Realism Unit (1850-1914) Notes

Characteristics

of Realist

literature

• Tell stories about the harsh

reality of everyday people:

Factory workers

African Americans

Women

Soldiers

• Describes human behavior &

surroundings exactly as they

appear in life

• Highly detailed plots & settings

• Simple language

How is Realism

different from

Romanticism?

Romanticism

• Emotion

• Nature

• Disorder of the

imagination/creativity

Realism

• Facts

• Human behavior

• Accurate

representation of life

What events

may have

contributed to

this change?

• Fugitive Slave Act

• Civil War (1861-1865)

Devastation of the war shattered

nation’s idealism

• Native Americans pushed from their

lands

• 1880’s Industrial Revolution made

people feel powerless

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

Warmup Instructions:

Make 2 lists of words, 1 with words

describing 19th century women &

another describing women of today.

what ways are they different?

19th century women 21st century women

1. What did her works focus on?

2. Do you think Chopin handled her husband’s death in a way typical of women at that time? Why or why not?

3. Chopin’s themes were considered “radical.” Look this word up in the dictionary & use it to describe her themes in your own words.

4. Why was her reputation damaged? Do you think this was right?

Literary terms 1. irony (n) / ironic (adj) – when

there is a large difference

between either:

• what is said & what is really meant

• what the audience knows & what a

character knows

• what is expected & what really

happens

• 3 different types of irony

Verbal irony – when the words used suggest an opposite meaning

Ex – when a teacher says “so glad you could join us” to a student who arrives late to class (sarcasm)

Dramatic irony – when readers know something that a character does not

Ex – when Romeo kills himself bc he believes Juliet is dead, we know that she is only sleeping

Situational irony – when an action or situation is very different from what one expects

Ex – It is ironic that my English teacher often misspells words on Facebook.

A simple explanation of irony:

When there is a difference between the appearance of things & the reality.

To figure out if something is ironic, ask yourself: Is there a difference between the appearance of something & the reality?

If the answer is no, it is NOT ironic

If the answer is yes, it IS ironic

“An Occurrence at Owl

Creek Bridge”

by Ambrose Bierce

Technique:

stream of

consciousness

Flashback

• The report of thoughts & ideas

the way the human mind

experiences them—in short

bursts, incomplete sentences, &

w/out clear or logical

connections.

• When the action in a story or

movie is interrupted with

something from the past (a

memory, an event, or a dream)

Douglass

slavery

power of the

white man over

women &

minorities

Bierce

Civil War

freedom to

oppose war

right to fair trial

Both

harsh

reality

factual

subjugation

“My Bondage and My Freedom”

Literature terms

& vocabulary1. Autobiography (n): the biography

of a person narrated by

him/herself

2. Tone (n): the author’s attitude

about the subject

3. Bondage (n): the act of

bonding/enslaving one person to

another

where have we seen this word?

4. Literacy (n): the information

gained from being educated

5. Paradox (n): two contradictory

ideas

6. Benevolence (n): the act of

assistance

7. Human nature (n): the

psychological characteristics,

feelings & behaviors shared by

all humans

QuickwriteDouglass said that both slaves

& slaveholders are victims of

slavery. What do you think this

means?

Quickwrite • Respond to the following:

“All’s fair in love and war.”

This phrase has been used to

excuse everything from trivial

lies to wide-scale atrocities.

Do you think there are times

when the rules of the game

involve no rules at all?