The Rise Of Silas Lapham Essay

Europe had a fair amount of influence on the United States at this time. In addition to influencing American literature, theatre, music, fine arts, and fashion, European immigrants help shaped American life by bringing their traditions and cultures to the United States. In the 1870’s a new literary movement called Realism was on the rise in America. Three American authors wrote

Realism best represents the literary movement that America was facing at the time because the texts’ use detail that show how things really happened, how things really sounded, how they really looked, and used this literary style to get the reader more involved to see how the text will make them react while reading instead of just focusing on the narrator and the writer. While reading The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Twain says “ He never smiled, he never frowned, and he never changed his voice from the gentle-flowing key” (Twain 4). Twain uses these words to show real details that the other movements would never use in their

The American realists of the late 19th century were notably adept at creating deep, memorable characters --whether virtuous or villainous-- who are continuously developed throughout the tales in which they exist. These authors often used their protagonists for a higher purpose than mere storytelling, endeavoring to construct a critique of the times by placing the characters in opposition to their respective societies. As a result, the protagonist often becomes an unassuming type of hero to the reader, by courageously (or obtusely) defying convention, and doubting the ignorant assumptions of society. Three such characters that were born of American realism are found in the novels The Adventures of

Author, Ambrose Bierce, who is considered one of the Great American authors, wrote during the realism period. Particularly, in his work titled An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, written in 1890, we can see evidence of the characteristics, themes and style identified with the realism movement which was extant in American letters between 1850 and 1900. As a representative of such a movement, Ambrose Bierce, then remains on the most identifiable and iconic writers of his time.

Realism wishes to “revolt against the exotic subject matter… and for this reason it is also commonly referred as bourgeois realism.” One finds this aspect of realism as well in “The Lady with the Dog” in which

The literary rebellion, known as realism, established itself in American writing as a direct response to the age of American romanticism’s sentimental and sensationalist prose. As the dominance of New England’s literary culture waned “a host of new writers appeared, among them Bret Harte, William Dean Howells, and Mark Twain, whose background and training, unlike those of the older generation they displaced, were middle-class and journalistic rather than genteel or academic” (McMichael 6). These authors moved from tales of local color fiction to realistic and truthful depictions of the complete panorama of American experience. They wrote about uniquely American subjects in a humorous and everyday

What could be more real than the central problems faced in Pudd’nhead Wilson? The aspects of realism such as social class strife, economic trouble, and vernacular of the setting give Pudd’nhead Wilson sentiments of sympathy and sincerity (alliteration). The realism strikes empathy for the characters in the novel which makes the book so grand. Demonstrating realism (-ing), the novel brings emotion to the reader.

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first” (Mark Twain). Realism is a faithful representation of reality that isn’t swayed by unconscious bias or idealistic aims. Realism arose in literature from the period of the civil war where authors showed more truthiness in their writings (Campbell). Jack London and Mark Twain convey the theme that humans have faults through their different styles of writing in their works, “To Build a Fire” and “The Lowest Animal”.

Rebecca Hardy Davis’ Realistic Approach to Society in “Life in the Iron Mills” Initially published in 1861, Rebecca Hardy Davis’s “Life in the Iron Mills” was printed in a time when the United States was at war. Although the story itself does not speak about war, the story does depict the reality of life in mid-nineteenth century America. It speaks about the moral and social costs that industrialization has wrought to the divided nation. Concisely, it evokes realism and it is one of the literary movement’s greatest pieces.

The Realist literary movement brought many influential novels and short stories into American literature. The movement lasted for about fifty years, beginning around 1850 and ending in 1900. This was a huge time of change in America, with rising tensions between the North and South, the Civil War, westward expansion, and The Great Migration. Cities were quickly expanding and teaming with people looking for homes. Factory jobs were rapidly replacing farming and many Americans lived in city slums. Authors adapted to these changing times through their literature. This literary time period was greatly influenced by the influx of city factory workers and the poverty they faced. Many realist works are based on the gap in society between the wealthy and the poor. Realism was greatly influenced by the Civil War (1861-1865) and the post-war period. The Civil War influenced authors to write about the lives of soldiers and the average American person in a new light. Literature about the war at this time was rare and consisted mostly of letters and personal soldier diary entries. This literary time period was also greatly influenced by the westward expansion of

I picked Mark Twain, and he fits into the realism category because his writings represent reality and the truth. The goal of realism is to expose the hardships, heartbreaks, and realities of life. Also, realism shows what ordinary people go through in their lives. “The War-Prayer” by Mark Twain fits into the realism category. “The War-Prayer” is about people getting excited to send their soldiers out to battle.

Realism, in contrast to Romanticism, represents the reality of life in America. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, America experienced enormous industrial, economic, social, and cultural change. Realism focuses on showing everyday activities and events among the middle and lower class society without romantic ideas. In the early 20th century people started to pull away from fantasy and started focusing on the reality around them. Realism emphasises on truth, class, and social commentary.

"Authors began to focus their writing on ordinary people and their everyday lives" which caused the shift from Romanticism to Realism to begin.Many American authors were influenced by this movement ("Realism"). Realism inspired these authors to take into a deeper meaning the realties of life by further examining the obstacles and circumstances they have undergone (Marshall). The main ideas of literature shifted from giving people supernatural traits to authors portraying humans as the ordinary person ("Realism"). The major theme of this time period was to preserve the foundations that America’s forefathers laid down for the country. The Civil War was ultimately a second chance for the nation to rebuild and gain back the beneficial aspects that were overlooked in times of change. Realism began around the time of the Civil War and ended in early 1900. The changes in the writing styles shifted America’s views on the works of literature in the time period and caused a drastic change in the country (Leonard). Realists wanted to use the diction of the typical person to be able to connect to them and portray the concreteness of life

Beginning in the late 19th century, two separate movements spread across America know as realism and naturalism. While the two were very similar in their beliefs and ideals there were still many apparent distinctions to differentiate the two. Realism and naturalism showed themselves in many aspects of life, from art and sciences to new math techniques and even religion. However, above all else these movements may have been most evident in the literature of this time. Reading through American literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it becomes perceptible which short stories portray realism and which represent nationalism.

Realism is the portrayal of the reality of everyday life and period of literature between 1850-1900. Realist fictions speculate myths, assumptions, social norms, sentimentality, collective wisdom, and prejudices. Realism stories are usually about the middle-class people, and it aims to show a truthful portrayal of truth. Regionalism is a class of realist literature distinguished by closeness to the habits, language, dialects, manners, history, traditions, beliefs of a particular geographical region. Regionalism manifests the characters of both realism and romanticism. Romanticism is cultural the period from 1830-1860 in America. Humankind is naturally good. The characteristics of romanticism are passion and emotion, nature over the man, spiritual, intuition, and insight. "A White Heron," by Sarah Orne Jewett, is an example of local color because of its realism. Jewett uses characteristics of regionalism like dialogue to show the contrast between the locals and outsiders, habits, their daily activities, the dress, features of a place. "Editha" by William is the story of realism which has many characteristics of realism like details about war; he uses dialect to hold out the trend of the story, using middle-class peoples character. Dean Howell uses a part of romantic style but all together its categorized as one of the