The Jungle: Chapters 11-15

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

So far, you have read about many of the dangers that the working poor of Packingtown face while working in the meat-packing industry.

Before continuing, if you missed or need to review the previous lessons, you can find them in the right-hand sidebar under Related Lessons. Recount as many of these hazards as you can for your parent or teacher. Despite the various types of physical and mental perils workers of all ages faced, there was yet another adversity facing the female workers: the very real threat of sexual harassment. Earlier in the novel, Sinclair writes that Ona's female supervisor also works at a brothel, or house of prostitution, and that several other girls from the ham-sewing department also work there to earn extra money. Ona, however, has managed to avoid falling into a life of prostitution for the two years that she has worked at Durham's factory.

Although we may think of sexual harassment as a contemporary issue only, Upton Sinclair's depiction of sexual harassment was founded on fact — women were sometimes faced with unwanted advances from their employers in the early twentieth century. To learn more about the history of sexual harassment, read the following excerpt from Directions in Sexual Harassment Law, by Reva B. Siegel, Yale Press (below). As you read, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper:

• In what type of employment were women most commonly subject to sexual harassment?
• Who did society blame for sexual harassment in the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries?
• Even though rape was illegal, why did women not receive legal protection from sexual harassment?
• Why couldn't women sue for monetary damages in sexual assault cases in the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries?
• Why were poor women particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment in the workplace?

Read the section of the Introduction titled, "Some Historical Perspectives on the Practice, Protest, and Regulation of Sexual Harassment," on pages 3-8 of A Short History of Sexual Harassment, by Reva B. Siegel, Yale University Press via Google Books, and answer the questions. Once you've answered the questions, discuss your findings with your parent or teacher.

Now that you know more about the historical background of sexual harassment, read Chapters 11 through 15 of The Jungle. You can use a print copy of the novel or read an online version of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, from Project Gutenberg. As you read, take notes on the sexual harassment that Ona encounters at work and how she chooses to deal with the situation.

When you have finished reading, move on to the Got It! section to explore the issue of sexual harassment in the novel more deeply.