Topic: I chose to read an article about the Weedpatch camp that the Joads had stayed at in chapters 24-26 of The Grapes of Wrath.
Summary: This article was about the history of the Weedpatch camp that many migrant workers settled at, during the Dust Bowl Migration. It talked about the quality of life for the migrant workers at the camp, and the camp's historical significance.
Evaluation: This text connects to the assigned reading because chapters 24-26 in The Grapes of Wrath chronicled life for the Joads, in the Weedpatch camp, that this article is talking about. This article also mentioned The Grapes of Wrath and how the author John Steinbeck, had visited the Weedpatch Camp to learn more about the lives of migrants.
MLA Citation:
Lutz, Margaret. "History of Weedpatch Campa." Weedpatchcamp.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
12 Jan. 2014. <http://www.weedpatchcamp.com/History/history.htm>.
Part III: Philosophical Questioning
1. Who do you think is to blame for the discrimination and disparity that the Dust Bowl migrants faced?
2. Do you think that during the Dust Bowl era, the U.S. government was trying to cover up what was
happening to the Dust Bowl migrants?
3. In the article that I read it said that the Weedpatch camp now houses migrant workers from April to
September? Do you think that this is somewhat wrong or a little primitive?
Part IV: Discussion
Part V: Reflection
The most memorable moment of my discussion that I had with my dad was when he answered question number one. When I asked him who was to blame for the discrimination and suffering that the Dust Bowl migrants faced, he said that the people who were most likely to blame were the locals, who did not accept them. I suppose I agreed with this answer but I was surprised that he did not blame anything on the government. I had thought it was somewhat of the government's responsibility to accommodate the migrant workers because they are Americans, living under the United States' government. The government's job is to protect the people and these migrant workers certainly were not protected. Then again, I suppose it is hard for the federal government to enforce laws protecting migrants in a place as far as California. In my opinion, the local government and communities are more to blame for the suffering and discrimination that the Dust Bowl migrants faced. I was satisfied that my dad was able to make me open my eyes to who was most at fault for the suffering of the migrant workers. I'm glad that I was exposed to that different perspective. I think that I could improve my questions by making them more general and not so specific. My dad found it somewhat hard to answer the questions I asked because answering them required some prior knowledge to the Dust Bowl migration, that my dad did not have.
PIA Socratic Seminar Reflection
The socratic seminar we had on PIA 2 influenced my way of thinking significantly. I learned a variety of ways as to how my classmates were able to answer the multiple choice questions on the PIA and I think it will help me on the future PIAs to come. One thing that made me think into a lot of depth was learning how to identify the "distractor" answer choice in a question. Before, identifying the "distractor" answer choice, was quite difficult for me. Now, after listening to my peers discuss how they identify the distractor answer, I think it has become easier for me to learn how to do the same.
One statement that I agreed with the most by one of my classmates, was her answer to the question about the theme from the Jane Eyre passage. She said that the theme of the passage was "Life is unfair". I thought that this was the obvious answer to the question and I was glad that she did as well. I disagreed with the people that thought the correct answer choice to question 6 of the PIA was "C" because I thought the clear answer to the question was choice "B" because both FDR and George Washington seemed to convey in their speeches that they thought the government was a vehicle to provide for the people. I do not have anything else that I think should have been said in the socratic seminar because I think our discussion pretty much covered everything, and I learned a lot from it.
I thought that it was good that during this seminar, we did not have a "half time". Although "half times" can be helpful, especially when people receive constructive criticism from their observer, I do think "half times" take away from the time we have for our discussion. Not having the "half time" I feel, allowed more people to engage in the seminar.
One thing that I think needs improvement for the seminar, is making sure that the same person is not always talking. I feel like their were some very dominant people in the discussion and it made it harder for other people to engage in the discussion. Overall, though, I thought that the socratic seminar went very well.
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