Open Prompt #2 Revision

Open Prompt #2

2009, Form B. Many works of literature deal with political or social issues. Choose a novel or play that focuses on a political or social issue. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the author uses literary elements to explore this issue and explain how the issue contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

        

         In early 20^th century America, frustration, poverty, and unpleasant working and living conditions were commonplace for the working class. Upton Sinclair, a renowned muckraker, wrote “The Jungle” in 1906 in order to expose the dirty secrets running rampant in America that were ruining lives and killing families. Sinclair unveiled the turmoil using tone, characterization, and imagery.

         The story is about Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant, and his struggling family. Sinclair takes us into the lives of the Rudkus’, an ordinary, middle-class, immigrant family. By using an everyday family, the reader was able to relate to the characters. He brings heartbreak to the reader with his use of pitiful characters like the hurt, suffering children and wife. By using characters that the reader related to and felt bad for, his publication of the horrid working conditions and the cruel treatment of the less fortunate were understand by all. With his use of sensitive yet lovable characters, he makes the reader full-heartedly take the side of the suffering family.

The dark tone and vivid imagery  Sinclair uses imprints his message into the brains of all readers. The powerful tone transports the reader into Jurgis’ life, making every blow from the awful political creatures lurking behind the book feel like a blow to the reader them self. Sinclair changes the tone from aggressive frustration to sadness at points in the book too. When the tone transforms into pity and desperation, the reader feels the hardships the characters are going through. Since the book represented how the world truly was at the time, these feelings really made the reader want to make a change. This technique strengthens Sinclair’s message by putting the reader on the level of the characters. The imagery found in the book is grotesque and makes one cringe with disgust. The aggressiveness of the images make the horrors jump off the page. Since the book is exposes a social issue, the loud images and tone bring the message to life.

        Sinclair wrote The Jungle hoping to show how lives immigrants and those living in poverty were. He takes the reader through a real-life example of an American family in order to show the world what was truly going on in the streets of early 20^th century America. He was a muckraking journalist on a mission to reveal the deep secrets that laid within the streets of the early 20^th century in America. With the use of aggressive tone, imagery, and characterization he proved his point to his readers and successfully influenced the passage of multiple laws for a happier, safer America.