Realism

 

(Paraphrased from the website: http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/amer_realism.htm Links to an external site.)

As with all literary genres, we cannot rely on generalizations to interpret a work.  Therefore, the characteristics below will help you to identify realism in the works we are studying.

Characteristics of Realism

• Character is more important than action and plot; therefore, characters are often developed through their making of complex ethical choices.
• Characters have real and complex motives and attitudes; they have a past  and relationships that provide a context for their behavior.
• Characters control their destinies; characters act on their environment rather than simply reacting to it.
• The story provides reality through details of the character and environment.  In fact, the presentation of characters as REAL and believable people outweighs the plot.
• Events will usually be real-life with probable results typical of everyday life. Unlike the romantic literature with vampires and larger-than-life heroes, realistic stories avoid sensationalism and high drama.
• Most characters are middle class, and their social class is important in the story. Lower class characters often appear, too, and their social position may profoundly impact their lives.

Not from website: 

Add to those characteristics, the tendency of realistic writers to use dialect and other characteristics of language typical of the characters they depict.