Great Depression

Most of our learning about the Great Depression will come independently through the 1930s Project.Part of this project includes some individual work, where you have to analyze a photo and write a vignette. A vignette is a short, well written sketch or descriptive scene. It does not have to necessarily have a plot which would make it a story, but it does reveal something about the elements in it. It may reveal character, or mood or tone. It may have a theme or idea of its own that it wants to convey. It is the description of the scene or character that is important. This is your chance to be very descriptive and creative! Paint the picture with your words.

A couple of examples of a vignette come from John Steinbeck (remember Of Mice and Men?). Two such pieces are "The Turtle" and "Breakfast." Both these come from a larger novel, The Grapes of Wrath, which has an interesting narrative structure...Read a summary here.

For "The Turtle," think about what the central metaphor is (in the context of the Depression)...
For "Breakfast," note the exquisite sensory images that reveal theme...