The Grapes of Wrath - Scrapbooks and Artifacts

Lesson Three: Oral History

1. Have each student select a character from The Grapes of Wrath to use as a focus for an interview.
2. Read the model questions from the Fieldwork Data Collection Survey. Students should use this form when conducting their interviews with their chosen characters from the novel.
3. Students need to imagine how their chosen characters would respond to each of the interview questions. Some of the answers will come from the book and others will be hypothetical based on the character's motivation.
4. Remind students that authors generate characters through:
• physical description;
• thoughts;
• actions;
• dialogue;
• reactions to other characters; and
• other characters' reactions.
5. Have students write an approximately 250-word transcript of the interview. The transcript should include references to physical objects and other elements of local color which can be seen as symbols for larger ideas in The Grapes of Wrath.