Steinbeck's Weedpatch is his view of the Garden of Eden. In the camp, group activity works for group benefits and thus creates individual self-esteem. Fear of the law is destroyed; social responsibility is encouraged along with the value of cooperation.
Discuss a situation in your own life where cooperation was essential for the good of all. How did your group handle dissent? How did the group's cooperation lead to individual self-esteem? Even if you discuss the same situation as another classmate, your own perspective should be unique, not a duplication of anyone else. Tie your situation to this chapter.
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My dad was trying to move this really big cabnit: way to heavy for one or two people to move safly. Mom, Tamara, Dad, and I all worked together to lift and shift the gigantic object. Without our communication of speaking throughout the ordeal then the cabnit might have fallen on any one of the family. After the job was finished we all felt very accomplished. This situation is very similar to when Tom and others broke up the fight before it commenced that Saturday.
I would have to say that Christmas is a time of cooperation, especially in my family. It's a bit of a tradition in my family now to wait untill the week before Christmas to put up the tree and the decorations on our house. Everyone helps in their own way. My sister carries up the stockings and small decorations such as the Nativity set, I help my mother and father bring up the Christmas Tree. Then, we play Christmas carols and spend the rest of the day decorating. The cooperation of the family gets this job done in a mere matter of hours, compaired to what it would be if one person did everything him or herself. We treat ourselves to a dinner of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, and toast (don't laugh, its tradition). We feel accomplished, and exahusted. This situation relates to when Tom helps break up the fight. They had to cooperate to get the fight stoped before it even started. Had we not cooperated in getting the work done, then the decorating and the tree would not get done. Well, it would eventually i suppose, but not with the help of everyone.
Back when I use to play basketball cooperation was essential for the success of the team. I remember the Saturday of our championship game like it was yesterday. Our coach encouraged us to win but to also have fun. We motivated each other through out the game by making positive comments about each other's performance. This helped with our self-esteem and I also believe that it helped us win our game that day.
Any soccer game that I have participated in relates to this chapter. When we are playing a tough team, we all have to communicate. This encompasses calling for the ball when one is open to listening to the criticism of the coach and teammates to better yourself on the field. Without cooperation, we would not be able to function as a team, causing us to not only lose, but to have a complete fallout of team spirit and friendship between teammates. This relates to the chapter because if Tom had not broken up the fight, the entire camp would have become broken itself, thus ruining relationships and causing families to become more desolate.
In football, like all sports, cooperation is essential. It is possilby more essential than in any other sport, because every play, every person has to do their job, or there will be consequences. When there is dissent on the field the play won't work, but if we talk about what happened we can run the play later successfully. This leads to self-esteem, because when the team scores you know that you did your part. In this chapter, Tom, Wilkie, Timothy work together to dig the ditch and together they do it quickly and efficiently. If they didn't work together it would be harder on all of them. The camp itself was an extreme example of cooperation, with everyone helping each other for the better good.
Being in student council, there have been various situations in which cooperation was essential for the good of all. A specific one was last spring when myself and a couple class officers were told one day in advance that we would have to help set up for prom, find and organize the student waiters and waitresses, and also be hostesses at prom. With only one day to plan and find people to work, we had no time to fuss over the fact that the person in charge had given us little time to prepare for this. The executive branch of out sophomore class had to work together; someone called others to persuade them to waiter at the prom, another got supplies needed for the chocolate fountain we would be operating, and another communicated with the senior class sponsor to obtain the seating chart needed for seating the attendants of prom. Our cooperation was essential for prom to run smoothly. This can relate to the migrant camp the Joads stayed at. The central committee that helped run the events and happenings at the camp parallels the student council branch I was involved in. The committee has control in the camp, and without their cooperation the camp would be weak, like my particular situation at prom last year.
My brother, Kole, and I were building an extension onto our deck in the backyard a couple summers back, and there was a time when we had to put in posts to brace the platform of the deck. We had to communicate and cooperate in order to get the posts to fit into both the deck platform and the ground. Without each other, we wouldn't have gotten the job done.
Back in the day when i used to twirl. In almost every group routine there was some sort of line toss where each girl would throw a baton and another girl would catch it. It not only had to be syncronized, it had to be dropless. Occasionally everyone would start blaming everyone else for the mistakes we were making, just like in the book where the a fight starts to grow. However, we finally realized that we all had to take the responsibility to communicate, pay attention, and put forth the best effort in order for process to go smoothly. In the story Tom does his best to break up the fight and everyone realizes they must stop in order to prevent problems. Eventually, we perfected the toss.
In my various experiences in group challenges, may it be ropes courses, team building activities, or random challenges I have learned the importance of cooperation. In a ropes course there are multiple ways of solving the problems. Finding the right path is almost never the hard part, it is persuading everyone to work together. Most everyone thinks that they should be the leader, so for things to work the majority have to step back and allow someone else to take control. Stepping back and letting others be in control can boost your ego because you realize that by not doing much your are actually helping the most.
I was involved in a church group where we had a “Mission Trip in Our Own Backyard” and we spent the summer working on houses. We were placed in groups with complete strangers where we spent hours repairing and painting. Occasionally there were members of the group who didn’t work, which caused some members get angry. This also caused the group to become slightly divided. However when the job was done, there was a part of the house everyone could be proud of. “That’s the section I painted for 3 hours!”
Being a female, comes with fighting, and needed to communicate. At VETS practice, communication is what really holds the team together, other wise one girls opinion would over rule everyone else. We use it to find better whats to make a dance, or just to talk about our day. Although many have used the example of Tom breaking up the fight, I strongly feel this scene represents the importances and the difference communication can make.
For summer vacation, my parents love to take active vacations. Their favorite ones involve lots of family time, hiking in the wildnerness, no running water, and a complete disappearance of any personal hygiene. So, occasionally, we take family backpacking trips. These trips are very similar to the Weedpatch experience in that everyone has a specific job and a specific responsibility for the group coupled with individual responsibilities that keep you and the group going. For example, in many locations, there are responsibilities to filter water for the next day, prepare meals, set up, clean up, and stash all of the items with an odor in a place out of a bear's reach. This is like Weedpatch on a smaller scale because rules of traditional society no longer apply as the whole group establishes certain individual roles to maintain the group.
The previous summer, I traveled with my church youth group for a mission trip to Chicago. We were lucky enough to obtain housing in a sermonary with rather comfortable accomodations. During our time in the Windy City, we came to rely heavily on each other. Members of the group would take turns and share in the responsibilty of organizing and preparing meals. We managed to develop a very communial atmosphere. But aside from our interaction at home, we also depended on the contribution of the individual for the benefit of the group during our community service. We organize and divide our tasks to acheive a greater goal. The inspiration we received by providing assistance in the interest of the group was overwhelming.
As most know, saying I am dedicated to the journalism department at Central may be an understatement. Cooperation is key for both Pylon and yearbook day in and day out. Last week, when the 1000 copies of the Pylon arrived in room 171, a few staffers realized that an undisclosed piece of information was published. This information, however, was against our policies. Therefore, we, as a staff, had a lengthy discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of the situation as well as various solutions to the problem. In the end (even after talking with Mr. Vaughn), we decided to leave the information in the paper and distribute it as it was published. The entire Pylon staff cooperated to come to a conclusion about our problem.
People coming together to solve problems can also be viewed in Chapter 22. For example, towards the beginning of the chapter Tom ventures out with Timothy and Wilkie in hopes of getting a job. As the three pass a man raking, Wilkie comments about how the man was drunk the previous weekend and was causing all sorts of disarray. Wilkie also explains how the Committee is making the man work to pay off his crime. Therefore, the Committee worked together to come up with a solution to the problem of the drunk man. This is just one example of cooperation in Chapter 22. As one can see, the Committee in Chapter 22 of The Grapes of Wrath worked similarly to how The Pylon staff worked together to solve the problem of the last released newspaper.
This past summer, my dad and I decided to reside our house. It had displays of the damaging hail storm on the south side. Because my father and I think alike, we make a great team when it comes to building something. He was able to trust me to cut a panel at the right spot, at the right angle, and etc. When he did this, it gave me confidence and pride that I was obviously doing most of it corretly. Then my grandpa showed up. Again, we work well together, but my grandfather has a tendency to rush things and can easily make mistakes, this can be excruciatingly frustrating. Yet, we were able to overcome this and finished the whole project.
Individuals coming together and using their individual strenths for the good of the group, as the comittees in the camps did, creates a much more positive situation. I am reminded of our class's float building process. While the guys typically helped to build the large structures and handled all of the power tools, the patient girls worked on painting all of the other pieces. If all the work had been left for only one or two people, the end product would not have been as good as it was. Everyone coming together to work and do what they're good at for the group's benefit made the process much more enjoyable and a definite success. Travis's comment about stepping back and letting others take control makes a lot of sense. If everyone tries to take control (I'm definitely guilty of wanting control...), nothing will get accomplished. Leaders are necessary for group success, but so are followers.
I keep going back to basketball situations but i believe athletics can teach you a lot about life situations. Any team can have good players but that does not always mean a good team. Team chemistry is a big part of our success thus far this year as a basketball team. The fact that I get along with all the members of our team makes it so much easier to cooperate, and thus produce good results on the court. Cooperation is easy with people you get along with but basketball has also taught me that you must be willing to sometimes cooperate with people you may not like to reach a goal. Cooperating with your peers is a life skill that will be used no matter what situation your in. In the story if the family does not work together to survive they all suffer. It is those who stay together and endure tough times that will reap the benefits at the end.
The best way that I can link cooperation to an instance in my everyday life is, as probably predicted, through forensics. Sometimes its difficult to "do what's best for the team" rather than what you feel is best individually. Oftentimes, I will want to go to a certain tournament, or go in a certain event, but it would be easier for the team to do well in sweepstakes if i was in a different entry, or went on a different weekend. Initially, as a freshman and sophomore, I only cared about my own success. But I'm beginning to learn that a larger sense of pride comes from a team trophy rather than an individual medal. Cooperation in forensics is mostly out of will, but in Grapes of Wrath, characters are almost forced to work together in order to make progress. The Farmers Association is comparable to communism, and even though it isn't necessarily the best solution, the migrants are forced to settle for lack of better options.
Dance is one of my passions, and something that takes team work to make an excellent routine. A couple of years ago I competed in a competition with my team. We all had to work very hard previously to that day. Everyones actions must be the same and done at the same time for the routine to look good. This made us girls need the ability to communicate. Communication is not always verbal either. With our facial and physical expressions we were able to keep everyone together. Each girl had a part or position in the routine that made us dance as a whole. This directly relates to the book because everyone had a place and needed team work with communication in these chapters just as my team did.
At my place of work, Cici's Pizza, we have to work as a team to ensure that the public gets what they want. When one person decides to do what they want instead of how the company policy states, it creates confusion and a fair amount of hostility. This happens on a day-to-day basis in all aspects of our store. Sure, we have people who will work one week and be gone the next, but those who stay can honestly say that they feel part of a family.
Trust me, when you have three ovens brimming with pizzas, two boy basketball teams, and everything that can possibly go wrong, DOES go awry, you have to be able to know that each and every person is pulling their shifts and getting their jobs done. If that does not happen - well, lets just say that a guest yelling at you because the forks are all out is not a pleasant evening at work.
This directly relates to how the people in the Weedpatch camp had to do their jobs to ensure that everyone was happy and well-taken care of. A fight, like the one that was brewing, is often the tragic result of miscommunication and extreme levels of frustration.
Over the Christmas break I was asked to help move the new weights into the annex with the help of a few of my friends. We had to move a total of over 3,000 pounds from a truck into the annex. The four of us had to work together to carry crates that weighed well over 100 pounds. If one us stopped to take a break the whole proccess had to stop until they were ready to begin again. When we all worked together, the work went along much quicker, raising our self-esteem as we knew we would be finished earlier. As many other people have previously stated, this was similar to Tom and the others breaking up the fight. Everyone had to work together to achieve a common goal.
Last year, I had a job working at the skating rink. Not the most glamorous job, but it wasn't terrible. The only thing that I really hated was cleaning up after sessions, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. We have to sanitize and put away more than 100 skates and roller blades, clean the bathrooms, disassemble all the snack machines, clean all the utensils by hand, wash all the tables, all the windows, and vacuum the whole place. With only about 4 people working, it can take up to about 2 hours, which is a ridiculous amount of time when it gets to be about 1:30 in the morning. When everyone works together at the rink, we all got to go home faster, a nice reward for our cooperation. The Weedpatch camp is a lot like this, the more people pitch in, the nicer everyone gets to live.
Cooperation and teamwork are the biggest thing that we need at my job, Martinelli's. Everyone's job is essential to make the customers visit pleasant, and delicious as well. The first thing is the host who welcomes and seats the customers at their table. Then the busers take them bread and water to have while they are waiting. Then their waiter or waitress comes and they take care of their drinks, ordering the food, and making sure everything runs smoothly. The cooks make sure everything is cooked right and comes out fast. The window person makes sure all the food gets out in the right order and when its hot. After the meal the busers clean the table and take the dishes to the dish dogs. The managers bring the whole thing together and make sure the whole process goes smoothly.
Without cooperation, running the restaurant would be nearly impossible to do.
There are many situations in which cooperation is essential for the good of all. I am involved in many things in my church. I participate in reading the lectionary and salms on Saturday or Sundays. I also play the base every other friday when many people from the church gather and pray and sing. We do it for the good of the people and it boosts my self esteem as well as the other's. I think my participation is important because it ecourages other teens to get involved.
The most recent situation I have been involved in that has required extensive cooperation by the majority was this years swimming season. If the team does not get along and does not work together as a team, the practices and meets do not go well and success is not possible. When the team does get along and works together, the productive practices result in faster races at meets and usually result in the team winning the meet. This success gives each individual self-esteem because they know that they played a part in the success of the team as a whole; much in the same was as the success of Weedpatch gave those individuals who lived there self-esteem because they also knew that the groups success resulted from their cooperation and effort. When the a few team members get in an argument with each other and no longer get along, the rest of the team members do their best to settle the dispute knowing that if the team falls apart they will no longer have success.
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