What was the tinkers role in the story? What does this show about the economy during the Depression?
How has society evolved since the Great Depression?
Questions?
The Great Depression
Economic Effects
The stock market collapsed. More than 16 million shares were put up for sale at very low prices. By the end of the month, more than $15 billion in stock value had been lost. "end of that year it climbed to $40 billion lost, 60% of the total stock exchange when the crash began"
By the end of 1932, 12 million people were unemployed.
Economy of the 1920's and 30's
- Was built upon the farming industry
- Farming took the biggest hit
- “ It is evident that the existing paralysis of business in the United States is primarily due to a breakdown of fair price interrelationships among commodities, raw materials, manufactured goods and service” (Himmelburg)
- “In 1929 the unemployment rate in America was 3.2%”. “By 1932, the worst year of the depression, it had risen to a staggering 25.2%”. “This caused a mass immigration of farmers to California in search of work” (Collins)
The Price is Right!
- Activity
- In your table groups, you are going to determine the price of the objects we say based on how much you think the would cost in the 1930's.
- The two groups who are the closest will choose one person to advance to the second round.
- In the second round, there will be five objects with the price they are today, and you will have to match them with the price they would be in 1930.
- The first person to get all of the prices right will win a prize.
What do you think the
Great Depression is?
What are the roles that women play in today's society? How do these compare to Elisa's life?
Gender Roles in the
1930's
The life & Philosophies of John Steinbeck
What was Expected From Women
- Most families breadwinner
- Worked on the railroads
- Many in the military
- Wide, padded shoulders, tapering sleeves, peaked lapels, and V-shaped neck
- The trench coat with a double-breasted front, wide, pointed lapels, and belt around the waist.
- Most were housewives
- Took care of the children
- If worked they were paid less then the men
- Women only got low paying factory jobs
- Women had to get a full education while men had to just graduate from elementary school
- Posters were used to encourage women to join the military
- Dresses were the fashion of the 1930's
- Wore dresses that defined the waistline also wore dresses that emphasized their shoulders
"She put on her newest underclothing and her nicest stockings and the dress which was the symbol of her prettiness.She worked carefully on her hair, penciled her eyebrows and rouged her lips" (pg.120).
This shows that Elisa does follow that stereotypical women in the 1930's and shows that she tried to look nice for her husband.
Quotation:
"I believe that a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible." - John Steinbeck
- John Steinbeck was born in Salinas California, which is where the story takes place.
- He grew up in a middle class family, which was the income of most of his characters.
- His mother knew that men had a better chance in society and made sure that she raised an intelligent son. She started reading to him at a young age.
- He was bullied most of his childhood, and to help him his father introduced him to farming.
- Steinbeck attended Stanford university, but never graduated. After he worked many laborious jobs, this helped him relate to the lives of his characters.
- He wrote many famous novels that were set in California during the time of the great depression, such as Mice of Men (1937), Cup of Gold (1929), The Pastures of Heaven (1932), etc.
The Great Depression Conflict and Resolution
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/overview.htm
- In the 1920's, America's economy was booming and many people owed their wealth to the stock market.
- In 1929, the stock market crashed which left many people without money.
- Roosevelt changed the way that Americans viewed the government because he created a lot of new programs which helped those in debt with welfare and work .
- The Depression was also caused when farming was no longer in high demand because WW1 ended. Another cause was that companies would produce a lot of their products, but after the war, they were no longer needed, leaving the companies in debt because they had so much left over.
- The Great Depression ended during WW2, when many people got employed again, and farming became high demand again.
Women's Rights
-Activity
In this activity we will be showing the struggles that women faced during the Great Depression.
Scenario 1: You are a single,unemployed African American woman with a young child, how do you make an income?
Scenario 2: You are a young woman who wishes to join the army, but that is highly frowned upon. What do you do?
The Chrysanthemums
By: Zalak Patel, Avery Hudon, Dana Carrol, Emma Miller
The Chrysanthemums
Short Story Rundown
Elisa is gardening when her husband, Henry, makes a huge sale so they decide to go out to celebrate that night. A tinker drives up, looking for work and Elisa is annoyed at first. Eventually, the tinker changes the topic to the chrysanthemums she has planted, which gets Elisa interested and she develops feelings for him. She gives him some seeds to give to his customer and tells him how to tend the flowers. Elisa and Henry get ready for dinner and she is paying more attention to her appearance. On their way, she sees the seeds tossed on the side of the road and realizes the tinker only kept the pot which upsets her because she was growing very fond of him.
Stories Big Images
- Chrysanthemums
- Fall
- Wagon
- Hands
Character Development:
Elisa
- Starts off shy and reserved at the beginning.
- Doesn't get treated as equally as men do.
- Once she meets the tinker, she begins to realize her worth.
- Starts paying more attention to how she looks (wears makeup and dresses nice).
Henry
- Does most of the work for him and Elisa and feels like women can't do the same things as men.
- Near the end, he starts treating Elisa more equally, showing the difference between gender roles from then until now.
- At the end of the book Henry says "You look strong enough to break a calf over your knee,happy enough to eat it like a watermelon" (p.120).
Theme
Falling Action
- Elisa and Henry leave to go to dinner.
- Henry begins to treat her more equally and asks if she wants to go watch a fight sometime.
- Elisa sees the chrysanthemums dumped on the side of the road and realizes she shouldn't have trusted the tinker.
- Trying to hide her tears, Elisa declines her husband's offer.
Climax
Rising Action:
The climax of this story is when the tinker leaves and Elisa realizes that he treated her how she deserves. This made her realize that she wants to be treated as equally as men and be a role model.
- Elisa is tending to her chrysanthemums when she notices that her husband is talking to two men.
- She finds out that her husband Henry sold a bunch of his meat and they are going out to celebrate over dinner that night.
- A tinker arrives and is looking for work. She gives him chrysanthemums to give to one of his customers and tells him how to plant them properly. She thinks they are hitting it off well.
Some possible themes that we have are:
-Gender Roles
-Manipulation
-Economic struggles during the Great Depression
Thesis: How did the economic crash during the Great Depression affect the roles men and women played during that time period?
Conflicts
Elisa vs. self
Tinker vs. nature
Henry vs. Tinker
Plot