Late
Nineteenth Century American Literature: The Age of
Realism
Brief
Lecture:
In the late
19th century,
America was going through many changes. The Civil War
had just ended, the country was on the verge of the
industrial revolution, immigrants were coming to
America in large numbers, and the middle class was on
the rise. In American literature, the realism
movement, in which the importance of action and plot
was eclipsed by the importance of character. In
American realism, characters are in explicable
relation to nature, to each other, to their social
class, and to their past. In realistic novels, such as
Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, events are
plausible, avoiding the sensational and dramatic
overtures of the British novels of the early
nineteenth century. Diction is natural vernacular, not
heightened or poetic; tone may be comic, satiric, or
matter-of-fact. It is worth mentioning that Mark Twain
was not only a humorist and gifted story teller, but
he was also an intellectual. The wit and elegance in
his writings and essays are reminiscent of the great
German philosopher, Erasmus,
who wrote In Praise of Folly more than 500
years before Twain was born.
Step
One: After reading
the textbook assignments and the corresponding links
above, click the link below to review English 1301 and
1302:
English
1301/1302 Review
Step
Two: Complete any
corresponding assignments in Blackboard by checking
your course schedule. Then you may go on to
the
Turn of the Century Lecture.
Created
by Becky Villarreal Austin Community College
2002
