Introduction
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Follow along and learn about 10-year-old Bud as he goes in search of his father. Set in Flint, Michigan during the Great Depression, Bud heads to Grand Rapids where he hopes to meet the well-known Big Band leader H. E. Calloway who Bud believes is his father.
It is 1936 in Flint, Michigan. Times are hard, especially for a motherless boy on the run, but Bud's got a few things going for him:
1. He has his own suitcase filled with his own important, secret things.
2. He's the author of Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.
3. His momma never told him who his father was, but she left a clue: flyers of Herman E. Calloway and his famous band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!
Bud believes that those flyers will lead him to his father. Once he hits the road to find out the truth, nothing will stop him.
Bud, Not Buddy is a work of historical fiction written by Christopher Paul Curtis.
Task
During "Bud, Not Buddy" you will have the chance to think about the hardships that Americans experienced during the 1930s. Through Bud, a young, homeless boy, you will explore the themes of family, survival, and hope. Challenge yourself to think about how racism further threatened the lives of African Americans during this period. Though the living conditions in the novel seem boring, the main character never loses his sense of humor and offers students a survival story with a happy ending.
Process
Section 1 - Pre-Reading Activitiy
1. What are three causes of the Great Depression?
2. How did it affect families of all socioeconomic levels?
Use the following links to answer the questions above:
https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/1930s
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/children…
Section 2 - Hooverville
3. Describe what life was like in a "Hooverville". Use the following site for information to write an 8-sentence paragraph beginning with a topic sentence.
https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/hoovervilles
4. List 10 items you would need if you were to "ride the rails" with Bugs and Bud.
Check out the following sites on "riding the rails":
https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_07.html
https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-and-education-magazines/riding-rails-1929-1941
Section 3 - The Great Depression
Use the following website to answer the questions in complete sentences:
https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression
5. What years did the Great Depression occur?
6. What name was given to the years leading up to the Great Depression? Describe what was happening during this time.
7. On October 24, 1929, a record 12.9 million shares of stock were traded on a day that became better known as "______________________________".
8. Five days later, on "____________________________," another 16 million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept Wall Street.
9. Explain what happened "in the wake of" (after) the stock market crash of 1929.
10. Who was President of the United States in the early years of the Great Depression?
11. How many Americans could not find work in 1930? In 1931?
12. ______________________________________________________ became more and more common in America's towns and cities.
13. Farmers (who had been struggling with their own economic depression for much of the 20s due to drought and falling prices) couldn't afford to ______________________________ __________________________________________________________________________.
14. What began occurring in the United States in 1930? Where in the United States did it begin?
15. Describe a "bank run" or a "run on the bank".
16. How did President Hoover try to help banks during the crisis?
17. Summarize the events surrounding the "Bonus Army". Who were they and what did they do?
18. How did Roosevelt's election in 1932 essentially put an end to bank runs in the US? What did Roosevelt say to the nation to help calm their fears?
19. Why is 1933 generally regarded as the worst year of the Great Depression?
20. Summarize other steps taken by Roosevelt during the first 100 days of his administration.