Upton Sinclair's 1906 Novel 'The Jungle'

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The publication of Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle produced an immediate and powerful effect on Americans and on federal policy, but Sinclair had hoped to achieve a very different result. At the time he began working on the novel, he had completed his studies at Columbia University and was trying to develop a career as an author. He had been born in Baltimore in 1878, but his family had moved to the Bronx in 1888. Though he came from a prominent family, his own parents had little money, and he paid for his university studies by writing dime novels and short stories. While at Columbia, he also became a convert to socialism.

At the time, journalists had begun to play an important role in exposing wrongdoing. Around 1902, magazine publishers discovered that their sales soared when they featured exposés of political corruption, corporate misconduct, or other offenses. McClure’s Magazine led the way, in October 1902, with a series by Lincoln Steffens that revealed corruption in city governments. In January 1903, McClure’s carried …show more content…
Upon arriving in his hotel in Chicago, Sinclair is said to have announced, “I am Upton Sinclair, and I have come to write the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of the labor movement.” For seven weeks, he prowled the streets of Packingtown, the residential district next to the stockyards and packing plants. He donned overalls, posed as a worker, and slipped into the packing plants to gain firsthand knowledge of the work. He sought out social workers, police officers, physicians, and others who could tell him about life and work in Packingtown. Local socialists introduced him to other people who were knowledgeable about the community and the work. At the end of seven weeks, he returned home to New Jersey, shut himself up in a small cabin, and wrote for nine

Who Is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle?

Upton Sinclair was a writer who had not received much recognition before the publication of his novel The Jungle. However, this book propelled him to a prominent position in the literary world. The story portrayed the appalling and unhygienic working conditions that prevailed in the meat industry in Chicago. It exposed how the workers would frequently fall into the machines used for processing meat and end up becoming a part of the meat itself. The Jungle's publication created a massive uproar among…

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Upton Sinclair Annotated Bibliography Essay

History 102 Biography Project: Upton Sinclair Sheila AdjeiMensah Mrs. KellyLuba March 25,2015 Period 6 Sheila AdjeiMensah Mrs.KellyLuba SUPA American History February 18th, 2015 Annotated Bibliography Websites *Denby, D. (2006, August 28). Uppie Redux? The New Yorker. Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/08/28/uppieredux This online magazine article discusses the triumphs and downfalls of Upton Sinclair. It g…

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Argument Against Truths In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

be useful in presenting a point just like in The Jungle. Written by Upton Sinclair this novel was intended to bring focus to the workers of the stockyards. However his book was met with great public attention focused on the areas pertaining to the conditions of the factories and their goods. Whatever his original intentions were, his novel had a huge immediate impact that affected the meat packing industry forever. Some people believe that The Jungle was pure unnecessary sensationalism yet evidence…

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the jungle related to socialism Essay

Beyer 1 Timothy Beyer Mr. Forde 20 May 2014 American Literature Period B Balance of Power Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, published in 1906, brought to life to promote the riches of life under socialism where people owned and worked the earth in harmony. Exposing the life of an immigrant worker in a Chicago meatpacking plant that shocked the entire nation to the safety and labor practices in the rapidly growing business in a new nation of immigrants. “Socialism was the proper vehicle for…

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Alcoholism In Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

all greatly affected the characters in Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel, The Jungle. Those three elements shaped the story and the lives of Jurgis, Ona, and Marija. The main protagonist, Jurgis, was troubled by the struggles and hardships of an immigrant trying to live the american dream. When the family first arrived in Chicago they were too poor to live in a house, so the Lithuanians cramped all of their family in small tenements. Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle, describes how alcoholism, poverty and…

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1906 Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: Meat Packaging Industry

The Jungle Our country has gone through many tough time periods to be where it is right now. Many forms of much corruption were present, especially in the meat packaging industry. Some of this corruption was as if it was hidden in the shadows. Many writers at the time worked to expose all this corruption. Then in 1906 Upton Sinclair released his novel “The Jungle”. He exposed the filthy meat packaging industry through a story of an immigrant family who experience what it is like to be around and…

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Review Of Upton Sinclair's Novel 'The Jungle'

Upton Sinclair remarked about his famous novel exposing the horrors of the meat-packing industry, “I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit in the stomach.” Sinclair began his writing career when he left college without a degree to live in a cabin in the woods to pursue his dreams of writing an idealistic novel. In 1902, Sinclair joined the Socialist Party and viewed its ideals as a more inviting alternative than the horrors of American capitalism (Commentary on Upton Sinclair, 1999)…

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Upton Sinclair's 'The Jungle'

The Jungle was written in 1906 by Upton Sinclair. The books demonstrate big business as a cry for social justice, stressing the importance of taking care of society’s working class is redefining human rights. Sinclair wrote the book and it exposes an unsanitary condition in the Chicago meatpacking industry. A maturation minority blames grace collectivism, the people dominion of industries. The owners of the immensely colossal industries dissed these entire proposals. They authoritatively mandated…

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Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: Meatpacking Industry

The Jungle is a novel written by Upton Sinclair in 1906. The Jungle portrays a meat packing industry in Chicago during the early 1900s through the eyes of an immigrant, Jurgis. The author noted the shocking and disgusting conditions and methods utilized in the industry. While animals were slaughtered in a frightening way, workers transferred diseases and germs to those animals. Sinclair's novel brought tremendous interests and attention to the meatpacking industries. As a muckraker, Sinclair successfully…

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Comparing Upton Sinclair's The Jungle And Ted Genoways The Chain

high rate of consumption, the demand for meat products within the United States is exorbitant, thus causing a need for an industrialized meat packing process. The meatpacking industry within the United States first came under fire in 1906 when Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle was published. His work exposed the inhumane working conditions that were found within the industry to the general public of the United States. Because of this, the FDA called for reformation of the industry, forcing it to have increased…

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