Upton Sinclair

Below is a free term papers summary of the paper "Upton Sinclair." If you sign up, you can be reading the rest of this term papers in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view this term paper.

Term Paper Title	Upton Sinclair
# of Words	848
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.39

Upton Sinclair
20 September, 1878-25 November, 1968
"Why should some people be rich and others be poor?" -Upton Sinclair

     Socialism refers to an ideology and the state of government based on that ideology.  Socialists claim to stand for the values of equality, social justice, cooperation, progress, individual freedom, and happiness.  They seek to realize these values by the abolition of the private-enterprise economy, also called capitalism, and its replacement by "public ownership," a system of social or state control over production and distribution.  The basis of socialism also lies on the abolition of the conflict of the social classes.  Throughout history, the poor have always been oppressed by the rich, ruling class.  Under socialism, the bourgeois, or middle class, would rule while practicing equality of all classes.
     One of the foremost advocates of socialism in this country is Upton Sinclair.  Born Upton Beall Sinclair on September 28, 1878 in Baltimore, Upton witnessed the best and worst of the American social classes.  His father, Upton Beall, was an heir of an affluent Southern family, a salesman, and an alcoholic.  Alcoholism caused his father’s death as well as his promotion of Prohibition.  Sinclair’s 1931 book, The Wet Parade, was his appeal to America for Prohibition.
     Sinclair’s childhood was spent in poverty and moderate wealth.  One night, he would sleep in a vermin infested slum while the next he slept in a posh home.  This lifestyle gave birth to his quest for social justice with only his writing as a tool..  Upton’s understanding of both worlds caused him to realize that it was not fair for some people to be rich while many others are poor.  His first story was a memoir about a pet bird he used to clear a colored boy of arson.  Argosy magazine paid him twenty-five dollars for that story.
     He began writing pulp fiction to establish economic independence from his alcoholic father.  He graduated from the College of the City of New York and then became a graduate student at Columbia University.  He was drawn to the Romantic poets, such as Shelley.  This inspiration moved Upton to write serious literature which used romantic idealism as their central theme.
     Sinclair joined the Socialist Party in 1902.  He immediately reflected this in his writing.  His focus shifted onto the abuses of capitalism and promoted socialism as a cure.  He founded Helicon Home Colony, a cooperative socialist colony, in 1906 in Englewood, New Jersey. He joine...

This is not the end of the termpaper! Register below to see the complete version of this term paper.

Membership Plans	Credit Card	Check

1 month membership

3 month membership (You Save 50%)

6 month membership (You Save 67%)

Copyright © 2002-2007 Mid Term Papers. All rights reserved. This term papers website is used for research purposes only.
If you have forgotten your username or password, please click here.
If you like to cancel your account, please click here.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22