the filth of a lifetime...

(No, I'm not referring to the girl.)
Since we're 8th graders, we must take the CSTs (California Standardized Tests). They're these tests on math, english, history, and science that students take all over California to "measure our progress", but they're really to give the school money. I like it though, because we don't have to go to our classes and we get out early. Our schedule for Monday thru Friday is: homeroom, testing, lunch, testing. Each testing period is about 2 hours, and since each section of the test we're taking during that time is about 30-35 questions, we usually have a lot of free time. They advised us to bring a book.

The book I'm reading during this time is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I got it because I like to read old books, but only the most influential or the ones considered "classics". Plus, the passages I read of it on the internet were interesting.

Since it was written in the early 1900s, it's literary style is a bit different than books from this century, but, surprisingly, not that much. Actually, I wasn't that surprised. I can read it as easily as any other book, but sometimes I find that I went over a whole paragraph without visually comprehending what it said. That might be because of it's tiny print.

So far, it's very good. Although most people think of all the "Pure Food Laws" it brought, it has many great qualities as a novel. Upton Sinclair is a good author. Unfortunately, people care more about their stomachs than their hearts. In addition, most students will only think of it as homework and see no point in gaining any literary enrichment by reading it again.

So, that's it for today. If you haven't guessed, the title of my post is a quote from The Jungle. Page 104, to be precise.

First edition cover, 1906

Upton Sinclair when he first achieved muckraking fame. Isn't he cute?