Realism (1870-1910)

A literary trend where writers depicted life and people as they were. They wrote about everyday activities and experiences.

Realism explained why ordinary people behave the way that they do

Writers moved away from Romanticism and Transcendentalism in part due to the Civil War (1861-1865)

People had a romanticized view of warfare, believing that it would be full of glory and bravery, but these attitudes changed quickly

People abandoned their romantic idealism after the bloody war.• Popular literature reflected that change, and we

got realism.

Writers to Know Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

and Huckleberry Finn Stephen Crane: The Red Badge of Courage,

“The Open Boat” (died at 28 of TB) Frederick Douglass: Narrative of the Life of

a Slave Ambrose Bierce: “ An Occurrence at Owl

Creek Bridge” Charlotte Perkins Gilman: “The Yellow

Wallpaper”

Realism in Art

The Gleaners, Jean-Francois Millet

McSorley's Bar, John French Sloan

During the Era of Realism…

Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address (1863); slavery was soon abolished

The Civil War divided the country; first war documented by photographs

First transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869

Emily Dickinson wrote 366 poems in 1862

Regionalism In post-Civil War years, the US was

growing so quickly, Americans felt that they were losing their regional identities.• People were proud of the things that made

them unique• Writers tried to capture and record the

character of the country’s distinct regions Ex: The use of regional dialect of the South in

Huck Finn

Question What makes a region unique?