The Great Depression of the 1930s as Reflected in Fiction, Film, Photographic Image, and Oral History

In this course we will look back at the 1930s by reexamining classic novels and films, oral history, and photographic images related to the Great Depression. In this discussion-based course we will read Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, James M. Cain's 1934 classic California hard-edged murder novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, and excerpts from Studs Terkel's oral history Hard Times. We will also view and analyze the photos of Arthur Rothstein, and five classic films: Charlie Chaplin's 1936 Modern Times, John Ford's 1940 The Grapes of Wrath with a young Henry Fonda, Robert Rossen's 1949 All The King's Men, Arthur Penn's 1967 Bonnie and Clyde, and Ken Burns' 1986 Huey Long.