Classic Essay Outline: The Grapes Of Wrath By John Steinbeck

Classic Essay Outline – The Grapes of Wrath
I. Thesis: Through Steinbeck’s experiences and styles, he have revealed to write a book that contained what many readers see as a well-written classic book – noteworthy, represent a bigger picture, speaking directly to the harsh realities for its readers, and constitute a treasured experience for those who have read and loved it to illustrate the engaging of the book through its common emotion and historical events.

II. First Criterion: Capture a perfect image about important historical disasters – Great Depression and Dustbowl, which affected many migrants and immigrants and are relevant in today’s world.
Evidences
1) The book opens with a nightmarish vision of drought and dust of the Dust Bowl in 1930s that suffocated so many farms and families, forcing them to move or starve. Whereas today, California faces wildfires , drought, aquifers beneath heartland states are drying out, smog hovers over western cities and mining leaches water from shale states. (The Grapes of Wrath is 75

Years Old)
2) The book closes with biblical floods, washing away crops, homes and people similar to what recently in the news; many homes and buildings were destroyed by a hurricane and flood in Texas.

(The Grapes of Wrath is 75 Years Old)

III. Second Criterion: Provoke a common emotion of sympathy for the migrants through Steinbeck’s rhetorical strategies.
Evidences
1) “The bank—the monster has to have profits all the time…When the monster stops growing, it dies,” (32) (The Grapes of Wrath)
• This quote illustrates for the readers the true animosity of the people during the time, and that’s why Steinbeck is sympathy for the migrants
2) “Yet one soon forgets the faults of the story. What one remembers most of all is Steinbeck’s sympathy for the migrants—not pities…but rather a deep fellow feeling.” (American Tragedy)

IV. Third Criterion: Engage lot readers to which many awards were given to the book and its author; John Steinbeck due to its

meaning.

Evidences
1) “The Grapes of Wrath climbed to the top of the bestseller lists…, selling 428,900 copies in hardcover at $2.75 each” (xi; The Grapes of Wrath’s Introduction)
2) “The Grapes of Wrath…became a cornerstone of his 1962 Nobel Prize, and proved itself to be among the most enduring-and controversial-works of fiction by any American author.” (xi; The Grapes of Wrath’s Introduction)

V. Value Statement:
In today’s world, The Grapes of Wrath is not only a book that contains a details about historical events that are still relevant, provoke a common emotion and feeling for readers to be well engaged but it’s also giving a message that people shouldn’t be indifference to the migrants nor immigrants but they should be sympathy for their hard works.