Differences and Similarities Between

Realism and Naturalism in American Literature

崔璨

Outline

• General Knowledge

• Differences & Similarities

• Reflection on Novels

• Relation

Realism in American Literature

• American Realism was a literary movement happened between 1860s and 1910s.

• It stresses truthful treatment of material and commonness of the lives of the common people.

• Mark Twain ,William Dean Howells Henry James

Naturalism in American Literature

• Naturalism dominated American literature from 1890s to 1920s.

• The Naturalism tends to describe the reality and depict the dark side of the society.

• Theodore Dreiser, Jack London, Stephen Crane, Frank Norris

Differences & Similarities

Background

R N

Booming of economy

Science & technology

War

Civil War WWI

Zola

Darwin

Chase of wealth and fame

Business conquering the world

Differences & SimilaritiesWriting featuresWriting features

• Character R: middle class, facing

moral or ethical choices,a ordinary person, one key character

N: low class,under the will of forces, a helpless object, more the one key character

Differences & SimilaritiesWriting featuresWriting features

• Plot

R:in real world, facts, daily routines

N:realistic picture of events,

hopeless situation, miserable

Differences & SimilaritiesWriting featuresWriting features

• Style R:describing things as they

exist in reality, dialects N:convey a character,

setting or thing so that the mood or atmosphere appears irreversibly doomed, dialects

Differences & SimilaritiesThemeTheme

• R:reveal the real world precisely, ordinary struggles of the common man

N:struggles in real world, the indifference and determinism of the universe; cruelty of the natural world

Your Topic Goes Here

• Your subtopics go here

Reflection on Novels

Your Topic Goes Here

• Your subtopics go here

Reflection on Novels

Silas Lapham:a middle class man, has his own businessfrom poor to richfaced with the moral choicefollows his conscience,business failsrises to a higher moral level

Sister Carrie:a country girl, has nothing but the beauty(heredity)struggles for better life and success at any cost(survival of the fittest)gets material success but lost her family and innocence

Your Subtitle Goes HereYour Subtitle Goes Here

Relation

Realism

Naturalism

Your Topic Goes Here

• Your subtopics go here