Realism Period Author Study

Kate Chopin

Literary Period:  The Realism Period           

Author information: She was raised by women in St. Louis during the Civil War then moved to Louisiana. She was one of the first modern day feminist writers. Most of her works were based in Louisiana. She wrote about a hundred short stories. Her father died in a train accident, and she was the third of five siblings and the only one to live past 25. She was raised by her mother, grandma and great grandmother.                   

Writing Style:  french influences in louisiana- straight forward-creole culture- realism-colorful descriptions-wrote about regions, customs and social structures of the south-used vivid descriptions-her work captures the local habits, language and characters of the area

Brief summary of her work(s) She gained an identity of a brave writer who explored themes of marriage, sexuality, identity, women's lives and freedom within a patriarchal society. She used her own experiences as a self-reliant women in the south as her work. 

why is the author’s voice is important to American Literature.  What is her contribution to American literature?  She was important in exploring female identity and challenging societal norms. Her keen skill observations led to her ability to translate life into perspective stories. Her depiction of thoughtful women searching for a purpose beyond married life and the expectations of a family made her work remarkable.

Emily Dickinson

Literary Period: Realism Literary Period        

Author information:  She was a bit of a recluse. Born in 1830 in Amherst MA. She was anti-social, wore white clothes. She wrote over 1000 poems. Her sister discovered her poems in a box after she died in 1886 and published them                                          

Poem structure or important aspect of poem: Slant rhyme-When rhymes don’t rhyme perfectly-No titles in her poems- Death and nature and immortality appear frequently in her poems-Imagery and metaphors-Short lines.      

Brief summary and reflection on why the author’s voice is important: One of the first few women poets in the 19th century. Her poems are structured differently and she was valuable to american literature. paved the way for future generations of women poets.

Definition Poem:  A definition poem describes something abstract with something concrete.  a piece of writing in which the words are arranged in separate lines, often ending in rhyme, and are chosen for their sound and for the images and ideas they suggest. 

Robert Frost

Literary Period:  The Realism Period

Author information: born march 6, 1874, in san francisco. His father died at 11 from tuberculosis. He went to dartmouth and harvard but never earned a degree. 

Focused on complex themes of nature and humans

First collection of poems  “ a boy’s will”

Poem Structure: blank verse and rhyme, He used simple language and vivid imagery. Traditional verse forms that remained steadfast during the changing poetic movements

Brief summary and reflection on why the author’s voice is important to American Literature:  He used Traditional verse forms that remained steadfast during the changing poetic movements

E.E. cummings

Literary Period:  The Modern  Period

Author information: He was born Edward Eslin on October 14th 1894 in Cambridge MA. He wrote poems as early as the age of 10. Went to france as a volunteer ambulance driver for WW1. He also painted. Died in september 1962

Poem Structure: irregular punctuation, capitalization, form, spacing, 

Brief summary and reflection on why the author’s voice is important: He breaks the rules of syntax on his own terms

William Faulkner

Literary Period:  The Modern Period

Author information:   born in 1897 and died 1963. Lived in mississippi. Was a writer at university of virginia and never finished school and loved to cook.  Wrote the first 3 novels which were criticized then wrote The sound and the fury which was seen as genius. He won the nobel prize.

Writing Style: lots of snarkiness and  lots of endings. He uses stream of consciousness to write.  Many run on sentences. Also writes using flashbacks. His writing was seen as an exercise to mind. ‘

Brief summary of his work. First three novels. The sound and the fury. A rose for emily. Set during the reconstruction.  Many yearned for the south of the past. The story is told in 5 parts. And not linear. Southern gothic. Tragedy and trauma.

 Reflection on why the author’s voice is important to American. What is the author’s contribution to American literature?

His writing style made him unique and special and genius as an author in American Literature. He believed that the purpose of art was to disenchant and break through the illusions to help you endure and made people see clearly and gave them hope. 

Ernest Hemingway

Literary Period:  The Modern Period

Author information: he was born in Oak Park Illonois on July 21st, 1899. He served as an ambulance driver in WW1. he was married four times. he committed suicide, awarded nobel prize

Writing Style: brief and straightforward simple language, short sentences, left meaning for reader to interpret and left details out.

Iceberg Theory:  you don’t need to state everything. You can leave things out. Part above water and part of below. There is always more in story then what the author says. Leaving things out makes the story stronger. 

Reflection on why the author’s voice is important to American. What is the author’s contribution to American literature? His writing style was influential and impacted future writers. He revolutionized the idea of what an american author was. 

Brief summary of his work.

Tough, individualistic characters, adversity, themes of love war and loss, intense masculinity of writing