their families to work for a government program so they could feed their family.
3. Farms for Sale: When I saw this picture of a "For Sale" sign, it showed that farmers were not making enough because before the 1930's they were making too much food, which destroyed the soil, and once the droughts hit, the land became a dust bowl.
1. How would the Great Depression have turned out if the president was Republican?
2. Was there any other cause of the Great Depression than the Stock Market Crash?
3. Besides Mount Rushmore and Hoover Dam, what government project created national landmarks?
The picture that I was looking at was titled unemployed men at a soup kitchen. I've noticed that all the men were wearing the same clothes. The soup kitchen looks quite small they might have not had that much food so everyone would only have a small proportion. Looking at these men it made me think of if they had children, we're those children eating at a different soup kitchen or did the fathers share some of their food with family members? These men seem to be patiently waiting for their turn. Their facial expressions show not much emotion. They seem to have an ordinary evening at a men's soup kitchen. This picture made me think of how did they survive the horror of the depression? There wasn't always enough food or shelter, people suffered physically, emotionally, and mentally. What was they're everyday life and thoughts?
ReplyDelete1. Did the Great Depression cause lots of death?
ReplyDelete2. Were there a lot more homeless people in the GD?
3. Did the people that were rich at the time lose a lot too or not
There were a lot more homeless people in the GD because people didnt have enough money to by homes.
Delete1. One Inference I can make about the coal miner family is that they seem like they are finding happiness with each other.
ReplyDelete2. When I saw the photo of the Oklahoma mother I realized how much mothers with children struggled in this time.
3. When I saw the photo of the girl making super I realized how much children had to step up and take on more roles.
One question I had was how were children specifically affected by the Great Depression?
Another question I had was how did people react to the Stock Market crashing?
The last question I had is did families become closer during the Great Depression?
The Great Depression had many negative affects on children for example, 20% of children were hungry or without proper clothing, the kids went without shoes or warm cloths in the winter, and about 3 million children between the ages 7 through 17 had to leave school.
Deletehttp://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/er2b.htm
1. One sad observation I made was that the employment agencies were filled with people that were unemployed and looking for jobs. In the picture, there is a sign that says their employment agency has had over 35 years of reliable service. Obviously, it wasn't very reliable then. I imagine that a lot of the men looking for jobs were forced to leave their families in order to travel around to find a job to somehow support them.
ReplyDelete2. The picture of the migrant workers hitchhiking with all of their possessions shows how hard life was for them. A couple years ago I went on a trek and we hiked 33 miles in three days, and that was torture. I can only imagine how tough it would be to walk across states.
3. The picture of the dust storm just shows how easily the crops and the land could be ruined and how unreliable the weather was. People were forced to move from place to place.
1. What caused all of the dust storms/the dust bowl?
2.What caused the stock market crash?
3. Was the Great Depression caused by more than just the stock market crash?
The Dust Bowl was caused by a severe drought in the west. The dirt became dust and wind picked it up and caused the great storms.
DeleteThe stock market crashed because people started investing more money than they had in the stock market, using loans from lenders. This basically means the stock market was over inflated with money people didn't actually have.
Delete1. The picture of the family sitting down at dinner really shows how the Great Depression was a time of poverty. It doesn't look like they have much food and they only have one chair at the table.
ReplyDelete2. The picture of the man walking down the long road really shows how poor people were because he was able to carry all his belongings in that one bag.
3. The people driving in the mud also shows how bad things were because people were packing up and leaving home to go west to see if things were better there.
1. Were there any people who weren't affected by the Great Depression and if so how many?
2. What started the Great Depression?
3. How did the US eventually escape the Great Depression?
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DeleteThe stock market crashing was the start of the Great Depression.
Delete1. The Great Depression spared no man, woman, or family.
ReplyDelete2. People affected by the dust storms just had to deal with their situations, they had no power to change what was happening to them.
3. You had to adjust to what you had, as there wasn't an option to go and get new things as shown in the Christmas dinner.
1. For the people that were making money, how much did they actually make?
2. How did people keep their hope alive? Or did they even try to?
3. What was the worst thing people had to deal with on a daily basis?
I think the worst thing people had to deal with has feeding and taking care of kids.
DeleteIt really depends on the job to answer your first question, but I found out that a newspaper boy made 2 cents an hour.
Delete1) In all of the breadline pictures, people look at the food with envious eyes showing that they did not get a lot of food.
ReplyDelete2) The children are hiding their faces from the camera and the mother's face is stricken with depression.
3) The dust storms are huge compared to the buildings at the bottom of the photograph.
1) How much food did each family get every week?
2) How much money was lost during the Great Depression?
3) Why did some people get extremely rich, while most people became ridiculously poor?
Yes your last question is something very important to notice about the depression. I think that this happened because the people that were really rich to begin with stayed pretty rich it was just the middle class that felt it. I guess that didn't answer it at all but a guess the simple answer is some people were smart and figured out how to get around the bad times.
Delete1. The picture of the migrant worker really showed how hard it was to get a job and to live a happy life.
ReplyDelete2. The picture about the soup kitchen showed that that food was hard to come across and the easiest way to get it was through soup kitchens. The food and eating area isn't very sanitary either.
3. I looked at the picture about the farms and furniture for sale and I infer that that was the only way to make money. People had to sell there belongings just to survive.
1. Why didn't the government intervene more and help the citizens?
2. Why were there so many diseases going around?
3. Why did all the banks crash?
The reason why there were so many diseases is because everyone lived in dirty and terrible places. Families that lived in slums were always dirty and shared nasty bathroom areas. Some people didn't even have bathrooms and just went outside increasing the rate of infection.
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