The Jungle

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. After the Civil War, the US experienced significant industrial and economic growth. This period was referred to as “The Gilded Age” by author Mark Twain. Consider what you know about this period. Who were some of the notable wealthy tycoons during this age? Why was wealth relatively easy to amass? What were some of the major industrial projects built during this time?

Teaching Suggestion: This question offers the opportunity to introduce historical context to the period before Sinclair’s novel, the Gilded Age. Students may already be familiar with this era from US history courses. Immediately following the Second Industrial Revolution, the Gilded Age saw unprecedented industrial growth, directly leading to unprecedented wealth earned by a small cohort of US businessmen. As a result of this wealth expansion, these men focused on maintaining their amassed wealth by raising the output of products.

Furthermore, the rise of the railroad industry led to easy product shipment, ultimately increasing demand. With little to no regulations on business, a few wealthy people could control their businesses by bribing local officials. This question relates to the theme of The Brutality and Corruption of Turn-of-the-Century Capitalism.

• History.com provides an overview of “The Gilded Age” and its effect on “muckraker” authors such as Upton Sinclair.
• Ushistoryscene.com discusses the link between The Second Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age.

2. Consider what you know about the Progressive Era. How was the Progressive Era a reaction to the Gilded Age? Are you familiar with any laws reformers advocated during this era? What were the effects of this era on future generations?

Teaching Suggestion: Students should make the connection that the actions during the Gilded Age in the first Short Answer Question directly led to the policies of the Progressive Era. In particular, Sinclair’s writings are of the Progressive Era, as he advocated for more extensive economic reforms to steer away from hypercapitalism and The Nature and Necessity of Socialism. Furthermore, his novel shed light on the hypocrisy of The Law and Government as Agents of Violence. Many of the government regulatory bodies were established because of the social reformers of the Progressive Era. The links below are jumping-off points for further resources that tie into US history courses; in particular, John and Hank Green’s Crash Course US History videos cover many historical topics that are easy to comprehend and visually compelling.

• The Library of Congress website provides many resources regarding the turn-of-the-century social and economic changes in the US
• The Green brothers’ Crash Course series on YouTube covers important US history topics with creative visuals, including The Progressive Era.

Short Activity

Working in small groups, select one of the “muckraker” journalists of The Progressive Era and research the following questions: What is this person’s background? What did they write about? How did their writings contribute to social change? Present your findings, along with any relevant photographs and their journalist contributions, to the class.

Teaching Suggestion: This short activity invites students to explore the genre that Sinclair’s novel belongs to, namely the “muckraker” writers of the Progressive Era, and directly links with The Brutality and Corruption of Turn-of-the-Century Capitalism. Students should explore the causes (i.e., why the writer felt compelled to discuss the topic) and the effects of their writing or artwork. Additionally, students can present portions of the muckrakers’ work in their presentations. Students may use the resources below to select the muckraker of their choice.

• Studentsofhistory.com provides a basic overview of different muckrakers.
• This short NBC News Learn video provides a brief overview of muckrakers during the Progressive Era.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

What does the word “exploit” mean to you? What does it mean to exploit someone? What groups or communities have been exploited over time?

Teaching Suggestion: This question offers a chance to preview the variety of people exploited in the novel, including immigrants. While the immigrants in the novel hail from Eastern Europe or Ireland, the wave of immigration changes in the novel to people of color from former slave states. Additionally, women and children are exploited throughout the novel; women in the form of sexual harassment, abuse, human trafficking, and children through child labor. Many characters who experience exploitation are senselessly killed due to poor protection and lack of safety standards, a point that Sinclair makes regarding The Brutality and Corruption of Turn-of-the-Century Capitalism as well as The Nature and Necessity of Socialism.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who struggle with open-ended reflection may benefit from the use of a chart in organizing each exploited group over time by the kind of treatment they might have received.