1. Introduction to Realism/Naturalism/Determinism
The Rise of Realism:

2. I. The American Renaissance:
a giant shift towards humanism after the Civil War

3. Deism gave rise to Realism in literature
Social Darwinism Intercontinental rail system & transcontinental telegraph Influx of immigrants 1860 to 1910

4. A. Farmers: 1860 to 1919 1860 1919 J.P. Morgan John D. Rockefeller

5. B. Millionaires: from 100 to 1,000

6. C. From Debtors to a Major World Power: 1860 - 1914

7. D. Small Town Mentality Shrinks
The small town comfort and security gave way to an empty city life, displayed in the current literature

8. II. American Authors Stephen Crane Red Badge of Courage
The Men in the Storm
Open Boat

9. B. Jack London, Call of the Wild, To Build a Fire
"The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." Jack London

10. III. Realism in literature - the harsh reality of life
A. Life is Short: and then you die B. Survivors

11. IV. Sliding from Theism to Deism, to Romanticism/Naturalism
Wm. Faulkner Ernest Hemmingway Stephen Crane John Steinbeck From Providence to Self-Reliance

12. We see the American understanding of God move from a personal experience to that of an impersonal force, to that of denial of the existence of God.

13. V. Frontier Humor and Regionalism
Began in the 1830s: Casey Jones – railway engineer Paul Bunyan – giant logger Kit Carson – Indian fighter Davy Crockett – the scout

14. A. Local Colorists
Mark Twain
Samuel Clemens

15. Huck Finn

16. 2. Bret Harte

17. VI. Naturalism/Realism/Determinism - Common Themes Found in Literary Plots
The universe is unpredictable, spontaneous, and discontinuous.
Our fate is determined by our environment, heredity, and chance.
Free will is an illusion
Life is a cruel joke

18. VII. More Realism Authors - Crane, London, and Henry James
A philosophy of naturalism A literary expression of determinism

19. A. Stephen Crane (1871-1900) Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
A literary milestone in 1893

20. A. Stephen Crane ( )
The Red Badge of Courage

21. A. Stephen Crane ( )
3. Crane’s Poetry
A man said to the universe: "Sir, I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation."

22. A. Stephen Crane ( )
4. The Open Boat based on a true experience from 1896

23. 4. The Open Boat
Like Romanticism, naturalism/realism first appeared in Europe. It daringly opened up the worst of society with such topics as divorce, sex, adultery, poverty, and crime.

24. B. Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain (1835-1910), journalist, author, satirist
“All modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.” Ernest Hemmingway

25. 1. His Style of Humor
Deadpan humor Cigar White suit

26. 2. His Life and the Time he lived in
The real West

27. 3. Vernacular and Tall Tales
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) Huckleberry Finn (1885)

28. 4. The motifs that are predictable in Twain’s writing are as follows;
Vernacular
Exaggeration
Humor
Deadpan narrator
Unexplained appearance of a mysterious stranger.

29. 5. Mark Twain and God
I am plenty safe enough in his hands; I am not in any danger from that kind of a Diety. The one that I want to keep out of the reach of, is the caricature of him which one finds in the Bible. We (that one and I) could never respect each other, never get along together. I have met his superior a hundred times-- in fact I amount to that myself. - Letter to Olivia Clemens, 7/17/1889