CONCLUSION & TEACHING IMPLICATIONS
Once we have seen them all , we can establish several connections between these contemporary American authors such as winning the Nobel Prize for literature (Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner), using new realism techniques (stream of consciousness) and themes (postwar years, psychological profile of characters, tragic nature of man), and having lived the difficult experience of being expatriated from their country and enjoyed the European lifestyle
Teaching this topic gives the perfect opportunity to get to practice the four skills of the language (reading, writing, speaking and listening) as well as introducing the Content and Learning Integrated Learning (CLIL) methodology in class, as students can learn English at the same time they learn about US history and society and thus understanding how literature reflects the main historical events of a country.
There are many chances of dealing with the contents of this topic in the secondary and upper-secondary English lessons but I will give a brief explanation of one type of activity, whose content can be adapted depending on their levelThe referred activity is a digital breakout that can be done after reading the above mentioned readers or having watched any of the films and/or after having worked on themes of postwar years issues, the great American dream, the rural California, the question of man and nature’s forces,or economic decadence after the economic crack.
A digital breakout is a set of different activities saved in a digital environment, for instance google site.