Realism in Literature By Samantha Hansalik

What is realism? Realism: Is writing that depicts a realistic everyday life of an average middle class person. Characters and plots were often based around factual events and people, and it aims to show a truthful representation of reality

What are the causes of the people’s sudden interest? As the United States grew rapidly after the Civil War, the increasing rates of democracy and literacy, the rapid growth in industrialism and urbanization, an expanding population base due to immigration, and a relative rise in middle-class affluence provided a fertile literary environment for readers interested in understanding these rapid shifts in culture that led to an increase of realism in literature.

Info graphic: Newspapers Published in United State

Why did people read realism? Realism started around the civil war because: The rise of industrialization Stories they could relate too rather than Romanized ones people of the middle class wanted to be able to sympathize with the literature Atlantic Monthly Much of the popular writing in the decade after 1865 was sentimental trash pandering to preconceptions of middle-class readers. Magizines like Atlantic Monthly overflowed with stories

Mark Twain Samuel Clemens -> Mark Twain: riverboat expression used to describe the depth of water Spent childhood in Hannibal, Missouri style was humorous and descriptive, capturing the colloquial voice of American speech with slang and iconoclasm. first well known short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” to depict and even satirize the difference between easterners and westerners.

Mark Twain famous works “Life on the Mississippi” Accurate portrayl of everday life living on the Mississippi “ The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Portrays realism with his clever use of phonetically spelled dialogue rather than correct dictionary spelling of words

William Dean Howells “A Modern Instance” Told the story of a couple who’s marriage was impossible to mend, and ended in divorce Why is this realism? Because its plot is relatable and is common in everyday lives

William Dean Howells said that, “Realism is nothing more, and nothing less, than the truthful treatments of material”

Henry James A realist The American and The Portrait of a Lady Dealt with issues such as feminism and difficulties faced with the modern world Major themes: Clash of American and European cultures Close-up exmination of wealthy The American (1877) told the story of the love of a wealthy American in Paris for a French noble woman who rejected him because her family dissparoved of his commercial background The Portrait of a Lady (1881) described the illusionment of an intelligent woman married to a charming but morally bankrupt man and her eventual decision to remain with him nontheless

How can you tell if a piece of literature is Realism? Depicts reality closely More emphasis on characters and his purpose, rather than the plot and action Characters are most often the middle class All events in the piece are plausible Word choice and diction is everyday vernacular

Gilded Age The Gilded Age, was a period of rapid economic growth but also much social conflict

Activity Time A piece by mark twain How does he describe the gilded age? What is his attitude toward this time period? Mark Twain and Charles Warner called the years after the Civil War, the gilded age. They called it this because of the greed and the frenzy of the marketplace. They believed that the corruption in politics and the serious problems of society had been covered by a thin coating of gold.