Personal Narrative On The Dust Bowl
opinionated Essay
430 words
Have you ever wondered what it was like in the time of the “Great Depression”, or so called the “Dust bowl”. Well, I have, I have been asking myself how did everyone feel during this time. Hi i’m Dianna a mother sitting on the front steps of a migrant camp. I have two kids whose names are Sasha and Daniel. Now, the setting is in California, were I went after people couldn’t afford things after something big happened The Great Depression.
Today and ever since that tragedy I feel like a nobody. Everyone calls us “Okies”. All I have is my kids, and that’s it, they are my only hope. They help me when I need the support. Moving on,unfortunately, we have to live in a migrant camp and it’s not really a fun place to stay in. It looks old and looks like it went through a tornado.It smelt really bad because we couldn’t take showers. No one brush their teeth and there was no good smell. Where was it? It was back home destroyed with everything else. We could not afford a whole lot like some people did.Sometimes I have thoughts and worry if we will even live another day, I worry if we will even have a next meal.
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In this essay, the author
- Narrates how dianna, a mother in california, went after people couldn't afford things after the great depression.
- Describes how they feel like a nobody after the tragedy. they say they have to live in migrant camp and it's not fun to stay in.
- Opines that they wish local men could help them and comfort them. they would want them to do the same if they were in their shoes.
- Opines that if you are going through something, look on the positive side. if you live in a state you know it's going to be bad, be prepared.
It felt like torture but just never ending. I wish they could just help us and comfort us. They have no idea of what we went through.They would want us to do the same if they were in our shoes.So we would move again and again.Now that we have brought up this whole thing, let’s talk about the schools.And my goodness that was some bad news for everybody. Everyone was complaining that all or most schools in that state or city were to crowded or probably more than overcrowded. I really wish all this could end. I felt like I was dreaming an awful nightmare but I wasn’t , it felt like this nightmare came to life and tried to get
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- analytical
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- Grant Wood was a Regionalist artist who continually endeavored to capture the idyllic beauty of America’s farmlands. In 1930 he had been roaming through his hometown in Iowa searching for inspiration when he stumbled upon a house that left him spellbound. From this encounter came America’s iconic American Gothic. Not long after Wood’s masterpiece was complete the once ideal countryside and the people who tended to it were overcome by despair and suffering as the Great Depression came to be. It was a time of economic distress that affected nearly every nation. America’s stock market crashed in 1929 and by 1933 millions of Americans were found without work and consequently without adequate food, shelter, and other necessities. In 1935, things took a turn for the worst as severe winds and dust storms destroyed the southern Great Plains in the event that became known as the Dust Bowl. Farmers, who had been able to fall back on their crops during past depressions, were hit especially hard. With no work or way or other source of income, many farms were foreclosed, leaving countless families hungry and homeless. Ben Shahn, a Lithuanian-born man who had a deep passion for social injustice, captures the well-known hopelessness of the Great Depression through his photograph Rural Rehabilitation Client. Shahn and Wood use their art to depict the desperation of everyday farmers in America due to the terrors and adverse repercussions that the Great Depression incited.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how grant wood captured the idyllic beauty of america's farmlands and the people who tended to it. shahn captures the hopelessness of the great depression through his photograph rural rehabilitation client.
- Compares american gothic and rural rehabilitation client's focal points, a stern man and hardened woman posing in front of their home.
- Analyzes how the houses that provide the majority of the backdrop for each picture are as drastically dissimilar as the couples themselves. the charming white house in american gothic and the beat up log cabin in rural rehabilitation client were extremely common for their time.
- Compares the appearance of the man and woman in american gothic and rural rehabilitation client.
- Analyzes how wood and shahn use their pictures, american gothic and rural rehabilitation client, to depict this feeling of anguish.
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In this essay, the author
- Describes the dust bowl as a treacherous storm that affected the midwestern people, for example the farmers, and taught us new technologies and methods of farming.
- Explains that farming was the major growing production in the united states in 1930's. the best crop that was prospering around the country was wheat.
- Explains that the dust bowl happened in 1934-1936, when massive and deadly storms hit the prosper and growing midwest panhandle. in 1936, a more severe storm spread out of the plains and across the nation.
- Explains that the drought began after the blizzards in winter 1930-1931, when the northern plains were hit by the dry spell, but by late september, the ground had enough water to justify planting.
- Describes how the weather in the dust bowl made the national headlines in 1935. cyclic winds rolled up two miles high, stretched out a hundred miles, and moved fast.
- Concludes that the dust bowl was a treacherous storm that affected the midwestern people, for example the farmers, and which taught us new technologies and methods of farming.
1207 wordsRead More - Grandama's Memories of the Great Depressionexplanatory essayThe Great Depression began in October of 1929 when the stock values in the United States dropped rapidly. Thousands of stockholders lost large sums of money-or were even wiped out. Many people had to depend on the government or charity for food. Many of the stories about the Depression have been told about the large cities and their struggles to live a life of poverty after being used to the luxurious lifestyle. However, those accounts do not reflect the true damage caused by this economic plunge. The many "country folk" that inhabit the area around Tennessee had a somewhat different recollection of this time period. The stories told by the people who had lost all of their money in the stock market are stories of doom and despair, but those told by the people who didn't have anything to begin with are filled with memories of family and friends helping one another in a time of need. In a personal interview with my grandmother, Vergie Matherly (eighty-seven years old) whom I call "Nanny", I learned first-hand what the Depression was like in a small community located in a very isolated area. Her accounts of family struggle seem to dwarf those accounts of the rich tycoons who lost it all in the stock market. A book entitled Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression of the 1930's contains several pages of anecdotes written by various people who lived in small towns during this time. This book goes hand in hand with the memories of my Nanny.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the great depression began in october 1929 when the stock values in the united states dropped rapidly.
- Explains that vergie was unable to work because of her husband's death, so she took up the job of washing and ironing for the cc boys. the money she earned was used to buy food.
- Describes amber, rita van's stories and recipes from the great depression of the 1930s and more from your kitchen today.
- Recounts how vergie married jim, a coal miner in hampton, tennessee, and was injured when the mine collapsed on top of him.
- Explains that the feed sacks that held the food for these animals doubled as material for clothing. the holidays were one of the few happy times that vergie had during this time.
- Explains that the great depression taught them dependability, self-reliance, awareness of the needs of others, and money management.
1176 wordsRead More - The Great Depressionanalytical essayAt the end of the 1920s the world experienced a devastating economic depression that struck countries with market economies. Despite the great depression being mildly experienced in some countries, the United States of America was hit so mind-bogglingly that at its nadir in 1933 an approximate value of 25% of all workers and an overwhelming 37 % of all non-farm workers were completely out of work and thrown to the curbs. The book Great Depression: People and Perspectives that is written by Hamilton Cravens gives us a peek of the tribulations suffered and encountered by individuals during the trying times of the Great Depression. It showcases the adverse level of suffering experienced, enlightening the sad misfortunes faced by individuals, instances where some individuals starved to death with their loved ones helpless and instances where many others lost their treasured homes and farms. It paints a pictures of homeless vagrants niggling onboard freight trains that crossed the nation for lack of the necessary funds (Cravens, 2009).
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how hamilton cravens' book, great depression: people and perspectives, showcases the adverse level of suffering experienced by individuals during the trying times of the depression.
- Analyzes how the book follows the stalled recovery from the great depression and sluggish progress experienced in the consecutive 1934 and 1935.
- Describes the great depression as the defining or ultimately the most crucial moment of the twentieth-century history in the united states.
- Analyzes how the book explains the change in economic thinking that was as a result of the great depression.
- Analyzes the ease with which the book explains how the great depression came to be. many developed and industrialized countries implemented the gold standard creating a secure exchange rate between gold and the national currency.
- Explains that a return to the gold standard would require vigorous currency evaluations and/or price devaluations. the united states' gold store folded twice over to approximately 40% of the world's fiscal gold.
- Explains that as countries reverted to the gold standard, the demand for gold augmented. the franc was devalued when france came back to gold in 1928, which made extraneous imports into france costly.
- Explains that the franc was undervalued when france returned to the gold standard in june 1928, making french exports less expensive and foreign imports more expensive.
- Analyzes how the book explains that the start of the contraction led to the end of stock market growth and the crash in late october 1929, but the stock exchange failure or crash did not cause the depression.
- Analyzes how reading about the great depression from the book was an eye-opener. it explains how rich individuals felt no effect at all and were ignorant and oblivious to the pains, troubles and suffering of the less fortunate.
- Analyzes how depression altered the family in intense and vivid ways, with a lot of couples delaying marriages and the divorce rate plummeting severely.
- Analyzes how the great depression affected men's traditional roles within the family, with some abandoning their search for employment and others leaving their families altogether.
- Narrates how they visit the house of mr. and mrs. dean walker, a couple born five years apart.
- Narrates how they visited a friend's relative, giggi sanders, who explains how she learned to make her own soap as one of the ways she and her family survived the great depression.
- Narrates how les brown, who grew up in bridgeport, and was the third in a family of eight children, was proud of his experience of the great depression.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that the book the worst hard time describes their experience on trying to get through it but somehow made them grateful that there was nothing worse, difficult or exhausting than living through the dust bowl storms in the 1930s.
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- Analyzes how egan starts off by describing the most retched place to live in by making what i thought was a joke.
- Analyzes how the betrayal of banks led the poor farmers to overwork the land and destroy the once grass planes into fields of loose dust. with the heat, this brought on insects of every kind.
- Analyzes how they liked reading about oklahoma, which was based on a lie to get people to settle there.
- Explains that the april 14, 1935 duster, referred to as black sunday, was the worst and most extreme event ever to have taken place regarding dust storms.
- Explains that the overused land caused the horrific dust storms and long-term effects in modern-day america.
- Analyzes how hoover believed in patience and self-reliance during the great depression. roosevelt's new deal effected american history by setting forth programs between 1933-1938.
- Concludes that the effects of the dustbowl have greatly impacted generations, whether it has been the horrific stories passed down or the life lesion’s learned especially when it comes to protecting our environment.
1214 wordsRead More - Causes Of Charles Starkweather And Caril Fugateanalytical essayThe Great Depression was a tough time for most who lived through it, the Starkweather family was not excluded from the hard times. Even though they were poor, Guy and Helen Starkweather managed to make a living for themselves and their kids. The couple had seven children. Charles was the third. He had a normal childhood and a good home life. The Starkweather family made memories just like any other family wou...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how charles starkweather and caril fugate changed the way people think of serial killers. the young couple rampaged across the state of nebraska in early 1958, killing ten people.
- Explains that although the starkweather family was poor, they managed to make a living for themselves and their children.
- Narrates how charles had a happy life at home, but school was miserable. he was bow-legged, had speech impediments, and was bullied in pe.
- Narrates how charlie dropped out of high school and began working at a warehouse. james dean became an idol to the young man. starkweather began to emulate the rebel attitude in every way possible.
- Explains that caril fugate had a normal, healthy childhood, but she didn't excel in school. she began to rebel at the age of thirteen and was obsessed with her boyfriend, james dean.
- Analyzes how charles spent every penny he earned on his younger girlfriend, caril, but her parents hated it. after hearing rumors of her being pregnant and engaged, her dislike towards starkweather grew.
- Explains that charles quit his warehouse job and was working as a garbage man. starkweather was at odds with his family, and he was not allowed in his apartment due to not paying his rent.
- Narrates how charlie spent almost all of his small amount of money on caril. he was upset when he couldn't buy her a stuffed animal on credit. the next day, starkweather returned to the gas station and shot colvert.
- Analyzes how caril's parents, velda and marion bartlett, along with her two-year-old sister, betty jean, were murdered. the story behind the tragedy may never be known.
- Opines that the truth behind each murder is unknown because charlie and caril each told prosecutors a different story. august meyer, an old family friend of the starkweather family, came next in the streak of homicides.
1043 wordsRead More - Feminist Incognito: The American Working Womananalytical essay“After the privations of Depressions and disruptions of war, many people craved the emotional reassurance of early marriage and stable family life” (McArthur et al, pg. 139). The Depression was a time period which affected Americans and Mexicans alike. My grandmother remembers a time when, “jobs were scare,” and the population of 400 of rural El Remolino, Juchipila (her hometown) faced grim results in the agriculture industry.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the woman's life is seen through a lens of the course of marriage, immigration, and work.
- Explains that many people craved the emotional reassurance of early marriage and stable family life after the depression. their grandmother remembers a time when jobs were scare.
- Describes how the woman married at the age of 18 in line with rural tradition and the oncoming trend of marrying at a younger age.
- Explains that after her husband's demise, she lost her principal role as a woman, that of being the perfect wife and mother, supported by husband. she was left with very little choices, living in an antifeminist sector.
- Explains that women in small towns had limited options for making a living. the financial downfall of the sixties affected rural areas throughout mexico.
- Analyzes how feminism played a role in the grandmother's life. her religion and rural origins contradicted such actions.
- Narrates how their grandmother, before becoming a widow, had the security of her husband's job as the local school teacher. immigration for agricultural work in los angeles was viable, but she wouldn't have the resources to sustain and care for her children.
- Describes how their grandmother became an independent businesswoman in the u.s. mexico border.
- Narrates how she bought two sets of property called vecindades with shared patio, administered, lived in and made an additional business in these properties, a small convenience store.
- Explains how a woman's authority was not the same as if her husband had collected the rent. her convenience store was repeatedly ransacked daily by local swindlers, and her family structure had no male figure or head of the family.
- Analyzes how restrictive views on a woman's social role delineated the path of her grandmother before and after her husband’s passing.
- Explains that the growing trend of feminism began in colleges, for the few elite, and was altogether exclusive. from the sixties to the eighties, two kinds of working class women rose, both advocating for feminist ideals.
1026 wordsRead More - Dust Bowl Segregationanalytical essay“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.” -William S. Burroughs. During the 1930s, America endured an economic and physically draining depression. The Dust Bowl was a series of storms that ruined farm land and contributed to a massive forced migration of countless people, all of whom were desperate to find work, food, and shelter. The other factor that caused destruction to the lives of many was the excessive power that was given to the government and banks, which allowed them to possess both the homes and land of poor farmers. Many of these people were largely dependent on the income from their farms, and involuntarily moved across the country in order to support their desperate families. These vicious dust storms and widespread government oppression were the
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the dust bowl and widespread government oppression caused the destruction of the lives of poor americans during the 1930s.
- Explains that the dust bowl began in 1931 when farming became a widely accepted form of income for the average american due to the promise of money in the business.
- Analyzes how people were taken advantage of and pushed around by government officials who were free to do as they pleased.
- Explains how many people relocated to california due to the lack of available work in their homelands. many were lured by false advertisements, but were offered significantly less money.
- Analyzes how the forced migration of farmers from the dust bowl to california brought significant behavior changes by the californians triggered by fear, suspicion and attempts to deny access to their state.
- Explains that many farmers' children were exposed to the harsh reality of their situation. they were outcast for their parents' inability to find sustenance back at home.
- Analyzes how the government viewed the conditions of the okie families as something it shouldn't concern itself with. president hoover was slow to react to the great depression advocating the idea that every man should fend for himself
- Narrates how okies, angered by president hoover's failure to help in raising farm prices, went on strike, refusing to work in fields for the minuscule pay in which they had been receiving.
- Explains that john steinbeck and tom collins wrote stories about the devastation in an attempt to increase the quality of okie lives.
- Describes how okie families were relinquished from their depression after years of enduring dangerous dust storms and government oppression.
1649 wordsRead More - Growing Up In The Great Depression: Growing Up By Russell Bakeranalytical essayIn conclusion, The Baker family went through a lot through the great depression, and it affected there lives in many ways that they thought it wouldn’t. This autobiography on the troubles him and his family faced during the Great Depression. During the Depression, the major problems that Baker faced through the novel were about the financial difficulties that his family endured, ending in result of his father passing away, the struggles of moving from rural life to urban life, and the lack of Medical attention around the area. During the depression, in Morrisonville there was a common occurrence as many towns people died from common illnesses like phenomena, or whooping cough. This book has much to offer to teenage readers who are interested in the story of one individual’s growth, development, and struggles of his life in the Great Depression.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how russell baker's "growing up" is an autobiography on the troubles he and his family faced during the great depression.
- Explains that russell baker was born in rural morrisonville, virginia on august 14, 1925. he and his family faced many issues during the great depression.
- Analyzes how russell baker describes his mother's attitude as a "strange blend of twentieth century feminism and victorian romance".
- Analyzes how russell's mother had said that russell was blessed with a rare determination to make something of himself. in chapter 3, we learn about russell’s grandmother, who was very old fashioned and portrayed her views on modern medicine.
- Explains that the great depression was an immense tragedy that placed millions of americans out of work and was the beginning of government involvement in the economy and society as a whole.
- Concludes that the baker family went through a lot through the great depression, and it affected their lives in many ways that they thought it wouldn't.
739 wordsRead More - Great Depression In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'analytical essayWhat would life be like if most of America was unemployed, broke, and not making enough money? George and Lennie left Weed to go find work in a different place and ended up working on a ranch in Soledad for fifty dollars a month. At the ranch, there were many problems that happened. “Of Mice & Men” by John Steinbeck takes place during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, a tough time filled with loneliness and lack of education, which contributed to the conflicts in this story.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that "of mice & men" by john steinbeck takes place during the great depression of the 1930's, a tough time filled with loneliness and lack of education.
- Analyzes how lennie's lack of intelligence caused problems for george and other people, such as when curley’s wife came to visit and yelled at him. the theme of this conflict is that people can do bad things if they do not know the difference between right and wrong.
- Analyzes how curley's wife was lonely and wanted attention, so she kept flirting with other men around the farm. she tried to get attention by making lennie pet her hair.
- Analyzes how the country was in poverty due to the great depression, and george and lennie only got fifty dollars a month for working on the ranch, but they did get fed while working there.
512 wordsRead More