Mark Twain – "Two Views of the River"

Realism and Regionalism are the main components of this work. Realism is present in the more analytical style of writing and the use of unembellished words. Fortunately, Realism is not as unadorned a writing style as Puritanism, but it is less flowery than Romanticism. Also a noteworthy characteristic of Realism that is present in "Two Views of the River" is the use of figurative language. Twain consistently compares his plight to that of a doctor. He no longer sees the beauty of the river, while a doctor cannot see the beauty of a woman for all the medical information running through his head. "Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay?" (Twain 505). This memoir by Mark Twain is a bit depressing as he goes on to describe how his favorite thing in the world, the river, has lost all of its magic and all the charm it once held for him as a boy. He has become embittered by it and no longer sees the beauty of life all around the river and the small ever-changing ways of a river (Twain). He remembers a sunset he once saw and remarks upon how beautiful he saw it one time, he remarks upon each feature of the scene, a dead tree, a floating log, a small whirlpool, an area of circling water, and the color of the sun (Twain). He then mentions about how he would remark if he saw the same scene today, he would merely look at it from a pilot's point of view, the log meaning a rising river, the sun's color meaning wind for the next day, the dead tree not going to be there as a friendly landmark much longer, and the circling of the water meaning it is starting to shoal up there and the whirlpool, a dissolving of a sand bar creating a change in the currents. Twain begins speaking about how he had once viewed nature as wonderful and beautiful; however, he had been naive and had not experienced many of the events he now had experienced (Twain 505). Now, instead of simply seeing the wonders of nature as beautiful and exotic, he now saw them for what they really were. Instead of taking nature for granted and not really thinking in depth about how or why things came to be, he had just accepted them as they were. Now, instead, he is beginning to see things for what they really are scientifically and realistically. This story captures parts of Realism in a view different ways. Twain kind of becomes hardened by his work on the boat, which is something that is very common. People really do not appreciate all that they have until they realize they do not have it anymore. This practical loss makes the story seem easier to relate to and more plausible (Campbell "Realism"). Twain is upset about what he is missing out on, and that is something that happens to everyone at some point in their lives. We all lose litte parts of ourselves along the way, but those losses make us what we are today. This story can be classified as a piece of Realism simply because it documents the very common loss of youthful innocence that people go through in life

Twain, Mark. Two Views of the River. Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. Amerian Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 504-05. Print.

Paul Laurence Dunbar – "Douglass" and "We Wear the Mask"

In "Douglass", Dunbar basically illustrates the grief that has fallen on so many African Americans during this time. The lines "We have fall'n on evil days", "the awful tide that battled to and fro", "for thy strong arm to guide the shivering bark", and "to give us comfort through the lonely dark" are some of the stronger lines that really depict how African Americans at this time are being horribly oppressed and are in need of a strong force to help them through these dark times. Although Dunbar is focusing on the troubles of this era, his poem is written as to give those who read it motivation and strength to persevere and survive. Though is poem is very figurative, it still depicts the time as it really is and the manner in which African Americans are suffering. The only Naturalism quality these poems possess is that they are both narrated by a person who is apparently African American, making them a lower class person in a horrible situation. Regionalism is not in here at all, seeing as how a specific region is not mention, nor is that region described in detail. Realism is not a factor here either. Some characteristics could be found in a roundabout way, but they would be so insignificant to the overall tone of the poem. These two works does not possess any Regionalism either. Neither poem is attempting to promote one area or a certain regain, in fact specific places are not even mention in detail. These works reflect society. They reflected society throughout the warped perspective of the author. This perspective is rather bitter. There is nothing in these works regarding religion either. There is also little to no mention of government. There is also no mention of nature. There is not a whole lot of description throughout both poems. The American Dream was mentioned briefly. The American Dream mentioned is the wish for slavery to be abolished completely. There is also no hero involved or present in any of these works. Along with being pretty realistic, the poems both also have a tone of sadness. While they are very much a part of Realism, I do not think they can really be classified as Naturalism poems. There is no real scientific or analytical thinking involved, but there is also not a lot of emphasis on God or the idea of religion in general. They are both also emotional and they are in the moment, not looking toward the past or the future. Society plays a part in the two works, because they are portrayed in a couple of different ways. In "We Wear the Mask", society is not really reliable because everyone is apparently being fake in some way and not to be trusted. There was also no real connection to Regionalism, because Dunbar does not talk about specific places or settings, which is actually pretty common in poems like "We Wear the Mask" and "Douglass". The author does not place any significance on the setting, so the reader can infer that it is not important. Religion and government do not play a real part in the works either, except for a couple of mentions in "Douglass" because of the political part of abolitionism and women's rights.

Dunbar, Paul L. ""Douglass"/"We Wear the Mask"" American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, Beverly A. Chin, and Jacqueline J. Royster. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 568-71. Print.

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.

Stephen Crane – from The Red Badge of Courage

Religion and government are not at all present in this excerpt. It makes sense that they would not be considering the situation. There is hardly time for anything in a battle, let alone government. The soldiers really probably only had time to say a quick prayer before their attention shifted to survival, and this excerpt is apparently after that time. The American Dream is also not wholly represented in this. The part about gaining glory could be found if you looked hard enough. This man obviously wants to prove himself, and it is driving him crazy that he cannot because apparently he is a coward. Nature is not described in this portion of the novel. This work fits in the Realism period, because it is accurate and historical, and shows how the main character is actually handling what is happening around him and how he is feeling in the very stressful situation. There is also a tone of Naturalism in the excerpt because the main character compares to parts of scientific studies and displays some analytical thinking. There are not really many parts of Regionalism in the story, because there is not a lot of emphasis on the setting and certain places in the story. It also does not promote any places or regions because there is not a lot of that involved in the story. Society does not seem to be a large part of the story either, except for society's interest in science and the workings of the human brain. Still, there is no mention of government, current events of the time period, political or social issues, or other issues of society. There is also nothing to do with religion or God, and does not show how people felt or thought, but rather how frustrated they were with the way they lived and with their imperfections. Being a member of the army during the Civil War, Henry Fleming enters the battle as a regular, run of the mill soldier going in to fight for a brief while and, most likely, die in a few minutes, but he survives much longer; in fact, he sees another brother in arms, the standard bearer, fall and chooses to take his place himself at the front of the front line. In this specific excerpt from Stephen Crane, the main character, Henry Fleming, is already in battle, trying to fight but being stopped by his fears and thoughts. "Presently he began to feel the effects of the war atmosphere - a blistering sweat, a sensation that his eyeballs were about to crack like hot stones. A burning roar filled his ears" (Crane, 493). Stephen Crane is probably one of the best known realism writers. I like his writing style because it is very descriptive but in some places there is a bit to much detail. This excerpt is centering on the main character as he starts to feel an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy it seems. Overall, this was a very good story, at least part of a story.

Crane, Stephen. "from The Red Badge of Courage." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 493. Print.

Kate Chopin — from The Awakening and "The Story of an Hour"

Government is a central issue in Chopin's work. Obviously women were being oppressed and out of this oppression rose the call for government to take some sort of action to act out against this oppression. Nature was not, however, a large part of these works. Adversely, these works showed that women during this time could only express their true opinions in private. The American Dream is quite prevalent throughout Chopin's work. These works show The American Dream of the silent minority during this time. There is no defined hero, but more or less a call for a her. This hero would most likely be anyone with the power to create equality for women. In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin sounds like it sound be a very sad story- a woman learns that her husband was in an accident, and the reader immediately expects a lot of predictable sadness and angst. Instead, there is immediately a twist in the story, and the woman is actually relieved that her husband died. She is not really sad at all, but is thankful that he will no longer be able to control her life however he pleases and manipulate her every move. This immediately strikes me as Realism because a man controlling his wife in this way seems to be pretty accurate to the time period. Before the women's rights movement actually made any sort of impact on the country, men really were in charge of their wives and families and could technically exercise complete control over women. The woman in the story is rejoicing about finally being free of her husband...until there is yet another twist. Her husband comes back home, the woman is gripped with immense sadness, and she then dies. In the short story, "The Story of an Hour," Josephine, the character's friend, plays the part of the consoler, but the character does not wish to speak to anyone because it is human nature to shun others away when one is not "held together". Much like an increasing number of these stories, neither of Kate Chopin's works here have anything to do with religion or government. Her details contribute a lot to the story, and also bring up some exploring notions of human nature. The lines "She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep and continues to sob in its dreams" show both her talent for using detail, and the realistic display of grief and sadness that overcome people and human nature in the situations of losing loved ones. Like other writers of Realism, Chopin also uses nature in her story to convey her point and give the story more detail. Her description "She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares..." displays this and the relation between humans and nature, which is understandable (Campbell).

Chopin, Kate. ""The Awakening" & "The Story of an Hour"" American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, Beverly A. Chin, and Jacqueline J. Royster. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 491+. Print

Mark Twain – "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County"

"The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County" is written in a different and interesting way. The story itself is composed of two short stories. The first short story is about a man that had been asked by his friend to question locals about a man who calls himself Leonidas W. Smile. In this first story, Twain artfully describes the confusion between two men and their dialogues. The second story is next. The second story is about a man who calls himself Jim Smiley. The second story refers to the fact that Jim Smiley would bet on anything. This is silly and ironic because he never knew what the outcome would be, and he only won due to his good luck. While Realism and Regionalism both play a large part in the story, Naturalism seems to be missing apart from descriptions of some nature that surrounds the events of the story. There is also no substantial mention of God or any other kind supernatural or divine power, which honestly gives the story a more easy going quality because I think that stories that don't drag religion out into the open are more universal and often more entertaining and enjoyable for the reader. Society is also an important role in Twain's work. His characters try and try their very best to keep a steady form of income, but sometimes it just feels too difficult. Smiley, however, must have had some trouble finding work because he makes his money in only one fashion, by gambling. Luckily, though, Smiley has "practiced" so much that he wins most of the time, so, for him, this "work" really pays off. Wheeler, another character in "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County," talks about Smiley's success at horse racing, dog fights, cat fights, cock fights, bird fights, and finally bug fights, listing them in descending order by size, and how Smiley also bets on Parson Walker's preaching and his ill wife's chances of recovering. Clearly, religion is part of this story because he is even able to make bets against God himself. But, other than the mention of God, religion is not important in this story's main plot. Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County" is a good example of Regionalism. As mentioned earlier in this blog, Mark Twain was a key author of the Regionalism movement. A pioneer of his field, if you will. He was one of the first authors to start writing in the local dialect. For Twain, his dialect was a lazy Southern drawl, and it shows in "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County". there are many examples of the local dialect, such as when Simon Wheeler talks about how Smiley "learned" a from to jump. People do not say that anymore- they say taught. Also in the lines, "There was a feller here once by the name of Jim Smiley in the winter of '49 - or maybe it was the spring of '50 - I don't recollect exactly..." (Twain 499) This local dialect is used so much as to become a nuisance. This was a common occurrence in Regionalism. "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County" reads much like other works by Twain such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Government and religion are also missing from this story as well. It seems that these were not very important in Realism works.

Twain, Mark. "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 498-502. Print.

Willa Cather – from O Pioneers! and "A Wagner Matinée"

Both of Cather's works in mention involve both Realism and Regionalism. This is due to the fact that Cather is very keen on allowing the reader to know the hardships of the common man, yet, she also describes, and is true to, the region in which the works take place. The West is also mentioned in Cather's two works. "O Pioneers!" and "A Wagner Matinee" were both written by Willa Cather, and both also posses qualities of Regionalism, Naturalism, and Realism. In "O Pioneers!” the life of the Bergson brothers is depicted like it is some kind of biography. In plain and simplistic writing, the lives of two people are depicted in detail, giving information about things that are unimportant but still relate to the story as a whole. These insignificant and most likely unimportant details are common coming from authors of Realism, and Cather is certainly no exception to this. Also, the events that are depicted in "O Pioneers!" are interesting but could also happen in real life, especially in the past. These events are not really heard of now because our country has already reached the Western boarders, but events like these are still talked about by many people. But in the time period, the events were pretty common because Westward expansion really was a way of American life at the time due to manifest destiny and the quest for more land and influence. Her characters live their lives much the same as any pioneer of the time, living in the wild country of Nebraska, dealing with the very real hardships like drought, windstorms, thunderstorms, hail, buffalo stampedes, all things that ruin crops and various other trials such as coyotes picking off calves and foals, sometimes pigs. It was a very rough life, but some people are just made to be as stubborn and as determined to make it, like all of Willa Cather's characters. These stories are not so much part of the subset called Naturalism because they had nothing to do with nature's beings or how they interacted. So, Regionalism is still the best description to give to Willa Cather's works here. The section from "O Pioneers!" is focused on these Bergson boys and the harsh and unfair ways they had to live. These boys were farmers on new, prospective land out of the city, but the harvest had not been good, causing many of their fellow, neighboring farmers to declare bankruptcy and foreclose their land. The character of the narrator is very important to the story; it is written in first person and provides the window for which the reader can observe both the characteristics of the surrounding culture in Boston and Nebraska, and the attitude and feelings for which the narrator's aunt exhibits. Because of the way that Cather writes the narrator's observations, there are some that seem to be written by a distanced observer, and many that seem to be written by the actual character who is involved in the ongoing plot. "The overture closed, my aunt released my coat sleeve, but she said nothing... What, I wondered, did she get from it?" is a line that creates curiosity and shows that the narrator is limited to what he can observe, and can merely make speculations at a distance. However, the line "I understood. For her, just outside the concert hall laid the black pond with the cattle-tracked bluffs..." successfully explains what his aunt is truly feeling and why, making the narrator seems like a closely involved character.

Cather, Willa. ""O Pioneers!" & "A Wagner Matinee"" American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas Fisher, Beverly A. Chin, and Jacqueline J. Royster. Columbus: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 489+. Print.