The Rise of Realism

1
The Rise of Realism

• From the Civil War to 1914
• By Ethan Young

2
Causes of Realism

• Greatest cause of Realism Civil War.
• Civil War led writers to abandon Romantic ideals.

3
The Civil War 1861-1865

• Began with attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina,
  on April 12, 1861
• Ended at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia on
  April 9, 1865.
• Casualties on both sides topped 1,000,000

4
After the War

• When the Civil War ended, many American writers
  were disillusioned with Romanticism.
• The days of Melville, Hawthorne and Poe were at
  an end.
• But a new generation of writers were about to
  come of age.

5
The Realistic Novel

• Realistic novels portrayed everyday life.
• Their characters were far from idealized they
  included poor factory workers, corrupt
  politicians and prostitutes.
• The subjects of Realistic novels were drawn from
  the slums of the cities and factories.

6
Realistic Roots Europe

• Realism has its roots in Europe it was
  well-established there by the time it came to the
  U.S.
• Realistic writers tried to represent the
  environment and manners of everyday life.
• They also sought to explain why people do what
  they do.
• Realistic novels relied on human and animal
  psychology.

7
Realistic Roots America

• In America, Realism has its roots in regionalism.
• Regionalism is literature that emphasizes a
  geographic setting and makes use of the speech
  and manners of those who live there.
• Some regional writers include Harriet Beecher
  Stowe and Kate Chopin.

8
Realism Social Influences

• Reformers and journalists begin to expose abuses
  in the mining and meatpacking industries.
• In the 1880s, thousands of European immigrants
  settled in American cities.
• Henry Ford invents the Model T in 1908 and
  drastically changes the American way of life.

9
Famous Realist- Mark Twain

• Mark Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and
  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• Both novels portray young boys in the pre-Civil
  War South.
• Both novels combine biting injustice in pre-Civil
  War life with a lyrical view of the American
  landscape.
• Twain used lots of regional dialect in both books.

10
Famous Realist- Stephen Crane

• Crane used lots of psychology in his books.
• His main interest was the human character in
  moments of stress.
• Crane was an ironist- he juxtaposed human
  illusions with the indifference of the universe
  in his novels.

11
Bibliography

• Barksdale, Allen. "Stephen Crane."
  Www.bgsu.eduSpring 1996. 15 May 2009
  ltwww.bgsu.edu/.../acs/1890s/crane/crane.gifgt.\\
• "Tom Sawyer." Glengarrypedia.wikispaces.com. 19
  Nov. 2006. Lower Canada College. 15 May 2009
  ltglengarrypedia.wikispaces.comgt.
• Vol. 5. Austin, TX Holt, Rinhart and Winston,
  2008.
• "Www.thehollywoodnews.com/.../1/mark-twain.jpg."
  Www.thehollywoodnews.com. 15 May 2009
  ltwww.thehollywoodnews.com/.../1/mark-twain.jpggt.