Question

On paper, you will write a 3 paragraph creative write about being in Jurgis' shoes, working at the meatpacking plant; Durham Leaf and seeing all of this on your first day of being there. In your creative write, I want you to talk about how you would feel walking into the plant on your first day and seeing the conditions in which you're expected to perform your duties/tasks. Include in your response, explain 2 reasons as to why someone might want to/might not want to make a living working there. Make sure to cite 2 jobs/duties mentioned from the story in your responses 😊



***This assignment will be formatted in MLA format on paper. Your name, my name, class period, date, last name and page number, and a title. Your paper must also include between 5-6 sentences for each paragraph 😊***

Answer 1

[Your Name]
[Teacher's Name]
[Class Period]
[Date]

[LastName] 1

First Day at Durham Leaf

The first step into Durham Leaf felt like stepping into another world—hot, sour, and alive with motion. The slip and clatter underfoot made my stomach drop as I watched men move with a kind of dull hurry, each face set as if the day were an enemy to be outrun. I felt the weight of my family in my pocket and a cold knot of fear in my chest, wondering if my hands would hold steady where other hands had steadied with practice. The noises—chains, saws, shouted orders—pressed against my head and dulled my thoughts, and the smell settled into my clothes like a promise I could not wash away. By the time I reached the rail, I understood that this place would not give me a moment’s slack.

On the killing floor I watched butchers cutting up carcasses, men sawing through bone and stripping hides while others stood at long benches packing meat into cans. The sight of a man at a bench, methodically trimming and wrapping, and another running the conveyor with buckets of offal passing underneath, made the work seem both routine and brutal. Tasks like cutting, trimming, and canning required speed and a kind of practiced cruelty to ignore what was happening to the animals and to the men themselves. Foremen moved among the lines like governors, measuring output and patience with the same glance, ready to replace anyone who slowed. I felt my hands itch for a knife and my mind tighten against the sights—I would have to learn fast or be ground down.

Two clear reasons stood out for why someone might choose or reject this life. On the one hand, the plant offered steady pay and immediate work; a newcomer who could endure the killing floor and the long hours of packing meat into cans could bring home wages that meant food and a roof for a family. On the other hand, the danger and degradation were constant: the cutting tables and saws were hazardous, disease and injury were everyday risks, and the filth and exhaustion wore men down quicker than the wages built them up. Standing at the gate at the end of my first day, I felt torn between relief at having found employment and horror at the cost it demanded, knowing many had no other choice but to trade health and dignity for a steady paycheck.