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    Chapter Seven and Chapter Eleven

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    dssd diaoa ppal
    The document summarizes chapters from a book about American literature. Chapter Seven discusses the rise of realism and naturalism in late 19th century American writing. Realism confronted romanticism by portraying the true nature of society, and naturalism saw people's lives as influenced by social and economic factors. Chapter Eleven discusses the "Lost Generation" of writers in the 1920s, who explored themes of uncertainty and affluence in the postwar period through works like The Great Gatsby that used symbolism and descriptive writing.

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    Chapter Seven and Chapter Eleven

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    dssd diaoa ppal
    21 views2 pages
    The document summarizes chapters from a book about American literature. Chapter Seven discusses the rise of realism and naturalism in late 19th century American writing. Realism confronted romanticism by portraying the true nature of society, and naturalism saw people's lives as influenced by social and economic factors. Chapter Eleven discusses the "Lost Generation" of writers in the 1920s, who explored themes of uncertainty and affluence in the postwar period through works like The Great Gatsby that used symbolism and descriptive writing.

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    The document summarizes chapters from a book about American literature. Chapter Seven discusses the rise of realism and naturalism in late 19th century American writing. Realism confronted romanticism by portraying the true nature of society, and naturalism saw people's lives as influenced by social and economic factors. Chapter Eleven discusses the "Lost Generation" of writers in the 1920s, who explored themes of uncertainty and affluence in the postwar period through works like The Great Gatsby that used symbolism and descriptive writing.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    21 views2 pages

    Chapter Seven and Chapter Eleven

    Uploaded by

    dssd diaoa ppal
    The document summarizes chapters from a book about American literature. Chapter Seven discusses the rise of realism and naturalism in late 19th century American writing. Realism confronted romanticism by portraying the true nature of society, and naturalism saw people's lives as influenced by social and economic factors. Chapter Eleven discusses the "Lost Generation" of writers in the 1920s, who explored themes of uncertainty and affluence in the postwar period through works like The Great Gatsby that used symbolism and descriptive writing.

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    An Outline of American Literature

    Chapter Seven - The Era of Realism and Naturalism


    In this chapter, the author goes into depth about how the era of realism and naturalism were
    notable moments in American literature history.

    Toward the late 1800’s realism started to gain popularity amongst writers and readers alike,
    and this brought with it movements of new thoughts and ideas. Realism was seen as a true
    vision of the world and society, and this confronted romanticism bluntly by tearing down the
    walls of illusion that were distancing humanity from the reality of how the world truly was.
    The power that realism had allowed it to become a weapon against everything that was
    wrong with society. Realism also offered an opportunity for writers to express themselves
    openly about controversial and rarely talked about subjects. Realism also brought with it
    extreme realism which was popular with French novelists and this tended to over-exaggerate
    the ugliness of society, something which American writers preferred to avoid.

    Following on from realism, was naturalism, which could be seen as an evolutionary step
    from realism. During the 1890’s the popularity of naturalism began to grow, and once again
    offered a new wave of thinking and ideologies to society.

    Naturalism took influence from modern scientific discoveries and emphasised the idea that
    people’s lives were hindered by social, economic, and psychological causes. As realism
    developed, imagination and emotion were becoming more present within pieces of writing,
    and abstract ways of expressing oneself through writing with usage of colour and
    word-sounds allowed a more poetic approach toward the works being created around that
    time. Sympathy for others' suffering, and exposing injustice were themes which were
    expressed as a way to bring about awareness to situations people were exposed to within
    society. Like realism, naturalism also attacked certain aspects of society such as religion and
    the social progress of America.

    Veritism was something which was also created around this time, and offered a true insight
    in people, places, and events through descriptions which were more factual and true.
    Furthermore, not only was criticism present within pieces of writing, but irony also played an
    important part.

    Chapter Eleven - Writers of the Lost Generation


    Throughout this chapter, the author introduces many of the influential writers from the
    1920’s, a time which is known as the “Lost Generation”. During this time, the themes
    generally present stemmed from the complications of life in those times, which included
    contrasting views of tragedy, uncertainty and fear with regard to poverty, and the ideas of
    success and affluence. The Great Gatsby, a notable work from 1925 really sheds light on
    this theme of success and wealth and offers insight into life during the 1920’s with a view
    that displays not only realism but also includes usage of symbolism.

    The usage of symbolism in this era often encouraged readers to re-read the works, allowing
    readers to get a more profound and thoughtful experience when reading an author's work.
    The use of descriptive writing and metaphors allowed those reading the works to be more
    attached with what they were reading and connect with the writer's ideas and imagination.
    Furthermore, deep emotions used within the themes, made the works of this time to be more
    creative and poetic, and writers generally explored this with great freedom, and this made
    the works unique and stand out amongst the author’s of that time who were all striving to
    create inspirational, profound, and thoughtful pieces of work for society.

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