rise_of_realism

8/7/2019 Rise_of_Realism

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The Rise of RealismThe Civil War and Postwar Period

18501900


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What Is Realism?

Realism is a style of writing, developed in the nineteenth

century, that attempts to depict life accurately without

idealizing or romanticizing it.

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Library


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Realism vs. Romanticism

REALISM

Emphasizes accuracy

and objectivity

Depicts common,everyday heroes

Views the world

scientifically

Focuses on real-life

situations

ROMANTICISM

Emphasizes imagination

and emotion

Depicts larger-than-lifeheroes

Views the world

poetically

Focuses on exotic,

supernatural, and

imaginary worlds


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The Civil War and Realism

The Civil War was a major cause of the rise of realism in

America. The four-year conflict

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destroyed cities,

industries, and livesleft bitter memories and

economic desolation in

the South


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Technology and Realism

Technological advances also contributed to the rise of

realism in America.

Photography allowed people to see real, sometimes

dismaying, images of war and poverty.Telephones and coast-to-coast railways allowed more

people than ever to hear about events that affected the

nation.


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Science, Education, and Realism

Advances in psychology, biology, and geology

contradicted long-held beliefs about the nature of

humans, the world, and the universe.

More people, especially women, minorities, and thepoor, had access to an education and learned to read.

Newspapers and the new mass-circulation magazines

were widely read.


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Social Changes and Realism

In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S.

Constitution, outlawing slavery, was ratified.

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Industrialization led to overpopulation and poverty in

the cities.

The agrarian economy of the South was devastated by

the war and by the loss of slave labor.Many newly freed slaves and other Southerners moved to

Northern cities looking for work.


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Industrialization led to overpopulation and poverty in

the cities.

Immigrants from strife-torn

Europe arrived in greatnumbers.

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llection,New

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Northern cities grew quickly

and without planning. Slums

housed many of the new

arrivals.


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Realistic Literature

Contains themes that center on contemporary society

and on the lives of the middle and lower classes

Describes the details, even when unpleasant, of

everyday lifeFeatures characters drawn from the poor and outcast

of society

Avoids extravagant language in favor of simpler,

everyday diction


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Realistic Literature

Tries to show real life without letting personal feelings

or idealistic thoughts color the writing

Brings science to the story to explain human behavior


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Regionalism: American Realism

Regionalism is literature that emphasizes a specificgeographic setting and reproduces the speech,behavior, and attitudes of the people who live in thatregion.

Regionalist writers differed from strict realists byportraying their characters in a somewhat sentimentalfashion.

Some important American regionalists are Sarah Orne

Jewett, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Bret Harte, and MarkTwain.


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Naturalism: One Step Further

Naturalism is a nineteenth-century literary movement

that was an extension of realism and that claimed to

portray life exactly as it was. Naturalists

relied heavily on the new fields of psychology andsociobiology

argued that behavior was determined by heredity and

environment and was beyond human control

Important American naturalists include Stephen Crane,Theodore Dreiser, and Frank Norris.


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A Harsh Reality

A man said to the universe:

Sir, I exist!

However, replied the universe,

The fact has not created in me

A sense of obligation.from War Is Kindby Stephen Crane


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What Have You Learned?

1. Regionalism describes the speech, behavior, and attitudes

of the people in a particular geographic area.

a. true b. false

2. Realistic novelists reject

a. scientific explanations b. dialogue

c. accurate detail d. glorious heroes

3. Naturalists try to describe people

a. sentimentally b. idealistically

c. objectively d. romantically


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The End

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