James Gregory’s, American Exodus, is a book that focuses on Dust Bowl migration to California, and their economic and social struggles in California. The book first starts off setting up the historical context of the Dust Bowl and the migrants with statistics, maps, pictures, and migrant backgrounds in the introduction. The overall book reads like a history textbook on the Dust Bowl, which is divided into two parts instead of narrative based on one family like The Grapes of Wrath. The first part of the book is organized chronologically, focusing on the resettlement of the Dust Bowlers, and the second part is done thematically and focuses on Okie culture. Gregory’s approach successfully showed the clash of cultures and social struggles the migrants faced in California accurately without having to caricaturize the migrants.…
Out of this Furnace by Thomas Bell is a historical fiction novel that describes the life of immigrants coming to America. More specifically, this is a story of different generations of the Kracha family’s immigration to America. There are many setting; the central setting being Braddock, Pennsylvania- a steel town. Bell gives a realistic depiction on what the European immigrant’s personal and work life was like during the eighteenth century.…
Joad Family Progression Starting in 1929 to the late 1930's, America hit an amazing recession. So amazing in fact that it was called a depression, and the largest one on record at that. This time was called the Great Depression.…
Set in California in the era of Nixon and the Vietnam war, this may be Soto's best novel to date. When 17-year-old Jesse, a Mexican-American, drops out of high school after Christmas of his senior year, he leaves home, moves in with his brother Abel, and attends junior college. Living on 90 dollars a month each from Social Security, a legacy of their dead father, the boys go to classes, form friendships, work in the fields to make money for food, and scrounge junk to sell at yard sales and swap meets. Jesse goes to church, dates, and gets minimally involved in the farm workers movement. When the semester is over, Abel is drafted; Jesse moves into a shed and contemplates his summer: "fields running for miles with cantaloupes like heads, all…
Considering, the excerpt the insight I have gain from the work is that the author is foreshadowing that the outcomes of traveling to California might be in fact extremely negative, and could be a catastrophe leaving all of the Joad’s vagrant. Furthermore, the fact that the man did not had a desire to fret the Joad family about the harsh conditions people are living, and elucidating that the people are essentially working for free for the landowner. Due their are thousands of family who are desiring a job, in order to survive, demonstrates the man is truthful, and does not wishes to bring the Joad hopes…
The story Life and Death by Candace Jaye and John Malcolm tells two stories about teens having to make hard life decisions. It tells the story about a businessman name Wes Moore, who meets a prisoner with the same name as him and a girl name Maria Reyes, who joins a gang and has to make the right decisions if she want to get out. This novel is a nonfiction, because their telling about their life and the struggle they went through in order to become successful in life. The theme of the book was dealing with family influence, poverty and pressure. The genre of this novel is an autobiography and biography, because it's based on real events and telling about two people life stories.…
Compare and Contrast Draft The world has a very distant perception of what reality can be in our society. Both stories explain what the real world is, how poorly informed society can be, and what can lead to taking different actions. However, despite the racial inequality, both turned their experiences into something informative towards society. In many circumstances the main characters in the stories were in an overwhelming situation which caused many doubts that became stressful towards them. However, despite some obstacles such as nationality and inequality, today Amy Tan and Brent Staples are professional and successful writer.…
The chronicle series of the ThinkProgress is an establishment that discusses the experiences of immigrant families in crossing the United States and Mexican border. The article “What It’s Really Like to Cross the U.S.-Mexico Border.” by Jack Jenkins, published in Feb 10, 2015.…
Whether blatantly stated and actively convincing, or subtly incorporated and subconsciously compelling, every author has a purpose. To entertain, to teach, to persuade the reader to take a stance or to take action – every author’s purpose is unique, rooted in his or her own values and experiences. In writing The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck had his own purpose in mind. He used his story to reveal the truth of the tragedy and hardship experienced by the migrant workers of the 1930’s, through the combined employment of a moving plot and purposeful rhetorical devices. The story elicited a surprising reaction from all its readers – both those directly affected by the migrant workers, and those disconnected from the issue.…
For the past several weeks we have been reading memoirs on multiple sources, ranging from the hills of the Appalachian Mountains, to the streets of Chicago. Both of these places come off not only as different in geography but in lifestyle as well. They also share similarities in some instances. In Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, and Our America by LeAlan Jones, and Lloyd Newman, both stories share similarities in the fact that the people in these stories are restricted by the environment in which they are raised in, but also stricken by poverty which is responsible for the frustrations and hardships in life they face, and the path which was paved for their life. Our America focuses on two boys living on the southside of Chicago,…
“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope”, a quote said by Martin Luther King Jr. During the 1930’s many people traveled from the midwest to California in the hopes of finding a better life but they faced many obstacles, but in order to survive they can’t lose hope in what they were trying to achieve. In the novel “The Grapes Of Wrath” written by John Steinbeck the effects of fear causes people to believe that there is no way of successfulness in their work of farming. The ragged man’s experiences of California make the men fear that they will end up in situations such as his own. While sitting on the porch of the camp owner a group of men including Tom and Pa Joad, a man, described as ragged, explained that in California his life was difficult, it “ took two kids dead, took my wife dead to show me. But i cant tell ya little fellas layin’ in the tent with their bellies puffed out an’ jus’ skin on their bones” (260).…
Man’s Inhumanity to Man The memoir Night captures the horrors of Elie Wiesel, a Jewish Holocaust survivor. In this beautifully crafted, riveting, and unforgettable book, the true meaning behind inhumanity becomes clear as Elie and his father journey from place to place and endure cruelty along the way. The book depicts how awful conditions were and how they had to adapt to their environment to have even the slightest chance of survival. In the war era (1941-1945) times were difficult and most places involved in WWII were put in a state of economic depression, even more so in certain parts close to the axis powers.…
Globally, millions of impoverished families struggle with survival. Measly finances create some of the difficulties in life. Historically, immigrant workers of the early 1900’s suffered from meager finances. Unfortunately, many Americans had no awareness of the disturbing struggles that immigrant workers endured. The Grapes of Wrath and The Jungle revealed poor laborers’ treacherous living condition to oblivious Americans.…
In Hsün Tzu’s “Man’s Nature is Evil,” It becomes apparent that he has done much thought upon the subject of man's nature. Hsün Tzu What's a philosopher in the time of 300 to about 230 BCE. His writings consisted of well-developed arguments that contributed to the Chinese philosophy of legalism. He believed that inherently humans are evil, and must be taught by Society how to act civil.…
Introduction The author of Evicted, Matthew Desmond, exposes the restrictions those in extreme poverty may face daily. Based in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Desmond takes his readers into the lives of those living in poorly maintained housing where tenants experience health problems, eviction, and at times even death. The property owners are wealthy and thrive off profits made by those less fortunate, yet do minimal maintenance to preserve their rental units. The families residing in the rentals cope with roach infestations, poor plumbing, and broken windows.…