Travel Habit Assignments

Readings:

There are three assigned books—The Grapes of Wrath, Waiting for Nothing, and A Cool Million. There are also several articles and excerpts from books, all available as links on this page.

Written work:

Posts: There are 12 reading assignments, and for each one, a required blog post. The post should be about 400 words long, and it should include a relevant image. You can write a personal response to what you’ve read, or quote an article and work your comment around it, or link to a helpful source and report on the information it has to offer. Avoid posts that simply summarize the reading or that give opinionated reviews (I liked it, or didn’t). Rather, engage with the reading through analysis and interpretation, or bring in outside material that can help with interpretation and appreciation.

Comments: Also required is a comment on someone else’s post for each assignment. These twelve comments should be about 100 words each. Think about the kind of comment you’d find helpful. Compliments are nice, but it might be more helpful to offer a contrasting view, or further illustration of the writer’s point, or a suggestion for further reading.

Due dates: The dates below indicate the class during which we'll discuss that reading assignment.  The blog post for each reading is due the night before the class (i.e., on Monday and Wednesday night), so there's time to read them over before class.  The comments on other people's posts should be done within a day or two of the original post, while the readings and discussion are fresh in your mind.


Thurs., Sept. 10

1. Setting off

Read the website selections from the following:

Tues., Sept. 15

2. Grapes of Wrath (1)

Read The Grapes of Wrath, chapters 1 – 16.  Post a comment, about 400 words, about the reading.  You might take a look at one of the many readings on the book, easily accessible on the website on the Steinbeck bibliography page, or bring something else into the discussion—pose a question, offer an interpretation of some episode, do a little outside research, etc.  Remember to make a text link to any outside sources you use.  And work at getting an image into your post.

As always, in addition to your own post, write a short comment on someone else's post.

Thurs., Sept. 17

3. Grapes of Wrath (2)

Read The Grapes of Wrath, chapters 17 – 20, and look over a selection of Steinbeck, Harvest Gypsies, ch 1 - 3.  For the post, you can write about anything related to The Grapes of Wrath, but try to take a different approach from your previous post on the novel.  You might take a look at the links on this page.  Or take a look at one of the many readings on the book (see the Steinbeck bibliography page), or bring something else into the discussion, like a current event or personal experience, or something you find on the Depression Resources page.  Make a link to the article or website you're discussing.  And here's a chapter-by-chapter summary of the novel to help get the whole picture in view (spoiler alert).  Include a picture in your post—it might simply illustrate your post, but it might be more interesting if you discussed the image in the post.  Remember to write a comment on someone else's post.

Tues., Sept. 22

4. Grapes of Wrath (3)

Finish The Grapes of Wrath (chapters 21 – end). For this final Steinbeck post, read one of the scholarly articles about the novel and write about it: discuss one of the points made in the article, quote it, link to it. OR: Attend the panel Monday evening on culture in the depression, and write about it.

Thurs., Sept. 24

5. Writers on the Road

Read the following selections and post a response that deals with the material as it relates to the travel theme:

Tues., Sept. 29

6. Words & Images

Read the following selections, and for the post, please try not to digress too much—engage in a discussion of these photo-text books and the issues they raise.  The second half of the Goodwin article discusses the first three of these texts, and the Cooney chapter should help too.

Thurs., Oct. 1

7. Travel novels

Read the following selections and post about a travel theme in the readings.

For further reading (optional):

Tues., Oct. 6

8. Waiting for Nothing

Read Tom Kromer's Waiting for Nothing (the book is available at the bookstore, but not online; you don't need to read the other writings included in the book—just read pp. 5 - 131 and the "autobiography" and Afterword, pp. 257 - 291).  Post a response to the book.  Remember, as always, to include a picture and write a comment on someone else's blog.  Suggestions for further reading (optional):

Thurs., Oct. 8

9. Open topic

Read the following excerpts. For the blog post, it's an open topic: write about something related to these readings or about anything related to the course.

Tues., Oct. 13.  Revised date: Read for Thursday, Oct. 15; post by Wednesday, Oct. 14.

10. A Cool Million

Read the entire novel and post about it.  Check out the bibliography of online articles about the novel.

Thurs., Oct. 15.  Revised date: Read for Tues., Oct. 20; post by Mon., Oct. 19.

11. Tourism and the Travel Habit

Read the following selections and post something about the readings.

Tues., Oct. 20. Revised: Read for Thurs., Oct. 22, and post by Wed.

12. WPA Guides

Read a selection of the online editions of some WPA travel guides available through the Internet Archive and post something about the guides.

For further reading: