1. History has shown man
the power of cause and effect

2. Each literary movement directly influenced what would come after it

3. from the Puritan focus on God and the afterlife...
Literature shows this
from the Puritan focus on God and the afterlife...

4. To the Age of Reason….

5. To a Romantic Age of Imagination….

6. What would be next...

7. Realism

8. Realism
Time Period:
Sought to portray life as it was really lived in a real, objective, almost factual way

9. The Civil War ended some of the U.S.’s innocent optimism
Immigration was changing the American population
Women were fighting for equal rights
Beginnings of Realism
WAR
Guten Tag!
Ni hao!
Bonjour!
Hola!

10. After the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution boomed, continuing to draw people to the cities, Realists worried that regional cultures would be forgotten

11. Reason for Shift Movement began after the conclusion of the Civil War
Industry started to turn fantasy into reality: the electric light, car, and telephone were developed
Readers now wanted to see life as it was, not as it ought to be or some creation of fantasy

12. Historical Elements Railroad transportation replaced the stage coach
This allowed authors to travel to different, diverse and new locations

13. Sub Groups of Realism
Regionalism: Captured the “local flavor” and spirit of regions
Naturalism: A philosophical viewpoint according to which everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted

14. Realists believed Romantics were too idealistic and unrealistic
Realists preferred to focus on real-life situations and problems
Romantics tried to escape from industrialization
Realists attacked it
Realist
I built a fire to try to stay warm
Romantic
I’ll day-dream about the beach to escape this cold

15. Values
Truth and morality are relative; it all depends upon your point of view
Humans are responsible for taking action to improve their own lives

16. Romantic Writing
Realistic dialect
Careful attention is paid to reality and detail, without idealizing anything (as Romantics did)
Character development is more important than plot development

17. Major Realist Writers Mark Twain --- Huckleberry Finn
Ambrose Bierce --- “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Kate Chopin --- “Story of an Hour” and The Awakening

18. Realism Review
Feelings of disillusionment
Common writing subjects (slums of rapidly growing cities, factories replacing farmlands, poor factory workers, corrupt politicians)
Represented the manner and environment of everyday life and ordinary people as realistically as possible
Sought to explain behavior (start of psychology)