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Nature in literature
Nature in literature
Civil war influence in America
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Naturalist writing portrays individuality within a character allowing one to obtain humanistic themes from these literary works. Naturalists utilize mundane monotonous lives and reveal the heroine within, when all (environment, opportunities, intuition) seems out of control. This type of literature was found relatable during the rapid urbanization and naturalization after the Civil War, where many in bustling developing cities suffered from poverty and its poorly prevented consequences. The American naturalist movement was important due to the introduction of themes involving popular apprehension during this time period including; man vs. nature, man vs. society, sex trade, wasted potential due to uncontrollable forces, and man’s animalistic features such as basic instincts. Naturalism is a literary movement that developed into a literary style consisting of determinism, objectivity, and pessimism, all in efforts to portray the humanistic perspective in themes and characters.
Naturalism and realism are tremendously similar in literary style but their slight difference in details, such as environment and instincts, commence a dramatic effect in the author’s portrayal of the underlying themes. Realist literature developed in mid-19th century France in effort to progress toward literature not consisting of neoclassic romanticism. In this effort, literary works developed into characters and settings that are relatable to the audience, much like the compatibility of naturalism and the readers of its time period during industrialization. Even to this day, when people search for an enticing book to read, it is presumed that fictional novels that are relatable would be more appealing to the audience. However, unlike naturalism, realism ...
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...Edownment for the Humanities. Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism. 29 February 2011 .
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The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Dreiser, Theodore. 2007. 10 March 2011 .
Turney, Wayne S. Notes on Naturalism in the Theatre. 28 February 2011 .
Vanouse, Donald. Stephen Crane (1871-1900). 01 March 2011 .
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Perkins, Geroge, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
...n American Literature. By Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 387-452. Print.
Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print.
Perkins George, Barbara. The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
in Twentieth- Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. The. Vol.
Naturalism was a literary movement that took place from 1880s to around the 1940s. This movement used detailed realism to propose that social conditions, genetics, and the environment had unavoidable force in shaping human character. According to Zhang, “Naturalism was first proposed and formulated by French novelist Emile Zola, and it was introduced to America by American novelist Frank Norris.”(Zhang par.1) The term naturalism defines a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. Naturalism writers often used the regularly ignored lower to middle classes backgrounds for characters in their stories. Naturalistic authors believe that the laws behind the forces that govern human lives might be studied and understood through the objective study of human beings. Natur...
Naturalism is about bringing humans into the “natural world”. We, as humans, are seen as aspects of nature collectively not separate like they once were. “Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us. Each of us is an unfolding natural process, and every aspect of that process is caused, and is a cause itself ” (“A Guide for Naturalism”). Humans are like “animals” they contain the same drives that animals have. They are just plain “natural”. Many authors express naturalism in their writings such as Kate Chopin. She expresses a naturalistic view on sexual drives which classify her as a naturalistic writer.
Charters, Ann & Samuel. Literature and its Writers. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 137-147. Print.
Heller, Joseph. The Chelsea House Library of Literary Criticism. Twentieth-Century American Literature Vol. 3. New York. Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
During the 1840s and the 1910s began two writing movements in American Literature that made Americans view reality in a whole new way. Realism and naturalism played a huge role in that era. Each writer had a style that captivated the audience’s interest, and sparked up an image of the story’s idea. Main authors like Stephen Crane, Kate Chopin, Jack London, Mark Twain, and Ambrose Bierce could be classified as a realist or a naturalist, by how they explain their views in their stories.
...t when he began to panic as the second fire extinguished. He seemed as though he had lost all knowledge of his survival skills. He thought about killing the dog and wallowing in its steaming insides for refuge from the cold. "The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the tale of a man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved."(1752). When the man realized that the dog would not let him come near he was forced to concoct another plan. His idea was that if he ran all the way to the camp, he would be able to survive. Unfortunately, that plan failed as well and the man perished in the cold, numbing snow of the Yukon. Overall, naturalism is the most realistic literary movement. It parallels life more than any other movement because it reveals the fact that nature has not heart and no emotions. Nature feels no compassion for human struggles and will continue on it's path of destruction and harm regardless of the circumstances.
Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
New York Times Book Review (1968): 42, 44, 46. Rpt. in Nineteenth- Century Literature Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald.
Gavin argues, “During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, empirical philosophy recognized a perilous disconnect between knowledge and the actual existence of things in the world” (Gavin 301-325). These ideas of knowledge, and those of the real world, were shaped by Descartes’ theory that reality is perceived by the individual and is not attached to previous ideas of reality. Unlike the novels before, realistic novels appealed to middle-class readers who wanted to read about ordinary people; they could see themselves as main characters in the story (Mario). With the influence of Descartes, novels and the genre of realism came together forming realistic novels. Realism is the attempt to depict all characteristics of human life with such attention to detail that the events seem as realistic as possible, as if readers could perhaps know the characters personally or even be them. Regarding Crusoe, he faces many realistic chall...