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Naturalism

Naturalism. Background. “Naturalist writers were influenced by the theories of scientists such as Charles Darwin.” textbook page 507. Read pages 512-513 in the textbook for a richer understanding.

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Naturalism

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  1. Naturalism

  2. Background • “Naturalist writers were influenced by the theories of scientists such as Charles Darwin.” textbook page 507. Read pages 512-513 in the textbook for a richer understanding. • “The term naturalism describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. Unlike realism, which focuses on literary technique, naturalism implies a philosophical position: for naturalistic writers, since human beings are, in Emile Zola's phrase, "human beasts," characters can be studied through their relationships to their surroundings. Zola's 1880 description of this method in Le roman experimental (The Experimental Novel, 1880) follows Claude Bernard's medical model and the historian Hippolyte Taine's observation that "virtue and vice are products like vitriol and sugar"--that is, that human beings as "products" should be studied impartially, without moralizing about their natures. Other influences on American naturalists include Herbert Spencer and Joseph LeConte. • Through this objective study of human beings, naturalistic writers believed that the laws behind the forces that govern human lives might be studied and understood. Naturalistic writers thus used a version of the scientific method to write their novels; they studied human beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the characters' lives were governed by forces of heredity and environment. Although they used the techniques of accumulating detail pioneered by the realists, the naturalists thus had a specific object in mind when they chose the segment of reality that they wished to convey.” • Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature." Naturalism in American Literature. WSU, 07 Apr. 2013. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm

  3. Characteristics • Similar to Realism, however… • “Focus tends to be on the working class and poor • The writings are often about the character(s) struggles against a brutal society or the universes indifference • Character(s) often have little say in their own lives; often their lives are controlled/shaped by heredity, social and economic forces, and the natural environment.” • Information taken from our textbook page 512.

  4. Readings • Short Story • “To Build a Fire” by Jack London • Textbook page 623-634 • Poem • “Richard Cory” and “MiniverCheevy” by Edwin Arlington Robinson • Textbook page 595-596

  5. Short Answer Response • Why/How are the selected poems and the story representative of the Naturalistic Period? • Support your answer with text evidence from at least one of the poems and the story.

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