Into to fiction exam 1

lecture notes

How history is told:

-Commonly through wars, inventions, and famous figures rather than ordinary people’s lives.

-This leaves out the voices and experiences of the majority, especially marginalized or working-class individuals.

The missing perspective:

Literature, especially short fiction, often fills this gap by exploring everyday struggles, emotions, and failures.

• Personal loss or failure:

-Acts as a powerful teacher.

-Changes perspective by fostering humility, resilience, or empathy.

-Many short stories (especially in realism and naturalism) explore how characters respond to suffering and limitation.

Germany (18th century):

-Short prose first appeared in novels and collections.

-Influenced European and later American writers.

Grimm Brothers (Jacob & Wilhelm):

-Childhood and Household Tales (1812).

-Collected folk tales that reflected cultural values, fears, and morality.

-Stories like Hansel and Gretel → blend of entertainment and warnings.

Hans Christian Andersen:

-Wrote original fairy tales (e.g., The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling).

-More literary than folk-tale collections; often moral and emotional.

Washington Irving (U.S.):

-Rip Van Winkle (1819) and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

-Inspired by German folklore but rooted in American settings.

Edgar Allan Poe:

-Refined the short story as an art form.

-Pioneered detective and Gothic tales (The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher).

-Believed a story should be read in one sitting for maximum impact.

Nathaniel Hawthorne:

-Explored morality, sin, and guilt (Young Goodman Brown).

-Dark Romantic style.

Herman Melville:

Added complexity, moral ambiguity, and subtle commentary (Bartleby, the Scrivener).

takeaway from this lecture

Early short fiction evolved from folk tales → literary fairy tales → American innovations, mixing morality, imagination, and psychological depth.

Historical context:

-After the Civil War (1861–1865), literature moved away from romance and idealized stories.

-Writers turned to realism: portraying life accurately and focusing on ordinary people.

Features of realism:

-Everyday settings and characters.
-Dialects and detailed descriptions.

-Focus on believable struggles.

Local-color stories:

-Regionalism → capturing speech, customs, and traditions of specific places.

-Examples:
-Kate Chopin (The Awakening, “Désirée’s Baby”) → women’s struggles, gender roles.
- Sarah Orne Jewett (The Country of the Pointed Firs) → New England life.

Ambrose Bierce:

-An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge → blends realism with psychological depth and Poe’s influence.

-Themes: war, deception of perception, blurred line between reality and illusion.

Takeaway

Realism made literature more relatable, grounding it in regional voices, daily struggles, and the harsh aftermath of war.

Naturalism (1865–1940)

• Definition: A literary movement that pushed realism further, shaped by Darwin’s ideas of evolution and survival.

Key principles:

Determinism, Objectivism, Pessimism

Determinism

• Human lives are controlled by forces outside their control (nature, heredity, environment).

Objectivism

Detached, journalistic narration; authors observe rather than moralize.

Pessimism

Life often ends in defeat or tragedy.

Settings

Nature or society often act as antagonists—forces indifferent or hostile to human survival.

Common themes:

-Struggle for survival.

-indifference of nature.
-Powerlessness of individuals.
-Conflict between free will and determinism.

Takeaway

Naturalism portrays life as a harsh struggle, emphasizing humanity’s vulnerability.

Dynamic characters:

Change due to events, experiences, or insight (e.g., Crane’s Correspondent in The Open Boat).

Static characters:

Remain the same; do not grow or change (e.g., London’s Man in To Build a Fire).

Plot:

A man travels alone through the Yukon despite warnings. He underestimates the cold, fails to build a fire, and freezes to death.

Character:

• The Man = static; stubborn, arrogant, ignores advice.
  

• Lacks imagination → cannot grasp the power of nature.

Setting:

• Yukon wilderness = hostile, unforgiving.
  

• Cold is a force of nature punishing human arrogance.

Message/Themes:

-Nature is indifferent, not cruel—simply stronger than humans.

-Survival requires humility, respect, and wisdom.

Early Short Fiction

Imagination, folklore, morality (Grimm, Andersen, Poe, Irving).

Realism:

 Ordinary life, regional stories, post-Civil War truth-telling (Chopin, Jewett, Bierce).

Naturalism

Harsh forces of nature/society, determinism, survival against indifferent fate (London, Crane).

Popular American Modernists:

Sherwood Anderson

•William Faulkner

•Ernest Hemingway

•Katherine Anne Porter

•Richard White

Popular European Modernists:

Isaac Babel

•Joseph Conrad

•James Joyce

•Franz Kafka

•D.H. Lawrence

•Virginia Woolf