Introduction to Realism 1.Begins with the Civil War 2. Uses local color/regionalism – Portray the way real people act/speak/dress in a particular area or region of the country 3.New in literature – the use of dialect – created by phonetic spellings y’all instead of you all etc. Reflects not only a characters education but indicates the region they are from.

Watch “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” - http://vimeo.com/15147706 What might be important about bridges during the Civil War?

1. What does the word “occurrence” tell you about this incident 1. What does the word “occurrence” tell you about this incident? (was it a major event? A minor one?). Explain 2. Think about the story – why do you think the director chose to film this in black and white (yes – it could have been in color!). How does the use of black and white contribute to the story? 3. What clues/events in the story hint that this might not be all real? When do you know for sure? Discuss as a class – How/why is this story an example of realism??