1. Comparing literary movements

2. What is Regionalism? Local color or regional literature focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. Between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century, this mode of writing became dominant in American literature.

3. Setting The emphasis is frequently on nature and the limitations it imposes; settings are frequently remote and inaccessible. The setting is integral to the story and may sometimes become a character in itself.

4. Characters Local color stories tend to be concerned with the character of the district or region rather than with the individual: characters may become character types, sometimes quaint or stereotypical. The characters are marked by their adherence to the old ways, by dialect, and by particular personality traits central to the region. Use of narrator: educated observer

5. Plot It has been said that "nothing happens" in local color stories by authors, and often very little does happen. Stories may include lots of storytelling and revolve around the community and its rituals.

6. Themes Many local color stories share an antipathy to change and a nostalgia for an always-past golden age. Thematic tension or conflict between urban ways and old-fashioned rural values is often symbolized by the intrusion of an outsider or interloper who seeks something from the community.

7. Shared Techniques Use of dialect to establish credibility and authenticity of regional characters. Use of detailed description, especially of small, seemingly insignificant details central to an understanding of the region. Frequent use of a frame story in which the narrator hears some tale of the region.

8. Regionalism writers Mark Twain Bret Harte Hamlin Garland Joel Chandler Harris William Faulkner William Styron Robert Frost Sinclair Lewis Henry James John Steinbeck Dashiell Hammett Kate Chopin Harriet Beecher Stowe Eudora Welty Sarah Orne Jewett Willa Cather Harper Lee

9. Twain’s First Success "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865) was Twain’s first great success as a writer, bringing him national attention. In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley and his “celebrated jumping frog”.

10. Now, close your eyes… What am I wearing? What is currently hanging on the back bulletin board? What color are the walls in this room? How many book shelves are in this room? Are there more boys or girls in this class? What object is sitting above the white board on the left side?