English 9 Class Notes

Objective: Freshmen contextualized America during the Great Depression.

Freshmens, we watched most of Riding the Rails, an American Experience documentary about teens who left their homes to live and travel as nomads on America’s railroad trains during the Great Depression. We began when I asked you to consider what you’d have to give up if you were to leave home at your ages now. Your answers included friends, comfort, indulgences, security, and more, and you compared your own lives to those of the teen hobos you experienced as you watched the film.

You had time to begin reading Of Mice and Men, the story of two friends and Depression-era migrant workers in northern California, for the last twenty or so minutes of class. We’ll finish the film Friday and begin our examination of the novel. The film engendered thoughts of a favorite, romantic song about, the City of New Orleans, by folkie Steve Goodman. I tried to find a video with Goodman singing his signature song and couldn’t, but I found a version by Johnny Cash that’s pretty tasty:

See you next class, kids.

April 28, 2010 | Filed Under English 9, News, Pictures, Video

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