Lesson Plan - The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Lesson Plan from the year 2010 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature Works grade: 13 University of Marburg (Anglistik) course: Second Language Acquisition language: English abstract: 1. General OverviewThe Hessian Curriculum(1) demands that the English lesson in the Oberstufe has to improve the pupils' language skills as well as enlarge their knowledge about English literature and different cultures. Correspondingly the pupils should gain experiences with a variety of texts and different media. By this they develop critical media literacy which is an essential prerequisite for working independently. Ideally these main objectives should be combinedin every teaching unit.The novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published in 1939. It reports the story of the farmer family Joad which has like hundred thousands of other families to leave their home Oklahoma to start a new life in California. By this Steinbeck exemplifies the fateof migrant workers in the USA during the 1930's. The novel should be motivating for the pupils as it constitutes an authentic documentation of the social circumstances during the time of the Great Depression.(2) Furthermore the dramatic story of the family Joad is gripping and arouses empathy. The novel moreover refers to central topics like work ethnic and inequality which can be connected to the current problems of globalization.In The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck makes use of the migrants' authentic language. That is why the reading might be a challenge for the pupils. Besides Steinbeck's literary techniques are note-worthy. He for instance adds so-called intercalary chapters which evaluate the plot and provide further information on the historical context.Moreover the controversy(3) of the novel led to various reactions of artists and film adaptations. So the novel is an appropriate starting point for the comparison of different media like for instance songs photographs and film