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The role of realism
Realism effects on literature
The role of realism
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I believe the literature piece that spoke importance to me was the article that I covered in class” The New Story-Tellers and The Doom of Realism”. Personally, literature has always seemed a bit difficult for me to grasp but this article helps clear some of that up by showing the reality of realism. One way it does that is by revealing that realism is just an attempt to copy reality by observation. Thayer makes this crystal clear throughout the passage by writing,” …because its own imagination has been dulled, and it has come to suppose that observation and experiment were the only methods by which truth can be discovered.”(Thayer 967). Another way this piece has helped me understand realism is by showing what realism is not. Here Thayer writes,”They
Realism, in philosophical terms, refers to the concept that there is a reality beyond our perception. This means that how we see things and what we believe about them has no impact on the nature of said things. For example an individual may see an object as blue and another see the same object to be red, this is merely a disagreement between both parties about how they should label the colour. This wouldn’t mean that both parties are discussing different objects, this shows that no matter what individual’s beliefs or thoughts on the real world are only ever approximations and do not accurately capture reality. (O’Brien, M and Yar, M, 2008)
In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.
In order to better interpret a piece of literature you have to get the background information first. Through the biography and the historical context it helped me come up with an in depth analysis of the story i researched.William Dean Howells is just one of the great practitioner of realism. While reading on Howell's reason for realism i came acrossed that Howell's belief of idealism is stupidity. With him saying,"a false sentiment and the complete opposite of common sense." He knew that realism isnt just "copying reality, but also involved attituded toward reality." With that being said it helps better understand how the story reveals itself.
An important aspect in many stories is the connection to reality, or realism. Some stories are not realistic at all, and use suspension of disbelief to tell their fantastical tales. But for some, they try to portray real life or present a situation as believable. For these stories it is important to maintain a sense of realism in order to keep the reader believing the event as plausible. “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses realism to present a story that is both believable and yet fantastical. He uses things like dialogue and setting to portray this realism.
Fiske writes that Watt and Williams “….tend to define it by its content. Watt traces its origins to the rise of the novel in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.” And Williams “…whose historical perspective covers the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, lists three main characteristics of realism in drama: he finds that it has a contemporary setting, that it concerns itself with secular action … and that it is “socially extended”.
“True realism consists in revealing the surprising things which habit keeps covered and prevents us from seeing.” This quote by Jean Cocteau provides an accurate summary of realism in American literature. Authors such as Raymond Carver and William Faulkner strived to expose their readers to defects, either internal or external. Their literature puts humanity under the microscope, and allows the reader to examine their daily life from a safe distance. Under examination, many shortcomings can be uncovered. Occasionally, an author will not only reveal these flaws, but provide a practical solution. More often than not though, realists will leave it up to their reader to formulate a cure.
Henry James “The Real Thing” is the perfect example of realism. Henry’s narrative skills portrayed the characters as if the story was actually happening. He tells the reader the situation of the story as the characters are experiencing the situation. The Real thing is what we see every day (real life). It seems as if the story was based on a true story.
The American Realist Movement introduced various kinds of writing that were different from those that came from other movements such as Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Modernism, and Naturalism. Realism is drastically different in that the stories that fall under this category are rather different from eachother. For instance, all the stories during the Romanticism period were just that, romantic. However, that is not the case when dealing with Realism. During the Realism era, the stories that were introduced were real. They involved all different kinds of aspects from social class, religion, to suffering. The topics of these stories weren’t one general concept, rather they were an amalgamation of various ideas to represent what was actually happening in their lives.
On a hot Saturday during the summer, my parents called my brother, John, and I downstairs. John and I raced down stairs to see what my parents needed. They replayed the voicemail to us. It was my aunt saying to pack our bags, because she was taking us on a surprise trip. My brother and I were overcome with excitement as we packed our stuff and awaited my aunt on the steps of our house. After what seemed like many hours later, my aunt showed up to get us. We quickly told our parents “Bye!” and jumped in the car, guessing our surprise destination.
Realism, by contrast, grounds literature in human social and political and economic realities. Realistic fiction shows us the way things really are.
There are two dominate aspects of Realism (Social Rules & Morality), and two dominate laws of Naturalism (Environment & Determinism), that comes into play in the American Literature stories of Daisy Miller ,Frank James, and Jack London. According to one authoritative source (Britannica), realism in its basic form in Literature is a literary style in which the author describes the reality of persons (people) in detail to resemble their actions, emotions, and environment. The strengths and weaknesses are blended in with the characteristics of their flawed personalities by not being completely good or evil, weak or strong. The characters in the stories attempt to make their way through their social environment often coming into conflict with moral and governing rules. The term naturalism “describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings.” according to The World Encyclopaedia. In many cases the laws of Nature and the Environment portray a dominate presence.
Literary realism is a trend that started in mid nineteenth century French literature and continued till late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It depicted contemporary life and society as it was. Realist authors opted for depictions of everyday and banal activities and experiences, instead of a romanticized presentation.
In an age full of inventions, revolutions, and different literary movements, literature reaches its peak. Under this rapid development many problems appear with classifying the age, because of the great difference between the early works of the period and the late works. In the second half of the nineteenth century English literature did not draw only from the springs of the Art for Art’s Sake Movement, but also from French Realism and Naturalism. There was no longer the romantic idealism of the earlier part of the century. Realism is a literary movement characterized by the representation of people or things as they actually are. It often contrasted idealism.
(Exposition) The cold, intimidating, winter breeze finally arrived. But I wasn’t cold. The thought of her kept me warm. She who gives thy warmth and butterflies. Her name was Tiffany Tran.
Her lips sore from faking smiles throughout the day began to sag into her native frown as she got in front of her mirror sighing. Her light, silver-like hair hung loose in ringlets that touched her waist and would bounce with every movement she made. She wore a beautiful mask of creams and color that hid the exhaustion she felt everyday. Her blue eyes, that began to glisten wet with tears as makeup ran down her face leaving black streaks on her cheeks, it’s contrast like a zebra’s stripes. Everyday was a struggle to keep up with all the expectations that lie on her shoulders, the ones from her family, friends, and society. Balancing grades that determined her future, the social life she wanted to maintain yet was so tired of dealing with, and