I became an English teacher in 1981, and the first book I taught was "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck (1902-1968). Though he wrote 16 novels among his 27 books, "Grapes" is generally held to be his masterpiece. It won him his only Pulitzer Prize, as well as the National Book Award, and is one of the books short-listed when people discuss candidates for "The Great American Novel." When the entire body of Steinbeck's work was honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, "Grapes" was singled out for special praise.

    The book was published in 1939 at the end of one of America's darkest times, the Great Depression, when the unemployment rate rose to 25 percent, and a severe drought created conditions in the central United States and Canada that came to be called The Dust Bowl.

    Oklahoma was one of the hardest-hit areas. With small farmers unable to pay their mortgages due to crop failure and the unavailability of other work, an exodus began as poor migrants (called "Okies") fled to California seeking work in the relatively unaffected fields there.

    Steinbeck, a Californian, had written a series of articles on the plight of the "Okies" (now considered a derogatory term) for a San Francisco newspaper. This was the genesis of the book. His sympathy for the workers was clear. Speaking of the way the large landowners treated the workers, Steinbeck wrote, "I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this."

    Like any good storyteller, Steinbeck focuses on a small group, the Joad family, to tell the larger story. Tom Joad has just been released from the state penitentiary. Arriving home, he finds the farm abandoned. A neighbor tells him the bank has evicted his family for not paying their mortgage. They are leaving for California to find work. Tom catches up and joins them on their journey. After they survive trouble with the police, a flood, and privation, the Joads' story ends on a note of hope.

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. debt on a piece of property

    2. people who move from place to place

    3. unfortunate situation

    4. negative, insulting

    5. excellent work, originally, a test exercise to prove someone is competent

    6. kicked out, legally removed

    7. percentage of people out of work

    8. selected, highlighted

    9. lack of comfort, state of being deprived

    10. chosen as a final selection

    ANSWERS: 1. mortgage 2. migrants 3. plight 4. derogatory 5. masterpiece 6. evicted 7. unemployment rate 8. singled out 9. privation 10. short-listed