Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle is about immigration, labor abuse, urban ills and vices, and reform via Socialism—through the lens of Lithuanian-American Jurgis Rudkus using his family’s dealings in Chicago’s meat-packing industry and their lives in “Packingtown.”
Making use of Foner Chapter 18, the novel The Jungle, and Louise Carroll Wade’s “The Problem With Classroom Use of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle” (see article attached below) please do the following:
Write two 325-375 word papers (about one and a half pages each) in which you utilize the entire book and Wade’s interpretation of the historical evidence to argue in the first paper that The Jungle is appropriate for use in the classroom setting, and in the second, that The Jungle is inappropriate for use in the classroom setting.
You may consider the following points in order to craft your very brief arguments, but feel free to come up with some points of your own. You must use at least two points in each of your arguments: (1) What were Sinclair’s possible motives in writing this book? (2) In what ways is what Sinclair says about packers and packinghouse products different than what Wade says is the historical evidence? (3) In what ways is what Sinclair says about the workers and their community different than what Wade says is the historical evidence?
A few hints: *Please use specific references from Sinclair’s entire text and Wade’s entire article. *Remember to cite quotations and paraphrases. *The strongest papers will incorporate historical context from Foner’s text. *In each paper, please craft strong arguments in which you refute the counter argument(s) to those that you have chosen.
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Your papers should be insightful, specific in their references, easy to follow in structure, and clear and consistent in style. Each of your papers should be 325– 375 words; have 12-point Times New Roman font and be double-spaced, have 1-inch margins, and be proofread.
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