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Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
1) What qualities did Sinclair believe a person must have to succeed in Packingtown?
In order to succeed in Packingtown, Sinclair believed that a person would have to have a job with no decency, hatred and dishonest competition to be able to hold a life-supporting career.
2)According to the passage, what is the plant owner's main goal.
The plant owners goal was to make money no matter what quality of product and to harness power by controlling workers, unless shadiness was brought under light by law enforcement.
3) What does Sinclair mean when he says, "...there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar....?"
He revealed how no person had genuine care or concern for their fellow co-workers, even if it meant risking lives over money.
Meat packing plants, like many industries in the early 20th century, were known to overwork their employees, failed to maintain adequate safety measures, and actively fought unionization. Public pressure to U.S. Congress led to the passing of the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act, both passed in 1906 on the same day to ensure better regulations of the meat packing industry as well as better treatment of its employees working there.
Mid-century restructuring and renovating by the industry of the stockyards, slaughterhouses and meat packing led to relocating facilities closer to cattle feedlots and swine production facilities, to more rural areas. It has been difficult for labor to organize in such locations. In addition, the number of jobs fell dramatically through technology and other changes.
Though the meat packing industry has made many improvements since the early 1900s, several changes in the industry since the late 20th century have caused new labor issues to arise. Today, the rate of injury in the meat packing industry is three times that of private industry overall, and meat packing was noted by Human Rights Watch as being "the most dangerous factory job in America". The meatpacking industry continues to employ many immigrant laborers, including some who are undocumented workers. The more isolated areas in which the plants are located put workers at greater risk due to their limited ability to organize and to seek redress for work-related injuries.
Work cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_packing_industry
In order to succeed in Packingtown, Sinclair believed that a person would have to have a job with no decency, hatred and dishonest competition to be able to hold a life-supporting career.
2)According to the passage, what is the plant owner's main goal.
The plant owners goal was to make money no matter what quality of product and to harness power by controlling workers, unless shadiness was brought under light by law enforcement.
3) What does Sinclair mean when he says, "...there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar....?"
He revealed how no person had genuine care or concern for their fellow co-workers, even if it meant risking lives over money.
Meat packing plants, like many industries in the early 20th century, were known to overwork their employees, failed to maintain adequate safety measures, and actively fought unionization. Public pressure to U.S. Congress led to the passing of the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act, both passed in 1906 on the same day to ensure better regulations of the meat packing industry as well as better treatment of its employees working there.
Mid-century restructuring and renovating by the industry of the stockyards, slaughterhouses and meat packing led to relocating facilities closer to cattle feedlots and swine production facilities, to more rural areas. It has been difficult for labor to organize in such locations. In addition, the number of jobs fell dramatically through technology and other changes.
Though the meat packing industry has made many improvements since the early 1900s, several changes in the industry since the late 20th century have caused new labor issues to arise. Today, the rate of injury in the meat packing industry is three times that of private industry overall, and meat packing was noted by Human Rights Watch as being "the most dangerous factory job in America". The meatpacking industry continues to employ many immigrant laborers, including some who are undocumented workers. The more isolated areas in which the plants are located put workers at greater risk due to their limited ability to organize and to seek redress for work-related injuries.
Work cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_packing_industry
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