Grapes Guide.pdf - Minnesota Opera

The Grapes of Wrath Opera Box
lesson plan
title of lesson
Lesson 6: From novel to opera: “I’ll be there …”
objective(s)
Students will learn how the main themes of The Grapes of Wrath are present in the “I’ll be there …” scene.
material(s)
• LIBRETTO The Grapes of Wrath (one copy per student)
• BOOK The Grapes of Wrath (one copy per student)
• DVD The Grapes of Wrath movie
procedures
(1) Students should read the original text of the “I’ll be there” scene (libretto 3.6; novel, chapter 28) between Tom
and Ma first:
“I been thinkin’ a hell of a lot, thinkin’ about our people livin’ like pigs, an’ the good rich lan’ layin’
fallow, or maybe one fella with a million acres, while a hundred thousan’ good farmers is starvin’. An’ I been
wonderin’ if all our folks got together an’ yelled…. I been thinkin’, long as I’m a outlaw anyways, maybe I
could…. Well, maybe like Casy says, a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big one – an’
then –“
“Then what, Tom?”
“Then it don’t matter. Then I’ll be aroun’ in the dark. I’ll be ever’where – wherever you look. Wherever
they’s a fight so hungry people can eat. I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. If
Casy knowed, why, I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’ – I’ll be in the way kids laugh when
they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses
they build – why, I’ll be there. See?”
(2) Secondly, the students should be shown this scene from the John Ford film and observe how Henry Fonda
interprets this speech. How close are his words to the original? How has the scene changed from the novel to
the film? Observe the camera angle. To whom could he be talking besides Ma? (NOTE: Ford changes the scene because
he radically changes the ending. Students might want to discuss why Ford may have made the changes he did, recalling that
the film came out shortly after the novel was published. The Depression wasn’t over yet.)
(3) Third, students should look at scene 3.6 in the libretto and the answers to the questions they worked on while
examining the speech at that time. Recall that Michael Korie employs the speech to bring in themes and images
he has previously woven into his text, using them to reinforce Tom’s emotional departure from the family.
(4) How do the three interpretations differ? How are they the same? How does Tom assert his spiritual unity with
all the people in his situation? How has he moved from his original materialistic orientation and personal
resentment to a sense of ethical indignation on a global scale, from particulars to principles?
additional comments
If the students have done the Studs Terkel activity, have them, individually or in small groups, write their own aria
for a member of one of the groups they identified as “Today’s Okies.”
opera box lesson plans 30