The Jungle Document Exercise
KindAPUSH
I. Lesson Introduction
Professor Alice Fahs, of the University of California—Irvine, had a unique way of
describing the public response to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Her pithy analysis has
always stuck with me, and I use it to this day to make a clear distinction between the
Socialist Sinclair’s intent & the response of American Progressives: Upton Sinclair
hoped readers would read The Jungle and develop a deep concern about the plight of
the American factory worker; instead they took away an increased concern about
eating the American factory worker. In a few words (which she often credited to one
of her own professors), Alice Fahs planted a vivid, even visceral, image for students to
use as they develop an understanding of those seeking change in the late 19th & early
20th centuries. The radical socialist response to the societal ills of a rapidly
industrializing, urbanizing ethnic America was very different that the response of
middle-class Progressives, and the following lesson uses excerpts from Sinclair’s The
Jungle to reinforce this interpretation.
II. Academic Skills & Content
At
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the conclusion of the lesson, students will be able to:
Describe key passages from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle;
Explain the key issues from The Jungle that motivated Socialists to action;
Explain the key issues from The Jungle that motivated Progressives to action;
Analyze the difference between the above two groups using primary sources as
evidence.
III.Lesson Description
A. Course Context
This lesson is intended to emphasize the differences between the radical & middle
class responses of the Progressive Era. While the activity could serve as an
introduction to the differences between Progressives & Socialists, I believe it is better
suited to solidify & strengthen students’ understanding of the era. Using the brief
primary sources included in the activity, students can build on the content they have
learned from secondary sources, and it is for this reason that students should begin
the lesson after having read about Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, the Progressive
Movement, the Meat Inspection Act, the Pure Food & Drug Act, and other such
reforms in a textbook or other secondary source. I am also of the opinion that
students should be familiar with analysis of the middle-class nature of the Progressive
Movement contrasted with the radicalism of the Socialists before participating in the
lesson, which is most effective as reinforcement for such a higher-level analysis rather
than the source of it.
B. Time & Materials Needed
The lesson is designed to take approximately 45 minutes, including time to read the
documents, share results, and discuss conclusions. Material needs are minimal and
include a copy of The Jungle Document Exercise handout for each student and an
overhead transparency & projector or computer & multimedia projector to display
results.
C. Activity Steps
1.
Document Reading & Individual Response
Students should take about ten to fifteen minutes to read and react to the excerpts on
the handout, recording their reactions using the Likert Scale below each passage.
Typically students will ask for more direction on how to respond, seeking a standard
by which to judge each passage, but try not to give them specific criteria (economic,
social or medical). The point of the exercise is to draw out the criteria used by
different groups during the Progressive Era, and this goal is best achieved when the
students come at the issue using their own varied criteria. Advise students to keep
their decision-making process simple. The reading portion of the activity starts off
quietly, but as students get to the more explicit passages, things will pick up. You may
need to clarify a few terms here and there. Remind students to respond individually,
as there will be time to share their responses.
2.
Recording of Results
Sharing results starts off as a simple counting of responses to fill in the chart, but the
process usually evolves into discussion & debate. Make sure you get a clear count in
order to fill in the Likert Scale results chart. (Note that I have not assigned point
values to the Likert Scale. The original plan was to do so, but it has not proven
necessary.) This visual representation of the student responses serves to center the
discussion as the lesson progresses. As you tally results, take some time to get a
sense of why students responded a certain way. Make sure to give any outliers a
chance to explain their responses, because those explanations might prove valuable in
the final discussion. I don’t recommend you go into depth here: just start laying the
groundwork for the next stage. Beware of the “Neutral” response. It could either
indicate a student who didn’t want to participate or one who saw the passage from
multiple angles. (Either way, you may want to address that student specifically.)
As you tabulate the results, you should see two interpretations forming. The majority
of the group should mirror the Progressive response to The Jungle’s initial publication:
horror & disgust at the unsanitary conditions with some concern for Jurgis as well. A
smaller group will respond more to the plight of Jurgis. I recommend you note the
change in responses as you tabulate results. You will draw out this distinction when
you progress to the discussion stage.
3.
Discussion
Depending on the level of discussion that went on during the previous step (and let’s
face it, keeping APUSH students quiet, can be difficult!), you might need to go over
each document in more detail. Specifically discuss which documents influenced the
political debates the most. Document E is obviously the key document for
understanding the Progressive push for the Meat Inspection and Pure Food & Drug
Acts. Document C also supports such an understanding, though many students will
need an understanding of “slunk calf” to realize this. In discussing these two
documents it is important to note that Progressives were rational actors when it came
to politics, reserving most of their political energies for issues that affected them
personally—the economics teacher in me cannot get away from self-interest always
winning out.
Document D is a key passage for understanding the different motivations of
Progressives & Socialists—as well as your students. Interpretation of the document
comes down to which issue proves more disconcerting—the injury to Jurgis or the
impact of such an injury on the quality of the food processed in the plant. Drawing
out this distinction is worth spending a little extra time, as Document D is more
complicated than either Document C or E. Try to get students debating which issue is
more important because if they do, they should start seeing the Socialist/Progressive
divide more clearly.
Which leads to Documents A, B & F—passages students typically don’t expect from
The Jungle. Students will already know about Sinclair’s critique of the meat packing
process, they might be familiar with his concerns about worker safety, but they will
most likely be unfamiliar with the author’s opposition to capitalism & his
disillusionment with “the American Dream.” In short, they might have heard that
Upton Sinclair was a Socialist, but I’m not sure they understand what that means.
And this is where responses to Documents A, B & F come into play.
In the five years I have taught this lesson, I have always had a student willing & able
to illustrate that there is a different way to see these documents—a socialist
perspective. If you do not have a student of such political leanings (or one
comfortable sharing his or her views), you will need to draw out the following
information:
• Typically students mirror Progressives in their responses, viewing Documents A & B
positively. These illustrate the power of the “American Dream,” and that
represents a very hopeful outlook on the part of Jurgis. I step in here to point
out to students that Progressives with their concerns about immigration and
assimilation might have viewed these passages in an even more positive light.
This makes Document F, illustrating Jurgis’ disillusionment, problematic for
students and, especially Progressives.
• But a student with more leftist leanings might respond to these documents in
reverse, with Documents A & B representing a man who has false hope in a
system that will dehumanize and eventually devour him. Document F,
therefore, illustrates the first step in Jurgis’ liberation from the system as he
realizes his place within capitalism.
The ultimate distinction between these two perspectives is twofold. Delineating
between a personal versus an empathetic response to Documents C, D & E is
important, but illustrating the difference between those that would work within the
system to fix specific problems and those that would seek to overthrow a system they
see as corrupt at its core is what Documents A, B & F do so well. This is the essential
difference between the Progressives and the Socialists at the turn of the 20th century,
and it is hopefully hinted at if not mirrored in the responses and discussions among
the students who participate in this lesson.
IV.
Lesson Conclusion
It all comes back to Professor Fahs’ analysis: were the students more concerned about
the plight of the worker…or more worried about eating the worker? After completing
this lesson, students see that pithy analysis in a more complex way. Many of them go
away with the ability to combine these excerpts from The Jungle with the analysis of
their textbook to form an effective analysis of the differences between the Socialist &
Progressive responses to the changing nature of America in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. But even those who cannot accomplish such a task remember Alice Fahs’
interpretation, and thus realize that history is always more complex than they
originally realized.
Note—History Majors vs. English Majors: Any time you use literature as a primary source,
you run into problems of interpretation. Using The Jungle avoids one of the main difficulties I
often run into, that of the author’s intent. There is little doubt that Upton Sinclair intended his
work to have a political impact; therefore, it is appropriate to analyze The Jungle with an eye
toward how it was interpreted in the political realm. The Jungle was not merely intended as
art. However, Sinclair was an author, and one cannot ignore the artistry of The Jungle (limited
as it might be). This becomes an issue with the analysis of the chosen excerpts only in that a
student strong in literary analysis might choose to respond to the documents based on
foreshadowing & imagery rather than an understanding of the time period. This has never
been a major problem, but I always find it valuable in such instances to delve into how pieces
of literature as primary documents do have their limitations.
KindAPUSH
The Jungle Document Exercise
Name ____________________
Directions: Below are some key excerpts from Upton Sinclair’s influential novel The
Jungle. Read & respond to each using the Likert Scale below each passage. Notice that
I have left you without any specific justification for your reaction. Just go with your
immediate response, but keep in mind what Sinclair’s audience was experiencing at the
turn of the 20th century: dramatic change all around as the United States experienced
changes in Industrialization, Urbanization and Immigration at a pace once thought
impossible
Document A
“They stood there while the sun went down upon this scene, and the sky in the west
turned blood-red, and the tops of the houses shone like fire. Jurgis and Ona were not
thinking of the sunset, however—their backs were turned to it, and all their thoughts
were of Packingtown, which they could see so plainly in the distance. The line of
buildings stood clear-cut and black against the sky; here and there out of the mass rose
the great chimneys, with the river of smoke streaming away to the end of the world ....
To those who stood watching while the darkness swallowed it up, it seemed a dream of
wonder, with its tale of human energy, of things being done, of employment for
thousands upon thousand of men, of opportunity and freedom, of life and love and joy.
When they came away, arm in arm, Jurgis was saying, ‘Tomorrow I shall go there and
find a job!'" (p. 29)
Strong Positive
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Strong Negative
Document B
"He was provided with a stiff besom (broom), such as is used by street sweepers, and it
was his place to follow down the line the man who drew out the smoking entrails from
the carcass of the steer; this mass was to swept into a trap, which was then closed, so
that no one might slip into it.... It was a sweltering day in July, and the place ran with
steaming hot blood—one waded in it on the floor. The stench was almost overpowering,
but to Jurgis it was nothing. His whole soul was dancing with joy—he was at work at last!
He was at work earning money! All day long he was figuring to himself. He was paid the
fabulous sum of seventeen and a half cents an hour, and as it proved a rush day and he
worked until nearly seven o'clock in the evening, he had earned more than a dollar and
half in a single day!" (p. 41)
Strong Positive
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Strong Negative
Document C
“One curious thing he had noticed, the very first day, in his profession of shoveling of
guts; which was the sharp tick of the floor bosses wherever there chanced to come a
‘slunk’ calf. Any man who knows anything about butchering knows that the flesh of a
cow that is about to calve, or has just calved, is not fit for food. A good many of these
came every day to the packinghouses ... whoever noticed it [the ‘slunk’ calf] would tell
the boss, and the boss would start up a conversation with the government inspector, and
the two would stroll away. So in a trice the carcass of the cow would be cleaned out, and
the entrails would have vanished; it was Jurgis' task to slide them into the trap, calves
and all, and on the floor below they took out these ‘slunk’ calves, and butchered them
for meat, and used even the skins of them." (p. 62)
Strong Positive
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Strong Negative
Document D
"Then, too, a still more dreadful thing happened to him; he worked in a place where his
feet were soaked in chemicals, and it was not long before they had eaten through his
new boots. Then sores began to break out on his feet, and grew worse and worse.
Whether it was that his blood was bad, or there had been a cut, he could not say.... The
sores would never heal—in the end his toes would drop off, if he did not quit." (p. 76)
Strong Positive
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Strong Negative
Document E
“There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would
come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was
moldy and white—it would be dosed with borax and glycerin, and dumped into the
hoppers, and made over again for home consumption. There would be meat that had
tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and
spit uncounted billions of consumption (tuberculosis) germs. There would be meat stored
in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands
of rats would race about on it. It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a
man could run his hand over these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried
dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out
for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into the hoppers
together." (pp. 134-5).
Strong Positive
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Strong Negative
Document F
“That day they had killed about four thousand cattle, and these cattle had come in
freight trains from far states, and some of them had got hurt. There were some with
broken legs, and some with gored sides; there were some that had died, from what
cause no one could say; and they were all to be disposed of, here in darkness and
silence .... It took a couple of hours to get them out of the way, and in the end Jurgis
saw them go into the chilling rooms with the rest of the meat, being carefully scattered
here and there so that they could not be identified. When he came home that night he
was in a very somber mood, having begun to see at last how those might be right who
had laughed at him for his faith in America." (pp. 61-2)
Strong Positive
Positive
Neutral
Negative
Strong Negative
KindAPUSH
The Jungle Document Exercise
Document
Doc. A
Doc. B
Doc. C
Doc. D
Doc. E
Doc. F
Strong
Positive
Positive
Name ____________________
Neutral
Negative
Strong
Negative