Honors Novel Blog #2

1. How does Jim Casey's moral philosophy guide the novel as a whole?

In the novel the Grapes of Wrath, Jim Casy develops the novel with his philosophy of human unity and the human spirit. Casy was a preacher, who preached for the people. He never felt in touch with a god and never connected with the religion philosophy of the holy spirit. Yet he loved people, all he wanted was to make people happy. He found a way to make people happy by preaching about a God and a holy spirit. Then he realized that he couldn’t preach because he had nothing to preach for.

Casy’s philosophy on the human spirit is that humankind makes up a holy spirit. We are not born with it, and we do not go into the wilderness to find it. “I figgered about the Holy Sperit and the Jesus road. I figgered, ‘ Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,’ I figgered, ‘ mayby it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit- the human sperit- the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.” Casy believes everyone has a human spirit that grows and forms through our actions. Our experiences and love form the Holy Spirit in all human beings.

 

Steinbeck uses Jim Casy to express his beliefs. One of those beliefs is unity. Unity is the strongest message in the Grapes of Wrath because it develops throughout the book. At the beginning of the novel, Steinbeck starts with a description of the dust bowl. Then he moves towards the banks taking people of the land. Migrant farmers from all over the places of the country move west in hope of finding jobs, a place to live and something to eat. They all have similar stories and throughout the novel we see the unity of these farmers. They camp together, cook together past time by telling stories. All they have is one another. The Joads help the Wilsons, so hopefully together they make it to California.

Semester TWO, Blog #13 (GOW Final Essay)

1. How does Jim Casey's moral philosophy guide the novel as a whole?

In the novel the Grapes of Wrath, Jim Casy develops the novel with his philosophy of human unity and the human spirit. Casy was a preacher, who preached for the people. He never felt in touch with a god and never connected with the religion philosophy of the holy spirit. Yet he loved people, all he wanted was to make people happy. He found a way to make people happy by preaching about a God and a holy spirit. Then he realized that he couldn’t preach because he had nothing to preach for.

 

Casy’s philosophy on the human spirit is that humankind makes up a holy spirit. We are not born with it, and we do not go into the wilderness to find it. “I figgered about the Holy Sperit and the Jesus road. I figgered, ‘ Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,’ I figgered, ‘ mayby it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit- the human sperit- the whole shebang. Maybe all men got one big soul ever’body’s a part of.” Casy believes everyone has a human spirit that grows and forms through our actions. Our experiences and love form the Holy Spirit in all human beings.

 

Steinbeck uses Jim Casy to express his beliefs. One of those beliefs is unity. Unity is the strongest message in the Grapes of Wrath because it develops throughout the book. At the beginning of the novel, Steinbeck starts with a description of the dust bowl. Then he moves towards the banks taking people of the land. Migrant farmers from all over the places of the country move west in hope of finding jobs, a place to live and something to eat. They all have similar stories and throughout the novel we see the unity of these farmers. They camp together, cook together past time by telling stories. All they have is one another. The Joads help the Wilsons, so hopefully together they make it to California.

Semester TWO, Blog #12

What were "public works projects"? What famous ones were part of the New Deal? What public works projects would you recommend for our society today?

Public Works Projects are government projects created to support families struggling with the Great Depression. These groups were part of FDR's New Deal. Between November 1933 and March 1933, the administration ran the Civil Works Administration, this put 4 million people to work. When it ended, many people were transferred back to the FERA work relief jobs. There were also Public Buildings Administration (PBA) and the Public Roads Administration (PRA) who gave money to states to build roads and federal buildings. It created more jobs for Americas with good wages until they shut down. I would recommend these groups to become active today. Many people might be able to find jobs by building a new system. 

Semester TWO, HONORS Novel Blog #1

John Steinbeck has a great, long background of liberalism. Most, if not all of his novels carry messages of political and social issues. In Cannery Row, a novel based on people living in a small neighborhood during the Great Depression, Steinbeck includes perhaps one of the most important social issues, generosity.

The characters in Cannery Row bring their own perspective; some characters are based on people Steinbeck knew. Doc, the main character, is a passionate marine biologist, based on Steinbeck’s friend, Ed Ricketts, a well recognized marine biologist.

Doc always seems lonely, yet he is loved by everyone. He owns the Western Biological Laboratory which allows him to isolate from people. Doc shows generosity by being like a second father to Dora’s girls. He also takes in Frankie, a mentally handicapped boy, even though Frankie has trouble doing almost any work, Doc takes care of him without wanting anything back in exchange.

Throughout the book, Doc realizes that he is a huge part of Cannery Row, and he has to serve for others. Yet he never fully opens up to other characters. Here, Steinbeck brings the idea that we all have a reason for being. A society is made by people who are willing to give, without expecting something back.

Lee Chong is a store owner, he allows his clients to have debts and he believes in a free market, he is a capitalist. Yet Chong knows that he needs to build a loyal relation with his customers to prevent them from going to out to Monterey to buy supplies. Times were hard, for workers and merchants, which meant a man had to do, anything to survive. Although that meant frauds could happen easily, the people in Cannery Row were still people and united. Lee Chong shows generosity when accepting almost any transaction with his costumers in exchange for supplies. He lends Mac and the boys a fish-meal shack to live in, knowing that inevitably they will never pay for the service. 

The characters in Cannery Row have an awakening moment at some point in the book. Dora Flood is a business woman with a great spirit, operates a whorehouse, but she has morals. She doesn’t allow hard liquor or vulgar words in her property and has a fair price for services. During the great Depression, she paid bills for many families. She also helped during the influenza outbreak. Despite the fact that she is very successful, she becomes a philanthropist. Her business is in danger of being shut down, so she makes more of an effort to help out in Cannery Row.

History does repeat it self, and issues haven’t been changed. They have been tailored to fit in today’s society. Characters from Cannery Row can be compared to people today; they will have most of the same dilemmas and different plans of action. Steinbeck tries to settle his ideas by using America’s toughest times and explaining through novels his ideas on issues. In Cannery Row, generosity was always among the actions many of these characters made. Just like the characters in Cannery Row, we have to find our strength in rough times, and change our superficial views to better our community.

Semester TWO, Blog #11

Dear Mr. Obama,

It is due to unfortunate events that I write to you with an urgent matter. I need you to address many points which have been forgotten.

Our youth has lost faith in your words. They no longer believe education is one of your priorities. Our great former President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, made drastic changes to our system, he took action within few months after taking office. Mainly because he threaten Congress. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “I cannot go any faster than the people will let me,” I advice you to do the same. Our People are becoming outrage at the long process the Medicare Bill is taking to pass Congress, yet they don't get the blame, you do. So threaten Congress, set a conference were you demand them to pass your laws and bills. Set your standards because the people have set their own.

You have betrayed your word by sending more troops to Iraq, instead of bringing them home. The war is pointless. Waste no more money on War but on education. On March 4th, thousands of students walked-out of class in a nationwide rally protesting against budget cuts in the education system. Students protested against tuition increase in many state Universities. They want to be able to continue their education without having to make huge sacrifices. Many young students voted for you because you promised them better education and a wiser system, but you have betrayed them. Make time to save money and fund our education system. Books not Bombs.

America was founded by immigrants. We've heard this many times. It is never to be forgotten that everyone, except for Native Americans have immigrated from other countries. We have built a great nation that is worth every drop of sweat. We cannot fall after many years of greatness, not when we have made history. It is time to win our people back, to show them that you havent forgotten your roots, that you havent forgotten the struggle. Workers are a great part of this Nation, they want their voice to count. President Roosevelt created many worker organizations, I advice you to show support to these organizations, do not allow your governors to cut bugets from schools or government agencies.

Stay strong, you will win back your followers. Keep your promise, do not be afraid of Wall Street, do not be afraid of change. Mr. President, please consider this humble advice. I know you will make a change.

Semester TWO, Blog #10

Do you believe that the Grapes of Wrath successfully establishes sympathy for the plight of Dust Bowl farmers? Why or why not?

Sympathy is such a weak word. It simply means that it demonstrate a feeling that never carries actions. The Grapes of Wrath describes a feeling of sorrow and inspiration. Chapter 14 captured my attention, it was the only chapter were I completely fell in love with John Steinbeck. The Dust Bowl is a mere attempt to provoke sorrow for readers. All my teammates hate the book, because it never completely carries it's message right trough. So does Grapes of Wrath successfully establishes sympathy for the plight of Dust Bowl? NO! It never even gets close. The only feeling it has provoke, or trigger is frustration. The book is full of ideas that need to be understood. It is an American Literature because it carries history and peoples story, but he needs to make it simple and easy to get the point across. I love the book, it is very interesting, but it will never be attracted to students because it never successfully establishes a relation with the reader.

Semester TWO, Blog #9

Reflection on Freedom and Structure

My first idea for ampersand was to write about twitter and online social life. During my internship I neglected my online social life, specially Twitter. I missed many important tweets, John Mayer had a traumatizing story during a show. Craig Owens spent his afternoon playing basketball in UCSD. All these things and more i missed because i was too busy tutoring kids. So my initial idea was to write about how much i missed twitter. I was also tempted many times when i saw a teachers laptop open to a twitter account. I wanted to take the computer and sign in.

The structures for Ampersand are basically writing rules. it is a bit difficult because we are supposed to write about school, work and life. Yet we can write fully about internship, and we have to make a connection to it. It is a bit confusing, but i have followed some techniques and structures. I have set up seed ideas with big ideas, school ideas and questions i will answer in my writing.