Stephen Prothero applies a unique analytical model for text selection in his anthology The American Bible: Whose America Is This? At the heart of Prothero's model is his nuanced definition of Americanness; for him it is not necessary to agree with a “set of propositions” that define national identity. Instead, an American is one who is willing to argue about these propositions. Prothero's model can be reduced to two components; a text worthy of entry into the American canon must attempt to define the character of America and must generate controversy. Prothero structured his anthology along the lines of the Bible: for his section on Lamentations, he selected Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and included a sample of names from Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Book of Lamentations is the dirge; the heartbreaking lament with which the author expresses for the Jerusalemites in exile leads us to reflect: how much emotional pain can a people endure before hope is lost? Using Prothero's analytical model, Upton Sinclair's 1906 classic The Jungle should be included among Prothero's other selections for his section on Lamentations because it exceeds the parameters outlined by his analytical model. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayOnly some of the documents in the American Bible are reproduced in full. If you want to seriously consider including The Jungle in the anthology, you need to take logistical constraints into account. Americans typically misunderstand the broader meaning of Sinclair's novel. The Jungle was written as a socialist exposé whose central goal was to cast capitalist industrialization in the worst possible light. Focusing on the socioeconomic upheaval and immobility of a Lithuanian immigrant family, Sinclair famously noted that he "aimed at the audience's heart, and accidentally hit [them] in the stomach." Rather than fomenting discussion about class struggle and the plight of immigrant and urban industrial workers, Sinclair's novel acted as a catalyst for major safety reforms in the meatpacking industry in the United States, as the most graphic scenes of the novel concern food and safety issues. A healthy balance between Sinclair's socialist intentions and American concerns for public safety seems like a representative textual sample of The Jungle that includes both of Prothero's parameters of inclusion. In the context of the logistics of inclusion in the anthology, the most shocking scene found within the text is probably at the end of the twenty-first chapter. . The protagonist of the novel, Jurgis, returns home and finds a dead silence among the cohabitants. "What is it?" he exclaimed again. […] He walked towards the staircase and Aniele grabbed his arm. "Ninth!" he exclaimed. "Don't go up there!" "What is it?" cry. And the old woman answered him weakly: "It's Antanas. He's dead. He drowned in the street!" The song narrates a tragic turn of events in Jurgis' life. Ironically set in spring, Jurgis's infant Antanas, named after his deceased grandfather, drowns in a puddle outside caused by heavy rains when he had just begun to recover from the death of his wife Ona. The next chapter deals with Jurgis's reaction. until the death of Antanas. The narrator tells us that “[t]his was no world for women and children, and the sooner they got out of it, the better for them.” Instead of going to a bar and getting incredibly drunk, as he did after his wife's death, Jurgis fled to.