Republic of the Philippines

University of Eastern Philippines

Laoang Campus

Bachelor of Secondary Education -3

Major 13 (Survey of English & American Literature)
1st Semester, SY 2022 – 2023
Module 9 Later Periods in American Literature
Overview of the Module:
This module talks about the American literature during the later periods, the
contemporary time to realism and industrialization periods. This gives students insights as
to the happenings during the said periods, its literary development, and how American
Literature has changed over time its values, beliefs, and literary characteristics.
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
a. Discuss the development of American literature during the colonial, realism and
industrialization periods.
b. Interpret the select literary pieces during these periods.
Learning Activities:
The Contemporary Period (1945 to present)
The United States, which emerged from World War II confident and economically
strong, entered the Cold War in the late 1940s. This conflict with the Soviet Union shaped
global politics for more than four decades, and the proxy wars and threat of nuclear
annihilation that came to define it were just some of the influences shaping American
literature during the second half of the 20th century. The 1950s and ’60s brought
significant cultural shifts within the United States driven by the civil rights movement and
the women’s movement. Prior to the last decades of the 20th century, American literature
was largely the story of dead white men who had created Art and of living white men doing
the same. By the turn of the 21st century, American literature had become a much more
complex and inclusive story grounded on a wide-ranging body of past writings produced in
the United States by people of different backgrounds and open to more Americans in the
present day.
Beginning in the 1940s, America was in the business of peace-making. After
playing a major role in World War II, America helped to establish the United Nations.
Being the biggest power in the world after WWII, many countries looked at America as a
symbol of peace and freedom. The peace did not last long because soon after WWII,
America entered the Cold War against that Soviet Union in 1950. Along with the war
against the USSR, the United States also struggled with the growing fear of Communism.
Americans still had a feeling of confusion after the second world war. They were not
totally sure what to do after the devastation of war. Similar to Realism and Naturalism in a
sense, many people lost faith in the general kindness of humanity. On the other hand,
there were many Americans who were proud of their country following WWII. This mix of
nationalism and skepticism is what defined the Contemporary Period, as authors
attempted to go against the times.
Authors such as Arthur Miller and J.D. Salinger openly opposed such conformity in
their works during this time period. One of Arthur Miller’s most famous works, The
Crucible, tells the story of the Salem which trials. Miller used these events to write an
allegory about the fear of Communist and McCarthyism. With a similar message, J.D.
Salinger’s The Catcher In the Rye told the story of a man who searched for something
“pure” in a troubled world. Both Miller and Salinger’s works provide clear examples of the
Contemporary Period’s attempt to go against the current of society.
In hopes to address pressing issues as Miller and Salinger did, Harper Lee attempted
to bring attention to the racial prejudices in the South with her novel To Kill A Mockingbird.
Through the eyes of an eight-year-old girl, Lee paints Racism as unnatural and unfair
which is greatly ignored. Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for her brilliant novel which
really made people rethink the Civil Rights movement.
After WWII, The United States was once again a world power. Yet, Americans were left
with a combination of nationalism and skepticism. Authors such as Arthur Miller, J.D.
Salinger, and Harper Lee used their literary brilliance to address pressing issues at the
time and instill a sense of goodness in Americans once again.
Literature written by African Americans during the contemporary period was
shaped in many ways by Richard Wright, whose autobiography Black Boy was published
in 1945. He left the United States for France after World War II, repulsed by the injustice
and discrimination he faced as a black man in America; other black writers working from
the 1950s through the 1970s also wrestled with the desires to escape an unjust society
and to change it. Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man (1952) tells the story of an unnamed
black man adrift in, and ignored by, America.
James Baldwin wrote essays, novels, and plays on race and sexuality throughout
his life, but his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), was his most accomplished
and influential.
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, a play about the effects of racism in
Chicago, was first performed in 1959. Gwendolyn Brooks became, in 1950, the first
African American poet to win a Pulitzer Prize. The Black Arts movement was grounded in
the tenets of black nationalism and sought to generate a uniquely black consciousness.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), by Malcolm X and Alex Haley, is among its most-
lasting literary expressions.
Toni Morrison’s first novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), launched a writing career that
would put the lives of black women at its center. She received a Nobel Prize in 1993.
In the 1960s Alice Walker began writing novels, poetry, and short stories that
reflected her involvement in the civil rights movement.
The American novel took on a dizzying number of forms after World War II. Realist,
metafictional, postmodern, absurdist, autobiographical, short, long, fragmentary, feminist,
stream of consciousness—these and dozens more labels can be applied to the vast
output of American novelists. Little holds them together beyond their chronological
proximity and engagement with contemporary American society. Among representative
novels are; Norman Mailer: The Naked and the Dead (1948), The Executioner’s Song
(1979).
Activity 1. Answer the following questions (5 points each)
1. What events that took place during the American colonial period?
2. What do you think America as the symbol of peace and freedom after the World
War II?
3. What happened to the writers after the World War II?
4. What are the contents of the literary pieces during the contemporary period?
Realism and Industrialization (1865–1900)
As a result of the American Civil War, Reconstruction and the age of industrialism,
American ideals and self-awareness changed in profound ways, and American literature
responded. Certain romantic notions of the American Renaissance were replaced by
realistic descriptions of American life, such as those represented in the works of William
Dean Howells, Henry James, and Mark Twain. This period also gave rise to regional
writing, such as the works of Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, Bret Harte, Mary Wilkins
Freeman, and George W. Cable. In addition to Walt Whitman, another master poet, Emily
Dickinson, appeared at this time.

Realism is an artistic movement begun in 19th century France. Artists and writers
strove for detailed realistic and factual description. They tried to represent events and
social conditions as they actually are, without idealization. This form of literature believes
in fidelity to actuality in its representation. Realism is about recreating life in literature.
Realism arose as an opposing idea to Idealism and Nominalism. Idealism is the approach
to literature of writing about everything in its ideal from. Nominalism believes that ideas are
only names and have no practical application.

Realism focused on the truthful treatment of the common, average, everyday life.
Realism focuses on the immediate, the here and now, the specific actions and their
verifiable consequences. Realism seeks a one-to-one relationship between representation
and the subject. This form is also known as mimesis. Realists are concerned with the
effect of the work on their reader and the reader's life, a pragmatic view. Pragmatism
requires the reading of a work to have some verifiable outcome for the reader that will lead
to a better life for the reader. This lends an ethical tendency to Realism while focusing on
common actions and minor catastrophes of middle class society.
Realism aims to interpret the actualities of any aspect of life, free from subjective
prejudice, idealism, or romantic color. It is in direct opposition to concerns of the unusual,
the basis of Romanticism. Stresses the real over the fantastic. Seeks to treat the
commonplace truthfully and used characters from everyday life. This emphasis was
brought on by societal changes such as the aftermath of the Civil War in the United States
and the emergence of Darwin's Theory of Evolution and its effect upon biblical
interpretation.

Characteristics:
1. Emphasis on psychological, optimistic tone, details, pragmatic, practical, slow-moving
plot
2. Rounded, dynamic characters who serve purpose in plot
3. Empirically verifiable
4. World as it is created in novel impinges upon characters. Characters dictate plot;
ending usually open.
5. Plot=circumstance
6. Time marches inevitably on; small things build up. Climax is not a crisis, but just one
more unimportant fact.
7. Causality built into text (why something happens foreshadowed). Foreshadowing in
everyday events.
8. Realists--show us rather than tell us
9. Representative people doing representative things
10. Events make story plausible
11. Insistence on experience of the commonplace
12. Emphasis on morality, usually intrinsic, relativistic between people and society
13. Scenic representation important
14. Humans are in control of their own destiny and are superior to their circumstances
(by: Carol Scheidenhelm, Ph.D - Loyola University Chicago)

Activity 2. Answer the following questions below. (5 points each)

1. What is the impact of industrialization to realism?
2. What is the form of literature during realism and industrialization?
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by M. Twain
Book Summary
Aunt Polly searches and screams for Tom Sawyer: she wants to confront her
nephew about some missing jam. Tom, however, is able to outwit his aunt and slips away.
But Aunt Polly loves him so much she cannot be too harsh with him. She is concerned that
he will play hooky that afternoon, and sure enough he does.
During the afternoon, Tom meets a boy from St. Louis with whom he fights. That
night at home, Tom's clothes are so soiled from the fight that Aunt Polly punishes him by
taking away his Saturday's freedom and assigns him the unpleasant task of whitewashing
the fence.
On Saturday morning, the forlorn Tom begins his tedious task of whitewashing the
fence, fully aware that all of his friends are playing in the town's square. As he begins his
task, Aunt Polly's slave, Jim, comes by and Tom tries to bribe him into helping, but Aunt
Polly sends Jim on his business. Suddenly, Tom is horrified because one of his friends is
about to come by and see him actually working on a Saturday morning. Tom pretends that
what he is doing is not work because he is so thoroughly enjoying himself. Soon Ben
wants to try his hand and offers Tom his apple. As Ben is painting, other friends come by
and also want to try their hands at this fun game. Each boy gives Tom some sort of prize
for allowing him to do some whitewashing, and Tom ends up with his fence whitewashed
and a small treasury of gifts.
After the fence is painted, Tom heads for the square and, on the way, stops to
watch a very pretty young girl who is moving into a house down the street. He shows off
for her, and she pretends to ignore him. He is attracted to her and finds out her name is
Becky Thatcher. He joins his friends in fun and games where he is the leader of an army
which defeats the opposing army. The next day, Sunday, he is forced to attend Sunday
school and is bored with the tedium but finds ways to distract himself.
Monday, after offering many excuses for not going to school, he is finally forced to
go. On the way, he meets Huckleberry Finn, the son of the town drunk. Huck never goes
to school and is the envy of all the boys because of his complete freedom. Huck arranges
for Tom to meet him that night so they can bury a dead cat in the cemetery. At school,
Tom is punished for being late and is required to sit in the "girls' section." This pleases him
because the only empty seat is next to Becky Thatcher. At lunch, he meets her, and they
pledge their troth to each other.
At midnight, Huck arrives, and they go to the cemetery where they come upon Dr.
Robinson, Injun Joe, and Muff Potter who are digging up a recently buried corpse. There
is an argument, Muff is knocked unconscious, and Injun Joe murders the doctor and
places the murder weapon next to Muff. The horrified boys flee and take a blood oath
never to reveal what they have seen. The next day, the town is in an uproar (school is
dismissed), and Injun Joe identifies Muff Potter as the murderer. Tom is fearful that Injun
Joe will discover that he was a witness.
Tom, his friend Joe Harper, and Huck Finn decide to become pirates. The three
boys find a raft and establish camp on Jackson's Island, where they enjoy a carefree life of
fishing, swimming, smoking, and exploring and playing. When a steamboat filled with most
of the important townspeople passes by firing cannons over the water, the boys realize
that they are presumed to be drowned. Tom sneaks home at night in order to leave Aunt
Polly a reassuring note that they are all right, but he changes his mind when he overhears
that church services are planned for the "deceased boys" if they are not found by Sunday.
The funeral services are secretly attended by the boys, and all rejoice when the dead boys
casually stroll down the aisle.
Back at school, Tom finally wins Becky's heart when he takes the blame for one of
her indiscretions and heroically suffers the punishment for her misdeeds.
At Muff Potter's trial, it is generally accepted that Muff Potter killed Dr. Robinson
and will be hanged. Tom, in spite of his oath with Huck to not reveal what he has seen,
cannot stand to see an innocent person hanged for a crime he did not commit. He bravely
relates what actually happened. Injun Joe makes his escape by jumping out the second
story window.
One day, while Tom and Huck are looking for buried treasure, they explore an old
abandoned house. When two men arrive, the boys are trapped upstairs. One man is Injun
Joe in disguise. The two criminals retrieve a box of silver coins they had concealed and
then, by chance, discover a horde of gold coins that had been buried by some outlaws
long ago. They decide to take the gold coins to Injun Joe's other hideout. The terrified
boys overhear Injun Joe planning a horrible revenge before leaving the country. The boys
fear that they are the subject of his planned vengeance but are fortunate enough to
narrowly escape detection. The boys try to discover a place in town that would be the
other hideout, but they only find a room filled with an abundant supply of whiskey in a
Temperance Tavern.
At the picnic celebrating Becky Thatcher's birthday, several of the boys and girls
enter McDougal's Cave. Tom and Becky wander away from the others in search of privacy
and become hopelessly lost.
Meanwhile, Huck Finn, who is watching to discover Injun Joe's hideout, follows the
two men toward Cardiff Hill, the home of the Widow Douglas and of a Welshman named
Jones. Hiding behind a bush, he overhears Injun Joe telling of his intentions to mutilate the
Widow Douglas because her husband, the judge, had once had him publicly
horsewhipped. Huck hastens to inform Mr. Jones of the plot, and the Welshman and his
sons drive off the vicious Injun Joe and his cohort. Huck has been so frightened that he
becomes seriously ill, and the Widow Douglas comes to the Welshman's home and nurses
the homeless boy back to health.
At the same time, it is discovered that Tom and Becky are missing; they have not
been seen since the cave. All the available men in the community meet and carry out a
thorough search of the cave. Tom and Becky hear the search party in the distance but are
too weak to call loudly enough to be heard. At one point in their ordeal, Tom catches sight
of Injun Joe in a nearby passage. After they have been underground for about three days,
Tom discovers a way out of the cave. He and Becky then make their way back to the
town.
Both are sick for a while, but Tom recovers more quickly than does Becky. Tom
also discovers that Judge Thatcher has had the second exit to the cave completely sealed
off. Tom reveals that Injun Joe was in the cave. In spite of Injun Joe's evil, Tom cannot let
any human face the ordeal of starving that he and Becky just endured. The men go back
to the cave and discover Injun Joe's body just inside the cave where he had futilely tried to
dig his way out with a knife.
Later, Tom and Huck return to the cave and search for Injun Joe's treasure. After
many false starts and using various clues, they recover approximately $12,000 worth of
gold coins. This money is invested for them, and they are rich. The Widow Douglas takes
Huck into her home to educate him and train him in the ways of civilization. Huck finds
schooling, not cussing, and all other things connected with civilization to be completely
intolerable, and he runs away. He eventually agrees to give civilized living another try if he
can join Tom's band of robbers.
Activity 3. Answer the questions below. (5 points each)
1. What is the theme of the novel?
2. What is the lesson learned in the novel?
3. Have you experienced to disobey your parents? Yes, or No? explain.
4. What makes you inspire to pursue your dream?
Literary Interpretation
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though:
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
And miles to go before I sleep.
Activity 4. Answer the following questions: (3 points each)
1. Who is the speaker and where is he right now?
2. Why does the speaker stop by the woods?
3. Why does the speaker think he knows the owner?
4. Do you think the speaker is happy standing in the woods?
5. Why does 'He' give his bells a shake?

References:
http://jrhe.weebly.com/the-contemporary-period-1945---present.html
https://www.idpublications.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Full-Paper-THE-
DEVELOPMENT-OF-REALISM-IN-AMERICAN-LITERATURE.pdf

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer/book-summary
https://wou.edu/english/files/2015/09/Fitzpatrick_2015.pdf
https://www.dvusd.org/cms/lib011/AZ01901092/Centricity/Domain/4781/Realism.VL.2.pdf

Prepared by:
Dr. Luisito P. Muncada,, JD
Course Professor

Disclaimer: Learning activities in this module were culled out from the internet for instructional
purposes only.