Analysis of "Douglass" and "We Wear the Mask"

"We Wear the Mask" by Dunbar is a poem about slaves who have been discouraged and who have to live very hard lives while working in fields and also while they get little to no pay and have no rights(Dunbar "We Wear the Mask" 571). The poem describes how the world thinks that they are happy working in fields for a living and that they are perfectly content without rights, but no. They are not. They truly are not at all(Dunbar "We Wear the Mask" 571). This poem reflects many aspects of realism. First of all, it reflects realism by the way it "shows life by how it truly exists(Werlock)." For example, according to the tone of the author, Dunbar, within the poem, everyone thinks that slaves are perfectly happy being slaves and not having rights and things such as those. This reflects realism because the author finally stops the pretending and comes out and says that all slaves are truly unhappy with what they do and that they only seem content because they must "wear a mask" and hide behind the pain that they truly feel(Dunbar "We Wear the Mask" 571). Another that this poem reflects realism is by the way the poet uses similes to make his language much more descriptive and to make the purpose of his writing much more clear. For example, in the poem, the term "wear a mask" does not mean that while slaves were out in the fields, doing their jobs, they literally wore masks. This means that they had to act differently when working to cover up the pain and unhappiness that they truly felt by being a slave(Dunbar "We Wear the Mask" 571). A topic that comes up in this poem that reflects realism is the American Dream. During the times of the Civil War and right before the Civil War, this idea became extremely popular with slaves and people who were immigrating to the United States(Werlock). This was the idea that everyone in the land had the right to be free and also had Civil Rights. This obviously was not true because slaves did not have rights. This idea comes up in the poem because the slaves that are being referred to all have the dream to one day be free and to also one day have civil rights. The poem "Douglass" also by Dunbar reflects realism in many ways. In this poem, Dunbar describes a letter that he has written to Douglass about the fear he has for his nation going into the Civil War(Dunbar "Douglass" 570). This very topic in itself relates directly to realism by the way it reflects life "as it truly is(Werlock)." For example, when going into the Civil War, people were not pretending to not be worried about what was going to happen to their family, their government, and their nation. If so then, this poem would not make any sense at all people the fact of the matter was that people were extremely scared when it came to think about the Civil War. Therefore, this poem reflects realism because of the way that almost everyone in the nation at the time could relate to it and could understand its purpose.

Dunbar, Paul Laurence. "Douglass." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 570. Print. (Werlock)

Dunbar, Paul Laurence. "We Wear the Mask." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 571. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 15, 2011.

Analysis of "Spoon River Anthology"

"Spoon River Anthology" is a story written by Edgar Lee Masters about Spoon River, a cemetery in central Illinois(Masters). Within this story, Masters writes from many different points of view from many different characters(Masters). This story would be considered to be a regionalism work of literature simply because of the effect that culture of Illinois and the Midwest have on the story and the society within it(Anderson). Since Masters writes this story through the monologues of many different types of people,the culture of Illinois is very well established from the beginning for the reader to the point where he or she can easily relate to the characters in the story and their routines, beliefs, and culture(Anderson). Since the story is written through the points of view of many people about the same subject, it is very easy for the reader to recognize the bleak and somewhat neutral dialect of Illinois. For example, compared to other regions of the nation or other areas, such as the South or the West, the Midwest has a very light, and somewhat uninteresting dialect. Even though this may be the case within the story, it actually helps readers understand or grasp the story because the light accent makes the language so common and free flowing. This is very important to regionalism writers because when the realism period came around and the romanticism period ended, not only were author extremely focused on trying to write a story that would interest reader and that they would enjoy, but also, they tried to make their stories very easy to relate to be people of a certain region(Anderson). Because the Midwestern accent is so very light, and not very distorting of the common English language, this story is very easy to grasp, and therefore the purpose and insights of the story can be understood by all of its readers. For example, "His characters speak of guilt and loneliness, of the disappointments and thwarted ambitions caused by parenthood, insufficient talent, and bad luck, of the grief of loss and the pain of betrayal, and of the misery inflicted by small-mindedness, bigotry, and misunderstanding. More than anything, though, Masters' characters seek to tell the truth about their lives(Masters)." From this quote, it is very easy to see how this story is easy to understand and also how the dialect of the Midwest is so light. For example, in the above quote, there are no distorted words or phrases due to the dialect of the region in which this story by Masters takes place. Therefore, it is very easy to understand and all readers should be able to understand the purpose of the story through its clarity. This story would fall into the category of Realist because from the above quote it is also very easy to see that realism is supposed to show life as it truly is(Werlock). Because the quote above gives concepts that even today people in society must face making, this topic and story very real and easy to believe.

Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True. February 13, 2011.(Werlock)

Masters, Edgar Lee. "Spoon Rivers Anthology." Bartleby: Great Books Online. 2011. Online. http://www.bartleby.com/84/index.html. February 13, 2011.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.

Analysis of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"

The story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" written by Mark Twain is a short story about a man who meets another Southerner who tells stories of a man who has been cheated in a bet on how far a frog can jump. In the short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" written by Mark Twain, it contains many different characteristics of regionalism. This story would be considered to be regionalism because it contains certain events or a dialect from a certain area or other certain areas of a region or a nation. For example, Twain is quoted as saying,"He ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal'klated to edercate him; and so he never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump. And you bet you he did learn him, too. He'd give him a little punch behind, and the next minute you'd see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut see him turn one summerset, or may be a couple, if he got a good start, and come down flat-footed and all right, like a cat. (Twain 499)" From this excerpt it is easy to see how the dialect of the region has been included to relate to the people of that certain region(Anderson).
This story contains regionalism also by how Twain portrays one of the main characters in his story, Simon Wheeler. Simon Wheeler is a traditional man from the who carries the Southern dialect and attitude with him(Twain 500). This trait is what links this story most to the idea of regionalism(Anderson). Since Twain has included almost a life-like character in his story that is from the South, then when readers from the South read this story can relate to the happenings of Simon Wheeler. The easterner in the story also reflects very heavy regionalism. By the way he acts within the story, and due to the experiences that the characters in the story have with him, it is safe to say that according to Twain, in the times when this story was written, Easterners may have been rude and a little snobby(Twain 501). Since Twain has created very realistic characters when it comes to Simon Wheeler and to the Easterner, the reader of this story can relate to the characters in the story if they are from the certain region, making the writing much more clear and easy to relate to for these people(Anderson). This is the main goal of realist writing. Since realism is writing that tries to express life as it is, then the author, Twain accomplished the purpose of the story when including Smiley in the story(Werlock). Even though the reader or audience does not know if he is real or not, Twain does a very good job of making his character come to life and trying to make Smiley's experiences seem true. For example, when Twain is describing the event when Smiley gets cheated out of winning the bet with the frogs, he makes the situation seem almost real by the way Twain bring the character to life by having the character fit the exact description the Twain has given him. In this way, Twain has also accomplished the goal of realism because of the way he makes the events in the story and the characters seem real(Werlock).

Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2011).

Twain, Mark. "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 498-502. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.

Analysis of "The Awakening" and "Story of the Hour"

"The Awakening" by Kate Chopin is a story about a woman who wakes up in the middle of the night and begins to cry and cannot seem to stop the crying(Chopin "The Awakening" 491). To the reader or to the audience, it is very easy to see how this story reflects realism. For example, the writing within the story is extremely simple(Werlock). Realist writers would often use this technique in their writing because not only was the purpose of their writing to tel the reader a story, it was also to make the writing very clear to the reader and to make the story very easy to understand or the reader or the audience(Werlock). Also there is not much figurative language within this story. Like the very simple writing, authors of realist works tend to do this simply because they want to make the language in their story very simple for the reader. For example the author quotes,"It was then past midnight. The cottages were all dark. A single faint light gleamed out from the hallway of the house. There was no sound abroad except the hooting of an old owl in the top of a water-oak, and the everlasting voice of the sea, that was not uplifted at that hour. It broke like a mournful lullaby in the night(Chopin "The Awakening" 491)." From this quote it is very easy to see how the author uses very simple language in the writing. There is no figurative language used in the quote, and the grammar is very simple. The other characteristic of this story that relates to realism is the overall tone of the story. The tone is very very depressing. All the main character is doing throughout the entire excerpt is crying. This reflects realism because when the period started, people got tired of living in the false world of romanticism and wanted to see the world of how it truly was. This shows how the world truly was because the story was not coated in beauty or darkness. It was just very simple. After reader "The Story of an Hour" by Chopin, similar, to the earlier story, reflects realism in many ways. Once again, like the other story, it has a lot of simple writing to keep its context along with its purpose clear to the writer. For example, in the story, the author quotes,"There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it; she did not know. It was too subtle and too elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air (Chopin, "The Story of the Hour" 444-445)." From this quote, it is once again easy to see how this story uses simple writing and almost no figurative language. Also, this story reflects realism because of the way that the tone is portrayed within the story. Since the story is has a point of view where it sees the world how it truly is and it does not distort any part of the story, then the work is clear realism(Werlock).

Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 491. Print.

Chopin, Kate. "The Story of an Hour." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 554-555. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011. (Chopin, "The Story of the Hour")

Analysis of "The Red Badge of Courage"

"The Red Badge of Courage," by Stephen Crane, is a story about a man who is going into a battle in the civil war, while describing to the reader the condition and feeling of himself as the main character(Crane 493). After reading "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane, it is easy to see how the story not only reflects realism, but it also reflects naturalism as well. Naturalism "has been devoted to documenting, with apparent objectivity, the extreme experiences of characters existing on the margins of society (Quinn)." For example, compared to realism, the conflict in naturalism stories is usually if not always between man and nature. That fact is what gives away the fact the this story is a naturalism story. The conflict is clearly between man and nature. For example, the author quotes, " Buried in the smoke of many rifles, his anger was directed not so much against the men whom he knew were rushing toward him as against the swirling battle phantoms which were choking him, stuffing their smoke robes down his parched throat(Crane 493)." From this quote, it is extremely easy to see how this story is a naturalism piece of writing. In the story when the man is in battle, he claims that his anger is not directed towards the many men that are shooting at him with their rifles, but rather towards the smoke in the air, which is making it extremely hard for the character to breathe. One of the characteristics of realism that this story shows evidence of is the feeling that the man who is going into war has. What makes this story truly a realism story is the way the author describes the feeling the man has as he is charging into war. For example, the author quotes, "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)." From this quote it is easy to see why this work is considered realism. This is because in realism, authors tend to see the world how it truly is and rather not how they want it to be(Quinn). This is very unlike romanticism by the way the author speaks about war. If this were to be romanticism, then the author would probably try to find a way to find beauty within war(Quinn). The quote above also proves that the author liked to give detail to his stories by using figurative language. For example, in the above quote, the author uses a metaphor to describe the felling that the main character of the story has in his eyes. This is common in realist writing because when authors wrote works in the realism times, they wanted to make their work as clear as possible to anyone who wrote it. Therefore, authors and poets in the realist times would included a lot of figurative language so that the purpose of the writing would become very clear for the reader or audience.

Crane, Stephen. "The Red Badge of Courage." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 493.

Quinn, Edward. "naturalism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gfflithem0538&SingleRecord=True. Online. February 13, 2011 (Crane)

Analysis of "O Pioneers" and "A Wagner Matinée"

The excerpt from "O, Pioneers" is a fine example of not only realism, but regionalism as well. This is because in the the excerpt, the author is talking about a certain region or area of the country, and telling her story using very specific examples from the area or region in her story(Anderson). For example, the author is quoted as saying,"The thing to do was to get back to Iowa, to Illinois, to any place that had been proved habitable. The Bergson boys, certainly, would have been happier with their Uncle Otto, in the bakery shop in Chicago(Cather O Pioneers 389)." From this quote, it is very easy to see how this work by Willa Cather reflects regionalism. By using specific locations such as Iowa, Illinois, and Chicago, it shows that the work is focusing obviously on a specific region of the country. Another example of realism that this work shows is the American Dream. The American Dream in realist writing is the view that anyone who has the luck to come to the United States of America has a change to experience the land of opportunity and become wealthy. The author of this work shows examples of the American Dream by the way she describes the hardships that the characters are going through. For example, within the excerpt from the story, Cathe quotes,"Then came the hard times that brought everyone on the divide to the brink of despair; three years of drought and failure, the last struggle of a wild soil of the encroaching plowshare(Cather, A Wagner)." From this quote it is easy to see how the family in the story is working so hard to get their taste of the American Dream. The other story by Cather "The Wagner Matinée," also reflects many characteristics of realism. Like the other work by Cather, not only does that story reflect realism, but it also reflects regionalism as well by the way the story uses very specific locations and dialect of a certain area or region of a country. For example, within the story, the states,"This communication, worn and rubbed, looking as if it has been carried in a coat pocket that was none too clean, was from my Uncle Howard, and informed me that his wife had been left a small legacy by a bachelor relative,and that it would be necessary for her to go to Boston to attend the settling of the estate.(Cather "A Wagner" 521-526)" From this quote it is easy to see how this story reflect regionalism writing by the way the author uses specific areas and dialect to portray the meaning or the message of the story(Anderson). The main way that this story by Cather reflects realism is by the simple existence of human nature that Cather includes within the story. For example, when the two characters are at the matinée, Georgiana stars crying from the beauty of the music and says that when it is over, she does not want to leave the auditorium and have to carry on in a grey, world without music. This represents realism by the way the character sees the world for how it truly is compared to how she wants it to be(Cather "A Wagner" 526)(Barney,Paddock).

Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True. February 13, 2011.

Cather, Willa. "O Pioneers!" Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 489. (Cather, O Pioneers)


Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "realism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0738&SingleRecord=True. February 8, 2011. (Barney,Paddock)


Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinée." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. 521-526. Print.

Analysis of "A Letter to His Son"

"A letter to His Son" written by Robert E. Lee is about a letter that Lee wrote just before the American Civil War to portray the worries he has about the position that the nation is in to his son (Lee 385). Within this letter, there are many examples of traits of realism. For example, within the letter, Lee tends to use very simple writing. This is a characteristic of realist writing because when realist authors or poets write their works, they tended to write it in a way so that everyone who would read it could understand the story and its purpose (Barney, Paddock). Unlike other realists works though, this letter by Lee contains a lot of figurative language. For example, within the letter, Lee is quoted as saying, "the fruit of his noble deeds will be destroyed and that his precious advice and virtuous example will so soon be forgotten by his countrymen(Lee 385)." From this example, it is easy to see how Lee uses figurative language such as similes to portray the meaning of his letter. The author includes figurative language within his story because it included much more detail towards how he feels towards an issue and makes the meaning of the story or letter much more clear. Another trait of realist writing that is included in "A Letter to His Son" by Lee is the American Dream. In the story, Lee refers many times to how much he is worrying about the state of the country and also how worried he is they the country may be on the brink on a civil war. This reflects the American Dream because it shows that since he is worrying about things such as the state of the country and his own individual rights, that he is worried about the American Dream not being true anymore because of the separation in the country (Barney, Paddock). Another characteristic of realism that this letter shows is actually the hero. The idea of the hero is shown in this story by the way that Lee states, "I shall return to my native state, and share the miseries of my people; and safe in defense, will draw my sword on none (Lee 385)." From this quote, it is very easy to see how Lee reflects the exact idea of the hero in realist writing. This quote shows that even though he is very angry with what is happening with the country, he will not become overpowered by that anger and try to hurt anyone that he does not agree with. he final trait of realism that this letter contains is government. This article speaks to the government by the view that Lee takes when speaking about what the country is having to face during that time (Barney, Paddock). For example, he says that the country may very possibly fall to an "anarchy" or a country that has no government (Lee 385). He says that even though our country is still considered to be a democracy, a country cannot be considered very free when it takes an entire war to make it free.


Lee, Robert E. "Letter to His Sons." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 385.


Barney, Brett, and Lisa Paddock, eds. "realism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816–1895, vol. 2, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL0738&SingleRecord=True. February 14, 2011. (Lee)