Provide a summary of the book in the first part–about 2-3 paragraphs, no more than 3/4 of a page should be fine. And then answer: How does this historical novel relate the social, political and economic climate of the time?
Some issues you may want to consider in your essay:
How do the characters and the settings of the novel demonstrate the “shock of industrialization” and the “crisis of free labor” of the Gilded Age?
How do economics and class (or anything else) shape characters’ outlooks and action?,
Why, according to the novel, did the strike and resulting violence (on both sides) occur and take the shape it did? How did the characters justify their actions in the book and/or in real life?