I Hear America Singing

These prompts can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before or after reading the paired texts.

Pre-reading Prompt:

Before you read the poems, consider images that come to mind at the mention of the word industry. Refine your focus to images of industry from the 1800s to the early 1900s. Then, narrow your focus again to images of industry in the midwestern city of Chicago. List the scenes, places, workers, or objects you envision in each step.

Next, to preview some ideas of industry in Sandburg’s “Chicago,” read this short article on “The History of Chicago Transportation,” with close attention to the information on freighters, railroads, and stockyards. Then, read this brief description of the way in which Chicago’s industry led to its selection as the site of the 1893 World’s Fair—a notable and, to many, shocking victory over competitor New York City. Finally, widen your scope on industry by looking briefly at pieces of visual art in a 2017 Smithsonian exhibition entitled “A History of Labor in America, as Seen Through the Faces of Its Workers.”

How does the notion of industry play out across these resources? What different ideas on the definition of industry now come to mind?