Great Depression Research Task

Transcription

1 Name: Great Depression Research Task Setting the Stage: Background Use a search engine to find answers to the following questions: 1. When was the Great Depression? 2. In two or three sentences, what was the Great Depression? 3. Who was affected by the Great Depression? (How far was its reach?) 4. What was/is the main economic industry in Salinas Valley, California? 5. What was the Dust Bowl (or The Dirty Thirties)? 6. How is the Dust Bowl (in Oklahoma, for example) connected to California?

2 We will be searching through photographs in the American Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Reading Room in order to learn more about the historical context of our novella study. 7. Examining Depression era photographs of the Salinas Valley. Documentary Photography Salinas Valley, California Instructions: i. Go to The Library of Congress "American Memory" website by entering the following web address: < ii. On the left hand column, click on Browse By: Subjects iii. Find and click on United States California Monterey County Salinas. (160) iv. You should now be on the first page of a list of 160 photographs. Note: It is easier to browse the photographs if you select "Gallery View on the menu bar. v. Browse through the gallery. Click on a photograph that intrigues you. Write down its title in the space provided. (See example below.) Look at the image. I mean, really look at it. What do you see? Imagine, if you were there, what would you hear? Imagine, what would you feel? Write all this down. vi. Repeat Step v for six of the 160 photographs. Click photographs from various pages (i.e., not just the first page, photographs 1 20). Select a variety of images, some showing people, some landscapes, some machines, et cetera. Example: i. Title: Salinas, California. Guayule planter in the nursery of the Intercontinental Rubber Producers. Description: There is a farm planting machine being pulled by a small tractor. The old fashioned looking machinery appears to be on premade tracks in freshly tilled soil but even so, the machinery looks flimsy as though it may break down often. There are tall, densely placed trees next to the rubber plant field. I imagine it would be quite hot, the sun casting long shadows. All I would hear is the sound of the motor running loudly, and the planter s metal gears grinding away. I would smell the dirty exhaust from the machine, or if I were lucky and the breeze was blowing, I would smell the beautiful fresh country air. i. Title: Description: ii. Title: Description:

3 iii. Title: Description: iv. Title: Description: v. Title: Description:

4 8. After viewing the five photographs, what are some impressions you are left with of what life must have be like for farm workers during the Great Depression? 9. Examining selected photographs by Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Lange was an influential photojournalist during the Great Depression. Her documentary photographs humanized the consequences of the Depression for both Americans and the rest of the world. Instructions: i. Go to: < era 1930s>. ii. Under the heading Depression Era: 1930s you will see twelve images (eleven photographs and one painting). iii. Click on the first image, Man Beside Wheelbarrow Dorothea Lange. iv. Think to yourself, what is the setting for this photograph? v. Read the caption: This 1934 Dorothea Lange photograph of an unknown man in San Francisco conveys the heartbreak felt by millions of Americans during the 1930s. How does the caption add to your understanding of the image? vi. Now, think to yourself, what do you see? vii. Click on the image once again. As per the instructions listed above the image, move the cursor over the smaller image on the left side to zoom in on details in the photograph on the main part of the screen. Spend time looking at the details. In this photograph, look at the man s shoes. Inspect the wheelbarrow. Can you make out what is written on the wall behind the man? viii. Now look at five of the remaining ten photographs, gathering the following information and write it on the worksheets provided: a. Write down the title of photograph, the year it was taken and the photographer. b. Describe the setting. (The caption will help you.) c. Describe what you see, using specific details. What can you observe about the people present (e.g., age, appearance, race, clothing, social status, financial status, distinguishing features)? What is happening in the photographs? What catches your eye? (Ask yourself, what would I hear and what would I feel were I to be in the photograph?) d. Describe the tone of the photograph and give one reason as to why. (Remember: Tone is the author/photographer s attitude to the subject matter.) (E.g., lighthearted, angry, celebratory, critical, formal, impartial, informal, ironic, light hearted, pleasant, pitying, serious, sympathetic.) e. Design two questions for the photographer or for a person in the photograph that would help you learn more about the photograph, its setting or its subject.

5 Photograph #1 a/ Title, Year, Photographer b/ Setting c/ What you can see e/ Tone f/ Two questions

6 Photograph #2 a/ Title, Year, Photographer b/ Setting c/ What you can see e/ Tone f/ Two questions

7 Photograph #3 a/ Title, Year, Photographer b/ Setting c/ What you can see e/ Tone f/ Two questions

8 Photograph #4 a/ Title, Year, Photographer b/ Setting c/ What you can see e/ Tone f/ Two questions

9 Photograph #5 a/ Title, Year, Photographer b/ Setting c/ What you can see e/ Tone f/ Two questions

10 10. Conclusions about the Great Depression Instructions: i. Go back to the page which shows all eleven images under: Depression Era: 1930s. (Or type in the following web address: < era 1930s>.) ii. Click on read more from the menu, located just before where the images are all displayed. iii. Read the passage about the Great Depression (9 paragraphs). iv. Thinking about the photographs you have examined and the passage, draw ten conclusions about life in California during the Great Depression. For example: What did people do? Wear? How did they live? i ii iii iv v vi vii viii iv x