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Being A Naturalist Writer By Frank Norris

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Being a naturalist writer means that one must accurately depict the details of everyday life. Perhaps one of the greatest naturalist authors in the United States of America was Frank Norris. Norris took what he knew from his life in San Francisco, found great inspiration, as well as what was going on in the time period, and put it onto paper. The critics of the time did not acclaim Norris’ novel, they condemned it. Was this portrayal of real life too authentic for the people at this time period in history? Benjamin Franklin Norris was born on March 5, 1870 in Chicago, Illinois. When he was 14, Frank Norris moved to San Francisco with his family. From 1890 to 1894, he attended the University of California, Berkeley to study literature. …show more content…

It was published in 1901. This novel focus’ on the “economic and social forces involved in production, distribution, and consumption of wheat” (Encyclopaedia Britannica 1). The Pit, published in 1903, was the second book of the trilogy. It centers around the “wheat speculation on the Chicago Board of Trade” (Encyclopaedia Britannica 1). Norris died on October 25, 1902 from peritonitis caused by the rupture of his appendix (Spartacus-Educational 1). His untimely death left unanswered questions. Norris was unable to write the third and final novel of the trilogy, The Wolf. This book was rumored to tell the story of a European village afflicted by famine and saved by wheat grown in America (Encyclopaedia Britannica 1). Unfortunately, no one will know for sure what that novel would have been about. Throughout his whole writing career, Frank Norris had many different people who became his inspiration. While studying at Berkeley, Norris had a professor by the name of Joseph Le Conte. Professor Le Conte “argued that God is immanent in nature, is resident in the natural forces which account for evolution, and uses evolution as His method of creation” (“Frank Norris” 1). Norris believed that evolution threatens free will and, that human behavior was steered by heredity and a primal nature that was beyond control. Another very influential man for Frank Norris was Herbert Spencer, a Victorian biologist, social philosopher and a firm believer in Social Darwinism. Spencer

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