Ap English- the Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Josel Wong
Mr. Wear
AP Language and Composition
5 November 2009
The Jungle Questions
Part I
1. The wedding between Jurgis and Ona is an epitome of the various problems in Packingtown. The way the saloon keeper took advantage of the couple is representative of the dishonesty and thievery from the surrounding society. The crowd stranded outside the wedding symbolizes the helpless and hungry inhabitants of Packingtown. When the newlyweds allowed these people into the wedding they quickly transformed into an “every man for themselves” perspective. In retrospect, the disregard for others that thrived in the society by not providing a money donation to the bride and groom was prevalent. The wedding demonstrates the struggle of Packingtown’s society as well as the future it forces upon its citizens.
2. Vivid Imagery:
• “These bare places were grown up with dingy, yellow weeds, hiding innumerable tomato-cans, innumerable children played upon them, chasing one another here and there, screaming and fighting.” This excerpt describes the area in which the children would play. Sinclair uses words like, “dingy” to emphasize the situation in which the kids grew up in.
• “One wondered about this, as also about the swarms of flies which hung about the scene, literally blackening the air, and the strange, fetid odor which assailed one's nostrils, a ghastly odor, of all the dead things of the universe.” Here Sinclair depicts the horrible situations that people had to deal with when living in Packingtown. When Sinclair talks about the flies blackening the sky, the reader is able to make a mental image of how awful the conditions were.
• “One with a swift stroke cut the throat; another with two swift strokes severed the head, which fell to the floor and vanished through a hole. Another made a slit down the body; a second opened the body wider , a third with a saw cut the breast-bone; a fourth loosened the entrails; a fifth pulled them out — and they also slid through a
Mr. Wear
AP Language and Composition
5 November 2009
The Jungle Questions
Part I
1. The wedding between Jurgis and Ona is an epitome of the various problems in Packingtown. The way the saloon keeper took advantage of the couple is representative of the dishonesty and thievery from the surrounding society. The crowd stranded outside the wedding symbolizes the helpless and hungry inhabitants of Packingtown. When the newlyweds allowed these people into the wedding they quickly transformed into an “every man for themselves” perspective. In retrospect, the disregard for others that thrived in the society by not providing a money donation to the bride and groom was prevalent. The wedding demonstrates the struggle of Packingtown’s society as well as the future it forces upon its citizens.
2. Vivid Imagery:
• “These bare places were grown up with dingy, yellow weeds, hiding innumerable tomato-cans, innumerable children played upon them, chasing one another here and there, screaming and fighting.” This excerpt describes the area in which the children would play. Sinclair uses words like, “dingy” to emphasize the situation in which the kids grew up in.
• “One wondered about this, as also about the swarms of flies which hung about the scene, literally blackening the air, and the strange, fetid odor which assailed one's nostrils, a ghastly odor, of all the dead things of the universe.” Here Sinclair depicts the horrible situations that people had to deal with when living in Packingtown. When Sinclair talks about the flies blackening the sky, the reader is able to make a mental image of how awful the conditions were.
• “One with a swift stroke cut the throat; another with two swift strokes severed the head, which fell to the floor and vanished through a hole. Another made a slit down the body; a second opened the body wider , a third with a saw cut the breast-bone; a fourth loosened the entrails; a fifth pulled them out — and they also slid through a