II. Chapters 10-17: Family Discussion Reflection

Part II: Research

Topic: I chose to read an article relating to the Dust Bowl Migration.

Summary: The article I read was about the Dust Bowl Migration from the Plains States to California. It talked about the economic and social difficulties that migrants faced in California. Interestingly, the article also talked about how once in California, the migrants were faced with a life almost as difficult as the one they had left, and how may of them gave up farming.

Evaluation: This text relates to the assigned reading because throughout chapters 10-17 in The Grapes of Wrath, the Joads have been migrating to California and worrying about what life will be like once they get there. The article even references a few excerpts from The Grapes of Wrath.             

(Migrant mother, aged thirty-two with seven hungry children, Nipomo, CA ) From: Library of Congress

MLA Citation: 
"Mass Exodus From the Plains." PBS.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. 
     <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/ 
     dustbowl-mass-exodus-plains/>. 

Part III: Philosophical Questioning

1. Why do you think all the migrants from the Plain States migrated west and not east?

2. When migrants from the plain states headed, west, many of them faced discrimination. 

What other events in history or in the present, are similar to this kind of discrimination?

3. Why do you think people in California showed discrimination towards the people migrating there

from the plain states?

Part IV: Discussion

Part V: Reflection
     
     I had my discussion with my mom. The most memorable part of the discussion was when we were discussing
why people from the Plains States chose to migrate west rather than east. For a long time, I had been wondering 
why so many people living in the Plains States chose to migrate to California to farm when in fact, you could 
grow similar crops like cotton, and peaches in the South. When I posed the question to my mom she said that one 
reason people may have moved out west was because the South at the time, was an economically depressed area. 
She also said that people may have chosen to move to California because they had been hearing such wonderful 
things about the opportunities that California had to offer. Her initial response, however, seemed to me the most 
memorable because I had not thought of this being a reason to why people chose to migrate west rather than east. 
Initially, she said that the people living in the plains states were somewhat pioneers. They moved out west for a 
reason. The east was too crowded and they wanted to explore new lands. I found this response fascinating because 
I had not thought about that and the more she explained it, the more I began to think about how that really could have 
been a contributing factor to them moving to California. One thing that was satisfying about my discussion 
with my mom, was that she offered many ideas and answers to my questions that I had not previously thought of. 
I thought that she and I would have very similar answers to my questions, however, I was pleasantly surprised that 
she posed different ideas and thoughts to the discussion. I could improve my questions by making them a little more 
complex. For example, my last one asked why people were discriminatory to the migrants from the Plains States. For 
many, the answer to this question might not be too hard to find. Next time, I will try to makes my questions more 
thought-provoking.