Realism

Realism is writing with realistic characteristics. According to Donna Campbell, "the faithful representation of reality" (Campbell). This means that the writings in this period were written about real things in life. Characteristics of realism are, "Renders reality closely and in comprehensive detail. Selective presentation of reality with an emphasis on verisimilitude, even at the expense of a well-made plot and characters appear in their real complexity of temperament and motive; they are in explicable relation to nature, to each other, to their social class, to their own past." (Campbell). The story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a great example of the realism period. First of all, the story is mostly about the main character (Occurrence). "Character is more important than action and plot; complex ethical choices are often the subject." (Campbell). I know this because from the very beginning of the story I can tell the story is going to be about the man and how he is going to be hanged off the bridge at Owl Creek (Occurrence). This story reflects the effects of Realism because it deals with real issues of the time. The man is being hung for a crime he did not commit (Occurrence). This is realistic because he was not given a fair trial (Occurrence). He states that he is going to miss his wife and child (Occurrence). This shows realism because it is dealing with the emotions of the main character. Realism seems like something I would like because it deals with real things. Sometimes I like imaginary things, I do use my imagination a lot when I write stories, but I like solid facts that I can base my information on. In Realism I feel like they are real feelings that people are going through. I like to relate myself to people in the books I read.
Abby Werlock has a criticism on what realism is talks about he real aspects of realism. "Realism is the attempt to depict life as it actually exists, not as the author wants it to be in the present or the future, or imagines it was in the past." (Werlock). This holds true for the aspects of Realism. From my understanding, realism deals with people and who they truly are in society. It also talks about how they act. The story, "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" goes along with this because it talks about the feelings of the character in the book. The character in book, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is about to be hanged (Bierce). He tells the feeling of himself and the others around him (Bierce). "He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck." (Bierce). This sentence describes the feeling around him. The story has a lot of example of things of this nature. That is a big part of realism. It describe the real affects that his body is going through. Realism is a cool aspect of literature. I like that it pertains to the real aspects of life and lets the reader know in detail what is going on during the book.


Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce; I Page 1." Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free. Web. 18 Jan 2011http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ambrose_Bierce/An_Occurrence_At_Owl_Creek_Bridge/I_p2.html

Campbell, Donna M. "Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 21 March 2010. http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm

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. http://fofweb.com/