1. Much Madness is divinest Sense - To a discerning Eye -
Much Sense - the starkest Madness -
’Tis the Majority
In this, as all, prevail -
Assent - and you are sane -
Demur - you’re straightway dangerous -
And handled with a Chain -

2. Three Questions using H.O.T.S. (Examples of Higher Order Questioning)
Literary- What image did Emily create at the end of the poem and why?
Thematic – Emily Dickinson believed that society is constantly judging those that do not follow the norm. How does she unfold the theme throughout the poem?
World Connection- Based on various global issues such America’s dominance in the world, do you think that Emily Dickinson would have changed her message? Why or Why not?

3. Introduction to the Rise to Realism 1860(Civil War) - 1914
Response to War
Idealism
Emerson was quoted, “sometimes gunpowder smells good.”
Result of War
Disillusionment
Industrialization
Influx of immigrants
Farms to cities (concentrated in 12 cities)
Unsanitary
Overcrowding
Difficult working conditions
“Wage Slavery”
Faithful Representation of Reality

4. Theory Applied After the Civil War people began to idealize progress.
Self-made men
Unethical business tycoons
Darwin’s theory of evolution and "survival of the fittest" was applied to society.

5. Romantic Writer’s Perspectives
Walt Whitman
served as a volunteer in a military hospital and saw first hand the appalling condition of the wounded soldiers.
Stayed optimistic (strength of character)
Herman Melville
saw the heroism of the soldiers, but also the futility of their deaths.
He wrote poems about the war that focus not on heroism, like Whitman, but on the evil of humanity.

6. Characteristics of Realism
Rejection of the idealized, larger-than-life hero of Romantic literature
Ordinary characters from cities and lower classes dealing with and realistic events
Avoidance of the exotic, sensational, and overly dramatic
Use of everyday speech patterns to reveal class distinctions
Focus on the ethical struggles and social issues of real-life situations

7. Realism versus Naturalism
Division between good and evil.
America where people may act foolishly, but where their good qualities win out in the end (“Smiling Realism”).
Elements of Naturalism:
Attempt to analyze human behavior objectively, as a scientist would
Belief that human behavior is determined by heredity and environment (out of individuals’ control)
Sense that human beings cannot control their own destinies

8. Interesting Authors Henry James Mark Twain Naturalist writer
Psychological novelists concentrated on the motivation of characters, placing them in the midst of complex social and psychological situations.
The American
Mark Twain
American Regionalist writer
Attempted to show reality using the language of specific geographical area
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

9. Most appropriate form to handle subject not developed
No writers to experience
Civil War Novels

10. --RECAP ---THE RISE OF REALISM
I. Responses to the civil war
A. Idealism
B. Disillusionment
II. The War and Literature
A. Accounts of soldier’s experiences
B. Major writers either dead or elsewhere
C. Most appropriate form—realistic novel not yet fully developed
D. For writers of 1860’s—poetry and pamphlets
III. The Rise of Realism
A. Romantic novels
B. Realists aim for “very minute fidelity” to the common course of ordinary life.
C. Subjects—slums of rapidly growing cities
D. Characters—ordinary people, shop girls, poor factory workers, corrupt politicians, prostitutes, etc.
IV. Realism and emerging sciences
A. Not just recording life, but asking why things are the way they are
B. Use biology, psychology and sociology to try to answer questions
V. Regionalism—literature that emphasizes a specific geographic setting and that reproduces the speech and manners of people who live in that region.

11. Class Work/ Home-Fun
Create a Brochure of the Characteristics of Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism (found in glossary of literary terms)
Read pages and
Create three questions that show your overall understanding of the historical time period. (Questions should be well thought out and mature sounding)