cal shakes teachers guide pastures 2010

8/8/2019 Cal Shakes Teachers Guide Pastures 2010

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PREP YOUR STUDENTS FOR THE SHO

Book your pre- or post-s

Classroom Worksh

Contact the Artistic Learning Administr

at 510.548.3422x

for more

TEAC

HERSG

UIDE

JUNE2010

Guidecom

piledbyTrishTillman

Jonathan MosconeArtistic Director

Susie FalkManaging Director

Trish TillmanDirector of Artistic Learning

Emily MorrisonPrograms Manager

Samantha FryerArtistic LearningAdministration Manager

Ava JacksonArtistic Learning Coordinator

John Steinbecks

SEASON SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSORS

John Steinbecks The Pastures

of Heavenhas been selected asa National Endowment for the

Arts Distinguished New American

Play as part of the NEA New PlayDevelopment 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 ..........................................................................................6b. Plot Summary ....................................................................................................7

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

d. Whos Who: Character Descriptions ..........................................................10

e. Whos Who: The Actors ................................................................................12

f. Seeing the PlayBefore and After ................................................................15

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

3. The Pastures of Heaven: Dreams vs. RealityCan the Earth Hold Heaven?

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

b. What is Normal? ..............................................................................................19c. Your Lifes Dream .............................................................................................20

4. John Steinbecks 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 HeavenA Map .........................................25

5. Resources

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

b. Additional Resources: Books and Internet ................................................286. 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 CritiqueElementary and Middle School ...............................48

j. Cal Shakes CritiqueMiddle and High School ..........................................49

GUIDE CREDITS

Editor:Trish TillmanContributors:Emily Morrison, The National SteinbeckCenter, Carole Rathfon, Trish Tillman

Copy Editor:Stefanie KalemConsulting Editor:

Carole RathfonLayout & Graphics: Ilsa Brink

IN THIS GUIDE:


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OUR MISSION

We strive for everyone, regardless of age, circumstance, or background, to discover and express therelevance 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 reect thecultural diversity of the Bay Area.

OUR FUNDERS AND SPONSORS

California Shakespeare Theaters 2010 season is supported in part by the generosity ofThe William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation.

John Steinbecks The Pastures of Heaven has been selected as a National Endowment for the ArtsDistinguished New American Play as part of the NEA New Play Development Program,

hosted by Arena Stage.

The development of John Steinbecks The Pastures of Heaven is underwrittenby numerous individual donors and generous support from:

SEASON SPONSORSPRESENTING 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 MISSIONAND 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 LEARNINGPROGRAMS ATCAL SHAKES

Artistic Learning represents the California Shakespeare Theaters 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 RESIDENCIES

School-based residencies partner teaching artists and classroom teachers together to

incorporate arts-integration methods with classic texts into Bay Area classrooms. Residencies

typically span 810 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 Shakespeares 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 Teachers Guide (see below).

TEACHERS GUIDES INCLUDING STUDENT ACTIVITIES

This 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 seasons

Student Discovery Matinee production of John Steinbecks 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 Teachers Guide.

The Pastures of Heaven, Steinbecks second book, is considered the one in which he found the

subject matterthe people of the Salinas valleyon 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 Steinbecks 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 actors 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 productions

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

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

struggles.

Enjoy!

THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN OVERVIEW


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PLOT SUMMARY

The 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 timethe

late 1920sof the ctional valley.

1 INTRODUCTION: LAS PASTURAS DEL CIELO

Richard Whiteside nds 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 lling 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 menPat Humbert, TB Allen, and

John Whiteside, son of Richardtell 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 Caf 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 TULARECITO

Tularecitos 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 everyones property to nd

his lost people underground.



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ACT TWO

7 RICHARD WHITESIDE PART TWO

Richard 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 killsher. 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 MALTBY

Junius 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 inuenza.

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 communitys 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 HUMBERT

Pat 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 MORGAN

Molly 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 Mollys ashbacks 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 Mollys 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 nding out the truth about her father, and decides to leave the Pastures.

11 RAYMOND BANKS

Raymond 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 HOUSE

The Whitesides house catches re from a chance wind in a burn-off. Richards son, John, lets the

house burn, and we are left to wonder: Is he glad to see the houses legacy and his fathers dreams go

up in ames?

13 CODA: THE FIRE

All of the characters from the stories watch the re and speak about their time in the Pastures, and of

their dreams there.

PLOT SUMMARY...continued



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CHARACTER MAPWHITESIDES

RICHARD + ALICIA

SPANISHCORPORAL

+NATIVE AMERICAN

John + Willa

Bill

MISS MORGAN

TULARECITO

FRANKLIN GOMEZ

PANCHO

JAKOBSTUTZ

SHARK +KATHERINE WICKS

RAYMOND + CLEO BANKS

PAT HUMBER

TB ALLEN

MUSTROVIKS

PA - MA - SON

GEORGE BATTLE+ MYRTLE CAMERON

MA+PA

MannyJimmie

AliceJohn

ROSA & MARIA LOP

JUNIUS MALTBY

Robbie

SCHOOL

HELEN + HUBERT VAN DEVENTER

HILDA

Mae

JACK THE DEPUTY SHERIF

BERT + VIVIAN MONROE



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WHOS WHO: Character DescriptionsCHARACTERS

Richard Whiteside One of the rst 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 Richards 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 fathers 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 Johns wife.

Bill Whiteside Only son of John and Willa. Though raised to be like his father andgrandfather, 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 ts 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 xes 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 Georges wife, an epileptic who is plagued by ts. She is highly religious.

She is placed in a mental ward after trying to burn the house down.

John Battle George and Myrtles only son. He inherits his mothers epilepsy and mad

devotion to God.

The Mustroviks (Ma, Pa, Son) A foreign family who arrive suddenly and take over the Battlefarm. Their spooky appearance and standofsh 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 Sharks wife. A plain-looking but hardworking woman, Katherine has gotten

used to her husbands indifference toward her.



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WHOS WHO: Character DescriptionsCHARACTERS

Alice Wicks The beautiful only child of Shark and Katherine. Alice is very sheltered by herparents 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 fewcustomers 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, Raymonds 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 at 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 thathis boss promotes, preferring to engage in intellectual debate rather than plant the elds.

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, MOLLYS

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

WHOS 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 swayon the breath of a warm inland wind. I catch a glint of a creek at thebottom. 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 familyappears in stories other than theirown in the play, and for the effectsthey have on other characters.

Look for similarities the people inthe Pastures have in common withone another, aside from living in the

same geographic area.

Look for moments that yourecognize in modern life: Are thecharacters acting like people wouldtoday? Why or why not?

Is there a curse at work in thePastures? How does the curseaffect its citizens?

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

Pick one characters story that made animpression on you. Why in particular do youremember it? How do you feel about how thatcharacter acted, and why do you think youreact this way to it?

How do characters react to their dreamsremaining unfullled? How do you react todisappointment?

Do you believe in fate? Or do you believe thatpeople make their own destiny? Explain.Did you recognize any parts of this story frommodern movies or books, or from your ownlife?

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 rom June 24, 2009, written as the playwas being developed. The difculty and exhilaration o adapting text

rom a novel into a play is aptly described as hard un.

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 dening character and action in this Pastures of Heaven

process. In our process of storytellingwhich must merge the novelistic approach with the

dramatic imperatives of staging a playwe are constantly redening how character functions in

this project.

There are numerous complicated shifts from the rst 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 rst 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 Steinbecks 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 unied chorus. A chorus whose identity shifts with the demands of the story.Sometimes, they are the single narrative voice (that is, Steinbecks) 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 characters

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, theycan never have the same attitude.

Its 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. Its supposed to give the director and the

company a chance to activate what Ive written, to dene our working vocabulary and the physicsof the play, to renegotiate assumed notions of character and action and narrative every time we

speak text.



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Dreams vs.

RealityCan the Earth

Hold Heaven?


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UTOPIAOut of the silent blackness, I see something out of a dream. A statelywhite house with a trim garden. Welcoming lights in the windows. A

broad front door opens and a whole covey of Whiteside children streamout 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 difculty 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 fewof 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 Steinbecks view, heaven on Earth is temporary at best. Since everyones 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 ofthe individual rather than of the whole society?

For StudentsYour 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 itbe? 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. REALITYCAN THE EARTH HOLD HEAVEN?


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For Students:

WHAT IS NORMAL?Critics of Steinbecks 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

Steinbecks characters are often compulsive, deluded, mentally or emotionally unstable, epileptic,

or physically challenged, and they are put into situations wherein their aws 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 nd out more about ourselves. The characters in Pastures

are denitely in dramatic situations, but are they completely extraordinary? Heres a handy list of

some of the things that might not be considered normal:

Helen sees herself as a permanently tragic gure.

Tularecito identies 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 nancial 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?

Lets 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 dened 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 StudentsWatch TV!

YOUR LIFES DREAM

the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate mansproven capacity of greatness of heart and spirit for courage,

compassion, and love. In the endless war against weakness anddespair, 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 thepursuit 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 doesnt turn out the right way? There

are bound to be obstacles and difculties on the way to achieving any goal.

Steinbecks quote above illustrates the brighter side of the negative actions of the plays 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 persons experience.

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

Paragraph 2: Imagine how they might feel (based on observations about that persons character) as

they pack their bags and go home, and then what they might do in the week after theyve 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 STEINBECKS LIFE ANDHISTORICAL 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 nearbyranches 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 rst 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, madetheir home in Pacic Grove. Here, not far from famed Cannery Rowheart of the California sardine

industrySteinbeck found material he would later use for two more works, Tortilla Flatand Cannery

Row.

With Tortilla Flat(1935), Steinbecks career took a decidedly positive turn, receiving the California

Commonwealth Clubs 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 ction 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 Rowand continued to write prolically, producing

plays, short stories, and lm 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 forprivacy. He died on December 20, 1968 in New York City, where he and his family made a home. But

his nal 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

JOHN STEINBECKS LIFE AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR THE PASTURES OF HEAVEN


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STEINBECK FUN FACTS AND QUOTES

Interviewer: Do you really think you deserve the Nobel Prize?Steinbeck: Thats an interesting question. Frankly, no.Conversations with Steinbeck

As a child John Steinbecks favorite novel was Le Morte dArthurby Sir Thomas Malory, a

collection of the legends of King Arthur. This would later inuence his work.

He had three sisterstwo 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 rst wife, in 1928 while working as a tour guide and caretaker

of a sh 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

cant 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. Hes

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 youve done if you hear it clear

back on tape. I do it particularly with dialogue because then I can nd 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 nished; it dies. Its areal death. I couldnt go back. Critics like to know what theyre 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 its pure hell. Ive never understood this; we know its going to be wonderful once we

start, but we ght it so dreadfully.

All facts gathered by The National Steinbeck Center.



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HISTORICAL CONTEXT OFTHE PASTURES OF HEAVEN

Oh, Life is so unreal! We dont exist, no, not at all, until we leave arecord 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 signicance of California in the early part of

the 20th century. Pastures was the book in which he rst 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 Californiahis friends,his neighbors, and all of the people of this land.


For Students: Think About Where You Live

How does where you live inuence how you are? For example, if your neighborhoodlooks and feels a certain way to you, does that make you feel certain thingsabout 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 let on San Benancio Road

3. Go to the end o San Benancio Road

4. Turn let on Cielo

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

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

DIRECTIONS TOTHE PASTURES OF HEAVEN

A MAP



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RESOURCES


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THE PASTURES OF HEAVENANDOTHER STEINBECK NOVELS ON FILM

The Pastures of Heaven only made it to lm as one hour-long TV drama depicting just

a handful of the books stories, and as of this writing we unfortunately cannot nd acommercial source for its availability.

John Steinbecks The Pastures of Heaven

Circa 1954Director: Harry HornerAdaptation of the Molly Morgan, Shark Wicks and Pat Humbert stories.

Steinbecks other works, however, have proved popular source material for lmadaptations.

The Grapes of Wrath1940Directed by John FordStarring Henry Fonda and Jane DarwellA lm adaptation of the book. The end was changed due to censorship.

1991Directed by Kirk Browning and Frank GalatiStarring Gary SiniseA TV adaptation of a stage version of Steinbecks novel as performed by the Steppenwolf Theater Company

East of Eden

1995

Directed by Elia KazanStarring Julie Harris and James Dean

1981Directed by Harvey HartStarring Timothy Bottoms and Jane Seymour

2011Directed by Tom HooperCast yet to be announced

Of Mice and Men

1968Directed by Ted KotcheffStarring George Segal and Nicol Williamson

1981Directed 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, andThe 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 andall kinds of literary criticism of his works. This is only a sampling of the more relevantbooks 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. Steinbecks 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. Steinbecks 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 ResourcesThese websites are listed for the teachers reference only. Teachers should alwayspreview the sites before directing students to visit them. The content and websitelinks listed are subject to change without notice. The views presented by thesewebsites do not necessarily reect the views of the National Steinbeck Center orCalifornia Shakespeare Theater, nor does any mention of trade names, commercial

products, and organizations imply endorsement of them by the National SteinbeckCenter or California Shakespeare Theater.

Websites about John SteinbeckJohn Steinbeck: The California Novels http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/

This site links visitors to web sites about Steinbecks 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 Steinbecks life and work. It also provides links to other

websites about Steinbeck.

Biography of John Steinbeckhttp://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/

This site contains brief biographical information about John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck: http://www.kirjasto.sci./johnstei.htm

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

City of Salinas California - Our History http://www.salinas.com/history/index.html

A 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.htm

This web site provides visitors with photographs of the Salinas Valley, plus a map of the area and links to

Monterey, Pacic Grove, and Big Sur.

Steinbecks 1962 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/nobel.html

This site contains Steinbecks 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.html

The Library of Congress offers nearly 3,000 life histories the Works Progress Administration compiledbetween 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.htm

Keeping 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


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CLASSROOMACTIVITY GUIDEJune 2010

NOTE TO TEACHERS: This guide was created as a supplement for teachers preparing students to see

California Shakespeare Theaters production of John Steinbecks 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-prot use only. All lessons must be appropriately credited.

There are many excellent lesson plans for Steinbecks 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 MArtistic D

SuManaging D

Trish TDirector of Artistic Le

Emily MPrograms M

SamanthArtistic Le

Administration M

Ava JArtistic Learning Coor


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CAL SHAKES MISSIONAND FUNDERS

OUR MISSION

We strive for everyone, regardless of age, circumstance, or background, to discover and express therelevance 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 reect thecultural diversity of the Bay Area.

OUR FUNDERS AND SPONSORS

California Shakespeare Theaters 2010 season is supported in part by the generosity of The William and FloraHewlett Foundation and the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation.

John Steinbecks 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 Steinbecks The Pastures of Heaven is underwritten by numerous individual donors

and generous support from:

California Shakespeare Theater701 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710

510.548.3422 www.calshakes.org

SEASON SPONSORSPRESENTING 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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STEINBOOKHave your students create a Facebook Prole (see example on the followingpage) for a character from the play.

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

Grades: 612

Goal: To bring the characters ofThe 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 ctional characters by creating a mock Facebook page.

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

1. Ask the students to ll in the prole with

a. Vital statistics

b. Likes and dislikes

c. Friends

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

2. Prole photos may be drawn or cut out from magazines, or an actual photo of the student couldbe used and attached to the page. Remember, many actual Facebook prole pages do not have realphoto of the person who made themstudents sometimes choose a picture of something they feelrepresents thema tree, a poster they like, etc.

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

Reection:

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

Was it easy to imagine beyond the playfor instance, what Bert Monroes activities and interestsmight be? Or do you feel the play did not provide enough information? How so?

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

Extension exercise in writing dialogue:

Beyond the basic prole information, a further way to extend the activity is to have the students write oneach others prole walls. A wall is the area on a prole page where friends can write short messages toeach other that are posted directly on the page for others to view.

Note: Require the students to ll out the worksheet manually, rather than actually ll out a public prole online. If you can post themock prole page that follows onto your school or website or blog for students to ll out online within the framework of this project,that would work as well, but false proles in a public space should be actively discouraged. Student examples should show a deepunderstanding 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 Deventeris coping beautifully. Thank you.

Updated: every single moment

Birthday: February 29

Current city: Christmas Canyon

Relationship 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. Phillips wall

Dr. Phillips You should really consider getting some therapy,

if you dont mind me saying so.

Tularecito likes this

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

Helen became a fan ofHuberts 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 Steinbecks language personally and kinesthetically through nonverbal performance.

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

Materials: Enough copies of the excerpt from Chapter One of The Pastures of Heaven for your class, andpencils 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 specic 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 simplystay in their seats, and show you the situations you aregoing to describe. They should freeze in an appropriate pose for the situation when you call Freeze! Someexamples are listed below.

Youre in class, and the bell has just rung on the nal class day; it is now summer vacation.

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

Youre sitting in the stands of the stadium when a new sports record has just been broken (

e.g. Bonds homerun record).

Youre waiting to get into a very popular movie on opening night.

Youre on the class trip to DC and the bus has just pulled up to the White House.

Youre at a surprise party the moment the guest of honor walks in.

Youre 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 havea student count 1,2,3, freeze! You might show them a frozen picture where you are at the ballpark andBonds 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 theyre working on.

4. Underline the words you and your partner nd strikingfun words, words that evoke images, etc.

5. Create a tableau for that section of text.

6. Practice saying the text with your tableaueither before or simultaneously with the tableau.

TABLEAU: CONNECTINGTHE WORD AND THE BODY

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TABLEAU: CONNECTING THEWORD 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 nal 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. Discussgo 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.

Reection:

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 monologuedid 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 actors 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 ts

5. and generally ascribed to animosity on the part of the deity.

6. George did not mind the epilepsy. He knew he couldnt 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 conned 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 ts and generally ascribed to animosity on

the part of the deity. George did not mind the epilepsy. He knew he couldnt have everything he

wanted. Myrtle became his wife and bore him a son, and, after twice trying to burn the house,

was conned 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 THROUGHPERSONAL CONNECTIONS

The classroom leader should lead the students through this exercise verballyusing the provided text below, while the students write their answers down onpaper. After you ask each question, ask them to write one sentence describingthe situation for which they answered yes.

Overview: Frame this as an imaginative exercise but using real-life feelings. Let students know theiranswers are personal, so they wont have to share them unless they want to.

Grades: 612

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?

Reection:

After completing this exercise on paper, ask the students to reect 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 specic, such as:

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

Think about your own reaction to that situationdid 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 o 2)

Overview: Write the backstory for one of the minor characters in The Pastures of Heaven, such as WillaWhiteside, 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 otherwords, it is what happens to the character before the play starts.

Grades: 412

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

State Standards: English Writing Applications 2; Theater Arts 1 Identify characters objective andmotivations to explain the characters behavior.

Outcomes: Students will research the play for clues to the characters, and fully describe an imagined life

previous to the plays beginning that justies 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 ableto imagine as they start to understand how to play that character. The life of a minor character has been apopular literary and theatrical exercise and can illuminate the main story even more brightly. For instance,Wickedis a very popular book-turned-Broadway musical that explores the backstory and unseen lives of thewitches of The Wizard of Oz.

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

2. Write a SummaryPrepare for Writing the Backstory: Students choose a character from the readingand, using descriptive words, write a one-page description using words like those in the word bank.

Include, when possible:

Timeline of signicant events in the characters 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 ve. Students in each group read their descriptions toeach 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 artisticway. 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 doesin the play and imagine reasons why the character ends up doing what he/she does. Remember, there is noright answer to an open-ended exercise, as long as they can justify their choices using the text. This exercise isspecically designed to explore the life of minor characters in the playcharacters that are often overlooked, butcan yield fascinating discoveries. Actors, even when playing a smaller role, must do this same kind of research tobe 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 lifepersonality, looks, situation, who s/he is friendswith, 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 lifeof intellectual dreaming has caused his son to be poor, for example).

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

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

Reection:

What did you learn about your character that you didnt 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 characters day while writing the description? What was it like?

Why did you decide on the specics that you did for your character? For example, why did you choose a

particular setting for that characters childhood?

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

What did you nd (in your backstory or someones from your group) that was particularly interesting?

How hard was it to imagine beyond the story?

CHARACTER BACKSTORY:WHAT MAKES A PERSONALITY?

(Page 2 o 2)

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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 612. 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.htmlfor 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. Its 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 nd 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 isnt too loud or distracting. Record 30

seconds or so and listen to it. It would stink to record an hour of audio just to nd out you cant be

understood over the jackhammer in the background.

Dont scream into the micthat 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 le.

Upload the MP3 le 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.

Reection

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

ACTIVITY GUIDE

Criteria

Script Great Good Poor

1. Introduction includes all required elements and isinteresting, creative, and inviting.

2. Book information includes all required elements(title, author, narrative point of view, pages, andgenre) and does so in a creative and interestingway.

3. Overview is a concise paragraph (100 words) thatfocuses on the main conflict(s) and maincharacter(s).

4. There are five to seven motivating questions thatmight 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 tofive stars, wherein five is the best.

7. Closing remarks thank everyone for listening andsigns off with a clever and interesting tagline.

Voice Great Good Poor

The podcast is recorded without mistakes, is clearand easy to understand, and uses an expressiveand 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 tooshort, and make the podcast more interesting tolisten to.

Work Ethic Great Good Poor

Student used class time well, came to classprepared, and stayed focused on the projectwithout 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 ofstories, each one complete in itself, having its rise, climax andending. Each story deals with a family or an individual. They are

tied together only by the common locality and by the contact withthe [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, isthe common thread.

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

Grades: 812

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 naturalreaction 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 simpleeven obviousfor each next suggestion.

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Reection

What did you learn about the character from playing the game that you didnt 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 lms 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 conict between societys 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 andprotect 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.

Reection:

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 HEAVENSHORT STORY CYCLEWORKSHEET

Steinbecks The Pastures of Heaven is a compilation of short stories, each of which seems

complete because it has a conict and resolution. The combination of the individual stories into onebook 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 Steinbecks The Pastures ofHeaven, people all around us can hold up a mirror to our own hopes andambitions by describing their life. Elderly people are especially interesting toconnect with, since they have a wealth of experience to share. This activity canhelp students connect with the elderly.

1. Each student nds 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 questionsquestions

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. Its 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 FORORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interviewers Name:

Interviewers Age:

Classroom Teachers Name:

Interviewees Name:

Interviewees 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 familyhave to be rich? Did you have to have certain clothes or be good at certain activities? Orsomething 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

cal shakes teachers guide pastures 2010

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