Edgar Lee Masters – Spoon River Anthology

Edgar Lee Masters was somewhat ahead of his time period. He was a poet who wrote in the realistic style with overtone or regionalism while the style of the time was style Romanticism for poetry. His volume, Spoon River Anthology did well though and is still in print today. His poems in this work were about everyday things that happened but they were happy and upbeat while at the same time being very realistic. The story is really made up of a lot of different monologues, but the setting is still the same for each one and therefore gets quite a few descriptions even though there is not too much. And the setting is the only real tie between the different people giving the monologues for the story. There are probably some other same similarities between all of them, but the setting is definitely the biggest and most important one. More Regionalism is exhibited through the various dialect and characters that tell the story, although all of them do come from the Midwest their dialect and background differ slightly from tale to tale. This simple writing makes the story display Realism, because this is a major indicator of the genre. The characters are also pretty average, so this displays parts of Realism as well. If there really is a main hero in the story, which I do not really see, he or she would be completely average like most of the other characters in the story. The many viewpoints of the story also give a more realistic side as well because if the stories within the story happen to coincide together, then they can immediately be seen as more accurate because there is more than one person backing up the story line. Another important characteristic of Regionalism that can be found in the Spoon River Anthology is the style in which it is written. Throughout the entire poem, the language and dialect is very simplistic, which adds to this being a work of Regionalism. The Midwest has a very simple vernacular, as there are not really words or styles of speaking particular to the area, unlike the South which commonly has a very strong vernacular. Overall, the Midwest has a dialect that is fairly easy to comprehend, which helps to make this poem even more simplistic. The use of this simple dialect in combination with easy to comprehend, simple sentences rather than the complex rhymes and patterns that can be seen in traditional poetry also helps to enhance the simplicity of this poem. External rhymes and scarce in this piece of literature, but this is not necessary as it is not the style of talking that is used in the Midwest. Masters does an excellent job of portraying the language of the Midwest, and matching the vernacular of the setting is a very important part of literature if the story is displaying the genre of Regionalism. Edgar Lee Masters was a very important author of works possessing qualities of Regionalism. His various works are interesting to read, combining the perfect amount of fact, fiction, and local flavor.

Masters, Edgar L. ""Spoon River Anthology" (or Excerpts From)." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, Beverly A. Chin, and Jacqueline J. Royster. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 514-17. Print.