Excerpt adapted from
Early Factory Labor in New England
by Harriet H. Robinson
In 1832, Lowell was little more than a factory village. Five "corporations" were started, and the cotton mills belonging to them were building. Help was in great demand and stories were told all over the country of the new factory place, and the high wages that were offered to all classes of work-people. These stories reached the ears of mechanics' and farmers' sons and gave new life to solitary and dependent women in distant towns and farmhouses.
The working hours of all the girls extended from five o'clock in the morning until seven in the evening, with one half-hour each, for breakfast and dinner.
Those of the mill-girls who had homes generally worked from eight to ten months in the year. The rest of the time was spent with parents or friends. A few of these girls taught school during the summer months. Their life in the factory was made pleasant to them. In those days, there was no need of advocating the doctrine of the proper relation between employer and employed. Help was too valuable to be ill-treated.
Passage 2
excerpt from
The Spirit of Discontent
by anonymous
"I will not stay in Lowell any longer; I am determined to give my notice this very day," said Ellen Collins, as the earliest bell was tolling to remind us of the hour for labor.
"Why, what is the matter, Ellen? It seems to me you have dreamed out a new idea! Where do you think of going? and what for?"
"I am going home, where I shall not be obliged to rise so early in the morning, nor be dragged about by the ringing of a bell, nor confined in a close noisy room from morning till night. I will not stay here; I am determined to go home in a fortnight."
"And so, Ellen," said I, "you think it unpleasant to rise so early in the morning and be confined in the noisy mill so many hours during the day. And I think so, too. All this, and much more, is very annoying, no doubt. But we must not forget that there are advantages, as well as disadvantages, in this employment, as in every other. If we expect to find all sunshine and flowers in any station in life, we shall most surely be disappointed. We are very busily engaged during the day; but then we have the evening to ourselves, with no one to dictate to or control us.
1
Select the correct answer.
Read each passage. What is a difference between the two passages?
A.
One is a description of general conditions, while the other is a story with dialogue.
B.
One presents the mill work as pleasant, while the other presents it as harsh.
C.
One shows how individuals feel about the work, while the other does not discuss workers.
D.
One gives a realistic point of view, while the other gives a dishonest point of view.