Realism, Regionalism, and Naturalism
(1850-1913)
Colby McCollum
&
Jennifer Baker
Regionalism
• Regionalism the different types of writing in different areas.
• In the south many people started writing about how slavery was
good and how they hated the slaves and abolitionists.
• A lot of this writing was one sided and considered ignorant and
disregarded in the literary world.
Regionalism (continued)
• Some of the more famous
books that demonstrate
regionalism are Tom
Sawyer and Huck Finn
written by Mark Twain.
• This picture depicts the
widely knows scene of
Tom Sawyer, where Tom
tricks his friends into
whitewashing the fence
and get his friends to give
him their possessions.
Naturalism
•
•
•
•
Naturalism is a type of writing that
doubts the ability for man kind to
make moral choices and
standards.
Authors wrote of characters that
were totally controlled by their
world and environment giving the
theme that the world is what truly
influences a person’s decision.
Also the idea of where a person
will go in life is determined by his
heredity and success of his
business.
Some naturalists believed that
their life was out of their control
and they were at the mercy of all
powerful forces.
Naturalism (continued)
• Usually derogatory to
the human race,
called people evil by
heart.
• Naturalism was also
used in war
propaganda calling
the enemy evil.
Realism
• Showed life as it really was
• Used language of ordinary
people
• Idea that success brought
greed, materialism and
corruption
• Books about slavery became
popular in the north.
Realism (continued)
• Realism like
naturalism was used
as propaganda in the
civil war. The union
told of the horrible
things slave owners
did to their slaves.
Inventions
• During this time
period many
inventions were made
that served as the
base of today’s
technology such as
the car.
• The first car was
made by Henry Ford.
Warfare
• The rifles were more
accurate and powerful
because they had
grooves on the inside
of the barrel to cause
the bullet to spiral.
• Artillery also became
more powerful and
could shoot even
farther.
Clothes
• Clothes during the
time period were
relatively nice. Men
wore suits and
women wore big
dresses that covered
their body.
Music
• Classical music
• European music was
imported the US.
Camera
• The original camera
was created and
became more widely
used.
• Took a long time for
the camera to flash
and that’s why no one
smiled when they got
their picture taken.
Train
• Railroads changed
America
• Increased the speed
of transportation of
people and goods.
• Helped bring supplies
to the war front.
Airplane
• Created in the early
1900’s.
• The birth of air
transportation and
combat.
Immigration
• After the civil war
many people began
moving to the US.
• Population sky
rocketed.
• All these different
cultures brought their
traditions molding the
US.
Ambrose Bierce (1842- 1914?)
• Born in Ohio and raised on a
farm in Indiana.
• He was raised in extreme
poverty, which gave him a
pessimistic view of the world.
• His writing was also shaped by
his career as a Union officer in
the Civil War.
• Legacy- “Tales of Soldiers and
Civilians”(1891).
• “Can such things be?”(1893)
Mark Twain (1835- 1910)
• Given name: Samuel
Langhorne Clemen
• A river boatmen named
him “Mark Twain”-which
means “two fathoms
deep”
• He loved life on the river
as a young man.
• Novels: Tom
Sawyer(1876) and
Huckleberry Finn (1884)
Jack London (1876- 1916)
• London grew up in San Francisco in extreme poverty
• He left school at age 11 and did odd jobs, but despite the
long hours of work, London would read constantly.
• Books inspired him to travel and experience the world
• Best works- The Call of the Wild in 1903 and White Fang
in 1906.
Kate Chopin (1850- 1904)
• She had a conservative,
aristocratic childhood
• She was born in St. Louis,
Missouri, the daughter of a
wealthy business woman.
• In 1882, her husband died and
she had to raise 6 children on
her own.
• So, she returned to St. Louis
with her children and started to
write.
• Kate Chopin became one of
the most controversial writers
of our time.
• Most famous novel- The
Awakening in 1899
Types Of Literature
• Short stories: fictional prose narrative that tends to be
more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction
• Novels: a long written, fictional, prose narrative
• Poetry: a form of literary art in which language is used
for its evocative qualities in addition to, its ostensible
meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete
poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in
poetic drama, or lyrics.