Intro to Realism and Naturalism - English 3 for Teens!

Introduction to New Unit

Transition from Romantic period to Realism and Naturalism.
Focus on the era post-Civil War, around 1870, marked by societal trauma and realism in literature.
Emphasis on real lives and the complexities of human experience, moving away from emotion and imagination.

Realism: Literary movement originating in mid-19th century Europe as a reaction against Romanticism.
- Aimed to represent real life and everyday struggles without idealization.
Naturalism: Extension of Realism, examining human behavior through a scientific lens, similar to controlled experiments.
- French novelist Émile Zola advocated for this approach, focusing on societal forces shaping behavior.

Realism Example: Story of a factory worker facing daily struggles.
- Illustrates genuine challenges of life without romantic embellishments.
Naturalism Example: The same factory worker, influenced by his father's criminal past, succumbs to stealing due to desperation, illustrating determinism tied to heredity and environment.

Gustave Courbet's "The Stone Breakers" (1849): Reflects harsh realities of worker life in France.
John George Brown's "Longshoremen at Noon" (1879): Captures the toil of the American working class, devoid of romantic landscapes.

Events like the Civil War and its aftermath led to disillusionment.
The assassination of President Lincoln, industrialization, and wealth disparity fueled a realistic portrayal of life.
William Dean Howells supported the shift towards Realism and promoted authors addressing these themes.

Born in Ohio (1872), died young at 33 from tuberculosis (1906).
- Captured struggles of African Americans in post-Civil War society.
Works written during the tough period of Jim Crow laws.
- Key Poems:
  - "We Wear the Mask": Expresses the emotional turmoil of African Americans forced to hide pain.
  - "Sympathy": Uses the metaphor of a caged bird to symbolize oppression and desire for freedom.
- Employed eye dialect to represent authentic regional dialects, although controversial for potential to stereotype.

Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835) in Missouri.
- Riverboat captain and regional dialect expert, infused dialects into his works.
Notable Works:
- "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn": Explores lives of boys along the Mississippi.
Techniques Used:
- Irony: Contradictory situations reveal deeper truths.
- Satire: Critiques societal norms and ideologies through humor and exaggeration.
- Example: "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" showcases Twain's style.
- Twain's criticism of Romanticism, particularly in his takedown of James Fenimore Cooper's works.

Begin with video lecture; proceed to PDF readings and activities.
Daily online practice following readings on days 2, 3, and 4.
Day 5: Reflection questions, rewrite a scene from "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and writing refresh practice followed by an online assessment.
Objective: Reboot a Romantic scene in a Realist style, embracing the essence of Realism.