ENG_C2.0305R
The Jungle
Community & People
Reading & Writing
Level C2
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The Jungle - Outline
Content
The Jungle was written by Upton Sinclair in 1906 to shed light on the horrible
working conditions in the meatpacking industry. What was the importance of the
Jungle and how has it affected the food industry today?
Learning Outcomes
• Learn about Upton Sinclair and his “muckraking.”
• Read about his most famous work, The Jungle.
• Discuss modern-day social problems.
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The Jungle is a novel written by Upton Sinclair in 1906.
The novel was written to shed light on the exploitation
of immigrants in Chicago and other industrialized cities.
At the same time, however, The Jungle revealed the
incredible lack of sanitation in the American
meatpacking industry at the time.
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Upton Sinclair was considered to be a muckraker, which
was a term used to refer to investigative journalists whose
writings exposed social ills and political corruption. Most
commonly associated with the Progressive Era of the
United States, muckrakers tackled issues such as child labor
and crooked politicians.
The Jungle revolves around a Lithuanian immigrant in
Chicago named Jurgis Rudkus. Seeking freedom, Jurgis
moves his family to the United States and gets a job
working at a slaughterhouse. Unfortunately, the working
conditions are terrible.
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Inside the slaughterhouse, the lack of sanitation
is shocking. At one point, a worker accidentally
falls into the meat rendering tank. His body is
mixed up with animal parts and ground into
lard.
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Meanwhile Jurgis' family lives in a slum house, which they
are conned into spending their entire savings to pay for.
Eventually they are evicted and the entire family is forced to
seek work. They end up all being taken advantage of by
various employers, which leads to overwhelming
catastrophe. Jurgis ultimately is forced to leave the city,
becoming a hobo. He works at a farm, but is sent off after
the harvest is completed. Upon returning to Chicago, he
discovers a group of socialists, who provide him with a
sense of community and a new job through a socialist
employer.
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In response to the book, American President
Theodore Roosevelt ordered an investigation of some
Chicago meatpacking facilities. Even though the
owners were made aware of the investigation ahead
of time and, as such, thoroughly cleaned their
factories beforehand, the conditions were still found
to be revolting.
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As a result, laws were passed regarding sanitary food
practices and the Food and Drug Administration was
established. However, Sinclair himself stood in
opposition to many of the new laws. His book was
largely misunderstood as simply being an attack on
the meatpacking industry rather than a social
critique.
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Vocabulary
exploitation
hobo
immigrants
catastrophe
sanitation
lard
meatpacking
muckraker
slum
social ills
slaughterhouse
investigative journalism
political corruption
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Vocabulary
1) to take advantage
of
2) to con
3) to evict
4) to exploit
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5) to tackle (an
issue)
6) to shed light on
7) to stand in
opposition to
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Open Vocabulary
Were there any other words or phrases that you found
difficult or have questions about?
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Exercises
Writing
Answer the following question(s).
What were some of the issues Upton Sinclair addressed
in The Jungle?
Which of these do you think are still problems today?
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Exercises
Writing
Compared to 1906, how do you think the problems
addressed in The Jungle have been solved or
changed?
1906
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Exercises
Writing
Answer the following questions
What are some of the most ignored social problems today?
If you were to be a modern-day muckraker, what would you write
about?
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Review
1. The Jungle
1906 novel by Upton Sinclair addressing social problems
2. muckraker
investigative journalists who sought to expose social ills
3. slaughterhouse
a place where animals are killed and prepared to be eaten
4. social ills
problems in society, such as poverty and corruption
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was written in 1906 to expose the
exploitation of immigrants in industrialized cities. Today it
remains an example of muckraking and an attack on social ills.
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Exercises
Writing
Match the verbs to their meanings.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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to expose
to kick out
to take advantage of
to deceive
to confront
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
to con
to exploit
to evict
to shed light on
to tackle (an issue)
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Exercises
Speaking
Fill in the blank with the appropriate word(s).
slaughterhouse – slum – muckraker – sanitation – immigrant – corruption –
hobo – catastrophe
1) Someone moving from another country is a(n) ______.
2) A ______ is a place where animals are killed for meat.
3) Someone who wrote to expose social ills was known as a
_______.
4) A ______ is an unfortunate or terrible event resulting in
damage or suffering.
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Exercises
Speaking
Fill in the blank with the appropriate word(s).
slaughterhouse – slum – muckraker – sanitation – immigrant –
corruption – hobo – catastrophe
1) A homeless person is sometimes referred to as a
________.
2) The meatpacking facilities described in The Jungle were
exposed as having an extreme lack of ________.
3) A ________ is a dirty and overcrowded urban area.
4) Some muckrakers attacked crooked politicians, exposing
their ________.
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Exercises
Writing
Answer the following questions
In The Jungle, the character Jurgis Rudkus finally finds an
answer to his problems in the form of socialism. Do you
think that socialism can prevent the social problems
addressed by the book? Why or why not?
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Exercises
Writing
True or False
Upton Sinclair's main goal in writing The Jungle was to expose the
unsanitary conditions of meatpacking facilities.
a) True
b) False
The Jungle was so influential that it was addressed by the president.
a) True
b) False
Muckrakers sought to expose social ills through their writings.
a) True
b) False
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Thank you
We would like to thank
the following sources for their content
Text
The Jungle,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle,
Retrieved at 2.2.2015, Creative Commons
license
Images
Shutterstock – ID 100439611
Shutterstock – ID 89002462
Shutterstock – ID 44918002
Shutterstock – ID 90048208
Upton Sinclair,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sincla
ir, Retrieved at 2.2.2015, Creative
Commons license
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Thank you
for choosing to learn
with
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