Realism Unit

Realism Definition

 a reaction against Romanticism and focused on the necessity of verisimilitude to understand the human condition in this time period

Background Information

• aesthetic taste changed from romantic idealism to realism.

• Many writers felt that the romantics-- with their focus on the spiritual, the abstract, and the ideal--were being idealistic/dishonest about life as it really was

• The realists felt they had an ethical responsibility to be honest and thought that the romantic impulse had led to escapist literature that presented life as we wished it to be, but not life as it was

• In the face of Civil War and Industrialization, many realists wished to depict life honestly in the hope that seeing social conditions accurately would lead to improving those conditions

• Increasing rates of democracy and literacy; The emerging middle class

Elements of Realism

• ordinary people, daily life

• an objective to reproduce

• use descriptive language but don’t interpret the significance of a scene

• reflect the way characters from a certain region would truly speak

• urge of social reform

• characters have complex personalities, often with flaws

• recognize the complex reality of human psychology

• Writers and speakers use allegories to convey (semi-)hidden or complex meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey

Naturalism Definition

took a scientific approach to emphasize how instinct and environment affect human behavior

Naturalism Characteristics

• an even more accurate picture of life than is realism

• a person’s life/death/fortunes is determined by heredity and environment and not by free will

• a person inherits personal traits and compulsive instincts and is subject to the social and economic forces in their life

• Think about the concept of Nature vs Nurture

Local Color/Regionalism

• incorporates regional differences in dialect and culture to make universal statements about the human condition

• Realist writers set their stories in specific American regions in order to capture the “local color” before it was lost

• Slow paced narratives, allegory and symbolism

verbal irony

when what is said is the opposite of the literal meaning

dramatic irony

when the audience knows something the characters don’t

situational irony

when the opposite of what is supposed to happen happens

picturesque

visually charming or pleasing

foil character

a character who contrasts with another character, usually the protagonist, to highlight qualities of the other character (example: harry potter and draco malfoy)

Explain what caused the shift from Romanticism to Realism and how it is reflected in the literature of the time. In your response, consider: How changes in society, technology, and history (such as industrialization or the Civil War) influenced writers. The values and themes of Romanticism (emotion, imagination, nature, the individual) compared to those of Realism (everyday life, ordinary people, social issues, accuracy). How this shift might represent a broader change in how people viewed the world and humanity’s place within it. 

• shift occurs when people want to focus on the issues in life instead of imagining the good parts

• occurred around time of Civil War, it was hard for people to ignore their misfortunes

• feeling of injustice influenced people to argue/write using logic which was the opposite of the ideas of Romanticism

• the concept of individuality dissipated when the Civil War required people to come together to fight

• instead of imagination, people saw the reality of their situation and wanted to reason

• writers began expressing this, discussing everyday life and experiences

• the change of attitude in the people influenced writers to move away from the values of nature and more towards the effects of nature on people

• they began to move away from intuition and instead argues about social issues

• this represents how people saw the world as a harsher and more violent place to be

• because the injustices and realities were highlighted in literature, it was hard for people to ignore Realism

What was the purpose of the poems relating to the new idea of Realism? This includes “Stanzas on Freedom”, “Free Labor”, and “Protest”

—