The Grapes of Wrath reading questions
Chapter 1
-Imagery, why is Steinbeck making the choice to focus so heavily on the environment?
-how is it progressing? What tone is used?
-how do the people react at the very end? Why is there such a focus on being "whole" and not breaking?
Chapter 2
- how are people connecting to and with each other? Are they lonely? Why would that matter?
- how are people identified? (Once again, we have 'good guys')
- how is the truck driver characterized? What "screwy things" does he do?
-how do each of the men treat the respective bugs in the truck? What does this say about their characters?
-we meet Tom, our protagonist; what do you now know about him?
Chapter 3
-this is an allegory; who does the turtle represent? What do his actions represent? How is he treated? Think
symbolically
Chapter 4
-first chapter that doesn't open with excessive imagery; what does it focus on? How does Tom Joad behave
when he's alone?
-why is Jim Casy no longer a preacher?
-why are destinations ("goin' someplace") so important?
-keep tracking loneliness
-purpose of family stories; what is the difference between Pa Joad and Uncle John?
Chapter 5
-why is this interchanged written so universally? (Archetypes)
-how is humanity defined? (Focus especially on the tenants vs. men vs. banks).
-why are there no quotation marks for dialogue?
-what is the impact of the extended metaphor of the monster?
-why is the difficulty of origin (who to shoot) so difficult? Why is personal ownership/responsibility so
prevalent?
-why are no names used? (Even after being called Joe Davis's boy, the driver is still called the driver)
-why does Steinbeck make us take a break away from Tom here?
Chapter 6
-has anything been added to the turtle allegory?
-what information does Muley give Tom?
-the Joad house was not the house in chapter 5, but it suffered a similar fate; why would Steinbeck do this?
-why does Muley have to share the rabbits?
-why is talking important?
-why does Pa hate writing?
-how do people change?
-why do the men have to hide? Why is Tom troubled by it?
Chapter 7
- why would Steinbeck switch perspectives to show us the used car salesman? How is this archetypal? Will this
set up what we're about to read with the Joads?
Chapter 8
-how are Muley and Uncle John characterized at the start?
