AMERICAN REALISM

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AMERICAN REALISM

• 1865-1910

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HISTORY

• The years following the Civil War symbolized a
  time of healing and rebuilding.
• In literary circles, however, this time period is
  full of upheaval and struggle.
• A literary civil war raged between the Romantics,
  the Realists, and the Naturalists.

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More History

• The industrial revolution took place at the end
  of the 19th century and changed the country in
  many ways.
• People left the country and went to the city to
  live.
• With new machinery and equipment, the economy
  focused on factories. Farming was no longer
  relied on so heavily.
• The immigration boom occurred. People worldwide
  flocked to the USA.

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Literary Wars

• Verbal wars were waged over the ways that
  fictional characters were presented in relation
  to their external world.
• Using plot and character development, a writer
  stated his/her philosophy about how much control
  mankind has over his destiny

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American Realists vs. American Naturalists

• American realists believed that humanitys
  freedom of choice was limited by the power of
  outside forces.
• A person has choices and some freewill, but
  environment and others can hamper those choices

• American naturalists supported the determinism
  movement.
• They argued that individuals have no choice
  because a persons life was dictated by heredity
  and the external environment.

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HOW THE GENRES PORTRAYEDTHEIR CHARACTERS

• Romantics a god
• Realists simply a person
• Naturalists a helpless object

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Regionalism

• Their writing was regional, emphasizing specific
  geographic settings and made use of the speech
  and manners of the people that live in that
  region.
• In the face of modernization, people feared the
  loss of traditions and folk ways, so writers set
  their stories in specific American regions.

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Characteristics of Realism era

• They drew on the grim realities of life, the
  breakdown of traditional values, and the growing
  plight of the new urban poor (read ghettoes).
• Realists built their plots and characters on
  ordinary, everyday lives. They clearly
  communicated the complexities of the human
  experience.