Realism / Naturalism / Modernism in American Literature

Literary Periods

Realism (1865 – 1900) “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin (p. 628) “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce (p. 480) “War is Kind” by Stephen Crane (poem – handout)

Naturalism (1900 – 1920) “To Build a Fire” by Jack London (p. 596)

Modernism (1920 – 1945) “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter (p. 834)

Literary Terms

verbal irony situational irony stream of consciousness dramatic irony symbolism tone foreshadowing

Realism (1865 – 1900) “Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.” – William Dean Howells

 Attention centered on the immediate – the here and now  Character more important than plot  Interested in surface details, common actions of the middle-class society  Stressed the actual as opposed to the imagined  Reacted against Romanticism; rejected heroic, adventurous, or unfamiliar subjects  Optimistic view – still saw America as the land of hope

Naturalism (1900-1920)  Relied heavily on the fields of sociology and psychology  Dissected human behavior with complete objectivity  Influenced by Darwinian theories of survival of the fittest  Behavior determined by heredity and environment  People were portrayed as being manipulated by forces of society and nature beyond their control

Modernism (1915-1946)  Reflected feelings of uncertainty, disjointedness, and disillusionment  Focused on uncertainly, bewilderment, and apparent meaninglessness of modern life  Themes were implied rather than stated  Hero is passive, flawed, defeated by life  Stream of consciousness in writing style, shifting points of view

Romanticism Realism

1820-1865 1865 - 1914 Characters may be “larger than life” -- e.g. Characters resemble ordinary people -- e.g. Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, Devil and Huck Finn, Editha, Frederick Winterbourne, Tom Walker Daisy Miller

Plot contains unusual events, mystery, or Plot is developed with ordinary events and high adventure -- e.g. Poe's stories circumstances

Ending is often happy Ending might be unhappy

The language is often “literary” (inflated, Writer uses ordinary speech and dialect -- formal, etc.) common vernacular (the everyday language spoken by a people, sometimes called slang) Settings often made up; if actual settings Settings actually exist or have actual are used, the focus is on the exotic, prototypes strange, mysterious -- e.g. Melville’s Marquesas islands, Cooper’s woods and frontier, Poe's gothic chambers

Writer is interested in history or legend -- Writer is interested in recent or e.g. Irving, Poe contemporary life

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