Upton Sinclair wasn’t always known as a muckraker. He worked hard to make sure his writing helped people. He wanted to help people in poverty. What started as one article turn into a bestseller book. Although most people believe Lincoln Steffens is the best muckraker, Upton Sinclair is the best because his book, The Jungle, helped save lives. Upton Sinclair was a boy who was exposed to two worlds. Upton was born in Baltimore, Maryland on September 26th,1878. He came from a southern family (“Upton Sinclair is born”, n.d.). He was the only child of an alcoholic, Liquor salesman and a prudish mother (“Upton Sinclair biography, n.d.). He was being raised on near poverty conditions, but through his mother’s wealthy family Upton saw the both the privileges of the upper class and downside to poverty (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.).
Sinclair moved to New York when he was ten. He became a ravenous reader and developed an ardent intellect
…show more content…
He wrote Oil!, published in 1927, about the Teapot Dome scandal (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.). He wrote Boston,published in 1928, about the controversial Sacco and Vanzetti trial (“Upton Sinclair is born”, n.d.). Both books got good reviews (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.). Eight years after Oil! was published it was made into an Academy Award-winning film There Will Be Blood (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.). Sinclair was involved in political activities. During the Great Depression Sinclair escalated his political activities (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.). Sinclair organized the EPIC movement (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.). EPIC stands for End Poverty IN California (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.). It was a program that was a base for Sinclair’s run as the Democratic Party’s candidate for governor of California (“Upton Sinclair biography”, n.d.). Sinclair was defeated, taking 37 percent of the vote with three candidates in the race (“Upton Sinclair biography”,
Upton Sinclair is most known for his criticisms of the meat packaging industry in his book The Jungle. For close to 2 months, Sinclair worked in a Chicago meat package plant in order to expose the hidden truths of the industry. This was one of the first examples of a journalist immersing themselves in the material coved in
Unlike Carson, who would find her naturalist roots to be her driving force, Sinclair's reasons for publishing his groundbreaking work would stem from his ties to the Socialist Party, rather than the actual material itself being covered. Sinclair would even go as to say that he had come to "write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor movement"(Arthur, 124) Carson and Sinclair would differ greatly on the subject of cause and motivation for their novels, regardless of the similar sized conflict and controversy.
Upton Sinclair was born in a small row house in Maryland, in 1878. When Sinclair was 10 years old, his father moved the family from Baltimore to New York. By this time, Sinclair had already begun to develop and interest and followed the works of Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley. When he turned 14, he attended the local college of New York and took several classes on English and Writing Skills to improve and create one of his own novels. At age 20 he finished his studies and decided to become a serious novelist and start writing his own book. During the same time is when he met his wife known as, Meta Fuller. Their relationship wasn’t very strong and this lead to Sinclair writing his first novel known as, Springtime and Harvest. In 1903,
Through college and ready to move on with his career as a writer and his life he began moving quickly. In 1900 Sinclair married Miss Meta H. Fuller. Sinclair had a child named David with her. The marriage was extremely tough though because both had very little money to work with and with the addition of his son it didn’t help the financial situation in the family. The marriage eventually failed though, Sinclair and Miss Meta H. Fuller divorced in 1911 as two very unhappy people. This gave Sinclair inspiration though to write a tale. The tale which was called Springtime and Harvest was a story about a man and woman who had very little. Ironically this was very similar to his marriage with Miss Meta H. Fuller. Sinclair also wrote another tale which was called The Journal of Author Stirling. This was a fictional story about a man who tried succeed as a writer but eventually failed. This story started to gain Sinclair attention as a writer and eventually put his name out there. Then Sinclair came out with a hit, he published The Jungle. Sinclair’s book The Jungle won him an extreme amount of fame and as a result he gained a lot of money too. The book was basically Sinclair giving the public a view of exploitation by factory owners back then. His book was an extreme success. Sinclair also wrote another great book, by the name of Dragons Teeth. This book was to give the public a view of the rise of Nazism and how quickly it was spreading. This
Born in 1878, Upton Sinclair came into the world with high prospects; his mother was from a wealthy family, and his father carried the respected name Sinclair. A hero of the War of 1812, Sinclair’s great grandfather had accumulated prestige. However, the Civil War along with Upton’s father’s alcoholism left the Sinclairs with little to their famous name. As a result, the family often moved from boarding house to boarding house, unable to pay the rent. Priscilla, Sinclair’s mother, was a polar opposite of her husband. She condemned all self-indulgences; even coffee, naming it a stimulant. Sinclair followed her example and never touched a drop of alcohol and practiced restraint in his marriages, diet, and lifestyle in pursuit of higher academic
In conclusion, Upton Sinclair has a strong opinion that the typical working man should quarrel for, and be granted more rights. When they get more rights, they boost their chance of supporting their families. Sinclair used his novel The Jungle to express many things about what life was
Sinclair was a muckraker, a journalist who exposed corruption, and was hired to write about and expose the labor
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr., was an American writer in the early and mid 1900’s. Having written over 100 novels none have stood the test of time and secured Sinclair's legacy other than “The Jungle.” Having exposed the terrible conditions of the meat industry, “the Jungle” managed to “secure [the] passage of the country's first Pure Food and Drug laws”(Arthur, n.d.). Although much emphasis is put on the novel, not many know about it’s author, Sinclair, and how his upbringing/education, personal life/politics, and final years shaped him.
Upton Sinclair was born in a small home in Maryland. His father was a raging alcoholic, mother a devout Episcopalian, who objected to the use of any substances. The extremes of such a relationship, one side a riches-to-rags liquor salesman, another a daughter of a wealthy family, left a lasting impact on Upton. Seeing both worlds gave him a broad view of how life could be like for those of the United States, helping fuel his ideals later in life.
Upton Sinclair’s views differed greatly from those of affluent leaders in the nineteenth century. In fact, Sinclair was one of few people who
Upton Sinclair was an American Writer who wrote nearly one hundred books and others works in several genres.
Though best known for his muckraking efforts that helped to end the Gilded Age, Upton Sinclair wrote nearly a hundred books in his lifetime. From a young age his mother encouraged in him a love of reading; when he could, Sinclair would read for up to fourteen hours a day. However, his childhood was also marked by poverty and by his father's raging alcoholism. His mother took a strong sense of morality against his father’s drinking and of all types of sinning. These strict morals implanted in him made the socialist party very appealing. Sinclair was willing to make small sacrifices for the greater good, especially since he had seen how damaging poverty can be. This poverty, alcoholism, and eventually socialism led to Sinclair’s strong sense
Have you ever heard of the book called The Jungle? This book was written by Upton Sinclair, a muckraker. Harry Sinclair Lewis was a janitor at Upton Sinclair's socialist colony and he was influenced by Sinclair’s idea of socialism. Therefore, their ideas are very much alike even though their childhood backgrounds were completely different. Upton Sinclair had a great impact on society by addressing social issues in the early 1900’s, so what is the significance of Lewis’s works? Some of his major representative works are Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith (“Assignment Five -- Sinclair Lewis Babbitt”). These books played a big role on muckraking the social corruptions in his time period.
Upton Sinclair came from a life of struggle. He did not start school until after he was ten years old, but was in college by the age of fourteen. He attended City College of New York until he was eighteen, and then he attended Columbia postgraduate. He studied literature, music, history, and philosophy. Sinclair’s childhood was a rough one. He saw two different sides to social class. Since his father was an alcoholic and would only work some of the time, he experienced the life of poverty. His mother wanting more for him, would send him to spend time with her upper middle class family. Sinclair grew up both wealthy and in poverty. This is a big reason, he was influenced
Born September 20, 1878 to Upton Beall Sinclair Sr. and Priscilla Harden in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother was a very strict Episcopalian who went to church every Sunday and abstained from drinking alcohol, coffee, and tea. Mr. Sinclair’s profession as an alcohol salesman soon led to his alcoholic nature. Soon after young Upton’s birth, his father moved the family to the big apple where his son would start schooling. At the age of ten,