The Jungle Study Guide – Flashcards
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Describe, breifly, what is taking place in this chapter. Explain the atmosphere and the mood of the chapter.
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The chapter starts with the wedding of Jurgis and Ona. There is a wedding feast in Chicago. Jurgis and Ona are Lithuanian and are Polish immigrants that moved to the Untied States with their families. Ona is sixteen years old and she is getting married. She has a cousin named Marjia, who is very loud and cheerful. The atmosphere in this chapter is very happy and festive because of the wedding. People are dancing, eating, and drinking. However, Jurgis's father is dying and they are very poor. They are worried about how they will pay for the wedding and open bar. People are supposed to dance with the bride and give whatever they can to help the mew couple begin a life together. Many didn't dance with Ona. They ate, drank, socialized, and slipped away from the reception. Ona spends the whole time worrying about paying for everything.
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What glimpses of poverty and desperation can be found in this chapter?
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In the chapter, we can see some clues that the family is poor. They can not pay their bills for the wedding feast, so Ona's stepmother passes a hat so that people would make donations. We can also see that they are poor by reading what their jobs are. Some work in slaughterhouses. Jurgis's father works at a packing house, he works even though he is sick. Some send their children to work so that they can make ends meet.
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Based on this chapter, predict what characters are important.
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I think Jurgis is the protagonist because he seems like the most fit to be a protagonist. He is Lithuanian and came to America as a immigrant, his dream is wealth. I think he will be successful and important in the future because of his determination to work. He takes matters into his own hands and will work harder to bring his family out of poverty.
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Discuss Jurgis's slogan, "I will work harder". Is this a good solution to most problems?
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Jurgis says that he will make the money and work harder. This is a hard promise that Jurgis will have to keep to be able to survive in America. He should work harder but everyone should. If only Jurgis works harder, they will all succeed together. They can not succeed depending on just Jurgis working. It is a good attitude to have but it isn't realistic for their situation in poverty and their family. Everyone needs to work together to achieve their American Dream.
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Based on events in this chapter, what kind of person does Jurgis seem to be?
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Jurgis is very ambitious and has a strong character. All he wants is a better life. He hears about his friend going to America and getting rich, he wants to go and find a job. Jurgis quickly learns that America is expensive and more difficult than he thought. He is persistent and is sure that he will get what he came for.
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Why did Jurgis, Ona, and the others decide to go to America?
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Jurgis finds out that Ona's father died, leaving the family a mess and deep in debt. They decide to go to America because they had nothing left to lose.Jurgis said that America was the land of opportunity and they they think they will have a better life.
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In what ways do the Lithuanians encounter dishonesty?
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They encounter dishonesty is when they are goning to America, and an agent takes them on the boat. When they arrived in New York, a man disguised as a police officer takes them to a hotel and makes them pay a lot of money. They were left penniless and they could not speak English. They wasted all their money because they couldn't read the tags and sellers took advantage of that.
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How is Chicago decribed, as they saw it? How is "the color of things become dingier" symbolic of their experiences so far?
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From the description in the book, it appears that they live in a slum. It is a long street and they could smell a horrible odor which they could not describe. They said it smelled like a strong odor of putrefaction, raw, and crude, almost rancid. They has immense volumes of smoke that came out of the chimneys. The view of the ugly, dirty little, wooden buildings everywhere. This shows how terrible their living conditions are, all they see are dull and horrid colors. This means things were getting old and rotten.
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What are the neighborhoods of Packingtown like?
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Packingtown was practically a ghetto or suburb. The bold described it as a slum or dumpster. It is full of children, along with the smoke everywhere that made the air unbreathable and darkish. It has a dull grayish color and odor of putrefaction, raw and crude, rancid, an "elemental odor".
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What significance do the words "blood red" and "fire" have in the description at the end of this chapter?
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The author says this to describe the sun setting in the afternoon. He says "blood red" and "fire" because when the sun sets, they can see it turning into a red, orange color. When the sun is setting, the reflection of the light on the roofs of the houses in the suburbs makes them look like the roofs were catching on fire. This symbolizes the harsh and cruel life that Jurgis and Ona are living in Packingtown, and it creates a sad and harsh atmosphere.
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What are Jurgis's expectations for his new job?
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Since Jurgis does not understand English, he doesn't even know what he is doing but he knows that he has potential. He just accepts the job because he was desperate and had a good opportunity for employment. He did not see the negative things of the situation, he just saw the benefits he could get out of it. Jurgis does not see anything else because of his excitement and the joy he had for finding the job so quickly. He even gets a tour of and does not get all sick of seeing what he will be doing as a job (scooping hog blood and guts).
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What are the "metaphors of human destiny"?
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The metaphors of human destiny are described as hogs. No one can escape their fate, no one can escape death, no one is immortal. We all suffer the same fate and destiny. Like hogs like humans. They author says that when we live, we will face unexpected obstacles, and it is our job to overcome the obstacles. The metaphor is continued on the next page describing that some thing else comes after death, something unnatural and magical.
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What is the hog-squeal of the universe?
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When the author mentions the hog squeal of the universe he is talking about how harmless and small hogs are dying with no reason whatsoever. They are having an undeserved death. They all have the same destiny no matter their individuality, there is no justice or freedom, there was just unjustified death for innocent creatures. It was practically a routine for the humans of killing the hogs, and the hogs had no other choice but to follow the routine.
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Describe the actions of the government inspector.
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The government inspector went to the slaughter house to inspect hogs, see if they are healthy and clean and if they are carrying any disease or infection like tuberculosis in some glands. Without the inspector there would be infections spread out all over the world. But they did not really do their job. The government inspector just glanced over the hogs or even ignores it. Many hogs passes the inspection without the inspection. But the owner of the slaughterhouse would not want to throw away a hog. It would mean less profit for him.
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What is Jurgis's impression of the packing meat industry? What is yours?
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Jurgis's impression of the meat packing industry is very good because he only sees the good things and benefits that he would get out of it. He does not see the negative things. My impression of the meat packing industry is gross. I would never want to work in a slaughterhouse and scoop guts for a living. I also think that it is gross that the inspectors don't do their jobs. And I hope that today's inspectors do their jobs.
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What re Jurgis's plans for everyone in the newly relocated family?
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With their newly relocated family, Jurgis expects everyone to find a job and be wealthy. He still does not let Ona work because he thinks she should stay at home. As you can see, their dream isn't coming true. Jurgis works at a slaughter house scooping animal guts and blood. He only makes one dollar a day. Life is obviously not what Jurgis has expected.
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What is the family's perception of the real estate agent? What is your perception of him?
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The real estate agent was the mane who was advertising houses for sale. Jurgis liked the idea of living in a house. When they first saw the real estate agent, the author describes him as a 'smooth and florid personage', this means that they saw him as a complex man. He was a very elegant man and a friendly man like any other. Some thought that the man would scam them.
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What is Jokubas Szedvila's advice regarding the purchase of real estate?
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Jokubas Szedvila appears and warns Jugris and Ona about buying a new house, he tells "cruel stories of people who had been done to death in this 'buying a home' swindle." When he leaves, however, Jonas convinces them that Jokubas is a failed business owner and that makes him bitter toward such deals. So they decide to but he house.
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Why does the family prefer to buy rather than rent?
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The family prefers to buy a house instead of having to pay rent because they thought that they would save more money doing that. Jurgis thought that they could pay just a bit more a month instead of rent, so Jurgis makes the good suggestion that they look into buying a home instead of renting.
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By the end of the chapter, the family is in much anguish over their purchase. What are Jurgis's worries, and what are those of Ona and Elzbieta?
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At first, Jurgis, Ona, and Elzbieta were worried of what Jokubas had told them. They thought that all this could be a scam. They thought that the real estate agent would take advantage of them and make them sign something that would affect them in the future. The contact said that they would have to pay twelve dollars a month for eight and a half years. They first thought this was a scam and they called a lawyer. The lawyer eventually clears things out. He confirms that this is a standard contract and that the rent is paid for only eight years, after which the family owns the home. This brings relief to the family.
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Describe the reality of the statement, "...the zeal of the people, to see that his health and happiness were provided for."
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This is about how people seek for things which, in their opinion, will fulfill them with happiness and with everything that they need in them. That through advertisements, people get ideas of things that will make them happy because they will fill something. People always are looking for what is best for them, are always trying to find things which are needed for them. And it is actually something that can be proven to be true.
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What is the purpose of advertising today? How does it compare to the advertisements described in this chapter?
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Advertising today has only purpose, which is to sell. Companies by creating advertisement want to make people believe that their product is the best, that will make people happier or healthier or whatever the person is looking for. It really connects to the description of the advertisements being implied in the book. Companies want to sell more and they give images of happiness and of beautiful things.
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The family is learning about credit in America. Explain the system and how it compares to the process of making major purchases in America today.
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Family is now learning about credit and what they can do in order to obtain the furniture that they want for their house. They have very little money and they found out throughout the advertisements they they could own the furniture and pay it off little by little. They ar learning the new system and in the end with credit you end up paying more in many cases.now there are different types of credit. It's a very similar system because it giving credit gives needs to benefit the shop and in the end by giving credit to them they will take advantage of on many of their things.
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How does Jurgis feel about his job? How do his coworkers' feelings compare to his?
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Jurgis is noticing that a lot of new things in his job, like the pace in which the workers had to work and how they would get changed. He also does not want to think about the 'flesh and blood" of his job, but he does no mind doing his job. He actually enough what he does. En did all of his work and didn't mind what it was for. He then begins to realize that many of the men which work with him despise working there. He is actually in shock because he is very new and willing to work for anything. Some people hate what they do and do not have any other type of hope towards what they do because it is awful.
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What is Jurgis's perception of the Union as it is explained to him?
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Jurgis is a very proud and perseverant man. He think of his job as a luxury, for him his job is a way to make easy money. He is a very ambitious man and will do whatever to keep his job. The other men at work think of their work as being the lowest class possible in society.
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Why is Dede Antanas having difficulty obtaining a job?
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It is difficult for Dede Antanas to obtain a Kobe because he is an old man. So the way the owners see it is that they will be paying money to an old man that wouldn't be doing the same amount of work that the young men will be doing. So it is better to find a younger and fitter man to work.
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How does Tamoszius explain the graft/pecking order of the industry to Jurgis?
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Tamsoszious tells him that some of the bosses make deals where they hire a man only if they get a part of their salary in order to put more money in their pockets. When the boss' supervisors find out, they make the bosses give part of the money they took from the lower class worked in order to stay out of trouble, and the whole scam moves up the chain of command. The bosses just want to make money and they do not care how and who they hurts, they just squeeze as much money they can form the lower class workers.
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How well is a good work ethic rewarded at the packing plants? How are the strong, hardworking employees treated?
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Work ethic is not rewarded at all the packing plants. The workers in the packing plants definitely deserve to be selected for better positions, but the owners don't care. They don't care how reliable their workers have been or how hardworking they are. They just care hoe they look and they immediately replace them when they notice one of them are to old. They are actually being treated unfairly because they are fringing them when for them, they could be no other way to gain money. They genuinely need that money. Yes there are other stronger people who could do the job better and could gain more but at least they should be taken into more consideration.
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What transformation is taking place in the family as they work and witness events around them? In what way is their 'faith in America' slowly being weakened?
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Jurgis and his family were blinded by the American Dream. All they thought all good things about their good dreams. At first they didn't believe the bad things that people would tell them about factories and Jurgis couldn't hate some people had towards it. Obviously, soon they had to be faced by reality and this starts taking place, and they start noticing what is really going on in the factories, which was a disappointment to the huge expectation they had. Moe they are much more conscious, which is good because there is probably more to come.
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Why is it very important to Elzbieta to have a religious symbol in their home?
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Like any normal family, we all have beliefs and symbols in the family. No matter if it is Jew, Christian, or whatever religion. Teta Elzbeta thinks that it would be better to have a religious symbol in their home. She thinks that having a religious symbol is very important. Teta Elzbeta is afraid that god will leave them when they are in times of need. This family needs something to believe in, they are going through some very rough times and having religious support now will help them in their journey.
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Why is Grandmother Majauszkiene's visit so disturbing? What does she tell her neighbors about their house, the neighborhood, and it's history?
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Grandmother Majauszkiene tells Jurgis and his family about Packingtown because she wanted to bring them to their feet, to reality. They had a lot of hope when they got to America, but life in America is not easy and that is what Grandother Majauszkiene wants them to know. She told them how hard it is for Lithuanian people in America, the poorest immigrants will work for long periods of timeand for little amount of money. They find out that their house was built fifth teen years ago, not like said in the advertisement.
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Describe the families difficulties.
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One of the difficulties Jurgis and Ona have to overcome is their debt, they have a debt of one hundred dollars. It is winter and it is abnormally cold, many family members are getting sick. They are always cold in the house, the heater can not even heat a room. They need to wast a little more money in Old Antanas funeral. These are very hard times but they can not let this keep on, Jurgis is an intelligent and ambitious man and i think that he can succeed if he wants to.
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What are some health issues?
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The family is passing through much misfortune in these times. Olad Antanas died of hemorrhage and coughing because he had got a feet infection. Stanislovas got sick because of excess drinking and eating in Ona and Jurgis wedding. Almost every child got sick because the milk they had drank was contaminated with water, preservatives and coloring. It was not pure. The whole family is practically becoming weaker day by day. Winter had caused the whole family to go to ruins and had put them all in bad health.
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What happened to Dede Antanas?
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He is being tortured in his job. His health status is getting worst every day that goes on he developed a continuous cough which is not normal. In the factory in which he works he stands in chemicals which begin destroying his working boots and begin affecting his feet. He gets infections and sores on his feet and one day suddenly because of this he can not resist the pain and falls. Many men have to carry him home because of this incident. He tried to get up but he could not and one day he dies because of hemorrhages due to his coughing, all because of the chemicals in the factory.
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Explain the analogy between nature and Packingtown? (Winter and weak branches).
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The winter in Packingtown is very harsh. They get to temperatures reaching negative ten to twenty degrees. It becomes hard for people even to walk from home to their jobs. In their jobs people would freeze, literally freeze. Factories would not have heaters for their workers and it became hard to kill cattle with this freezing temperature. Many people without a job also would suffer and freeze outside because they did not have anywhere to go. People would get together in saloons in order to drink and eat something to overcome the temperature and the dark winter which killed any and made others suffer.The city looked flowerless and the children hopeless in the family, they only had a heater which barely heated a room of the house, it was really harsh
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How do the winter conditions affect people in Packingtown?
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The winter in Packingtown was very cruel and hard. Like winter kills trees every day, it also killed people every day. The family was affected a lot with this winter. All the children i the family were sleeping in one bed and they used the families cloths to warm themselves, but this was still not enough. The house has poor insulation and the heater does not work, it cannot even heat a whole room. It is hard for some workers to go from their homes to work, many get their ears frozen and then they fall off.
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What event does Stanislovas witness at work and how does it effect him?
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Stanislovas witnesses a man going from his home to work and o the way it was so cold that his ears froze. Then when they were trying to heat them they fell right off his head. That is very sick and a very horrible thing to see. This made Stanislovas develop a fear of cold weather. There is no heat in the factories so men on the killing beds often put their feet in the dead carcasses of the cattle to warm their feet. This makes the factory and the meat that goes out more insoluble and dirty.
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What image of cold appears near the end of chapter 7?
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The winter in Packingtown is very harsh. They get to temperatures reaching negative ten to twenty degrees. It becomes hard for people even to walk from home to their jobs. In their jobs people would freeze, literally freeze. Factories would not have heaters for their workers and it became hard to kill cattle with this freezing temperature. Many people without a job also would suffer and freeze outside because they did not have anywhere to go. People would get together in saloons in order to drink and eat something to overcome the temperature and the dark winter which killed any and made others suffer.The city looked flowerless and the children hopeless in the family, they only had a heater which barely heated a room of the house, it was really harsh.
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Which two characters have taken a romantic interest in each other? How does this affect the family?
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In this chapter, Marija and Tamoszuis Kuszleika began to get interested in each other and they started a love affair. Tamoszuis finds out that Marija has the heart of a baby and he plays her the violin every Sunday afternoon. Tamoszius earns 'big money' by playing violin in events in the community, so he is helping the family financially. This is very important for the family because part of the money Tamoszuis earns goes to the family, and they really need the money. Marija has to keep her love with this man so that the family will keep on being benefited.
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How does Maria manage her money? Is this a positive or negative characteristic?
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Marija is earning a lot of money in the canning factory and she is retuning home with large sums of money. She paints the cans. She saves some money and the rest she spends it on items for the family. She is 'the real capitalist of the party.' But this all changes one afternoon when the canning factory is closes. She is told that they closed because there was no more demand for canned meat. So she gets angry and tries to find another job, but this will be difficult due to the amount of people being left unemployed.
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What causes Jurgis to "understand at last all their bitterness"?
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Jurgis starts understanding why the Unions are so angry and why the other workers i the factories have so much bitterness towards the factories. So when the union approaches him for the second time, he chose to accept and join the unions. He has now noticed that life in America is very hard and expensive. he now understands because there was less cattle to chop, so the workers who just stood there waiting for cattle to come did not get paid. Jurgis is now beginning to realize that he has to come back to earth, he has to see things with realities yes.
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Explain "broken time".
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Many people in factories today and during this times get paid based on the amount of time that they work. The problem with this comes when a person works for one hour and fifty five minutes but they will only get payed for one hour because he did not meet two hours. There is an example in the book with Jurgis and the people that work on the killing of the beds.They first suffer a lot because somedays the cattle takes a while to get to the place were they cut them so they wait in the freezing temperature for the cattle because all of it has to be cut the same day. Then when the cattle gets there sometimes they stay working until late at night, twelve or one in the morning. Then they get out of work and their floor bosses are in charge to pay them the hours that they have worked. If they work for hours and fifty minutes those fifty minutes do not get payed in any way. This creates a lot of tension between workers and floor bosses.
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When asked a second time, why is Jurgis more willing to join a union?
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The second time the union tries to approach Jurgis, he accepted. He accepted because he now understood the bitterness and anger that the other factory workers had towards the factory. Jurgis and many other factory workers are now starting to get paid less because there is not much cattle brought to the factory.
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What effect does the union meeting have on Jurgis?
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Jurgis now states going to all the unions meetings. Jurgis becomes a strong advocate of the Unions. He makes it his mission to try to sign up all the Lithuanian community to the union cause. With the Lithuanians he will "labor and wrestle in prayer, trying to show them the right," though many are not willing to accept his message.
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What difference has the union made in Jurgis's life?
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Since the moment Jurgis got in the Unions, he has change a lot. He is now more aware of the corruption and the unfairness of the factories. He is so into the unions that he decides to learn to speak English because he cant really understand anything they say in the Unions meetings. He enrolls in a school and takes night classes to speak and write in English. This will help Jurgis in many ways. He will now know when he is being swindled or lied. He will have more opportunities than before.
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According to Jurgis, how is America the same as Russia?
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In this chapter, Jurgis makes a very accurate and intelligent comparison between the United States and Russia. He says that he finds it hard to believe that the United States is any different from Russia, where there are rich men who own everything and where it is difficult for common men or the immigrants to make a decent living. But this is not just in the United states and Russia, in my opinion this happens all over the world, here in Honduras the people with money are the ones who rule.
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What is Jurgis's role in the election? Does he understand what he is doing?
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The night watchman leads Jurgis and a bunch of other guys to a polling station to vote exactly to vote.Jurgis tells this story to Jonas, who privately approaches this night watchman to offer to vote three times for $4. At the union, Jurgis's friends explain what has happened. They tell him that the United States is a democracy, with political parties.The two main political parties are so committed to beating each other that they cheat in elections all the time.One way that they do this is by buying votes for their candidates. Without knowing this, Jurgis became one of those votes. He was taken advantage of.
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What is the political system in Chicago like at this time?
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They have an extremely corrupt system, where the riches people pay people to become the most powerful people too. Then they pay to maintain their power, and make different kinds of advantages for them to make it impossible for somebody else to gain their power, and riches. Through this system they never loose their money, they maintain the best companies, with many benefits. They are able to stop any kind of competition, and over all they pay money to maintain power to maintain their advantages. Then they are in an eternal place of eternal money, and power.
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Who is Mike Scully?
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Mike Scully is a very wealthy and the most powerful man in Packingtown, he is the leader of the War- Whoop League. He is running for governor in the elections. He controls almost everything in Packingtown like the trash dumps and the lake of fetid waters. He is a very corrupt man and when they find out abut his corrupt deals and everything he pays someone else for the blame, then the person he blamed is sent out of the country. He makes immigrants citizens of the United States and then he pays them to vote for him. This happened to Jurgis, but he did not know what he was doing.
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What are some examples of situations that are hazardous to the workers' health and safety?
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Some of the health issues outlines in these chapter are when there is a carcass that has a disease, they just inject something to it add spices than it is canned and sold. They buy rancid butter and just oxidize it to get rid of the odor, then they re-churn it and sell it. Some of the butchers often get cuts and bleed, eventually this cut gets infected or something. Some people burnt with chemicals, but other fall into chemical tanks and they die there, the only thing that is left over are the bones. I think this just happens in Durham's because at the end of the chapter it says, "Sometimes they are overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out to the world as Durham's Pure Leaf Lard!"
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What financial difficulties are now encountered by the family?
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The winter turns into spring, but the family does not find their economic situation any better than before. Marijas canning factory is reopened but she is fired. She gets another job but she is only payed half. The pipes in the house burst, and the family has to pay an enormous sum for a plumber. When the family goes to pay their rent, the agent tells them that they must procure a new insurance policy on the house. Jurgis has a confrontational meeting with the man. He makes the agent clearly spell out all the costs of the house, and the sums are much larger than the family had originally thought.
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What perils are brought on by summertime and the heat?
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The spring brings its own trouble. There are many cold rains that turn the unpaved streets into mud. When the springtime turns into Summer, there are swarms of flies because of the garbage dumps. The workers in the killing beds have to withstand the unbearable heat. Since the factories are never washed or cleaned in any way, the oder stays and starts accumulating with more bad odor every day. This combined with the heat is like saying heat with the filth of a lifetime.
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In what way can union membership be a disadvantage?
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In the meetings, one would be scared to speak up and intimidated by the others. They were given money to basically spy on what other people are saying about their jobs. The union was just corrupted. Also, they didn't treat the foreigners the same because they didn't know an English. 5. Describe Marija's disillusionment. The factory in which she was working finally reopened and she continued to work but one day, she complained to her boss about something and she got fired so she couldn't no longer provide for the family like before.
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Why was Ona disliked by her boss, Miss Henderson, and by her coworkers?
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Ona has her own difficulties at her work. Ona is disliked in the whole factory by her co- workers and her boss because she is a decent married woman. But most of the co- workers that hate her are in brothels and they work as prostitutes. No wonder why she is hated so much. One thinks that brothels are disgusting and that women should not sell themselves into prostitution. She knows that for many of the women in Packingtown there is "no place a girl could go...where a prostitute could not get along better than a decent girl."
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How are Jurgis and Ona affected by the birth of their child?
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When Ona and Jurgis first find out that Ona is pregnant, the are very happy, but they know that it will be hard since they almost cant even feed themselves. Jurgis and Ona will have to work non stop. Ona has to go to her job a week after giving birth to the baby boy. This quick return to vigorous labor causes her to have "womb-trouble," which all the women of Packingtown suffer. She suffers pain in her body all day long, the only thing that can temporarily cure these pains are alcohol based medicine.
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Describe Marija's fears about the bank. Why did she wait outside bank? For how long? What did she do with her money?
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Marija fears that her 'paper bills' (money) will be lost or something in a fire. But then Jurgis laughs at her and tells her than her that the bank does not work that way, her money can not just get burned in a fire. She also fears that the bank goes out of business, so she passes by the bank every day to see that every thing is okay. I understand Marijas fear because she is a little ignorant and not as educated as Jurgis. She practically thought of the situation like a child would.
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What caused the "run on the bank"?
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There was rely never a run on the bank. First , Marija finds out that a fight that occurred at a saloon next to the bank caused the run on the bank. People gathered around the bank to watch the fight. So Other people assumed something was wrong at the bank, and panic spread and caused the 'run'. When Marija finally gets into the bank an has her money, she asked if she can redeposit but they do not let anyone who was participating on the run redeposit their money. Many people lost their job because they were waiting in line at the bank.
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What is the "trap" that Jurgis falls into? What are the implications of this event for the family?
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One day on the killing floor, a steer breaks loose of its chains, this is a very dangerous situation, and everyone gets away from it. Jurgis tries to get away from the steer and then his foot gets stuck in a trap that collects blood. Jurgis trying to get it out twists his ankle. But he does not notice it unit he gets home, it is all swollen. The next day Jurgis goes to work with his swollen ankle and the pain was so harsh that he passes out and a doctor tells him he should stay home until it gets cured. Jurgis is devastated by his inability to work, and the family is secretly frightened. It is hard for the family because they are very poor and cannot even get proper nutrition, so this will make their situation worst.
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What is the results of Stanislovas getting caught in the snow?
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The cold season comes again, there is a blizzard and then there is another snow storm and Stanislovas gets an awful frost on his fingers. He tries warming up his fingers but they are completely frozen. He gets his knuckles damaged for life and starts screaming in pain until Jurgis beat him to be quiet. Now every morning after this, he had to beaten before he left the house during the cold. As you can see cold weather is not Stansilovas friend. First he sees some mens ears fall of and now his finger get frozen.
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What happens to Jonas? What is the effect on the family?
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One day, Jonas simply disappears and no one knows what happened to him. The family goes to where he worked and asked his boss what had happened to him. His boss says that he just collected his weeks payment and left. This could mean that Jonas was killed in an accident or something and his boss was just trying to cover up the accident. But the family is very sure that he left and went to the countryside to get a better job. They said he hated his job and his life in packingtown. Since Jonas gave part of his money to help the family survive, now the family will receive less income.
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Describe the work experience of Vilimas and Niklojus. What "ins and outs" of their trade do they learn?
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The children got out of school to go to work. They sold newspapers. First a man takes their money and does not give them the newspapers. The next day they go again with more money and they sell papers but have their stock stolen by a man, however they cover the expenses that day, the next and they are begging to learn the tricks of newspaper trade. The kids find that they can sneak into the trolley cars to avoid paying fare. They learn to who they should sell the newspapers and what places to avoid.
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What happens when Jurgis returns to work?
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When the doctor tells Jurgis he has permission to go to work. He goes back to the killing floors and finds out that his boss had to give his job to someone else. So now he has to go wait in a line to get another job, he does not find work and he thinks that no one will ever give him a job. He returns home with the very bad news. Since Jurgis has a family to support, he faces poverty.
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Summarize the description of the demise of the working man at the conclusion of this chapter.
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An honest working man will always give more of himself than a dishonest one. Jurgis is a great example of a truthful working man. The thing is, that men who are hard workers and fight for their future don't live as long as the corrupt ones. For the corrupt ones it's easy to steal and lie, they don't have to put effort on their actions to earn, because they are selfish. The ones who have dreams they want to reach with their own hands, are definitely a lot more tired and worn out which is why they die before.
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Describe the circumstances surrounding the death of Kristoforas.
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Kristoforas had a hard time walking, it was probably almost impossible since he had a circumstance on his hipbone. He was also very weak since he had to work hard for money but his hip made it harder, making him get tired faster. He was also most of the time very sick, and the family had no resources in order to take him to a doctor who would actually help him. He actually had no other choice, him and his family needed as many working people as they could get. Obviously, his mom is very sad and she wishes she could have done more.
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What is it like to work at the fertilizer plant?
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Jurgis has no time to waste. He did not work for four months, and his family is in need of money. He goes to work to the fertilizer plant, which is in bad working conditions; actually it couldn't get any worse. This place smells really bad and all the wastes and the bones of the cattle are transformed into fertilizer. This place definitely isn't helping Jurgis health conditions since it is not a healthy place to be at, it just makes him weak and sick. Jurgis doesn't feel well when he works there, and the smell is so bad that his family members throw up when he gets home. Jurgis on the other hand, can't do much to change this because he knows he has to sacrifice his comfort for his family.
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What does the family decide that Vilimas and Nikalojus should return to school?
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The family decides to put Vilimas and Nikalojus back into school because they are starting to see the street as their home. They learn horrible things in it, including English slang and dishonesty. They are also exposed to many bad habits of others like gambling, stealing and the taking advantage of others. They do not want them to become bad kids, that might later be bad adults.
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Why did Elzbieta go to work? What is her job?
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Teta Elzbieta goes back to work because her children Vilimas and Nikalojus stopped working as paperboys and were put into school. Her job has to do with making sausage. It is very tiring for her because the job is long and pretty harsh. She has to stand next to and run the machines that create sausage. It is very repetitive, making it very boring.
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What nauseating "food issues" are decribed in this chapter?
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Food being sold from the factories is actually in bad conditions. Factory owners could not care less, since what they really look forward to is the gaining of more and more money. Meat that falls on the floor is picked up and put into the grinding machine, spoil meat is sold and sausages are filled with the urine from rats.
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Why is Elzbieta's "insensibility" described as a "gift"?
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Elzbieta had to work really hard in her new job. It was the hardest job she had had. It required her to stand upon her feet through unending hours. "It was stupefying, brutalizing work; it left her no time to think, no strength for anything" (Sinclair 135). Elzbieta's work was so time and energy consuming. Elzbietas's insensibility is considered a gift because to be insensible means that you cannot feel anything. If she was insensible it meant that she wouldn't feel the hardship of her work. This was a good thing because I don't think Elzbieta could have endured the pain.
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Explain the statement, "They had played the game and they had lost".
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At the beginning of the book, the family thought America was the land of opportunities. They came to this unknown country were all they had heard where tales about how everything was better here. I think that when Sinclair says that they played the game, he is referring to the 'game' every foreigner has to play in order to survive in America. It's a game of survival with no rules. A deadly game if you don't play it right. The family was competing against poverty in order to come out of their misery. They had failed to do so and still lived in the same conditions they did when they arrived to America.
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Describe Jurgis's struggle with his urge to drink. On what does Jurgis blame his difficulties?
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At first Jurgis had seen his fellow workers drink. He was invited to saloons but refused because he didn't want to be engaged in those types of behaviors. Jurgis started to drink and didn't tell the family. Drinking made his problems go away. It made him happy and made himself feel a man, but there was one problem. This feeling didn't last forever. "It was a battle that had no end, that never could have one" (Sinclair 137). Jurgis was in a constant battle because he tried to resist drinking when he realized what effects it had on him and the family. He blames his difficulties on his work and even sometimes on being married.
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Describe Ona's conditions.
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Ona was "going to pieces," and she "developed a cough." She was often hysterical, suffered from terrible headaches, and wept uncontrollably for no conceivable reason.
