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Section 2: Overview

Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, and Depression-Era Photojournalism

In what ways did the Farm Security Administration and photographs such as Doeothea Lange’s Migrant Mother influence American society, public opinion, and politics? We will continue to study the concepts of photojournalism and continue a close viewing of iconic photographic images by examining Migrant Mother, by Depression-era photographer Dorothea Lange. We will read an excerpt from the book Migrant Mother: How a Photograph Defined the Great Depression to understand how the photo raised awareness of the poverty of agrarian workers and influenced American political and social history. To demonstrate what we have learned, we will develop and explain an evidence-based claim about the influence of Lange and Depression-era photojournalism on public opinion.

  • Lesson 1:

    How did a single iconic photograph influence public opinion during the Depression? We will examine Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother and respond to text-specific questions to help determine the subject, composition, and impact of the photo. We will continue to explore the responsibility photojournalists have as the fixers of reality and history.

  • Lesson 2:

    What was the mission of the Farm Security Administration for which photojournalists like Dorothea Lange worked? We will view a video and read an article to build knowledge about the Great Depression and understand how Dorothea Lange’s photograph Migrant Mother amplified some of the issues inherent in that period.

  • Lesson 3:

    We will revisit the importance of paying attention to authors’ use of language and will begin compiling powerful and interesting sentences in our Mentor Sentence Journals.

  • Lesson 4:

    How did photography come to define the Great Depression? We will learn more about the Great Depression, Lange’s impetus to create a series of photographs that became known as Migrant Mother, the importance of her composition of the photographs, and how her work connects in a larger sense to the plight of people during the era.

  • Lesson 5:

    How did other FSA photojournalists reinforce the message inherent in Migrant Mother? We will expand our understanding of Depression-era photojournalism through primary and secondary source research into another significant American photojournalist.

  • Lesson 6:

    We will prepare to respond to the following question in the Section Diagnostic: In what ways did the Farm Security Administration and photographs such as Migrant Mother influence American society, public opinion, and politics?

  • Lesson 7:

    We will write a multiparagraph response that presents and explains a claim that addresses the following question:

    In what ways did the Farm Security Administration and photographs such as Migrant Mother influence American society, public opinion, and politics?

  • Lesson 8:

    We will review feedback on the Section Diagnostic. We will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

  • Lesson 9:

    We will commence an Independent Reading Program in which we choose texts to read independently as we progress through the unit. We will learn how to choose texts, what activities we may complete, about the final task, and about any materials we will use as we read our independent reading texts. We will begin by reading our texts, using Tools to help us take notes and analyze important textual elements.