prep your students for the show– book your pre- … · 3. the pastures of heaven: dreams vs....

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PREP YOUR STUDENTS FOR THE SHOW– Book your pre- or post-show

Classroom Workshop! Contact the Artistic Learning Administrator

at 510.548.3422x136 for more info.

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Jonathan MosconeArtistic Director

Susie FalkManaging Director

Trish Tillman Director of Artistic Learning

Emily Morrison Programs Manager

Samantha Fryer Artistic Learning Administration Manager

Ava Jackson Artistic Learning Coordinator

John Steinbeck’s

SEASON SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSORS

John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven has been selected as a National Endowment for the Arts Distinguished New American Play as part of the NEA New Play Development Program, hosted by Arena Stage.

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1. California Shakespeare Theater Overview

a. Cal Shakes’ Mission and Funders ................................................................3

b. Artistic Learning Programs at Cal Shakes .................................................4

2. The Pastures of Heaven Overview

a. A Note to Teachers ..........................................................................................6

b. Plot Summary ....................................................................................................7

c. Character Map ..................................................................................................10

d. Who’s Who: Character Descriptions ..........................................................10

e. Who’s Who: The Actors ................................................................................12

f. Seeing the Play—Before and After ................................................................15

g. “Hard Fun”: A Blog by Our Playwright Octavio Solis ..............................16

3. The Pastures of Heaven: Dreams vs. Reality—Can the Earth Hold Heaven?

a. Utopia ..................................................................................................................18

b. What is Normal? ..............................................................................................19

c. Your Life’s Dream .............................................................................................20

4. John Steinbeck’s Life and Historical Context for The Pastures of Heaven

a. Biography ...........................................................................................................22

b. Steinbeck Fun Facts and Quotes ................................................................23

c. Historical Context of Pastures ......................................................................24

d. Directions to The Pastures of Heaven—A Map .........................................25

5. Resources

a. The Pastures of Heaven and Other Steinbeck Novels on Film .............27

b. Additional Resources: Books and Internet ................................................28

6. Classroom Activity Guide

a. Cal Shakes’ Mission and Funders ................................................................31

b. Social Networking Character Study: “Steinbook” ..................................32

c. Tableau: Connecting the Word and the Body ...........................................35

d. Understanding Character Through Personal Connections ....................37

e. Character Backstory: What Makes a Personality? ...................................38

f. Create a Podcast Book Review .....................................................................40

g. The Short Story Cycle .....................................................................................42

h. Oral History Project .........................................................................................46

i. Cal Shakes Critique—Elementary and Middle School ...............................48

j. Cal Shakes Critique—Middle and High School ..........................................49

GUIDE CREDITS

Editor: Trish Tillman Contributors: Emily Morrison, The National Steinbeck Center, Carole Rathfon, Trish Tillman

Copy Editor: Stefanie Kalem Consulting Editor: Carole Rathfon Layout & Graphics: Ilsa Brink

IN THIS GUIDE:

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OUR MISSIONWe strive for everyone, regardless of age, circumstance, or background, to discover and express the

relevance of Shakespeare and the classics in their lives.

We make boldly imagined and deeply entertaining interpretations of Shakespeare and the classics.

We provide in-depth, far-reaching creative education opportunities for a diversity of learners.

We bring disparate communities together around the creation of new American plays that reflect the cultural diversity of the Bay Area.

OUR FUNDERS AND SPONSORSCalifornia Shakespeare Theater’s 2010 season is supported in part by the generosity of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation.

John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven has been selected as a National Endowment for the Arts Distinguished New American Play as part of the NEA New Play Development Program,

hosted by Arena Stage.

The development of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven is underwritten by numerous individual donors and generous support from:

SEASON SPONSORS PRESENTING SPONSORS

California Shakespeare Theater

701 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710

510.548.3422 • www.calshakes.org

California Shakespeare Theater is pleased to acknowledge our 2010 corporate sponsors, whose generous contributions are helping to ensure the success of our 37th season.

CAL SHAKES’ MISSION AND FUNDERS

Artistic Learning programs are underwritten by generous support from the Dale Family Fund, Dodge & Cox, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and 93 donors to our 2010 Gala Fund-a-Need campaign.

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ARTISTIC LEARNING PROGRAMS AT CAL SHAKES

Artistic Learning represents the California Shakespeare Theater’s commitment to integrating our artistic and education efforts. Our educational programs nourish academic, creative, and personal growth through the experience of passionately engaging with theater arts, providing essential tools for a successful and joyful life.

CLASSROOM RESIDENCIESSchool-based residencies partner teaching artists and classroom teachers together to incorporate arts-integration methods with classic texts into Bay Area classrooms. Residencies typically span 8–10 hours of instruction culminating in a short performance.

AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES After school classes are held in partnership with individual schools at the school site as part of their enrichment programs. Through acting lessons and theater games students develop listening, teamwork, public speaking, and a host of other skills they can use both in school and out.

SUMMER SHAKESPEARE CONSERVATORIES Cal Shakes hosts four Summer Shakespeare Conservatories in which students study the art of performing Shakespeare’s text with professional Cal Shakes actors and artists. Limited scholarships are available.

STUDENT DISCOVERY MATINEES (Field trips)Our Student Discovery Matinee Series offers students an extended, multifaceted experience of live theater, including a free pre-performance engagement at the theater, Q&A sessions with the actors after the show, and this comprehensive Teacher’s Guide (see below).

TEACHER’S GUIDES INCLUDING STUDENT ACTIVITIESThis teacher and student activity guide is available for each Student Discovery Matinee production. It is available free of charge to all classrooms regardless of whether or not a class attends a Student Matinee.

For more information or to register for any of our programs, please contact Ava Jackson, Artistic Learning Coordinator at 510.548.3422 x136 or [email protected].

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OVERVIEW

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A NOTE TO TEACHERS

Welcome! We are thrilled to have you and your students join us for this season’s

Student Discovery Matinee production of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven. Our goal is to

engage students with the work on a variety of levels through the live performance and the activities

in this Teacher’s Guide.

The Pastures of Heaven, Steinbeck’s second book, is considered the one in which he “found” the

subject matter—the people of the Salinas valley—on which he would elaborate for the rest of his life.

As in many of his other works, every character in this small community is forced to reckon with their

goals and perception of life as reality intrudes on their ideals. Through this guide, we encourage

you to discuss with your students the theme of “dreams vs. reality.”

Our production is a marriage between Steinbeck’s novel and playwright Octavio Solis’ adaptation

of it. Each writer builds on the other, heightening the themes, tragedy, and humor of the stories; we

encourage you to also explore with your students the idea of adaptation, and the creative choices

writers must make when turning narrative text into dramatic speech.

An actor’s work is to determine what their character wants, how to get it, and to respond to the

resulting success or failure. Steinbeck, Solis, director Jonathan Moscone, and the production’s

actors create active engagement in the audience not only by bearing witness to these particular

characters working through extraordinary circumstances, but also by creating reflection on our own

struggles.

Enjoy!

THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN OVERVIEW

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PLOT SUMMARYThe Pastures of Heaven is a collection of interwoven stories of families and individuals living in a small, idyllic Californian town given the name “Pastures of Heaven” for its beautiful landscape. The stories are framed by the narrative of the Whiteside family, which begins the play in the past to describe the founding of the town. All of the other stories take place in the present time—the late 1920s—of the fictional valley.

1 INTRODUCTION: LAS PASTURAS DEL CIELORichard Whiteside finds the valley of the Pastures on his travels through California, and is immediately taken with the idea of settling the Whitesides there for all time. He talks of building a beautiful house, and filling it with a large family to carry on a Whiteside legacy.

2 THE OLD BATTLE FARM The property of the Old Battle farm is supposedly haunted and cursed by bad luck. Bert Munroe arrives with his family in the Pastures and wants to buy it. Three men—Pat Humbert, TB Allen, and John Whiteside, son of Richard—tell him of the tragic history of the farm. Bert tells them of his feeling of being cursed himself, but buys the farm anyway.

3 SHARK WICKS Edward Wicks is known as “Shark” for his amazing ability to make money on the stock market. However, this fantastic world of monetary success exists only in his imagination. Shark values his beautiful daughter for her innocence and sees her as a costly trophy. When someone tells him that Alice is seeing a young man from the town, Shark goes out with a shotgun, is arrested, and, of course, cannot post bail.

4 HELEN AND HILDA Helen is a self-styled martyr widow, told by her doctor that her daughter needs treatment for a mental condition. She insists on caring for her at home and the daughter becomes more and more mentally unbalanced, resulting in tragedy.

5 THE TORTILLA SISTERS Rosa and Maria Lopez are known as “the tortilla sisters” because they make very good Mexican food at their Café Lopez restaurant. Despite their culinary talent, their restaurant is failing. They begin to reward good customers with sex, but are careful to charge only for the food. As people in the town begin to realize what kind of service they are providing, the sisters decide to accept their destiny as prostitutes and move to San Francisco.

6 TULARECITOTularecito’s name means “little frog,” for a physical disability that renders him strange-looking, unnaturally syrong, and misunderstood. The community decides he should be taken care of in school, but he cannot behave there until the new teacher, Molly Morgan, discovers his extraordinary talent for drawing; when he is allowed to draw as much as he likes, he becomes calm. However, when she tells the class tales of gnomes and fairies, Tularecito becomes convinced he is one of them, and sets about wildly digging holes in everyone’s property to find his lost people underground.


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ACT TWO

7 RICHARD WHITESIDE PART TWORichard builds his dream house and marries a woman named Alicia, who can only bear him one son, John. In light of his dream of a legacy, Richard tries to have Alicia bear more children, which nearly kills her. John grows up and goes to Harvard, but before he can marry and continue the dynasty, Richard passes away and John must inherit the legacy of the house.

8 JUNIUS MALTBYJunius comes from San Francisco to the Pastures. He marries the widow with whom he boards and lives with her and her two sons. She bears his child, but soon after she and her two sons die of influenza. Junius raises his son, Robbie, to read great books and spend his days philosophizing, but eventually the community demands that Robbie go to school. Here his lack of good clothes and shoes bring such shame to the family that both he and his father lose their sense of self-identity. Having been swayed to the community’s opinion that Junius has not been taking proper care of Robbie in their idyllically lazy, but intellectually curious and alive lifestyle, the Maltbys slink away, back to San Francisco. 9 PAT HUMBERTPat cares uncomplainingly for his old and demanding parents right up to their dying day. Upon their deaths, he locks up the sitting room from where his parents oppressively dictated his life and avoids it for years. But upon overhearing hearing a comment by Mae Munroe about how pretty the outside of his house looks, Pat decides to remodel the dreaded sitting room in the fashion she might like, in hopes of marrying her. However, when she visits, she tells him of her engagement to another man, and Pat retires into the house for the rest of his life.

10 MOLLY MORGANMolly Morgan is the teacher in the Pastures. She depends on a world of fantasy in which her father was a loving parent, always returning from trips with little gifts for her. Through Molly’s flashbacks we learn that Molly grew up in the city in poverty, and that her father was a traveling salesman and only came home twice a year. One day Molly’s father leaves and never returns. Her mother assumes he must be dead, but she refuses to believe it. Molly grows up and goes off to college to earn a teaching degree. She ends up finding out the truth about her father, and decides to leave the Pastures.

11 RAYMOND BANKSRaymond Banks is a successful farmer, and the other residents admire the way he farms his land and chops the heads off chickens. He is very proud of his friendship with the warden at San Quentin Prison and is often invited to watch an execution and act as a witness. Bert Munroe, still fairly new to town, asks Raymond if he can join him on his next visit. As soon as he asks Raymond, Bert immediately regrets the request and backs out.

12 CONCLUSION: THE WHITESIDE HOUSEThe Whiteside’s house catches fire from a chance wind in a burn-off. Richard’s son, John, lets the house burn, and we are left to wonder: Is he glad to see the house’s legacy and his father’s dreams go up in flames?

13 CODA: THE FIREAll of the characters from the stories watch the fire and speak about their time in the Pastures, and of their dreams there.

PLOT SUMMARY...continued


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CHARACTER MAPWHITESIDES

RICHARD + ALICIA

SPANISH CORPORAL

+NATIVE AMERICAN BRIDE

John + Willa

Bill

MISS MORGAN

TULARECITO

FRANKLIN GOMEZ

PANCHO

JAKOB STUTZ

SHARK + KATHERINE WICKS

RAYMOND + CLEO BANKS

PAT HUMBERT

TB ALLEN

MUSTROVIKS PA - MA - SON

GEORGE BATTLE+ MYRTLE CAMERON

MA+ PA

MannyJimmie

Alice John

ROSA & MARIA LOPEZ

JUNIUS MALTBY

Robbie

SCHOOL

HELEN + HUBERT VAN DEVENTER

HILDA

Mae

JACK THE DEPUTY SHERIFF

BERT + VIVIAN MONROE


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WHO’S WHO: Character Descriptions

CHARACTERS

Richard Whiteside – One of the first settlers of The Pastures of Heaven in 1850. He buys 250 acres and builds a large, stately house so that his descendents for years to come will have a place to call home. Richard is highly educated and an avid reader.

Alicia Whiteside – Wife of Richard and mother to John. She believes in Richard’s dreams of a large family, but they are ultimately only able to have one child. She encourages her son to carry on the legacy by having many children.

John Whiteside – Only son of Richard and Alicia. John shares his father’s interest in the great works of the ancient Greeks, but is not as devoted to his ideas of a Whiteside dynasty. John is president of the school board and a respected leader in the community.

Willa Whiteside – John’s wife.

Bill Whiteside – Only son of John and Willa. Though raised to be like his father and grandfather, Bill has no interest in books or living in the Whiteside family home.

Bert Munroe – Though cursed by many business failures, Bert believes he can start fresh as a farmer in The Pastures of Heaven. He fits in well with his new neighbors, has a lot of energy and is eventually elected to the school board.

Vivian Munroe – Wife to Bert and mother of three.

Mae Munroe – Age 19, beautiful and romantic.

Jimmie Munroe – Age 17, secretive and rumored to have a way with the ladies.

Manny Munroe – Age seven, best friend of Robbie Maltby.

TB Allen – Owner of the General Store. Close friends with Pat Humbert and John Whiteside.

Pat Humbert – Pat lives under the shadow of his elderly parents until their deaths in his 30s. Finally left on his own, Pat throws himself into socializing and fixes up his house in the hopes of winning over the young Mae Monroe.

George Battle – Originally from New York, George is one of the earliest people to buy farmland and settle in the Pastures. He devotes himself to working the land.

Myrtle Cameron – George’s wife, an epileptic who is plagued by fits. She is highly religious. She is placed in a mental ward after trying to burn the house down.

John Battle – George and Myrtle’s only son. He inherits his mother’s epilepsy and mad devotion to God.

The Mustroviks (Ma, Pa, Son) – A foreign family who arrive suddenly and take over the Battle farm. Their spooky appearance and standoffish behavior makes them a mystery to the other townsfolk.

Edward “Shark” Wicks – Known as one of the wisest businessmen in the area, Shark takes great pride in tracking his investments daily in his ledger.

Katherine Wicks – Shark’s wife. A plain-looking but hardworking woman, Katherine has gotten used to her husband’s indifference toward her.


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WHO’S WHO: Character Descriptions

CHARACTERS

Alice Wicks – The beautiful only child of Shark and Katherine. Alice is very sheltered by her parents and lacks awareness of the world.

Jack the Deputy Sheriff – Peacekeeper in the Pastures.

Helen Van Deventer – A woman who seems to hunger for tragedy. A widow and single mother of Hilda, Helen came from San Francisco seeking a quiet place in the country to keep watch over her daughter.

Hilda Van Deventer – Ill since the time of her birth, she is loud, destructive, and prone to tell fantastical stories about things that have happened to her.

Rosa & Maria Lopez – When their father dies, Maria and Rosa try to make their living selling tortillas and other traditional Mexican dishes. With business failing, Rosa rewards their few customers with spice of a different sort. Maria joins in too, though both are quick to pray for the forgiveness of any sins they might be committing.

Raymond Banks – A robust, popular man with a vast poultry farm, Raymond’s only vacations are trips to watch executions at San Quentin prison..

Cleo Banks – Wife to Raymond. Like her husband, Cleo is hearty, cheerful, and not afraid of a little blood.

Tularecito – A misshapen orphan discovered as a baby by Pancho. His large flat head and chubby legs give him the appearance of a frog, and he is exceptionally strong from a very young age. He is a gifted artist, but intellectually stunted and prone to violence when defending his creations.

Franklin Gomez – Raises Tularecito as his own son. A patient man with a big heart.

Pancho – Foreman of the Gomez ranch, who lives in fear of Tularecito, believing him to be wicked.

Junius Maltby – Junius believes in the work of the mind, and spends his days philosophizing under the leaves of his Sycamore tree. Though he lives in poverty, he and his son Robbie are happily ignorant of what other people think.

Robbie Maltby – Robbie has an active imagination and sharp mind even if he lacks material possessions that his peers have. Idolized by Manny Munroe and the other school children.

Jakob Stutz – The hired hand of Junius Maltby. Jakob quickly settles into the lazy lifestyle that his boss promotes, preferring to engage in intellectual debate rather than plant the fields.

Molly Morgan – Young schoolteacher in the Pastures. Molly is adventurous and curious. She believes in fairytales and stories, and brings this exciting energy to the classroom. Her father disappeared when she was a child, and she has never quite believed that he was dead.


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CAST

Catherine Castellanos*

Rod Gnapp*

Julie Eccles*

Dan Hiatt*

ROSA LOPEZ, JACK THE DEPUTY SHERIFF, MOLLY’S MOTHER, CLEO BANKS, ENSEMBLE

VIVIAN MUNROE, HELEN VAN DEVENTER, ALICIA WHITESIDE, ENSEMBLE

PAT HUMBERT, SHARK WICKS, ENSEMBLE

JOHN WHITESIDE, ALLEN HUENECKER, PANCHO, JAKOB STUTZ, PA HUMBERT, ENSEMBLE

WHO’S WHO: The Actors

*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity.


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CAST

Emily Kitchens*

Andy Murray*

Amy Kossow

Charles Shaw Robinson*

MAE MUNROE, ALICE WICKS, MOLLY MORGAN, ENSEMBLE

HILDA VAN DEVENTER, MISS MARTIN, MA HUMBERT, ENSEMBLE

TB ALLEN, HUBERT VAN DEVENTER, FRANKLIN GOMEZ, GEORGE MORGAN, RAYMOND BANKS, ENSEMBLE

BERT MUNROE, JUNIUS MALTBY, ENSEMBLE


*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity.


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CAST

Richard Thieriot*

JoAnne Winter*

Tobie Windham

RICHARD WHITESIDE, JIMMIE MUNROE, DR. PHILLIPS, BILL WHITESIDE, ENSEMBLE

MANNIE MUNROE, TULARECITO, ENSEMBLE

KATHERINE WICKS, MARIA LOPEZ, ROBBIE MALTBY, WILLA WHITESIDE, ENSEMBLE


*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association. Note: Role assignments subject to change.


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SEEING THE PLAY: BEFORE AND AFTER

“I arrive on the morning edge of this green valley. Rimmed all around by a vast expanse of rolling hills dotted with roble oaks. The grasses sway

on the breath of a warm inland wind. I catch a glint of a creek at the bottom. Not a soul to be seen, save for the shadow of a condor sweeping

past my own. Beautiful. Exquisite beyond words. I am humbled.” —Richard Whiteside, The Pastures of Heaven

BEFORE Viewing the Play AFTER Viewing the Play

What to watch for:

Look for how the Munroe family appears in stories other than their own in the play, and for the effects they have on other characters.

Look for similarities the people in the Pastures have in common with one another, aside from living in the same geographic area.

Look for moments that you recognize in modern life: Are the characters acting like people would today? Why or why not?

Is there a curse at work in the Pastures? How does the curse affect its citizens?

Do you think Steinbeck is expressing an opinion about the people of the Pastures? What kind of opinion and why?

Pick one character’s story that made an impression on you. Why in particular do you remember it? How do you feel about how that character acted, and why do you think you react this way to it?

How do characters react to their dreams remaining unfulfilled? How do you react to disappointment?

Do you believe in fate? Or do you believe that people make their own destiny? Explain.Did you recognize any parts of this story from modern movies or books, or from your own life?

See WRITE YOUR OWN CRITIQUE of page 48 of the Activity Appendix for more ideas about what to watch for, and how to write about your reactions after the show.


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“HARD FUN”: A Blog by Our Playwright, Octavio Solis

This is a blog by our playwright from June 24, 2009, written as the play was being developed. The difficulty and exhilaration of adapting text from a novel into a play is aptly described as “hard fun.”

“Take your attitude and turn it into an action.”

(Director) Jonathan Moscone gave this note to Amy Kossow during our workshop. This suggests a curious shift in the way we are defining character and action in this Pastures of Heaven process. In our process of storytelling—which must merge the novelistic approach with the dramatic imperatives of staging a play—we are constantly redefining how character functions in this project.

There are numerous complicated shifts from the first person to the third, wherein the actor describes what her character is thinking, even naming herself in the third person in that classic Brechtian way. But it is not alienating at all. It enables us to layer in strata of being through spoken text. The third-person self-address presents a veneer of the character regarding her world and herself in it; then when she is spoken about by someone else, a new layer establishes itself. But when the shift turns to first and second person, when “I” and “you” inhabit the moment, we shift into the starkly, freshly dramatic. The moment becomes immediate and present and active.

“Active” is a word that Jon is constantly repeating when staging this story of Tularecito. Because he must activate the narrative mode of John Steinbeck’s stories in any way he can. Even through the presentation of “attitude.” In this work, all the players enact their individual character but also function as a unified chorus. A chorus whose identity shifts with the demands of the story. Sometimes, they are the single narrative voice (that is, Steinbeck’s) sometimes they are the vox populi of the community, and sometimes they are schoolchildren. But what is really fascinating is how we are discovering how they can operate as the multifarious voice of a single character’s consciousness. I see the group assembled behind an isolated character like Tularecito and feel that they are different aspects of his mind and soul. Even if they all have the same attitude, they can never have the same attitude.

It’s fun working with a group of this size and experience on a project like this. Hard fun. The actors are bringing so much to the process and I feel I can respond at my leisure to their chancy stuff. This is what a workshop is supposed to do. It’s supposed to give the director and the company a chance to activate what I’ve written, to define our working vocabulary and the physics of the play, to renegotiate assumed notions of character and action and narrative every time we speak text.


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Dreams vs. Reality—

Can the Earth Hold Heaven?

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UTOPIA“Out of the silent blackness, I see something out of a dream. A stately

white house with a trim garden. Welcoming lights in the windows. A broad front door opens and a whole covey of Whiteside children stream out on the veranda. Watching me. Waiting on me to make their destiny.”

—Richard Whiteside, Pastures

In many religious traditions, there is the idea that there is a “perfect place” where people can live without difficulty or strife. In everyday life, as well, most of us dream of a place or time wherein our lives might be much better than they are today.

Many groups of people throughout history have tried to create a perfect place for living. Religion, politics, psychology, and social constructs all have been used in attempts to build an ideal community. There were numerous experiments in communal living in America, especially in the 1800s: Shakers, Oneida, New Harmony, Brook Farm, and Fruitlands are the names of just a few of the more well-known. None has survived.

Steinbeck seems to be saying, even in the irony of the very title of his book, that heaven is at odds with Earth. From the way his characters so forcefully try to achieve their dreams and, with equal force, come up against the impossibility of realizing them, we may draw the conclusion that, in Steinbeck’s view, heaven on Earth is temporary at best. Since everyone’s idea of heaven is personally shaped by his or her own desires, their desires might also ruin the ideal.

One might argue that even by naming the place “The Pastures of Heaven,” characters have doomed themselves to disappointment. Or do you think these stories point more to the failure of the individual rather than of the whole society?

For Students—Your Opinion

Why do you think utopian societies have a history of failure?

Is there any system that you think might be sustainable in achieving a utopia?

Imagine your own utopian society. What would you have in it? Why? Where would it be? How would people interact? What are the rules, or are there no rules at all?

What do you think would be important in order for a utopian society to survive?

DREAMS VS. REALITY—CAN THE EARTH HOLD HEAVEN?

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For Students:

WHAT IS NORMAL?Critics of Steinbeck’s book, The Pastures of Heaven, “ ... complain that I deal

particularly in the subnormal and in the psychopathic. If said critics would inspect their neighbors within one block, they would find that I deal with the normal

and the ordinary.” —Steinbeck: A Life in Letters

Steinbeck’s characters are often compulsive, deluded, mentally or emotionally unstable, epileptic, or physically challenged, and they are put into situations wherein their flaws and delusions lead to disastrous consequences. They may seem abnormal, but in the process of making us think about these characters, Steinbeck asks us to find out more about ourselves. The characters in Pastures are definitely in dramatic situations, but are they completely extraordinary? Here’s a handy list of some of the things that might not be considered “normal”:

• Helen sees herself as a permanently tragic figure.

• Tularecito identifies with gnomes and fairytale spirits.

• Junius Maltby refuses to work, preferring philosophy instead and spending every day thinking and talking with his feet dangling in the creek.

• Shark Wicks pretends he is a financial wizard with tremendous wealth.

• The Mustroviks do not speak in public, communicating to others only through the terse voice of their son.

• Pat Humbert resigns himself to live with the ghosts of his parents.

Do you think these are exaggerations, or real depictions of how people might choose to live their lives? Why?

Let’s test it out in real life. Choose three people you know in your life, based on these conditions:Do they project to the world a certain idea of themselves? (Maybe someone who dresses in a particular way that shows a particular way of thinking?)

Is this person somehow different from everyone else?

Now for the real question: Are these people not normal, or are they just vividly expressing the feelings that lots of people have inside?

What is “normal”? Is it defined as what everyone in a group does? What certain people do? How can you tell if you are “normal” or not? Is that important to you?

See UNDERSTANDING CHARACTER FROM PERSONAL CONNECTIONS in Appendix, page 37.


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For Students—Watch TV!

YOUR LIFE’S DREAM“…the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity of greatness of heart and spirit … for courage, compassion, and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and emulation.” —John Steinbeck, from his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1962

As we have seen in the previous pages, most of the characters in these stories do not achieve their dreams in the way they had envisioned. Some even turn inward to embrace their failure in a way that will continue to keep them trapped; for instance, Pat Humbert goes on living with the miserable ghosts of his parents, rather than seeking out a life of his own.

It can be said that the United States of America was founded on a dream: of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as written in the U.S. Constitution. Following in that spirit, most parents today encourage young people to follow their dreams. But Steinbeck and Solis deal in both sides of the coin: Yes, the dream is good, but what happens when a dream doesn’t turn out the right way? There are bound to be obstacles and difficulties on the way to achieving any goal.

Steinbeck’s quote above illustrates the brighter side of the negative actions of the play’s characters. Octavio Solis also uses humor deftly throughout the play to offset the tragic action. As much tragedy as there is, it coexists with bravery, good will, jokes, love, and even honor. Keep this dual viewpoint in

mind as you ask your students to do the following exercise.

Watch any given episode of a popular reality show such as American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, or Project Runway. Choose one of the people who are eliminated that week. Write three paragraphs on that person’s experience.

Paragraph 1: How did they react to the elimination announcement?

Paragraph 2: Imagine how they might feel (based on observations about that person’s character) as they pack their bags and go home, and then what they might do in the week after they’ve left show.

Paragraph 3: Finally, imagine what they do in the next year, assuming that their dream is still to be a singer (or whatever the goal of the reality show contest was). Do they continue to pursue the dream? How?

See ORAL HISTORY PROJECT in the Appendix, page 46.


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JOHN STEINBECK’S LIFE AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN

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BIOGRAPHYJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner, was born in Salinas, California, on February 27, 1902. His father, also named John Steinbeck, served as Monterey County Treasurer for many years. His mother, Olive Hamilton, was a former schoolteacher who helped him develop a love of literature. Young Steinbeck came to know the Salinas Valley well, working as a hired hand on nearby ranches in Monterey County. In 1919, he graduated from Salinas High School as president of his class and entered Stanford University to major in English. Stanford did not claim his undivided attention, and he attended only sporadically while working at a variety jobs including one with the Big Sur highway project, and one at the Spreckels Sugar Company near Salinas.

Steinbeck left Stanford permanently in 1925 to pursue a career in writing in New York City. He was unsuccessful and returned, disappointed, to California the following year. Though his first novel, Cup of Gold, was published in 1929, it attracted little literary attention. The Pastures of Heaven, published in 1932, met the same fate.

After moving to the Monterey Peninsula in 1930, Steinbeck and his new wife, Carol Henning, made their home in Pacific Grove. Here, not far from famed Cannery Row—heart of the California sardine industry—Steinbeck found material he would later use for two more works, Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row.

With Tortilla Flat (1935), Steinbeck’s career took a decidedly positive turn, receiving the California Commonwealth Club’s Gold Medal. He felt encouraged to continue writing, relying on extensive research and personal observation of human drama for his stories. In 1937, Of Mice and Men was published. Two years later, the novel was produced on Broadway and made into a movie. In 1940, Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for The Grapes of Wrath, bringing public attention to the plight of dispossessed farmers.

After Steinbeck and Henning divorced in 1942, he married Gwyndolyn Conger. The couple moved to New York City and had two sons, Thomas and John. During the war years, Steinbeck served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune. Some of his dispatches reappeared in Once There Was a War. In 1945, Steinbeck published Cannery Row and continued to write prolifically, producing plays, short stories, and film scripts. In 1950, he married Elaine Anderson Scott and they remained together until his death.

Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 “…for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and keen social perception.”

Steinbeck remained a private person, shunning publicity and moving frequently in his search for privacy. He died on December 20, 1968 in New York City, where he and his family made a home. But his final resting place was the valley he had written about with such passion. At his request, his ashes were interred in the Garden of Memories cemetery in Salinas. He is survived by his son, Thomas.

Courtesy of The National Steinbeck Center


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STEINBECK FUN FACTS AND QUOTES

Interviewer: “Do you really think you deserve the Nobel Prize?” Steinbeck: “That’s an interesting question. Frankly, no.” —Conversations with Steinbeck

As a child John Steinbeck’s favorite novel was Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, a collection of the legends of King Arthur. This would later influence his work.

He had three sisters—two older and one younger.

Steinbeck worked as a laboratory assistant and farm laborer to support himself throughout his six years of study at Stanford University. He only took the classes which interested him, not those which would earn him a degree.

Steinbeck is an abbreviation of the German name Grossteinbeck, which occurred when his German grandfather immigrated to the US.

Steinbeck met Carol Henning, his first wife, in 1928 while working as a tour guide and caretaker of a fish hatchery in Tahoe City.

Steinbeck described his speaking voice this way: “I had my voice tested the other day and it was just as I knew it would be. My enunciation is so bad and the boom in my voice is so bad that I can’t be understood. I am glad, too, because now they will never ask me again.”

In a1937 interview, Steinbeck says “... Lennie [from Of Mice and Men] was a real person. He’s in an insane asylum in California right now. I worked alongside him of many weeks.”

In another interview Steinbeck described his method of writing: “I write longhand and then I read on tape and listen back. ... you can hear the most terrible things you’ve done if you hear it clear back on tape. I do it particularly with dialogue because then I can find whether it sounds like speech or not.”

In his interview in 1962 for the Sunday Times of London, Steinbeck said that he acted in the old Aztec law: “They gave the death sentence for all sorts of things until a man was 60. Then all the laws were suspended, and he could be as ridiculous as he wanted.”

“ ... I carry nothing consciously over from one book to another. A book is finished; it dies. It’s a real death. I couldn’t go back. Critics like to know what they’re about to read, but I refuse to be predictable.”

“I have to sit down at my desk and stay there until a certain number of words are written. When it starts it’s pure hell. I’ve never understood this; we know it’s going to be wonderful once we start, but we fight it so dreadfully.”

All facts gathered by The National Steinbeck Center.


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HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN

Oh, Life is so unreal! We don’t exist, no, not at all, until we leave a record of ourselves on wood, stone, on the lives of others.” —Molly Morgan in Pastures

History is the record of ourselves that we leave behind. Steinbeck has done more than any other writer to describe the landscape, culture, and historical significance of California in the early part of the 20th century. Pastures was the book in which he first wrote about the land and people of the Salinas Valley— subjects that would he would focus on for the rest of his literary career.

Most of the stories in the book take place between the years of 1928 and 1929, but the opening of the play shows John Whiteside, a victim of the disappointments of the Gold Rush, building the first house in the valley in 1850. As the play continues in the 1920s, we see his descendants and their neighbors pursue their individual ideals in the valley as well. Steinbeck was not just making up this theme for these characters: The “Golden State” nickname for California was in use from the late 1800s, not only from the rumor of gold-nugget-filled hills, but also as fruit and vegetables from California farms were shipped to the East Coast for the first time. California became the major producer of agricultural products in the United States, and the Great Depression had not yet occurred. So the American Dream was sought with particular ferocity in the fertile fields of this state. This time period was a logical place for Steinbeck to begin his lifelong examination of the effect of dreams on the people of California—his friends, his neighbors, and all of the people of this land.


For Students: Think About Where You Live

How does where you live influence how you are? For example, if your neighborhood looks and feels a certain way to you, does that make you feel certain things about yourself?

Does where you live now suit you? Would you like to live anywhere else or not? Why?

Do you think people are a product of where they grow up? If so, can that change?

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1. Take Highway 68 to Monterey

2. Turn left on San Benancio Road

3. Go to the end of San Benancio Road

4. Turn left on Cielo

5. Go to the top of the hill to the big round bus turnaround

6. Turn around as a bus would in order to see the Pastures of Heaven.

DIRECTIONS TO THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN

—A MAP


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RESOURCES

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THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN AND OTHER STEINBECK NOVELS ON FILM

The Pastures of Heaven only made it to film as one hour-long TV drama depicting just a handful of the book’s stories, and as of this writing we unfortunately cannot find a commercial source for its availability. John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven Circa 1954Director: Harry HornerAdaptation of the Molly Morgan, Shark Wicks and Pat Humbert stories.

Steinbeck’s other works, however, have proved popular source material for film adaptations.

The Grapes of Wrath 1940 Directed by John FordStarring Henry Fonda and Jane DarwellA film adaptation of the book. The end was changed due to censorship.1991 Directed by Kirk Browning and Frank GalatiStarring Gary SiniseA TV adaptation of a stage version of Steinbeck’s novel as performed by the Steppenwolf Theater Company

East of Eden1995Directed by Elia KazanStarring Julie Harris and James Dean1981Directed by Harvey HartStarring Timothy Bottoms and Jane Seymour2011 Directed by Tom HooperCast yet to be announced

Of Mice and Men1968 Directed by Ted KotcheffStarring George Segal and Nicol Williamson1981 Directed by Reza BadiyiStarring Robert Blake and Randy Quaid

There have also been many adaptations throughout the 20th century of The Red Pony, Cannery Row, Tortilla Flats, and The Pearl.

Source: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Steinbeck,+John

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: BOOKS AND INTERNET

BooksThere are many, many books about Steinbeck, including numerous biographies and all kinds of literary criticism of his works. This is only a sampling of the more relevant books and articles to this production. Steinbeck, Elaine, and Robert Wallsten, eds. Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. New York: Viking, 1975.Mortlock, Melanie. “The Eden Myth as Paradox: An Allegorical Reading of The Pastures of Heaven.” Steinbeck Quarterly, 11 (Winter 1978): 6-15.Fontenrose, Joseph. Steinbeck’s Unhappy Valley: A Study of The Pastures of Heaven. Berkeley, Joseph Fontenrose, 1981.Benson, Jackson J. The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer. New York: Viking, 1984.Buzbee, Lewis. Steinbeck’s Ghost. New York: Feiwel and Friends, Macmillan, 2008.Fensch, Thomas, ed. Conversations with John Steinbeck. University Press Mississippi, 1988.DeMott, Robert, ed. Working Days: The Journals of the Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Penguin Inc.,

1989.

Steinbeck Internet Resources These websites are listed for the teacher’s reference only. Teachers should always preview the sites before directing students to visit them. The content and website links listed are subject to change without notice. The views presented by these websites do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Steinbeck Center or California Shakespeare Theater, nor does any mention of trade names, commercial products, and organizations imply endorsement of them by the National Steinbeck Center or California Shakespeare Theater.

Websites about John Steinbeck John Steinbeck: The California Novels http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/This site links visitors to web sites about Steinbeck’s California novels. Each California novel website provides chapter summaries, character lists, and a printing history of each book. SJSU - Center for Steinbeck Studies http://steinbeck.sjsu.edu/fellows/This site offers visitors a chance to explore Steinbeck’s life and work. It also provides links to other websites about Steinbeck.

Biography of John Steinbeck http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/This site contains brief biographical information about John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck: http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/johnstei.htmThis site offers visitors brief biographical information on John Steinbeck as well as a selected bibliography of his work.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: BOOKS AND INTERNET...continued

John Steinbeck’s Pacific Grove http://www.93950.com/steinbeck/This site provides detailed information, photographs, and links to Steinbeck landmarks in the town of Pacific Grove.

City of Salinas California - Our History http://www.salinas.com/history/index.htmlA brief history of the city of Salinas, this site is good as an introduction to the different historical events that made Salinas what it is today.

Salinas Valley Steinbeck Country - Pelican Network http://www.pelicannetwork.net/salinas.valley.htmThis web site provides visitors with photographs of the Salinas Valley, plus a map of the area and links to Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Big Sur.

Steinbeck’s 1962 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/nobel.htmlThis site contains Steinbeck’s 1962 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, one of the few speeches he ever made.

General Steinbeck Resources from the National Steinbeck Center http://www.steinbeck.org

Courtesy of The National Steinbeck Center

Oral History Resources on the Web

The American Memory: American Life Histories http://memory.loc.gov/wpaintro/wpahome.htmlThe Library of Congress offers nearly 3,000 life histories the Works Progress Administration compiled between 1936 and 1940.

Collecting Community History: A Training Handbook for Educators and Life Stories: Voices from the East

Bay Latino Community http://museumca.org/LHP/student_exhibition.htmKeeping the Struggle Alive: Studying Desegregation in Our Town, A Guide to Doing Oral History http://store.tcpress.com/0807741450.shtml

Library of Congress: The Learning Page, Using Oral History http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/oralhist/ohhome.html

Lessons related to oral histories.

The Neighborhood Story Project http://www.neighborhoodstoryproject.org/Students in New Orleans document their neighborhoods, including those destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

StoryCorps http://storycorps.org/Tens of thousands of friends and family members from across the country have interviewed each other since 2003. Their stories are archived in the Library of Congress, and you can hear them on the project Web site. StoryCorps has also issued a book and CD called Listening Is an Act of Love.

Source: Edutopia.org

John Steinbeck’s

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITY GUIDEJune 2010

NOTE TO TEACHERS: This guide was created as a supplement for teachers preparing students to see California Shakespeare Theater’s production of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven. Worksheets are designed to be used individually or in conjunction with others throughout the guide. While we realize that no aspect of this guide fully outlines a course for meeting a subject area standards, discussion questions and topics are devised to address certain aspects of California state standards. The activities here can be minimally reproduced for educational, non-profit use only. All lessons must be appropriately credited. There are many excellent lesson plans for Steinbeck’s work on the Internet. Please see our Resources page for links. This guide concentrates primarily on ideas that help students understand language, plot and character through activities that get students on their feet and speaking.

If you are interested in a California Shakespeare Theater Professional Development Workshop, which provides easy-to-learn tools for teachers to incorporate theater and arts education activities into California standards-based core curriculum, please contact the Artistic Learning Administrations Manager at 510-548-3422 x 105 or [email protected].

Jonathan MosconeArtistic Director

Susie FalkManaging Director

Trish Tillman Director of Artistic Learning

Emily Morrison Programs Manager

Samantha Fryer Artistic Learning

Administration Manager

Ava Jackson Artistic Learning Coordinator

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CAL SHAKES’ MISSION AND FUNDERS

OUR MISSIONWe strive for everyone, regardless of age, circumstance, or background, to discover and express the

relevance of Shakespeare and the classics in their lives.

We make boldly imagined and deeply entertaining interpretations of Shakespeare and the classics.

We provide in-depth, far-reaching creative education opportunities for a diversity of learners.

We bring disparate communities together around the creation of new American plays that reflect the cultural diversity of the Bay Area.

OUR FUNDERS AND SPONSORS California Shakespeare Theater’s 2010 season is supported in part by the generosity of The William and Flora

Hewlett Foundation and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation.

John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven has been selected as a National Endowment for the Arts Distinguished New American Play as part of the NEA New Play Development Program, hosted by Arena Stage.

The development of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven is underwritten by numerous individual donors and generous support from:

California Shakespeare Theater701 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710510.548.3422 • www.calshakes.org

SEASON SPONSORS PRESENTING SPONSORS

California Shakespeare Theater is pleased to acknowledge our 2010 corporate sponsors, whose generous contributions are helping to ensure the success of our 37th season.

Artistic Learning programs are underwritten by generous support from the Dale Family Fund, Dodge & Cox, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and 93 donors to our 2010 Gala Fund-a-Need campaign.

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“STEINBOOK”Have your students create a Facebook Profile (see example on the following page) for a character from the play.

Overview: Being able to empathize with fictional characters sheds light on our own personal situations, and recast the plot of the play in relevant terms.

Grades: 6–12

Goal: To bring the characters of The Pastures of Heaven into a real-world context.State Standards: English Literary Response and Analysis 3.0-3.4Outcomes: Students will be able to use basic facts from the text to imaginatively enter into the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of fictional characters by creating a mock Facebook page.

Activity: Familiarize students with the profile layout of a social networking site page, such as Facebook. (See examples to follow.)

1. Ask the students to fill in the profile witha. Vital statisticsb. Likes and dislikesc. Friends

Note: Students should use information drawn from their knowledge of the play (for example, Helen Van Deventer sees herself as someone destined to live a tragic life) and filled out by their imaginations (for example, her favorite book is Twilight).

2. Profile photos may be drawn or cut out from magazines, or an actual photo of the student could be used and attached to the page. Remember, many actual Facebook profile pages do not have real photo of the person who made them—students sometimes choose a picture of something they feel represents them—a tree, a poster they like, etc.

3. Share the pages you have created in student pairs or in a group discussion.

Reflection:

• Name one thing you had to imagine about your character that you think is really interesting.

• Was it easy to imagine beyond the play—for instance, what Bert Monroe’s activities and interests might be? Or do you feel the play did not provide enough information? How so?

• How easy was it to decide who your character’s friends were? Would your character ignore a friend request from other characters in the play? Why or why not?

Extension exercise in writing dialogue:

Beyond the basic profile information, a further way to extend the activity is to have the students write on each other’s profile “walls”. A wall is the area on a profile page where friends can write short messages to each other that are posted directly on the page for others to view.

Note: Require the students to fill out the worksheet manually, rather than actually fill out a public profile online. If you can post the mock profile page that follows onto your school or website or blog for students to fill out online within the framework of this project, that would work as well, but false profiles in a public space should be actively discouraged. Student examples should show a deep understanding of the plot and qualities of the character. Some examples follow.

SOCIAL NETWORKING CHARACTER STUDY:

ACTIVITY GUIDE

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steinbook

Friends

4 Friends See All

Information

Wall

Helen van Deventer

Helen van Deventer is coping beautifully. Thank you.

Updated: every single moment

Birthday: February 29Current city: Christmas CanyonRelationship Status: Widow

Favorite books: Twilight, anything by Silvia Plath

Favorite music: Imogen Heap, Fiona Apple, Billie Holiday, Evanesence

Recent Activity:

Helen and Bert Monroe became friends

Helen wrote on Dr. Phillip’s wall

Dr. Phillips You should really consider getting some therapy, if you don’t mind me saying so.

Tularecito likes this

Helen joined the group In Memory of my little girl, Hilda

Helen became a fan of Hubert’s gun shop

“There are only two tragedies in life: One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” —Oscar Wilde

Dr. Phillips Tularecito

PhotosInfoWall

Share

ACTIVITY GUIDE

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steinbook

Friends

4 Friends See All

Information

Wall

Updated:

Birthday:Current city: Relationship Status:

Favorite books:

Favorite music:

Recent Activity:

PhotosInfoWall

Share

ACTIVITY GUIDE

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Overview: Nonverbal activities help connect the body to the essential meaning of the language.

Goal: To experience Steinbeck’s language personally and kinesthetically through nonverbal performance.

Outcomes: Students will gain understanding of images and vocabulary in a particular section of text through cooperative work.

Materials: Enough copies of the excerpt from Chapter One of The Pastures of Heaven for your class, and pencils for each student.

Part 1: Create a Seated Tableau

Explain that a tableau is a frozen picture, like a snapshot from a cell phone camera. Emphasize that tableaux are really about seeing clear emotions in the face and specific action in the body.

Have pairs of students, all at the same time, practice tableaux. You can do this by simply calling “1,2,3, freeze!” Ask the students to simply stay in their seats, and show you the situations you are going to describe. They should freeze in an appropriate pose for the situation when you call “Freeze!” Some examples are listed below.

• You’re in class, and the bell has just rung on the final class day; it is now summer vacation.

• A UFO is hovering in the courtyard of the school and the principal is beamed up.

• You’re sitting in the stands of the stadium when a new sports record has just been broken (

e.g. Bonds’ homerun record).

• You’re waiting to get into a very popular movie on opening night.

• You’re on the class trip to DC and the bus has just pulled up to the White House.

• You’re at a surprise party the moment the guest of honor walks in.

• You’re at the science fair, and the project next to you has just exploded.

Part 2: Putting Language into Action Tableaux

Now demonstrate a standing frozen picture for the students. For instance, bring a volunteer up and have a student count “1,2,3, freeze!” You might show them a frozen picture where you are at the ballpark and Bonds has just hit the record-breaking home run, or any of the situations listed above.

1. Divide class up into pairs.2. Give out monologues (see example below)—one sheet per pair. The leader will read the monologue out loud.3. The leader will tell each pair which lines in the monologue they’re working on.4. Underline the words you and your partner find striking—fun words, words that evoke images, etc.5. Create a tableau for that section of text.6. Practice saying the text with your tableau—either before or simultaneously with the tableau.

TABLEAU: CONNECTING THE WORD AND THE BODY

ACTIVITY GUIDE

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TABLEAU: CONNECTING THE WORD AND THE BODY

Part 3: Performance

1. All pairs line up in monologue order.

2. First round: Each pair steps forward and speaks translated text and shows their tableau.

3. Then, ask the entire group to come up with a tableau for the final line of the monologue.

4. Second round: Each pair steps forward and speaks the text and shows same tableau.

5. At the end the entire group speaks the last line and does the tableau for that line.

6. Discuss—go around the circle with each pair discussing the words that struck them in the lines they were

given, and then talking about what their idea was for their tableau.

Reflection:

Ask your students the following after completing the exercise:

• What did you think of this monologue before doing this exercise? After? • Did you get a better sense of the monologue—did the meaning appear any more clearly when you heard it and saw it?• What do you think you could (not should) do differently if you had the chance to do this over again?

• What do you think one of the actor’s jobs is when they must do a speech like this?

Monologue: Narration from Chapter One of The Pastures of Heaven

1. George Battle looked about for a good investment in a woman. 2. In Salinas he found Miss Myrtle Cameron, a spinster of 35, with a small fortune. 3. Miss Myrtle had been neglected because of a mild tendency to epilepsy, 4. a disease then called “fits” 5. and generally ascribed to animosity on the part of the deity. 6. George did not mind the epilepsy. He knew he couldn’t have everything he wanted. 7. Myrtle became his wife and bore him a son, and, 8. after twice trying to burn the house, 9. was confined in a little private prison called the Lippman Sanitarium, in San Jose. 10. She spent the rest of her life crocheting a symbolic life of Christ in cotton thread.

Original text:George Battle looked about for a good investment in a woman. In Salinas he found Miss Myrtle Cameron, a spinster of 35, with a small fortune. Miss Myrtle had been neglected because of a mild tendency to epilepsy, a disease then called “fits” and generally ascribed to animosity on the part of the deity. George did not mind the epilepsy. He knew he couldn’t have everything he wanted. Myrtle became his wife and bore him a son, and, after twice trying to burn the house, was confined in a little private prison called the Lippman Sanitarium, in San Jose. She spent the rest of her life crocheting a symbolic life of Christ in cotton thread.

ACTIVITY GUIDE

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UNDERSTANDING CHARACTER THROUGH PERSONAL CONNECTIONS

The classroom leader should lead the students through this exercise verbally using the provided text below, while the students write their answers down on paper. After you ask each question, ask them to write one sentence describing the situation for which they answered “yes.”

Overview: Frame this as an imaginative exercise but using real-life feelings. Let students know their answers are personal, so they won’t have to share them unless they want to.

Grades: 6–12

Goal: to understand the characters’ dilemmas through real-life experience.

State Standards: English Literary Response and Analysis §3; English Writing Applications §2

Outcomes: Students will personally relate to the choices the characters make in the play.

Activity: Read each questions aloud and ask students to write down their answers.

1. How have people in your life pursued their dreams? Do you think they had dreams?2. How do you pursue your dream?3. How do you react to challenges?4. Is there a time to give up on a dream you had earlier in life? Why or why not?5. How does the landscape where you live affect your life?6. Did you ever feel like you are different from everyone else? 7. Have you ever pretended, to other people, to be someone other than yourself?8. Do you have an idea of yourself that you try to build your personality around?

Reflection:After completing this exercise on paper, ask the students to reflect on their experiences. Do not ask the students to share their personal choices unless they are willing to. Using more general questions will help them share without having to reveal anything specific, such as:

• Did anyone find that one of these situations was more meaningful for you than another?

• Think about your own reaction to that situation—did you see a character in the play with the same reaction? Which character?

Now ask the students to identify the situations in the play that correspond to the questions above.

• Can you see any times in the play when the characters expressed the same kinds of feelings that you described? Did they have different reactions?

• Which character strikes you as the most sympathetic?

• Which situation do you think is the most important in the play? Why?

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CHARACTER BACKSTORY: WHAT MAKES A PERSONALITY?

(Page 1 of 2)

Overview: Write the backstory for one of the minor characters in The Pastures of Heaven, such as Willa Whiteside, Mae Munroe, Alice Wicks, TB Allen, or the Mustrovik family.

A “backstory” is the personal history of a character that is not described in the actual play or story. In other words, it is what happens to the character before the play starts.

Grades: 4–12

Goal: To use contextual clues to create an imaginative experience of a minor character.

State Standards: English Writing Applications §2; Theater Arts §1 Identify character’s objective and motivations to explain the character’s behavior.

Outcomes: Students will research the play for clues to the characters, and fully describe an imagined life previous to the play’s beginning that justifies the way the character acts in the play.

Activity: Explain to the students that the interior life of the character is something an actor must be able to imagine as they start to understand how to play that character. The life of a minor character has been a popular literary and theatrical exercise and can illuminate the main story even more brightly. For instance, Wicked is a very popular book-turned-Broadway musical that explores the backstory and unseen lives of the witches of The Wizard of Oz.

1. Create a Word Bank: Create a word bank as a class on the board about a particular character from the book. Use descriptive, concrete, sensory details (sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing). Guide students through describing how the character looks, how s/he acts (personality), and what we already know about him/her from the book.

2. Write a Summary—Prepare for Writing the Backstory: Students choose a character from the reading and, using descriptive words, write a one-page description using words like those in the word bank.

Include, when possible:

• Timeline of significant events in the character’s life• Physical description• Personality traits

Also answer the following questions about the character:

• Where and when does s/he live?• What does s/he want more than anything? • Who or what is standing in the way of what s/he wants? What is in his/her pockets?• What is your character afraid of? • Who are his/her friends?• What makes him/her happy?What does s/he think about when s/he is alone?• How does s/he react to stressful situations?• What is s/he most proud of in his/her life?• What does s/he do for fun?• Who has helped him/her?

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3. Group Exercise: Divide students into groups of four or five. Students in each group read their descriptions to each other. Pick one to share with the class and add others if there is time.

4. Theatrical Presentation: Each group should pick one of the stories to present to classmates in an artistic way. They can choose how to present it. Possibilities include: a rap, comic strip drawings, tableau, puppet show, etc.

Coaching: Tell the students that this requires them to use their imagination! Think of what the character does in the play and imagine reasons why the character ends up doing what he/she does. Remember, there is no “right” answer to an open-ended exercise, as long as they can justify their choices using the text. This exercise is specifically designed to explore the life of minor characters in the play—characters that are often overlooked, but can yield fascinating discoveries. Actors, even when playing a smaller role, must do this same kind of research to be able to make that character believable onstage.

Rubric for the backstory:

• Be creative.

• Describe the setting (when and where the backstory takes place).

• Describe the character in vivid detail as s/he was early in life—personality, looks, situation, who s/he is friends with, what his or her interests are, how s/he looks or talks, etc.

• Use action words, descriptive words, dialogue, and images.

• Be based on clues from the main story when possible.

• Describe a problem that the character faces and why it is a problem (Junius Maltby suddenly realizes his life of intellectual dreaming has caused his son to be poor, for example).

• Describe specifically why s/he chooses to do those things (for example, personal satisfaction, revenge, habit, being forced to do them by someone else, etc.).

• Describe how the character feels about doing what s/he does in the play.

Reflection:

• What did you learn about your character that you didn’t know before?

• What did you especially like about one of the descriptions you heard today?

• Did you see a picture of the character in your head?

• How did you describe it in your writing so that other people could imagine the same thing you did?

• (To classmates): Did you see that character the same way the writer did? What was different if anything?

• Who imagined their character’s day while writing the description? What was it like?

• Why did you decide on the specifics that you did for your character? For example, why did you choose a particular setting for that character’s childhood?

• Does the play provide enough clues to spark your imagination? Why or why not?

• What did you find (in your backstory or someone’s from your group) that was particularly interesting?

• How hard was it to imagine beyond the story?

CHARACTER BACKSTORY: WHAT MAKES A PERSONALITY?

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ACTIVITY GUIDE

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CREATE A PODCAST BOOK REVIEW (Page 1 of 2)

Goal: To give students practical experience in producing critical written work in a performance mode.

Outcomes: Students will write and deliver a book review through the podcast medium online.

Standards: Grades 6–12. English Comprehension & Analysis 2-2.4; Literary Response & Analysis 3-3.4;

Writing Response to Literature 2.2; Speaking Applications 2.3

How to Make a Podcast First, listen to other examples. Go to http://www.runkle.org/Podcasts/G8.html for student book review podcasts from the public schools of Brookline. Then, discuss your students’ reactions to the work.

• Did it make you want to read the book? Why or why not?

• Could you understand the way the students spoke?

• Did you like the way they presented the book? Name ways the students used to make the presentation interesting.

• What would you change to make the podcast you heard better?

Decide on your format. Here are the questions to ask:

• Will you be doing the podcast solo or will you have other hosts? (Perhaps a guest from the novel?)

• How long will your podcast be? (Suggested time is two to three minutes.)

• Will you just be talking or will you play prerecorded (or live) music as well?

SIDENOTE: If you plan to use music in your podcast that is not your own, you need to get permission to use it. It’s not legal to use copyright material in your podcast without permission. Go to http://freemusicarchive.org/ and scroll down to the “Music” genre. This takes time to listen to, so doing this at home is advised. You can also find free music at http://www.garageband.com/htdb/index.html, although you must register to use this site.

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Performance Tips

• Above all, try to be quiet in the classroom during recording.

• Be sure to talk as closely to the microphone as you can (without distorting the sound) to make sure your voice is above the noise being picked up by the mic.

• Do a test recording to make sure the surrounding noise isn’t too loud or distracting. Record 30 seconds or so and listen to it. It would stink to record an hour of audio just to find out you can’t be understood over the jackhammer in the background.

• Don’t scream into the mic—that only annoys your audience, so no one will listen.

Recording: Technical Details

1. Plug a USB headset with earphone and microphone into your computer.

Install the free Audacity MP3 recorder for Windows, Mac, or Linux. Make a recording and save it as an MP3 file.

Upload the MP3 file to your Web site or blog. Follow the instructions at ipodder.org to create an RSS feed on your site.

2. Visit Blogger.com for free podcast hosting services. Make sure you read the Terms of Service.

Reflection

• What did you particularly enjoy about this performance?

• What, if anything, might you change to make it better?

Adapted from Brookline Schools’ website on podcasts at http://runkle.org/Podcasts/Resources.html

CREATE A PODCAST BOOK REVIEW (Page 2 of 2)

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BOOK REVIEW PODCAST GRADING RUBRIC

Adapted from the Brookline Book Review Podcasts by and for Students and Teachers at http://runkle.org/Podcasts/Resources.html

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Criteria

Script Great Good Poor

1. Introduction includes all required elements and is

interesting, creative, and inviting.

2. Book information includes all required elements

(title, author, narrative point of view, pages, and genre) and does so in a creative and interesting

way.

3. Overview is a concise paragraph (100 words) that

focuses on the main conflict(s) and main character(s).

4. There are five to seven motivating questions that

might entice the listener to read the book.

5. Critique is a short paragraph which recommends

the book in a creative and interesting way.

6. Rating recommends the book on a scale of one to

five stars, wherein five is the best.

7. Closing remarks thank everyone for listening and

signs off with a clever and interesting tagline.

Voice Great Good Poor

The podcast is recorded without mistakes, is clear

and easy to understand, and uses an expressive

and professional-sounding voice.

Music Great Good Poor

The music and sound effects add to the podcast,

are adjusted for volume, are not too long or too

short, and make the podcast more interesting to listen to.

Work Ethic Great Good Poor

Student used class time well, came to class prepared, and stayed focused on the project

without having to be redirected by the teacher.

Name:

Grade:

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THE SHORT STORY CYCLE(Page 1of 2)

“I am using the following method. The manuscript is made up of stories, each one complete in itself, having its rise, climax and ending. Each story deals with a family or an individual. They are tied together only by the common locality and by the contact with the [Munroes].”—Steinbeck describing the writing of Pastures, from a letter to his agent

The intertwined stories of Pastures focus on ten families in Salinas in the 1920s. It is known as a story cycle, a genre that is older than the novel form (it dates as far back as Chaucer!). The stories are generally held together by a common thread running throughout, but can be read as single stories unto themselves. In The Pastures of Heaven the thread is the valley/town of the title, in which ten families coexist; and the Munroe family, one of whom appears in every story, is the common thread.

Overview: Students will connect the individual parts of the cycle to achieve a greater understanding of the whole meaning and experience of the stories.

Grades: 8–12

Goal: To understand the short story cycle as a literary form

Vocabulary: Synergism, short story cycle, symbol, theme

State Standards: English Literary Response and Analysis §3; English Writing Applications §2

Outcomes: Students will gain an understanding of how the parts create the whole.

Part One: “Yes and…” Improv Game:

How to Play: Students stand or sit in a circle. The goal is to create a character from scratch. Each person around the circle, in order, will add another sentence starting with “Yes, and…” The leader will start with a name, e.g., “Her name is Betty.” The next person will make up a new thing about that person, e.g., “Yes, and she is 65 years old.” Then the next person builds on that suggestion and says, “Yes, and she was a nurse in Vietnam,” or “Yes, and she walks with a cane.” Continue to build the character around the circle.Side Coaching: You may have to guide the students to always use the “yes, and” phrasing. A natural reaction is to want to change the character (implying a “yes, but” phrasing) which contradicts rather than builds on previous suggestions. This can happen out of competition, or attempting to get attention, or even trying to create genuine interest, but the goal is to work as a team and see where it takes them. Coach the students to be simple—even obvious—for each next suggestion.

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Reflection

What did you learn about the character from playing the game that you didn’t know in the beginning? Did anything surprise you? Did you think the character would develop a different way, i.e., did you have a picture in your mind that was different from the way the group went?

What series of films or stories do you know that can stand alone, but make an even bigger story when you see or read them all together? (Harry Potter, Star Wars, Twilight, Lord of the Rings).

Part Two: Themes

Just like in a story cycle, the whole picture develops bit-by-bit through lots of smaller details.

Have the class brainstorm the themes in The Pastures of Heaven and write the themes on the board to use in the next activity.

You may have to ask questions that will lead the class to come up with themes like:

• The loss of dreams, self-delusions, or ambition, and needing to start over when reality intrudes.• The conflict between society’s norms and the individual. Civilized society thinks you should act and dress in certain ways that may not be good for the individual (the destructiveness of conformity and respectability).• Religion is sometimes no solace.• The different kinds of “curses” that can affect us.• Mental incapacity or instability and violence.

Divide class into groups and assign one story to each group. Have the groups complete the Worksheet (following page).

Play the “Yes and…” game using the sentences from the worksheet. Group One reads a sentence from their worksheet and, if it resonates with another group, that group stands up and reads their sentence and so on. It might sound something like this:

Person A: “Bert Munroe appears in my story and he acts as a catalyst to make Helen decide to get rid of her daughter.”

Person B: “Jimmie Munroe appears in my story and he acts as a catalyst to get Shark Wicks to try and protect his daughter.”

Person C: “All the Munroes appear in my story and they act as catalysts to prolong the idea of a curse in peoples’ minds.”

Reflection:

How did the stories complement each other and add to your understanding of the whole?

THE SHORT STORY CYCLE(Page 2 of 2)

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PASTURES OF HEAVEN SHORT STORY CYCLE WORKSHEET

Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven is a compilation of short stories, each of which seems complete because it has a conflict and resolution. The combination of the individual stories into one book is called a Short Story Cycle. This was a very popular literary form at the turn of the century. When you read the stories all together, the interaction between them creates a powerful impression that is greater than that of each story individually.

Your teacher will assign your group one story. To prepare your group for a class activity, answer the following questions.

Write complete sentences that you can read out loud.

1. A Munroe family member appears in each story.

Who is the Munroe in your story?How does he or she act as catalyst for the events in the story?

2. Another constant in each story is the land (the Pastures of Heaven).

How is the land described in your story? Why do you think Steinbeck described it this way?

3. Your class has brainstormed some of the themes in these stories.

What theme is strongest in your story?Describe how this theme is illustrated in your story.What other themes appear in your story?

4. The use of symbolism allows an author to communicate beyond the limits of language. A symbol is a person, place or object that stands for something beyond itself. For example, the cross is a symbol of a Christian religion.

List the symbols that appear in your story.Write a sentence stating what you think each symbol stands for.

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ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Just like the characters in the stories of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven, people all around us can hold up a mirror to our own hopes and ambitions by describing their life. Elderly people are especially interesting to connect with, since they have a wealth of experience to share. This activity can help students “connect” with the elderly.

1. Each student finds one elderly person who is willing to be interviewed about his or her life. It can be a family member, a friend of the family, or someone in a local nursing home, etc.

2. If the students have access to a video camera, it can be very informative to videotape the interview. Otherwise, just tape-record it.

3. Give students the interview question sheet (below) and go over the questions. Have them add some questions of their own.

4. Discuss interview techniques with students: Tell them to ask open-ended questions—questions that require more than a “yes” or “no” answer. Encourage the students to get the older person talking a lot, rather than just giving short answers.

5. Each student completes an interview and writes a report summarizing the interview. If videotaped, the class can make a video montage of the interviewees’ most interesting answers. Otherwise, students should give oral reports to the other students. We suggest you do not use this as a graded written project, but rather as a way for students to get better acquainted with an older person.

6. It’s fun to have a culminating activity: Invite the elderly interviewees and the students’ parents to the classroom to view the video and reports and to celebrate with cake and ice cream.

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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interviewer’s Name:Interviewer’s Age:Classroom Teacher’s Name:

Interviewee’s Name:Interviewee’s Date of Birth:Place of birth:

1. What was it like when you were my age? Describe:• Food• Clothes• School• Vacations• Games• Jobs• Favorite activity• Friends• Family

2. How many different places have you lived in your life?

3. How do you think those places affected you?

4. What did your parents do for a living? Did you want to do the same thing?

5. What is your most treasured possession? Why?

6. When you were my age, what gave people high status? For example, did your family have to be rich? Did you have to have certain clothes or be good at certain activities? Or something else?

7. What is the biggest change that you have seen in your lifetime?

8. What was your biggest dream growing up? Did anything get in the way of that dream? What did you do about it?

9. What is the worst thing about getting older?

10. What is the best thing about getting older?

11. What advice would you give to a young person?

12. (Insert your questions here)

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YOU’RE THE CRITIC: CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE

(Elementary and Middle School)

NAME: ______________________________________________________________

1. Circle the number of stars that best matches how you’d rate this performance. (One star is the lowest rating and five stars is the best rating.) Then write a paragraph on the back of the paper that specifically describes why you gave it that rating. Do not simply say “I didn’t like it,” but say why. For example, “I didn’t like the fact that the director changed the setting to New York” or “I loved the way the actors made me believe that they were really going to kill each other.”

2. Outline the main actions that happened in the plot (what were the big events in the story?).a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

3. What is the central idea or theme of the play?

4. Describe what the actors did to help you understand the different characters they were playing.

5. What did you particularly like or dislike about the staging (set design, lights, costumes, music, etc.)?

6. Steinbeck writes about things that we all experience: Love, jealousy, death, anger, revenge, etc. Write a paragraph (on the back) about one emotion in the play that relates to your own life at the moment.

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YOU’RE THE CRITIC: CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE

(Middle and High School)

Give this production a rating of one to five stars. (One star is the lowest rating and five stars is the highest.) On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph review of the play. In other words, describe why you gave it that rating. Give specific examples to support your reasons. On the same sheet of paper, reflect on the following questions:

1. How would you describe the character of the people who come to live in the Pastures of Heaven?

2. How would you describe the actions people take in the play?

3. Which character did you sympathize with most? Why?

4. Think about and describe:

i. the vocal and physical actions of the actors (characterization)

ii. the set

iii. the costumes

5. What do you think are some of the themes of the play?

6. Did the elements of characterizations, set, and/or costumes reinforce any of these themes?

7. Steinbeck writes about things that we all experience: Love, jealousy, death, anger, revenge,

passion, misunderstandings, etc. Write a paragraph about one emotion in the play that relates to your

own life at the moment.

Now, imagine you are the director of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven, and use a new sheet of paper to create your new production.

• Cast the characters of Bert Munroe, Raymond Banks, John Whiteside, Hilda van Deventer,

Shark Wicks, with famous actors.

• The set for a play is usually designed with some theme of the play in mind. Would your set

be more heavenly, with bright lights perhaps, or more earthly? Do you wish to play up the

positive side of trying to achieve ones dreams or the more negative side of how dreams

can be lost?

• How about costumes? Imagine how the characters in your new production would be

dressed that would illustrate the kinds of characters they are and what setting you have

put the play in.

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prep your students for the show– book your pre- … · 3. the pastures of heaven: dreams vs....

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