American Realism1850-1900The Civil War and Post-War Period

Thomas Charles Farrer (1839-1891), Mount Tom, 1865

Realists sought to accurately portray real life, without filtering it through personal feelings, romanticism, or idealism.

Elements of Literature, 6th ed (419)

American Realism—Big Ideas

• Reaction against Romanticism• The world is what it is, and that can be awful and

frightening• Influenced by rational philosophy and the

scientific method• Reflect on urban, modern, and middle class life• rejection of the sensational or sentimental• focus on the ordinary man• loss of optimism

Response to• Start of the Civil War• Rapidly growing cities

and slums• Factories replacing

farms• Corruption in politicsA generally reaction to the shift taking place in America- Switching between agriculture and industry.

Children in Mullen’s Alley, photograph, Jacob Riis, 1888

New Voices, New Subjects

Geoerge Caleb BinghamMississippi Boatman 1850

A native son.

Characteristics of the literature

• Character is more important than plot• Natural/ regional

diction• First person slowly

fades over time

First American Author• Samuel Clemens AKA Mark Twain