To the Discussion Leader
Life in Cimarron County, Oklahoma is pretty bleak in April,
1935. C.J. Jackson and his family are struggling through the Great Depression,
drought, and dust storms so thick that on Black Sunday, "cyclonic
winds traveling at speeds up to 100 miles per hour rolled out of the Dakotas
and traveled quickly across Nebraska, Kansas, eastern Colorado, Oklahoma,
Texas, and New Mexico. Dirt clouds churned 20,000 feet into the air and
created a thousand-mile-wide duster."
Author
William Durbin places young readers in the old car piled with the Jackson's
possessions and takes them along Route 66 to what the family hopes will
be a prosperous new life in beautiful California. Disease-infested "Hoovervilles,"
back-breaking work picking crops for little money, menacing harassment
from police, and the persistent meanness of local residents quickly replace
the family's hope for a better life.
Through
the journal entries of teenager C.J. Jackson, readers pick the ever-present
dirt from their teeth and head West leaving behind "...one of the
greatest ecological disasters in the history of our planet." In California
they learn the dual nature of human beings and our capacity to do both
good and evil.
Summary
"The minute I raised my eyes and saw the duster,
I knew we were in trouble. I'd seen dozens of dust storms, but I'd never
seen one that big and black. Everybody was running for their wagons and
cars. By the time we got to our own truck, the wind had already hit. Dust
was flying everywhere," writes thirteen-year-old C. J. Jackson in
his journal. It is 1935 in Oklahoma, and such storms are almost a daily
occurrence. The endless drought and crop failures have caused most of
their neighbors to pack up and move away, abandoning their farms. The
Jacksons are determined to stay even though the pasture is dead and they
can't afford to feed their cattle. But when Grandpa dies, and the windmill
that pumps their water breaks down, they have to leave.
Having heard "there are thousands of jobs out there," in California,
the Jacksons pack up their belongings and head for the San Joaquin Valley.
The trip out West is long; the truck breaks down many times; and they're
forced to abandon the trailer along with many of their household goods.
As the family members near their destination, they discover very few jobs
in California, and quickly realize migrants are not welcome. The Jacksons
encounter discrimination: people call them trash and "Okies."
After one embarrassing encounter, C.J. writes, "There was that Okie
word again. The way this man said it hurt more than that puff-chested
inspector back on the Arizona border. This fellow made me feel like Okie
meant dirt or something even worse."
In the San Joaquin Valley the family hopes to find jobs picking fruit
and vegetables, but only sees signs that read, "No Jobs Here."
They are forced to stay in a filthy squatter's camp of makeshift shacks
with no sanitation. C.J. and his father find temporary work, but it's
barely enough to buy food for the family.
Despite constant discrimination and name-calling, Daddy has remained calm,
ignoring the insults. But when a shopkeeper calls his daughters "no
good Okie trash," Daddy punches the man, and ends up in jail for
thirty days. Fortunately, the rest of the family is able to move to the
Arvin Federal Camp, which is clean, well organized, and safe. C.J. writes
to the folks back home, "Now we have a permanent address."
Although life is better now, the Jacksons still have no money, and worry
how they'll ever be able to pay the taxes on the farm back home. All that
changes when Daddy repairs a wealthy man's Cadillac, and the grateful
owner offers him a job as a mechanic in Los Angeles. Realizing it's their
only way to earn enough to go back to Oklahoma, the family accepts his
offer. In Los Angeles, they move into an apartment, the children begin
school, and they all begin to plan their return home. C. J. writes, "Grandpa
once told me that a farmer needs two things: patience and knowledge of
the land. If I am patient, I know I'll see the prairie again."
Thinking About the Book
1. Ask the individual members of your discussion
group to come up with what each believes are the two major reasons for
the terrible dust storms in Oklahoma. Share the answers with the group.
What reasons were mentioned most often?
2.
As you recall the Jackson's long trip along Route 66, what incident
do you remember most clearly? Why?
3.
Why were the Dust Bowl Migrants treated so poorly when they arrived
in California?
4.
What event causes C.J.'s father to be jailed?
5.
Identify the following:
Hoover hogs
Black Sunday
Bum Blockade
John Steinbeck
Weedpatch Camp
Will Rogers
6. On February 10th, Lester and Olive come home from school
complaining about their day. Mother tells them to stop their complaining
and remember the old saying: "Smile and the world smiles with you.
Cry and you cry alone." Explain this saying.
7.
Near the end of the book, C.J. decides not to spend his gold coin but
to place it right back where he found it in Oklahoma. Why?
8.
If you could ask William Durbin, the author of C.J.'s journal, one question
about this book, what would that question be?
Student Activities
1. Read the Newbery Medal-winning book Out
of the Dust by Karen Hesse, set in Oklahoma in 1934. How is C.J.'s
story like Billie Jo's? How is it different? Make a Venn diagram comparing
and contrasting the two characters and their stories.
2. The Jackson family treats injuries and illnesses
with home remedies. Recall how C.J.'s father treats his son's snakebite
wound. Look up first aid for snakebite and explain how that would
be treated today. When C.J.'s brother Dalton has a bad chest cold,
what cure does his mother mix up? (p. 112) How does that compare
with how we treat a cold today?
3. On the road to California, C.J. and his family
enjoy reading Burma Shave signs. To learn more about these signs
go to http://www.mc.cc.md.us/Departments/hpolscrv/mthomas.htm.
Which one of the rhymes do you like best? Pick a modern day product
and write a four-line verse that could be used on a succession of
signs advertising it.
4. Will Rogers is mentioned frequently in C.J.'s journal.
Look at http://www.willrogers.org to learn more about this famous
American. Go to "Will Rogers Says" and click on "Notable
Quotes" to read some of his well-known sayings. Pick one and
share what you think it means.
5. Food was often scarce for the Dust Bowl migrants.
They often had to "make do" with very little and stretch
it to feed a family. Try making "Poor Man's Bread." You'll
find the recipe at the website that follows. http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1918/br.html?
An Interview with William Durbin
Richard
F. Abrahamson, Ph.D. & Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D.:
What is the most interesting or surprising thing you learned while doing
research for The Journal of C. J. Jackson?
William
Durbin: In addition to the toughness of the people who migrated from
the Dust Bowl states, the thing that most surprised me was the intensity
of the dust storms. I was amazed to discover that during the worst storms
the dust clouds blew all the way from Oklahoma to the Atlantic Ocean.
RFA
& EST: Route 66 figures prominently in the Jackson family's journey
to California, and there is a wonderful fold-out map of the route at the
back of your book. Have you traveled on part of this old highway? If so,
what are your impressions of it?
WD:
The few sections of the original highway that I have seen are places
frozen in time. The family owned diners and motels remind me of what America
looked like before the interstates and the ugliness of the malls and chain
restaurants made everything look the same.
RFA
& EST: Other than C.J., who is your favorite character in the
book? Why?
WD:
I like grandpa, because he represents the hardy spirit of the early settlers
who moved to the plains. I also respect Mother's quiet dignity.
RFA
& EST: C.J. and his family are able to return to their farm in
Oklahoma. How prevalent was this among the dust bowl immigrants to California?
Did many go back home, or did they stay and settle in the West?
WD:
Though many people wanted to return home, only a small percentage
were successful in reclaiming their farms, or in other cases, buying new
land and starting over. Most of the migrants stayed on the west coast
because the demand for employment increased rapidly at the beginning of
World War II.
RFA
& EST: You have mentioned how much you enjoy writing historical
fiction. Some writers say they write historical fiction just so they have
a reason to do the research and immerse themselves in a previous era.
Do you, too, feel that way?
WD:
I enjoy the gradual process of discovery that research entails. Though
I may have to read through hundreds of pages of original source material
before I find a detail which is compelling enough to include in my books,
the search is always worthwhile. But publication is also exciting because
it offers a validation of all the hard work
RFA
& EST: You have taught every grade from fourth grade to college.
What lessons from teaching have helped you in your writing for young readers?
B>WD:
I hope that working with young people has given me a clear sense of my
audience. No matter how historically accurate and well written a book
is, students won't want to read it unless it has excitement, adventure,
and strong characters.
RFA
& EST: In the acknowledgements you mention the Dust Bowl Gazette
created by Pat Ramsey and her eighth grade class in Boise City. Tell us
a little about this project.
WD:
For the last few years Ms. Ramsey has asked her classes to interview
residents of Cimarron County who have memories of the Dust Bowl. The students
publish articles based on their interviews in an annual newspaper that
they call the Dust Bowl Gazette. The stories recorded by Ms. Ramsey's
class and those collected by Norma Young, the former editor of the Boise
City News, were most helpful.
RFA
& EST: In all three of your My Name is America books there
is the theme of prejudice against the main character's people--the Irish
in Sean Sullivan, the Finns in Otto Peltonen, and the Okies
in C. J. Jackson. What would you like your readers to gain from
knowing about this?
WD:
I don't consciously seek to teach lessons about prejudice, but I do
my best to depict the reality of the time. Americans have had an unfortunate
history of being intolerant of people from other cultures.
RFA
& EST: The Historical Note in C.J.'s journal ends with this sentence:
"Without careful stewardship of the land, Black Sunday could one
day return." As you look at our world today, have we learned those
lessons of stewardship?
WD:
Yes and no. We have learned much about improved agricultural practices,
but we don't consistently apply our knowledge. In the wake of the Dust
Bowl, family farmers made many positive modifications to their farming
methods. However, many of our modern farms have been consolidated into
large-scale corporate operations that too often focus on quarterly profits
rather than considering the long term health of our rural ecosystems.
In addition to being prepared for future droughts, we need to be careful
about excessive irrigation; indiscriminate fertilizer, pesticide, and
herbicide use; and the broad propagation of genetically modified crops
without sufficient research.
Discussion
Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D., Professor of Literature
for Children and Young Adults, University of Houston, Houston, Texas and
Eleanore S. Tyson, Ed.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, University of
Houston, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Houston, Texas.
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