Post-Reading Portfolio

Movie Review -(Norma Rae)

     A movie that portrays a work-related struggle is “Norma Rae”.  The role of Norma Rae was played by Sally Field.  Sally Field did a very good job in this movie.  She made you understand just exactly what Norma Rae was feeling and the difficulties of all the obstacles she faced.

     Norma Rae was a great woman who believed that the factory that she worked for deserved better working conditions.  She did not protest because she felt she had no one to support her.  Norma Rae met a Union organizer who was there to help the factory workers fight for better working conditions.  But the factory workers would not listen to what he had to say for fear of losing their jobs.

     When Norma Rae's boss started noticing that she was getting involved with the union organizer he knew that he needed to keep a closer eye on her. Once Norma Rae noticed that they were watching her she knew that she was in danger of losing her job.  Knowing this did not stop her from trying to keep her co-workers from being afraid to speak up for their rights.

     It wasn’t long before Norma Rae and the union organizer were able to convince the factory workers to listen about the benefits of having a union. They held meetings in a church late at night.  At these meetings they would tell the workers of all the advantages of being apart of a union.  They told them how being a part of a union could better their working conditions and how Unions assist employees to gain the right to bargain collectively over wages, hours, and benefits.  Eventually the workers agreed to follow the union.  Because of this, the factory employers decided to fire Norma Rae as she was beginning to cause too much trouble and they had her arrested.  Norma Rae was now unemployed. However, this did not bother Norma Rae because she knew she had achieved her goal in organizing her co-workers.

     When the time came for the workers to vote on whether or not they wanted a union representation, they voted for a union and felt that they would have better working conditions.  Even though Norma Rae was unemployed, she was satisfied with the knowledge that she made a difference and that workers were going to get the benefits they long deserved.  She had great pride in knowing she was a big part of it all.

     Norma Rae was a very strong woman, who faced many obstacles and always found a way to surpass them all.

Letter

A letter from one character in the United States assessing the situation and trying to decided if the family would be better off returning to the "old country."

Dear Jurgis,
 
 During the past couple of years you have written me letters telling me about how hard your stay in America has been. You said that things were going to be better out in the Promised Land? Instead of being better they have turned out to be much worse. I thought that America was the land were you could be free and make a better life for yourself and not be taken advantage of.  The way I see it is you were better off back home here in Lithuania.  Here in Lithuania we don’t have the technology and the education that you might find in America but at least you were happy you had your family, not matter what the obstacle we are happy.  Your children were forced to quite school and go out and find jobs.  That’s the life you want for your family. No one in the family deserves this harsh treatment.

When you explained to me in your last letter about what happened with the house, I was very furious. How could there actually be people out in America that would take advantage of people who are trying to make a better leaving. How could you take the family into a place where you yourself knew that you had been taken advantage of? Did you not read the contract before signing it?  I understand that you were probably excited about the purchase but you have to be careful.  This is your first time in a strange country you don’t really know what to expect.

Well, if you ask me I think you should pack up your family and move back to Lithuania.  But it’s not my decision and I know you are smart enough to make the right decision and I know you will make the right the decision.  I just want you to know that I support you 100% and I will always be here for you whenever you need me.

 Just remember I’m here.  Take care of yourself Jurgis.
 

Part III: Research Paper

Knights of Labor

Knights of labor American labor union originally established as a secret fraternal order. It is notable in United States and Canadian labor histroy as the first organization of workers to advocate the inclusion in one union of all workers without regard o skill, sex, or nationality. As its ideal, the Knights of Labor projected a society based on cooperative industrial and agricultural enterprises owned and operated by workers, farmers, clerks, and technicians constituting them.

The Knights of Labor was founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by the American garment worker Urah Stephens and a number of his fellow workers. Workers in all trades were eligible for membership, physicians, lawyers, bankers, professional gamblers or stockholders, and liquor dealers were excluded. During its first few years, the Knights of Labor functioned as a secret society using an elaborate, ritual. It grew slowly until the economic depression of the 1870's, when large numbers of workers joined the organization. The secret and fraternal nature of the order was eliminated in 1881, and it began to function as a trade union. It adopted a policy of militant action against employers and played important part in the strikes by coal miners and railroad workers in 1877.

The first general assembly of representatives of local organizations of the Knights of Labor met in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1878. The assembly projected a number of sweeping reform, including institution of the 8 hour workday, abolition of convict labor, prohibition of employment of children under 14 years of age, institution of equal opportunities and wages for women in industry, and establishment of a bureau of labor statistics. The assembly also adopted the policy of inclusive unionism, where all workers, regardless of race, creed, craft, trade, or degree of skill, and all other individuals and groups expressing sympathy for labor were eligible for membership in Knights of Labor.

Part IV: Literature Logs

Literature Log
Chapter 12

    In this chapter Jurgis is put to two months bed rest due to a twisted tendon out of place in his ankle. The doctor told him that if he went to work before that time he might lame himself for life. In this section the author really makes the reader feel the pain and hurt and agony Jurgis and his family are going threw now that Jurgis is out of work. The author really makes you feel the bitterness that Jurgis feels when he took all his anger out on his family. He would beat his children if the complained or cried. Most of all Jurgis took it out on his wife Ona. Ona late at night would throw herself on the bed that Jurgis was confined to for the next two months and cry demanding to know if he really did love her. Jurgis not knowing what to make of these things would not know what to say or do so Ona would just forgive him and cry hers elf to sleep.

    Jurgis was finally able to go back to work. When Jurgis went back to his previous job the foreman told him that it was not possible to keep his job for him and with that Jurgis knew that this meant that the foreman had found someone else to replace him. Jurgis is now forced to go out and find a job. Jurgis went out there with no confidence because he was no longer good looking and healthy looking. Jurgis was weaker. Everywhere he went there was no work for him. He did everything he went to the union and begged them to put in a word for him. He went to people he knew, asking them for a chance. There was no work available to him anywhere. But that didn't stop Jurgis from going out there and making the rounds again. Jurgis would go out there the next day and go to the same places he went to the day before hoping that there will be an opening. Jurgis showed a lot of determination and desperation in this section.
 

Literature Log
Chapter 13

    In this chapter there has been a death. The death of a little cripple boy of older than the age of three but no bigger than the age of one. The death of this little boy was very hard on the mother. The mother went around asking for money from people so she can be able to give her child a funeral. With the money people gave her she was able to give her child a mass and a plot in a cemetery. The way that the author described what the mother went threw and the pain she felt really was moving and you can sympathize with her.

    Jurgis in this section finally finds a job in a fertilizer plant. Jurgis learned the work very fast as if he was a natural. Jurgis was not happy working there but it was work and he needed the work to support his family. The author describes how bad the working conditions were working in the fertilizer plant. He describes how the smell of was very bad that it stuck with you for days. Jurgis would go home to his family and they would not even want to eat at the dinner table because of the smell he brought home. The author also mentioned how exhausted Jurgis would be at the end of a workday. He could scarcely stand.