LIT. PERIODS

1607–1820

Early American Lit.

1607-1820

1820–1865

American Romanticism

1820-1865

1865–1914

American Realism & Naturalism 1865-1914

1914-1945

Modern American Lit.

1914-1945

1945-Present

Contemporary American Lit.

1945-Present

American Realism &

Naturalism1865-1914

What is Realism?

A style & type of writing where writers sought to portray life as it really was...

Real characters,

real lives,

real jobs,

real problems

Romanticism = imaginative, positive, emotional

Romanticism reflected the spirit of optimism (overall)

But times were a'changing...

Realism was a reaction to and a rejection of Romanticism

New Forces Changing American Society

“Dark days of Reconstruction” (post Civil War)

Industrialism

Growing population in the West

Western Frontier becoming more civilized

Cities grow & expand (Fewer living on the frontier)

Greater divide between rich and poor

Literate working class

Charles Darwin

Realism & Naturalism:Literary Groups

1. Regionalists- Located their fiction and poetry in a specific

geographical section of the country

2. Realists- Down-to-earth, matter-of-fact depiction of everyday life

3. Naturalists- portray life as controlled by forces that no one can

change or even understand (heavily influenced by

Darwin)

4. Anti-Naturalists- tried to maintain traditional social, literary, or

religious values in their writing (optimism rather

than fatalistic)

Emily DickinsonAmerican poet1830-1886

https://www.youtube.com/wat

ch?v=BLeMZ5WIdrI

Mark TwainAmerican author and humorist

Pay attention to the

following when annotating

Twain:

SATIRE

LOCAL COLOR

REGIONALISM

Mark Twain Video