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REALISM, REGIONALISM AND LOCAL COLOR

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Realism: an attempt to realistically portray life as it really was Nothing exists but you (Twain). In this quote, Mark Twain puts human nature into a cold reality. This harsh realistic view of life is portrayed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Regionalism:Literature that incorporates the broader concept of sectional differences that focuses geographically Local color:The customs, manner of speech, dress, or other typical features of a place or period that contribute to its particular character

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Realism, regionalism and local color are important because they provide a more realistic view of what life was truly like in the time period of the literary work; thus allowing a better understanding of the events that take place and the characters actions. Why is it important?

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Realism: My Jim The wars over long time ago but I still aint tastes my freedom (Rawles 155). It is a testament to Rawles skill that Sadies experiences feel all too painfully real, and sadly, this is a world without happy endings. Even when Jim is free, and then finally and far too late Sadie as well, emancipation feels a lot like slavery (Schulman 2). Literary Criticism Theme: Society vs. Freedom Reveals the harsh reality of societys lack of acceptance After end of slavery Blacks were still enslaved to whites

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Essential Question #1 How does the language/ writing style of the text reveal the values of the society of the literature? Rawles language shows how Sadie values her freedom. The realism is that she accepts she isn't going to be able to acquire her desired freedom. The values of society in the south went against the idea of a black person being truly free.

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Realism: My Jim Nobody sleep that night. Lizbeth and Jonnie ask me where they Daddy. Why he aint here with the rest of us. He somewhere safe I says. He gonna come and steal us away (Rawles 89). Rawles relied upon new research revealing more about the daily lives of slaves to show how Jim and Sadie --- like real-life slaves in the South --- created family in the midst of chaos, and, whenever they could, sought stability in an environment that offered none (Bates 3). Literary Criticism Theme: Loss of family demonstrates the realistic struggles of slave-life During Slavery the separation of families was common Shown throughout My Jim Jim Lizbeth & Jonnie

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Essential Question #2 How does the author use language to convey a sense of life, culture, and/or time of the novel? Rawles language shows the harsh reality of this time. Families are torn apart. African Americans have no control over their lives.

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Regionalism: My Jim I all the way feels free in the woods when I holding my mamas hand and she telling me the plants (Rawles 142). Her narrator, having been denied Western education, develops the traditional skills her mother taught her and becomes a skilled herbalist and conjure woman. Sadies Congo bowl, in which she mixes her healing herbs, is decorated with the powerful symbol of a cross that depicts how the African spirits intersect with their representatives on earth. The continuity between the slaves and their spirit ancestors is one of the few sources of hope in which Sadie can take refuge (Hower 3). Literary Criticism Theme: Escape leads to Freedom The woods = center of life Sadies source of making a living (healing through herbs) The woods = a place of history (reached out to spirits & ancestors) Passage of escape

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Local color: My Jim One night in the woods we dancing and calling the spirits when a great light pass in the sky. It aint like the night sky fall and Jim aint seem to know nothing about it. Mama says its the spirits on fire (Rawles 37). My Jim is an enduring love story as much as it is a chronicle of slavery and resistance to it (Bates 2). Literary Criticism Theme: Spirituality resists the Southern social norm Spirituality common among all slaves secretive (in the woods) resisted slavery and social norms through the contact of spirits Way to bring out own custom in order to outweigh the Souths strict way of life

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Bibliography Bates, Karen Grigsby. "'My Jim': A New Take on a Twain Classic." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Haggs, Melissa. "MelissaHagg." Examining the River in Terms of Symbolism in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Hower, Edward. "'Huckleberry Finn' Spin-off Imagines Wife of Escaped Slave Jim." SFGate. N.p., 13 Mar. 2005. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Krauth, Leland. "Mark Twain: The Victorian of Southwestern Humor." N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Mintz, Steven. "Rethinking Huck." Rethinking Huck. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Schulman, Helen. Never the Twain. The New York Times Book Review. (Jan. 30, 2005): Book Review Desk: p26. Literature Resource Center. Gale. Council Rock High School South. 17 Oct. 2008