Realism/Naturalism

homelessness

Elements of Realism1. Presented realistic, often grim portraits of the world instead of the idealistic characters of the romantic period.

Elements of Realism

2. Characters’ decisions influenced mostly by environment; freedom of choice limited by outside forces.

3. Characters “may” lack any morals or goodness.

Elements of Realism

4. Protagonists are ordinary people.

5. Settings (regionalism)/Dialect are important.

6. Stories can be shocking/unhappy endings.

Elements of Realism

Realism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation; it also describes works of art which, in revealing a truth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid.

Realism in photographs

Dead Confederate Sharpshooter in the Devil's Den - Gettysburg

Note the contrast between Romanticism & Realism

• Romanticism believes heroes die for a reason or cause — Realism does not.

• Romantics believe we make our own choices and determine our own destiny — Realism does not.

• Romanticism believes all men are good (or can be good) —Realism does not.

Emergence of Realism

• Drew portraits from real-life

• Shocked readers with grim depictions

• A realistic use of dialects and local color

• Use of satire or irony often present

• Breakdown of traditional values

• Misery of the poor or urban America

It was a literary movement that saw actions and events as resulting inevitably from biological or natural forces in the environment. 

Characters are governed by the forces of heredity, instinct, and passion.

What is Naturalism?

The "brute within" concept:

a)strong, emotional, and passionate characters that can be filled with qualities such as lust, greed, or the desire for dominance or pleasure

b)the fight for survival in an amoral, indifferent universe

What is Naturalism?

Emergence of Naturalism

• An extension of Realism

• People’s actions and beliefs did not result from free will

• Arbitrary outside forces of heredity and environment

• Human behavior based on instinct

• Humans as pawns manipulated by cruel indifferent forces

Regionalism vs. Realism

Regionalism –

a) (also called “local color”) is about the specific landscape, people, values, and way of life in different regions

Regionalism vs. Realism

Regionalism exhibited —

b) the growth of a national identity in American literature

c) the influence of nature over characters

Literary Term: Psychological Fiction

• Fiction in which the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the characters are of equal or greater interest than is the external action.

• Fiction that deals with the emotional or mental disturbance or anguish of characters.

Concepts: Relating to Naturalism

• Who / What are farmers at the mercy of?

• Does Haskins control his own destiny?

• Contrast Council and Butler in their relationship to Haskins

• Human condition vs. Human nature

• How much should we trust other people?

“Lion’s Paw” Annotation

• How does style differ from “Devil & Tom Walker” and Minster’s Black Veil”?

• What does Narrator do on pages 9 & 11?

• Allusions?

• Human condition vs. Human nature

• Compare/Contrast 3 main characters

• Is anything inferred at end?

What is Irony?

Is a difference between appearance and reality; or what is expected and what actually happens.

What is Dramatic Irony?

Something known by the reader but unknown to the characters;

or when a situation appears one way to the reader and another to the characters in the story.

What is reversal?

A dramatic change in the events of the story.

What is inciting incident?

The incident/event that begins the conflict of a story.

What is point of view?

The vantage point from which a story is told.

What is third-person omniscient?

The narrator can reveal the private, internal thoughts of any character.

What is a dynamic or static character?

Dynamic characters undergo change in a story or novel.

Static characters do not change in a story or novel.

7. What kind of irony is present in the story? How is irony important to the telling of the story?

8. What is the inciting incident?

9. What is the most important conflict in the story?

10. How is Mrs. Mallard a dynamic character? (How does she change?)

11. How does contrast exist in the story?

12. What is the theme of the story?

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