Craft a 5 page persuasive essay that uses close reading skills to analyze how 1-2 passages from The Jungle call readers to recognize and address social injustice. For this assignment cite directly from the jungle by upton sinclair. only source should be the jungle by upton sinclair
Your argument should address at least 2 of the 3 questions below:
1. How does the text attempt to evoke affective responses conducive to social justice? How does it attempt to generate feelings like empathy, outrage, compassion, disgust, conviction, etc.?
2. How does the text convey the nature of the injustice(s) represented? What essential rights, values, and/or needs does it portray as violated or neglected?
3. What alternate and more just behaviors and systems does the text call for? How does it make such a call?
In answering at least 2 of those 3 questions in a coherent argument, you will ideally offer your reader some idea of what tools fictional narratives can use to orient readers’ minds toward social justice. A strong essay will also likely comment on why it matters that The Jungle call readers to recognize and address the social injustices on which they focus.
This essay should focus on close reading rather than contextualization/research. Dig into the mechanics of the passage(s) you analyze, consider things like figurative language, narrative perspective, narrative structure, etc. Some light research to define key terms could be useful, but I do not recommend extensive research for this assignment.
Essential Goals:
The essay’s thesis is arguable (i.e., non-factual and unobvious) and represents a plausible interpretation of the way in which 1-2 passages from The Jungle call readers to recognize and address social injustice. The thesis conveys possible answers to two of questions 1-3 above.
Nearly all of the essay’s claims can be easily understood as relevant to the essay’s thesis.
The essay clearly identifies enough relevant textual evidence from 1-2 passages in the novel to support its claims about how the text communicates a call for social justice, analyzing at least 4 direct quotes from the novel.
The essay’s claims and reasoning offer substantial, coherent answers to two of questions 1-3 above. The essay generally uses reasoning effectively to show how the essay’s evidence supports its claims and thesis.
The essay uses the MLA citation style to cite the analyzed text and includes an MLA style Works Cited (see this site and this site for more info; ask me questions if further clarity is needed).
The essay is 4-6 pages long.
The essay’s language is generally clear and free of grammatical errors.
Advanced Goals:
The essay’s combination of thesis, claims, reasons, and evidence presents a compelling, persuasive, thorough argument (one that is likely to sway readers and makes counterarguments difficult) about how 1-2 passages from The Jungle call readers to recognize and address social injustice.
The essay’s thesis clearly articulates the argument’s stakes (why it matters that we attend to The Jungle’s calls for social justice), effectively conveys the argument’s central claims, and signals some of the reasoning that will be used to support those claims.
The essay demonstrates complex, nuanced thinking about the ways fictional narrative and literary style can be used to alter how readers think about, respond to, and recognize social justice issues and the people related to those issues.
The essay presents convincing, detailed, precise claims and reasoning about how specific uses of language in the chosen novel invite specific affective responses, work to persuade readers that certain rights, values, and/or needs are both essential and neglected, and/or suggest (again in persuasive terms) alternate, more just possibilities for society.
The essay’s key terms are either clearly defined or already unambiguous, and those key terms are used with a precision that suggests a strong grasp on their meaning.
Paragraphs in the essay are crafted in ways that foreground the author’s argument, focusing on analysis and avoiding summary or contextualization that does not progress your argument. The claims around which paragraphs are structured clearly progress the essay’s argument or serve another logical function.
The essay presents a robust amount of textual evidence and the function of nearly all pieces of textual evidence are given thorough explanations that make evident how that piece of evidence supports the essay’s claims and thesis. The argument walks readers through how a piece of evidence does what they claim it does.
The sequencing of the essay’s paragraphs demonstrates the author’s understanding how their claims build on each other. Later claims follow logically from early claims.
The essay’s language flows in ways that make comprehension easy. It is unlikely that a skilled reader would need to reread get the gist of your meaning or would be “bumped” out of their reading process.
