Grapes Guide.pdf - Minnesota Opera

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The Grapes of Wrath Opera Box lesson plan title of lesson Lesson 3: Exploring the libretto objective(s) Students will understand the major characters and their development through the story. They will also be able to identify the major motives, themes and images of the story. material(s) • LIBRETTO The Grapes of Wrath (one per student) • BOOK The Grapes of Wrath (one per student) – optional procedure(s) This section of the study guide is designed to acquaint you and your students with the main characters of the opera and their development, as well as with the opera’s structure and its major motifs, themes, and images. It assumes the students are not well acquainted with Steinbeck’s novel; however, it also tracks and cross-references the above topics within the original work itself so that the classes who are reading the book and seeing the opera can enrich their experiences with both through their integration, comparing and contrasting of the two genres. We suggest that the educator read the first Lisca essay (Appendix A) before guiding the students through the libretto. Specific aides to the educator will be parenthetical and labeled “NOTE.” Additional print and online resources can be found in Appendix D. act one PROLOGUE: A GREEN FIELD (The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 1) (1) Notice that the curtain rises to the sound of “soft rain.” The musical section is entitled, “The Last Time There Was Rain.” Read the lyrics on p. 1. What picture is being painted of life on an Oklahoma farm during this time? What would you identify as the mood? What images reinforce this mood? Which actual words and phrases? (2) Look at the final stage direction on p. 1. Then move on to the first column on p. 2. What’s happening? What images does the librettist choose to show us the effect of the rain stopping? (3) Read the stage direction at the bottom of the first column. What’s happening now? Look at the images in the “All” section on the right of p. 2. What words are clues here as to the effect of the dust? (e.g. “thick as stew,” “weighted down the trees,” etc.) Note the colors mentioned on p. 2. How do they differ from the colors on p. 1? What is the feeling evoked by the men’s final section on p. 2: “… like bein’ on the moon … marooned”? (4) Read the women’s final stanza on p. 3. What is their observation about “fam’bly”? opera box lesson plans 14
(5) Why do you think the librettist (as did Steinbeck) makes the characters in this scene anonymous men and women instead of members of the Joad family? (NOTE: See the first Lisca essay on the movement from “scenic” to “panoramic” and back, as both Steinbeck and the librettist, Michael Korie, want the Joad story to be seen as a microcosm of what was happening to hundreds of thousands of migrants.) (NOTE: The “All” section on P. 2 [right] and the “Women” section just referenced are very close to the novel’s phrasing. Students could look these up and compare/contrast.) 1.1: MCALESTER PRISON GATE (The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 2) (1) In “I Keep My Nose Clean,” Tom Joad explains his philosophy of life. He extends this philosophy on p. 5 (right). What is his point of view and where did it come from? (NOTE: Tom’s expression, “I keep my nose clean,” will become a motif which will help define the arc of his character. Students should be on the lookout for future repetitions and modifications of this line.) (2) At the beginning of the section parking lot, Tom hitches a ride with a truck driver. Describe their conversation. Why was he in prison? Why did he get out? (NOTE: It’s important that students understand this individualistic stance as it will change dramatically by the end of the narrative. Also, truck drivers play an important role in a later scene. Students might be alerted to look for what Steinbeck’s general feelings toward truck drivers seemed to be.) 1.2: TREE BY THE ROAD (The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 4) (1) In “So Long Savior,” what appears to be Casy’s current view of religion? What “sin” of his does he dwell on? (2) Notice that Tom finds Casy sitting by a dead tree. In his song, “Naked Tree Wastin’ in the Sun,” and the conversation that follows, how does that dead tree become a metaphor for Casy’s life? For the lives of others? (NOTE: This is a central metaphor in the libretto. In the novel, Casy is sitting under a willow tree, but Korie needs the tree to be naked here in order to develop this motif as the musical narration continues throughout.) 1.3: DESERTED JOAD PLACE – THAT NIGHT (The Grapes of Wrath, Chapters 5 and 6) (1) The conversation between Tom, Casy and Muley in “Gone” morphs into a flashback as Muley recalls how it was when the land he was share-cropping was taken away from him. Summarize Muley’s story from pp. 8-9. (2) In the section entitled muley’s place – a few days before, we have the flashback. Read it carefully and list all the people who deny any responsibility for what is happening to the share-croppers. What is the importance of the order in which they appear? Why do you think they don’t have actual names, only titles? What is the significance of all these people joining together as a “wall” and the wall having a chorus of its own? What does the wall say on p. 13? How does its message affect the share-croppers? The scene ends as it began, with Muley and his family. What is Korie trying to tell us about how not just Muley but all the farmers feel about their situation? (NOTE: The character’s full name is Muley Graves. Students might be interested in discussing the symbolism of Steinbeck’s choice. Another angle the students who have read the novel might explore is how the librettist is able to give a sense of the “panoramic” [see Appendix A] through the “scenic” by having the choric elements be titles instead of actual individuals, incorporating the Joad narrative of Chapter 6 along with the elements in the intercalary Chapter 5.) opera box lesson plans 15
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Appendix D A D D I T I O N A L R E
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prologue The cropper men and women
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(9) one star (rosasharn, then conni
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The next day a contractor and a dep
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(19) things turn around (casy, then
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Published and represented by Willia
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B A C K G R O U N D N O T E S PROLO
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also anticipate events to follow sp
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help with Rosasharn’s birthing an
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North of Italy, Hamburg composer re
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competition with other leading comp
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Three Masters of Opera giuseppe ver
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Operas to come out of the resulting
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20 th - and 21 st -century American
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History of the Minnesota Opera Minn
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Minnesota Opera Repertoire - 1963-2
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The Standard Repertory eighteenth c
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elements of opera 100 the premiere
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The Elements of Opera - The Singers
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cabaletta cadence cadenza camerata
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masking masque melodrama mélodrame
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omanticism score scrim serenata sin
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dominant fermata forte fortissimo f
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Bibliography, Discography, Videogra
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Opera Box Teacher’s Guide Evaluat
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