Winter Break Assignment
The following assignment is aimed at responding to AP Concept 7.1.II Please see the details of
this concept on our webpage. You will also find links, helpful in completing this assignment. Each
section is weighted for an exam grade and is due upon return from the winter break.
1. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. (25%)
Following the public and political response to the publication of The Jungle, Upton
Sinclair said, “I aimed at the public’s heart, and I hit it in the stomach”. Based on
the historical events of the time period, Sinclair’s background and personal beliefs;
Why did he say this? And what do you think he meant by this statement?
Write up to one page responding to the above questions by reviewing the links
provided on our website and any other resources related to muckrakers.
2. Progressive Era Forum (25%)
1. Listen to NPR broadcast “Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved Forests”.
The link is on our website.
2. Read textbook pages: “Makers of America: The Environmentalists”
3. Type one page or more responding to the following questions.
a. What really caused the sudden upsurge in concern for preserving
America’s environment at the beginning of the 20th century?
b. To what extent was this concern motivated by nostalgia for an older America, and
to what extent by a desire to preserve nature and natural resources for future
generations?
c. What were the underlying issues in the debate between rational use
environmentalists and the more thoroughgoing preservationists?
d. How did the rise of modern ecological science tilt that debate?
3. Howard Zinn (25%)
1. Read Chapter 13 The Socialist Challenge
2. Write a page interpreting the following statement by Howard Zinn, provide
examples. (ie Panic of 1907------Taylorism blunted the rise of Socialism with new
efficient and effective ways of organizing production).
“Progressive reforms to some extent stabilized the capitalist system by repairing its
worst defects, blunt the edge of the Socialist movement, restore some measure of class
peace in a time of increasingly bitter clashes between capital and labor.”
4. Progressive Era Videos (25%)
Using the new AP DBQ format, write an essay that responds to the 2003 Free
Response Question Form B:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap03_frq_us_history_b_2
3077.pdf