1. 1870- 1910

2. About Regionalism  The country was 100 years old and well-settled as far west as the Mississippi River (and a little beyond) and as far south as the Florida Keys.  Each region had its own local distinctions, which writers from each area called “local color”  Mark Twain is an excellent example of a regionalist “local color” author. He wrote about the southwest region along the Mississippi River including Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

3. MAP of “Old West” in Twain’s Time Frontier Wild West

4. Elements of Regionalism  Josephine Donovan, an expert on American Literature, connects regionalist, or local color, literature to specific realistic representations. She specifies the genre as "depicting authentic regional detail, including authentic dialect, authentic local characters, in real or realistic geographical settings, but with a light-hearted tone.” [2] [2]  This quote supports our textbook’s list of elements that include descriptive techniques in the areas of setting, dialect, characterization (habits), tone, and mood. Regional writers also tend to use a lot of analogies.

5. About Realism  Realism is a subcategory of Regionalism that involves the same elements, but contains a more serious mood and tone.  These stories introduced the dangers of the Wild West and Frontier regions, the devastating details of war, the unpredictability of nature, and, at times, the relational decay and disharmony of relationships which was unusual for fiction during that era.  Realist authors we will look at are Jack London and Kate Chopin.