Then We Came To The End
Joshua Ferris
Joshua Ferris
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Born In Danville, Illinois
Attended University of Iowa
Received BA in English and Philosophy
Participated in MFA program in california
Published two novels
Protagonist
• The Book is told in first person plural
• Everyone can be categorized as the
protagonist.
Antagonist
• Each person’s individual demons they are
struggling with.
Favorite Character
Tom Mota
• Recently divorced
• An overly dramatic man
• Dresses up like a clown and comes back to
wreak havoc on the office
Least Favorite Character
Joe Pope
• A workaholic
• A perpetual victim of office sabotage
• Everyone disliked him, so in turn I too disliked
him
Rising Action
• People are being laid off one by one
• Everyone is wondering when it’s their time
• This in turn creates an uncomfortable work
environment.
• Individuals coping methods become stranger
as lay-offs grow closer
Exposition
• Story is told through a number of different
people as a “Collective We”
Climax
• Tom Mota (former employee) returns to the
office dressed as a clown armed with a
paintball gun.
• He terrorizes the office
Falling Action
• Tom Mota was eventually arrested
• People dealt with it by either quiting, taking a
vacation, or just working through it
Resolution
• Book jumps ahead five years later.
• Everyone is reunited by a book signing of a
former employee.
• They all talk about their current lives
Setting
• The Book takes place at a Chicago advertising
agency at the beginning of the economic
downturn.
• The time is important because jobs are being
loss, and that is one of the central theme’s of
this book. Trying to stay Employed.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment Song
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMIZjLJHFU
How to survive Unemployment
• Steps you can take to help you through your
unemployment
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWPFW_
8D05U
Unemployment Poem
Jane Solanrobertson
Rows and rows of boxes
All of them the same
With rooms and rooms of people
Each without a name
Hearts that beat, though breaking
And smiles
that mask the pain
Of fading hopes of sunshine
Through windows drenched with rain.
Once lovers, now not speaking
Except to lay the blame
For broken dreams and the poverty
Of unemployment shame.
Empty cupboards and drunken sleep
Are all part of the game
But hungry babies wake them still
On mornings all the same.
News broadcast
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QDKMnY
c4_s
Newspaper article
• http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/time
stopics/subjects/u/unemployment/index.html
Local Newspaper Article
• http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_14521169
Time magazine article
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/
0,9171,953320,00.html
The Great Depression
• America's "Great Depression" began with the
dramatic crash of the stock market on "Black
Thursday", October 24, 1929 when 16 million
shares of stock were quickly sold by panicking
investors who had lost faith in the American
economy. At the height of the Depression in
1933, nearly 25% of the Nation's total work force,
12,830,000 people, were unemployed.
• http://www.todaysteacher.com/TheGreatDepress
ionWebQuest/BriefOverview.htm