To Kill a Mockingbird

As you read To Kill a Mockingbird, think about how this novel reflects upon the decade we have just studied. We spoke today about the nostalgic voice that opens the text and how this voice is a mixture of child-like innocence and a more adult sensibility. Check out this remarkable clip of the film's introductory credits: click here.

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Richard Wright (1908-1960), Native Son (1940)

Wright in Paris, 1949

Click on over to the University of Illinois' Modern American Poetry website to see this link for information on Wright's life and career, a chronology of his work, a link to a PBS photo archive of his life, and other resources. Also check out the Mississippi Writers Page here for more information about Wright's life and work. If you are interested in knowing more, you might want to read Hazel Rowley's biography entitled Richard Wright: The Life and Times (2001; a review in the NY Times is available here).

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More on Steinbeck

NPR has a great story on the controversies that Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath inspired . This story chronicles how the book was banned and burned in a number of places, including Kern County, California (the endpoint of the Joad family's migration). Listen to or read the story here. The NPR page also features Rick Wartzman's book Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, which covers this history in greater detail.

And, as I mentioned in class, here's the link for Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad," which underscores the popular resonance of Steinbeck's tale.

Upcoming Readings: The Grapes of Wrath

Since I imagine a number of you will have different editions of this text, I'm providing chapter numbers below.

Friday March 19: Up to Chapter 10

I highly suggest that you try to finish the text over spring break.

Monday March 29: Up to Chapter 21

Wednesday March 31: Up to Chapter 27

Friday April 2: To end; clips from John Ford's film will be shown in class.

"Take This Job and Write It" Article in the NY TImes

Today's NY Times Book Review had a great essay on why so little fiction comments directly on the experience of work. Jennifer Schuessler, the author of the article ("Take This Job and Write It"), draws upon the literature of the Great Depression and specifically mentions John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Read the piece here.

Nathanael West, The Day of the Locust

West's text gives us a chance to slow down a bit and carefully read a short piece after Agee's epic Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.

March 5: For Friday's class, please come in prepared to discuss your papers and read up to page 18 of The Day of the Locust (59-88, up to Chapter 10 if you are reading a different edition; note that the edition you have also has Miss Lonelyhearts in it--a separate text).

March 8: 89-135 (up to Chapter 19)

March 10: 135-end

March 12: Continue discussing the end and the text as a whole.

Here are some online resources to help you get started: a great article from the LA Times on the writing of The Day of the Locust here. The trailer for the movie version can be found here on YouTube. And--only after you've finished the text!--check out one of the dramatic scenes from the film here.

Article on Depression Era Film from Sunday's NY Times

Click here to read this Sunday's NY Times article on the DVD release of Leo McCarey's Make Way for Tommorrow (1937). It has never been released on video until now--and now it forms the 505th film in the Criterion Collection. Please add it to the list of extra credit films that I recently passed out.