1987 AP Exam Essay Responses

Question 1

                In Adam Bede, George Eliot eloquently discusses the difference between what she calls the “old leisure” and the leisure of the society of her own time.  She implies that the cause of the change from the old to the present was the new technological advances and a new yearning for philosophy and religion.  To illustrate this change, Eliot uses personification and imagery.

                Eliot uses personification when she begins to describe Old Leisure as a “rather stout gentleman of excellent digestion.”  She then goes on to discuss his habits and what aspects he has that the contemporary form of leisure does not, such as knowing “nothing of weekday services” in the church and not “being made squeamish by doubts and qualms and lofty aspirations.” All of these examples portray the effectiveness of Eliot’s use of personification to describe the qualities of Old Leisure.

                Eliot also uses imagery to convey her thoughts on the past and present forms of leisure.  In the beginning of the passage, she describes how the steam engine “only creates a vacuum for eager thought to rush in.”  In addition, she employs the technique of imagery when she describes Old Leisure “scenting the apricots when they are warmed by the morning sunshine.”  Both of these sensory phrases provide a better explanation of Eliot’s interpretation of the two separate types of leisure.

                Through the inclusion of the techniques of personification and imagery, George Eliot portrays how a rediscovery of religion, philosophy, and technology developed a distinct contrast between the leisure of the past and of the present.

 

 

Question 2

 

                In The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Sinclair advocates for social and political reform by writing the story of a fictional family of immigrants who move to the United States looking for a second chance and find themselves in a place which is worse than where they came from: Chicago in the early twentieth century.

                Upton Sinclair promotes social reform when he portray he family’s children taking up jobs to help support the family.  He demonstrates how no government regulations allow the children to lie about their age so they can work, instead of going to school to receive an education that could help their family out of ignorance and into long term success.  Children weren’t the only members of the family, besides the men, who sacrificed their livelihoods for the family.  One of the women had to put up with sexual harassment from her boss because she would be fired and blamed if she resisted.  Another woman of the family became a prostitute because the family was so poor.  All of these are examples of the emotional message Sinclair sought to express that the government needed to protect women and children, if not men, from wasting their childhoods or their dignity on jobs that were scarce and didn’t pay well.

                Sinclair also seeks political reform through events in the story.  The courts are influenced by the bosses of factories so they are biased against innocent workers.  In addition, a lack of political involvement results in unsanitary working conditions as well as corrupt food processing techniques, resulting in extremely unhealthy food for the public.  Lastly, during elections, the politicians paid off the poor to vote for them, demonstrating further the corruptness of the political system.

                Throughout his novel, The Jungle, Upton Sinclair encourages social and political changes as a result of his detailed illustration of a family’s trials and tragedies in industrial Chicago.