Steinbeck describes how the dust bowl developed and pushed the farmers out of the western plains states in the first few chapters of the book. ... The "Okies- from the dust bowl became the prey of others along the road to California. ... People along the road to California saw the "Okies- as poor, migrant beggars and thieves. ... In chapter 13, the family dog gets run over by a car, an event that foreshadows the death of Grandpa Joad. ... The Joad family was just one of many that lost family members along the road. ...

• Word Count: 1294
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

The combination of the two disastrous events led to more than 450,000 people who would eventually be forced to take the road in search of employment. ... In chapter fourteen, in one of the intercalary chapters the narrator asserts that humans are "unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe... Both texts are written with intercalary chapters. ... Battle Hymn of the Republic The Grapes of Wrath is structured in three parts: the time at the origin of their journey, in the midst of a heavy drought; the time on the road; and the time in California where the novel ends. ...

• Word Count: 1670
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Also, in The Grapes of Wrath has alternative chapters expressing personal commentary on the general state of America and gives in The Grapes of Wrath a much more encompassing feel; rather than just an isolated view of a Californian work camp, it shows a mass migration of Okies as well as the people who despise them. ... In one such alternate paragraph Steinbeck talks of the turtle struggling to cross the road as a figurative bond between the transients trying to go out west to California, and it exemplifies Steinbeck's usage of simple, but powerful metaphors. ...

• Word Count: 1752
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School