Honors Realism Tenets

Very little plot; lots of storytelling revolving around the community and its rituals

Regionalism

Nature is at best indifferent towards man and at worst hostile towards him

Naturalism

In women’s local color, heroines are often unmarried young girls

Regionalsim

Diction is natural vernacular, not heightened or poetic

Realism

Characters are marked by their adherence to tradition

Regionalism

Free-will is limited; self-determination is impossible

Naturalism

Common themes are violence, survival, and the breaking of taboos

Naturalism

Themes show a resistance to change and a nostalgia for an always past golden age

Regionalism

Character is more important than action

Realism

Narrators are usually educated mediators between the rural characters and the urban audience

Regionalism

Tone can be comic, satiric, or matter-of-fact

Realism

Characters are complex in temperament and motive

Realism

Settings are frequently remote and inaccessible

Regionalism

Characters are often ill-educated, unsophisticated, and drawn from the lower classes

Naturalism

The only reasonable response to the world is resignation

Naturalism

Social class is important

Realism

Setting may sometimes be a character itself

Regionalism

Man is a victim of forces beyond his control

Naturalism

Events are plausible; avoids sensationalism and the supernatural

Realism

Emphasis on nature and the limitations it imposes

Regionalism

Concerend with how a character is a product of a region rather than individuality

Regionalism

Man is an animal equally subject to the laws of nature as any lower species

Naturalism

Plots often present a slice-of-life, which are chronicles of despair

Naturalism

Objectivity in presentation is important

Realism

Exploit certain geographic regions to present the distinct culture of that region through dialect, customs, setting, and character types

Regionalism

Emphasis on versimilitude even at the expense of plot

Realism