Chapter 1 Observations by Connie Willson https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m Period 5 en-us 2018-02-27 20:00:47 UTC 2025-12-21 14:43:25 UTC hello@padlet.com Corn https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698399 -dry, dusty, losing life
-start off as a good harvest, becomes useless dead crop after summer
-"As the sharp sun struck day after day, the leaves of the young corn became less stiff and erect; they bent in a curve at first, and then, as the central ribs of strength grew weak, each leaf tilted downward" (3).]]> 2019-04-08 19:56:31 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698399 Sun Imagery https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698405 -"flares down"
-"the sun whipped his neck"
-"hammering rays"
-"sun-beaten"

]]> 2019-04-08 19:56:33 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698405 Color Symbolism https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698445 - "the red country and part of the gray country" (1)
- green: "the gray country and the dark red country began to disappear under a green cover" (1) 
- "line of brown spread along the edge of each green bayonet...brown lines on the corn leaves widened" (1) 
- "weeds grew darker green to protect themselves" (1)
- "in the gray sky a red sun appeared, a dim red circle" (2) 
-  "it was black night" (3)]]> 2019-04-08 19:56:42 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698445 Men and Women https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698570 - women are dependent on men
- men are in charge of "thinking--figuring", while the women do their maternal jobs
- men "became hard and angry and resistant"]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:05 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698570 Red/Grey Country https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698580 Red Country
-"In the grey sky a red sun appeared, a dim red circle that gave a little light, like dusk"
-In the morning the dust hung like fog, and the sun was as red as ripe new blood"

Grey Country
-"...drove grey plumes into the air like sluggish smoke"
-"The earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the grey country"]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:07 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698580 Mechanization https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698584 "One cat' takes and shoves ten families out" (8). "Cat'" is a machine that can be used to gather/transport crops. The machines are putting people out of jobs and forcing them to move to elsewhere. ]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:08 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698584 Color https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698624 "The gray country and the dark red country began to disappear under the green cover"(1)
"In the gray sky a red sun appeared, a dim red circle that gave a little light" (2)
"sun was as red as ripe new blood" (3)
-red represents heat and death
-green represents life]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:15 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698624 Family Members https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698645 - "The children stood near by, drawing figures in the dust with bare toes, and the children sent exploring senses out to see whether men and women would break"
- "The women came out of the houses to stand beside their men - to feel whether this time the men would break"
- "Men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, dying fast now, only they did not move often"]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:19 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698645 Color Symbolism: https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698663 - red: "the earth became pale, pink in the red country and white in the gray country" (1)
- gray: "gray country" (1)
- yellow:]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:23 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698663 Men https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698694 -strong figures for family
-backbone for family
-shows maybe something to lower caliber could've happened before
    -"to feel whether this time they would break" (3)]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:28 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698694 Men and Women https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698739 - Men turned to childish state, humbled by the great loss
- Large dependence shows how important the family unit is
- Ideal nuclear family (American Dream?) is destroyed by nature
- Humans are less than nature
- Strong reinforcement of gender roles/spheres display the tradition, and how it has been broken

]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:37 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698739 weather https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698753 gentle wind-> racing winds
rain, rain clouds 
darkened sky 
dust muffled air
heavy high clouds 
grey plumes 
broken rain crust 
dark sky -> red sun 

]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:39 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698753 Children https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698756 -draw figures in the sand, run around playing while parents are worried
-however, the children are conscious of the crisis
-"children... did not run or shout as they would have done after a rain"
-"stood nearby, drawing figures in the dust with bare toes, and the children sent exploring senses out to see whether men and women would break"]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:39 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698756 https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698772 red generally seems to be representing something negative or harmful
"in the gray sky a red sun appeared, a dim red circle" (2) 
eventually bares down on the hopeless farmers who have nothing because the dust and sun ruined their crops
the darker colors are prominent because of the dust which covers everything like the darkened sky
the dust seems to be everywhere, regardless of how hard the families tried to keep them out
the dust makes everything seem dull

]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:42 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698772 Colors https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698789 - includes contrasting cold/warm colors (red and blue)
- "pink in the red country and white in the gray country"
- "a huge red transport truck...and an almost invisible haze of steel-blue smoke hovered over its end"]]> 2019-04-08 19:57:44 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698789 Gender https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698903 - women portrayed as passive, waiting upon the men (active, leading) to take action
- "women went into houses to work... men sat still thinking -- figuring" (4)]]> 2019-04-08 19:58:03 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698903 Colors https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698911 - dull colors: grey, brown, blue, dull yellow
- red, green
- loss of color "the earth paled" when there was a drought represents a loss of life
-"the sun was as red as ripe new blood" (3)]]> 2019-04-08 19:58:06 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349698911 Gender Roles https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699014 - men silent and did not move - in shock
- women stood beside men to feel if they would break (secretly)
- mens' faces became hard/angry - they had not given up/broken
- they would be all right as long as men remained not broken - still had spirit left 
- not really sexist because at the time the men were the heads of the family]]> 2019-04-08 19:58:22 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699014 Animals https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699296 Gophers and ant lions starting small avalanches, adding to the destruction of the environment
Horses]]> 2019-04-08 19:59:09 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699296 Insects https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699308 "A bee flew into the cab and buzzed in back of the windshield. The driver put out his hand and carefully drove the bee into an air stream... " (8).

"A grasshopper flipped through the window ... Joad reached forward and crushed its hard skull-like head with his fingers" (12). Joad could have just moved the grasshopper to outside of the truck, but instead he is very violent with the grasshopper. He probably hates grasshoppers because they are pests that ruin ]]> 2019-04-08 19:59:11 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699308 Powerlessness: https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699318 - pale represents frailty against will of nature
- harsh landscape (even the weeds are dying under the heat) depicts powerlessness of man against nature
- thin crust, lines on corn leaves THIN, THIN, THIN
- powerlessness of farmers against nature - powerlessness of migrant workers against land owners]]> 2019-04-08 19:59:13 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699318 https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699545 -women and children depended on men
-felt okay if the men said that they would be okay]]> 2019-04-08 19:59:52 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699545 Men https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699570 "Women and children knew deep in themselves
that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole."
- As long as the men live the household will survive
- Live means to remain sane, if men give up they become insane]]> 2019-04-08 19:59:55 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699570 Weather https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699579 - dry in the beginning but they still had hope for rain --> as the chapter progresses, the damage of the dust intensifies and everything begins to fade away
- "the wind grew strong and hard...the rain crust broke and the dust lifted up out of the fields and drove gray plumes into the air" (2)]]> 2019-04-08 19:59:57 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699579 Men and Women https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699580 - women waited to see if the men would break
- felt safe as long as "their men were whole" (4)]]> 2019-04-08 19:59:57 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699580 Women https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699686 -allow men to do the decision making
-keep quiet with the children
-"women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole"]]> 2019-04-08 20:00:15 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699686 Animals https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699928 - "Gophers and ant lions started small avalanches" (1)  
- "The roosters crowed, and their voices were muffled" (3)]]> 2019-04-08 20:01:02 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349699928 American Values https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349700036 - resilience from men- continued 
fighting for their purpose and support family
-"men lost their bemused perplexity and became hard and angry and resistant" (3)
-anger at nature --> proves that they didn't give up
- rugged individualism/self reliance]]> 2019-04-08 20:01:24 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349700036 Colors https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349700235 Pale: Death, Renewal
White: Rebirth, Renewal
Green: Success, life
Red and Gray turned to pink and white, the earth is renewing itself after the scars and abuse inflicted upon it]]> 2019-04-08 20:01:57 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349700235 https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349700322 -paleness of the sky represents how the world is fading, slowly dying 
-parallels the dying corn]]> 2019-04-08 20:02:10 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/349700322 Light & Darkness https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/350109431 - "Then it was June, and the sun shone more fiercely" (1)
- "The finest dust did not settle back to earth now, but disappeared into the darkening sky" (2) --> contrast with burning sun]]> 2019-04-09 19:27:17 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/350109431 Family https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/350111798 -"Women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole" (4)
"women came out of their houses to stand beside their men" (3)
-"for the corn could go as long as something else remained" (3)
- "the children peeked at the faces of them men and women" (3)
-plural usage of nouns to paint the shared story of many
- paints the depiction of a family scene commonly seen in Great Depression photos]]> 2019-04-09 19:33:07 UTC https://padlet.com/conniewillson1_1/jj7q5pju93m/wish/350111798