Realism Definition

After the Romanticism and Rationalism periods, a more comprehensive and realistic style of writing was introduced. Realism is broadly defined as "the faithful representation of reality" and was practiced by many between approximately 1860 and 1890 (Campbell). Unlike the bare facts of Rationalism and the dreamy, ideal qualities of Romanticism, Realism is more detailed and practical without shying away from the true characteristics of the time period.

Events in Realism works are realistic and entirely plausible, and the speech was not poetic, but common and matter of fact instead. In Realism, the author's main goal is to depict life as it actually is or was, not as how they think it could have been or could be (Werlock). In works such as "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, the ideal ending usually does not happen like it would in Romanticism. While the main character imagined many creative ways to get out of the deadly situation he was in, the realistic but tragic thing happened and he was killed. It might have made a better story for the main character to have pulled off a heroic stunt and gotten away, but that would not be at all realistic and therefore would not have been Realism.

"The American Dream" during this time of Realism was not so different than from other times. As Industrialization took off, it seemed easy to have a business and make plenty of money for yourself. However, there were also the poor working class and immigrants that were not so well off. The "self made man" was seen as a hero, able to bring himself up from next to nothing and become a tycoon of business (Scropos).

The writing of this style was completely devoted to accurately portraying American life as it truly was, especially after the Civil War and Reconstruction as American life was changing rapidly. This time period greatly impacted the writing styles because things were no longer happy and ideal in the country, and that was reflected in stories and style. Elements of character were considered far more important than the action or plot, and great detail is given about the choices that characters have to make, especially ethical ones (Campbell).

Realism also places emphasis on existence and independence, looking for practical and realistic reasons for choices and events like Rationalism did ("Realism"). However, Realism's purpose differs from Rationalism because it is more focused on fiction than science. Plausibility and possibility are more important than scientific fact.

Practitioners of Realism include Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, and Henry James (Campbell). Realism also branches out in several other categories, such as Regionalism and Naturalism.

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

"Realism." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 28 Jan 2011.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/realism/

Scropos, Lee. "Industrialization." AP American History. Pleasant Plains High School, Room 32, Pleasant Plains. 21 Jan 2011. Lecture.

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://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0575&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 28, 2011).

Journal #34: Argumentative Writing

If you are writing an argumentative essay, it is important to make sure you follow all of the necessary steps. This is true for writing any type of essay, and is very important to ensure that you get a good score on the writing portion of the ACT. In an argumentative essay, you have to give accurate information but you also have to present an argument showing the supporting ideas as well as the opposing ideas. Obviously, you have to pick which side of the argument you are on before you can do this. But the absolute first step is to pick your topic and your stance on the subject. In the writing section of the ACT, a topic has already been selected for you.

Before you actually start writing your essay, it helps to make a pro and con list (either just in your head or on a piece of paper) so that you can outline what you are going to say in the essay. After you do this, you need to come up with an introductory paragraph, stating your opinions and giving a thesis statement. You need to make sure that you are clear which side of the argument you are on, and try to persuade the reader to believe in what you are writing. The main point of an argumentative essay is to persuade people to change their beliefs to what you think about the subject.

After writing your introductory you move on to your body paragraph or paragraphs. This is where you state all of your points and try and persuade the reader to see things from your point of view and agree with you. While you definitely need to make sure to state all of your opinions for your side of the argument, it is also extremely important to give the counter argument as well. In the ACT, you will not get a very good score if you do not give a counter argument.

After doing this, you write your conclusion paragraph and make sure to tie your thesis statement back into ending. And then you've got yourself a wonderful argumentative essay. Unless you're a bad writer, in which case you have no hope.

Journal #33: Stuff That Started in Springfield, IL

I'm not sure that you're aware of this, but not a lot of fun stuff started in Springfield, Illinois. But...I started in Springfield, Illinois. I was born here in this fine town in the beginning of August at St. John's hospital. Being a native to this fine, fine city, I am also aware of several other things that started in Springfield. For instance, Abraham Lincoln started his law practice here as well as his political career.

There is evidence all over the place of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield. Statues of him and his cute little family are downtown, there is a slightly impressive (for Illinois) museum dedicated him and his life in Springfield as well as his life as President. And you can't go anywhere downtown without seeing his handsome face plastered across every kind of memorabilia you could possibly think of. The man is everywhere, and residents of Springfield, Illinois just cannot get away from him no matter where they go.

But really, other than myself and Mr. Abraham Lincoln, there is not a lot of things from Springfield that are very excited.

The state fair, however, can be rather pleasant if all you want to do is eat lots and lots of terribly fattening foods (elephant ears, milkshakes, fried anything, hot dogs, etc.) or maybe ride some cruddy theme park attractions that will rattle and shake dangerously when small children step aboard. Abraham Lincoln is also a constant presence at the fair- there is a huge statue of him just beyond the main gates. He is wearing an suspenders and a flattering blue shirt and is welding a very large ax. I think the creators of this statue were going with the stereotypical "Abraham Lincoln, the modest rail splitter" image to make him more easy to relate to for the middle class working folk that attend the state fair.

In general, there is not a lot of stuff to do in Springfield, Illinois and not a lot of fun things started here. There is some delightful food, but the looming figure of a gaunt Abraham Lincoln is enough to take my appetite away.

Journal #32: Memoir

Okay. I do not really remember what I did over winter break exactly. But I think I will be able to scrape something together.

So, this particular scene takes place on Christmas at roughly one o'clock in the morning. It's kind of in between Christmas and Christmas Eve, like the witching hour or something like that. I was in Effingham, Illinois and the snow had started to fall several hours before. My best friend Bradley and I were sitting outside on my grandparent's porch, drinking hot chocolate with itty bitty marshmallows in it. The conversation was light and everything was just fabulous until we saw it.

Off in the distance, beyond the property line, stood a snarling, bloodthirsty beast of a dog. It would have been logical to just go inside at that point, but the fun thing about my grandparents house is that it was built in like the forties or fifties and is pretty janky. You can't get into the house through the back door for some reason, and you have to go around the entire house. We were faced with a very troubling decision- make a run for it and possibly attract the attention of this terrifying dog, or stay still and maybe get eaten if the dog decided to approach us.

In my fear, I made the decision to make a run for it and leave Bradley to fend for himself. I mean, he's 17 years old and should be able to take care of himself. But apparently the dog was startled by my sudden dash for the front door, and started running and barking and that's when I almost started to cry. And then Bradley, the honorable young lad that he is, threw the remainder of his hot chocolate (which was actually cold chocolate by that time) in the direction of the dog and then we both took of and safely made it to the front door.

I learned a lot about what to do in case of a savage dog attack, and it changed my life forever.

Realism

An Occurrence at Owl Creek by Ambrose Bierce is immediately revealed to be an example of the Realism period. The writing style is very focused on details and being as realistic and factual as possible, especially given the historical significance of the time period (“An Occurrence”). The characteristics of the realism period are pretty similar to those of the Rationalist period, which we studied earlier on in the year. Everything is simple and to the point, comprehensive, ethical, and plausible (“Realism”).

Unlike Romanticism, where everything was ideal and problems often worked themselves out, Realism is unfailingly more realistic. Social class, past events, and relationships are all taken into account and make an impact on how the story pans out. Authors like Mark Twain, Henry James, William Dean Howells, and Rebecca Harding Davis are all authors of the Realism period (“Realism”), as well as Ambrose Bierce.

Bierce, author of “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge”, wrote about things that he could relate to, like other Realism others. This is a big part of Realism, because if authors were able to relate to the events they wrote about, they were also able to make them more detailed, factual, and all together more accurate. During “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge”, Bierce provided plenty of informative facts and details so that the reader could better envision the scenes and events of the story.

Thanks to this attention to detail, readers can easily picture what is going on in the story. Although visual details of the story are focused on by the author, emotional and more intellectual details seem to be less important (“An Occurrence”). It is so obvious that Bierce makes his writing more relatable to his readers by giving them these excessive details and looks into the events of the story he is writing.

The Realism Period highly contradicts the writing styles that we have studied previously in class. Whereas Romanticism is so ideal and filed with endings that end perfectly and happily, Realism is more down to earth and concrete without being dismal and gloomy like the style of Dark Romanticism, or pure and stiflingly “perfect” like the religion based works of the Great Awakening. Works of the Rationalist period coincide with Realism because they both are very factual. However, Rationalism is much more scientific and based on intellectual fact than just details, like Realism. Even though Realism provides much more attention to detail and is easier to understand, I still prefer Dark Romanticism. I would have to say that I care less about lots of details than I reading a story that actually interests me.

Works Cited:

"Realism." Realism and Naturalism. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. .

Bierce, Ambrose. "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, by Ambrose Bierce; I Page 1." Page By Page Books. Read Classic Books Online, Free. Web. 17 Jan. 2011. .

Journal #31: Daydream

Okay...confession time. I daydream during church. Mostly during the energetic singing parts but sometimes during the sermon itself. I can't help it. For me, listening to Roger Ross talk for half an hour is definitely considered a bad situation. So to fill the time, I often resort to daydreaming. These daydreams usually consist of some kind of escape route. I would have to say that the most creative of these would be the daydream where the church filled up with water for some reason and I then had to kick through the windows to make my escape. I do not know why that scenario popped into my head, but it did and then I just ran with it.

I daydream during class, too. Even English class. I apologize, Mr. Langley, but sometimes your voice/my tiredness just lull me away and BAM...daydream time. And then BAM...I have no idea what is going on. Are you reading this? I kind of feel bad about this confession of mine if you are. But do not fret, because I daydream far less in English than I do in A.P. US History, especially when we watch those movies on the Reconstruction.

Hmm...I also daydream during Sociology (but very rarely), Chemistry (a lot), and General P.E., which would explain me getting kicked in the face so often. I do not daydream during Art III (because we're doing art...drawing pictures and sculpting and such...how difficult is that?), Film and Fiction (because we are watching movies and I actually have to do a worksheet on those bad boys), or Advanced Algebra II (because let's be honest, I would fail and Mrs. Williams might throw something at me).

However, I still love daydreaming. One of my most recent daydreams was about having little suction cup things on my hands and feet so that I would be able to scale buildings like Peter Parker. It sounds ridiculous, I know.

But it was splendiferously fantastic and I do not regret it.

Journal #30: School Uniforms

We should not have to wear uniforms in school because we are not a private school. We are a public school. We do, however, have a dress code that is enforced. The basic clothing problems, like bottoms that are too short and clothes that are too revealing, are covered by the dress code and infractions of this are usually punished. And last time I checked, a lot of teachers at our school have been pretty good about dealing with these issues, especially with giving warnings before actually doling out punishments.

The last thing that (most of here at Pleasant Plains High School) us want is school uniforms. Why bother? We aren't little kids and wearing what you want to school, as long as it is appropriate, should not be considered a big deal. I do not think teachers and whatnot should place a lot of emphasis on what students wear to school as long as it is not something awful and outrageous or sickeningly inappropriate. Because, okay, I'm going to be honest here- the girls at our school typically dress more in a more conservative style than at other schools. And have you seen those skirts they wear at SHG?

Sketchy.

But again, we go to a public school...do we not? I mean, the last time I checked this was in fact a public school and forcing everyone into uniforms would probably cause an uproar and who knows, maybe less people would attend this fair school. And this school is in no position to be losing any of the scant enrollment money that is received. I'm just saying...budget cuts are not kind to schools.

I actually have an amazingly simple opinion on this matter- I don't want to wear a uniform to school. If I did, I would just pay 50 million dollars and go to SHG instead. Shabam.

Uniforms are stupid and ugly and usually made out of really scratchy, porous material and I refuse to even consider it.

The End.

Journal # 29: Favorite Music

Susan Boyle's single, "I Dreamed A Dream", topped the music charts, and sold the most albums of any artist in a single week this year with the largest ever sales debut for a female artist (Piazza). She first appeared on the music scene on April 11, 2009 as a contestant on the show "Britain's Got Talent". The scene that viewers first saw seemed like a typical cliche- a frumpy and seemingly unappealing contestant that would probable wail out a couple of wobbly notes and then get booed of off the stage by Simon Cowell.

However, Susan Boyle proved everyone wrong when she opened her mouth and belted out the opening lines of "I Dreamed A Dream" from the musical Les Misérables. She is a prime example of why you should not judge a book by its cover, and her musical career has continued to soar even though she did not win "Britain's Got Talent" but instead came in second place.

But since then, Boyle has gained even more success from her album, also called "I Dreamed a Dream", which was released on November 23, 2009. To date, the album is on top of the Billboard 200 albums chart with 701,000 copies sold in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan (Piazza).


Many people were initially drawn to Boyle due to her underdog quality, unassuming appearance, and of course, her beautiful, haunting, voice. Her quick rise to the top from her days as an unemployed church volunteer in Scotland (Greenblatt) made her seem easy to relate to and incredible at the same time. As Susan Boyle continues to sing and produce more music, people continue to buy her album and rave about her undeniable talent. Serving as an inspiration for many, Susan Boyle's music has proven that things certainly aren't always what they seem.

Her album is available in stores, on iTunes, and on Amazon. The video of her first performance on "Britain's Got Talent" has been viewed 9,923,825 on YouTube and has received almost 20,000 comments- most of which were extremely positive ("Original").

Greenblatt, Leah. "Susan Boyle: Entertainer of the Month". Entertainment Weekly. May 1, 2009. Web. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20275855,00.html

Piazza, Jo. "Susan Boyle's Album". CNN Entertainment. December 2, 2009. Web. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-12-02/entertainment/susan.boyle.album_1_album-sales-susan-boyle-nielsen-soundscan?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ

"Original Version. Susan Boyle, I Dreamed a Dream". YouTube. January 10, 2011. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmbJzH93NU

Journal #28: A Time That You Had To Convince Someone To Do Something That You Wanted Them To Do

There was this once time when I had to convince my friend to steal the flags from a car dealership. I'm honestly not sure why, though. The flags where falling off and they were all sparkle-y and stuff and if you're going to take something from a car dealership, you should probably go for something low key like the flags that annoy people by flapping in the wind. He really didn't want to steal the flags and kept going on and on about felonies and misdemeanors and I was very adamant that he just take the flags. We sat in that parking lot for a good half hour before the kid finally realized that I was not going to give up. And that's when he agreed to do the thing that I wanted him to do.

And I don't do anything half way. So there needed to be a get away car (with me as the driver, of course), gloves so that finger prints could not be identified, and I needed to hold his kid at FAKE gun point. To be clear, I did not actually hold this kid at gun point. I pointed my fingers at him very innocently until he got out of the drivers seat and walked towards the flag. Then I vacated the passenger seat and got into the drivers seat, revving the engine several times to make he sure knew this was the real deal.

At this point, I rolled the window and shouted "do it, do it, do it!" so that he would hurry up. So he grabbed those flags, ripped them down, and made a mad dash for the car. He got in, breathless, and held the flags up triumphantly, saying "that was awesome." I nodded, telling him that he should just always do what I tell him to and he'd been a lot better off.

Then I drove away from the crime scene, going a respectable speed limit as to not alert the police of our crime spree.

The End.

Journal #27: Persistence

Persistence. Seriously? I need to formulate a 325 word journal on one word?

Okay.

Persistence is, defined by my beloved and trustworthy www.dictionary.com, the act of persisting or continued effort (Persistence). Another example is ambition, or continuing to do something (Rundblom). Persistence can be a tricky thing. How long do you really want to do something? After a while, all that persisting would probably just a little tedious. And boring. And downright exhausting.

I have recently exhibited persistence when I had to work every single day of my Christmas Break (excluding Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and the weekends). It was horrendous, to be honest. I had to eat lunch in my cubicle and spend hours and hours actually doing my job. Well, I did slack off and look at MSN Wonderwall quite a few times. The 2010 Year In Review gallery was absolutely captivating.

The main and most important part of persistence is working hard so that you can see all that hard work result in something, and hopefully something good. For instance, studying all semester for a class that you find challenging shows persistence, and that hard work pays off when you get a good grade in the class. Working shows persistence, because then you get a paycheck and are able to purchase things for yourself. I make nowhere near enough money to support myself at the moment (because, um, minimum wage is $8.25, folks. And FICA hates me), it is still nice to know that I have some extra money to buy clothes or go out to eat or something of that nature.

I would also like to think that I exhibited persistence by getting this blog post finished and reaching the required 325 words, not including citations. Because really, this is a broad topic. I could branch out in whatever topic I please, as long as it has to do with persistence.

On that note, the Great Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States, had a few words to say about the wonders of persistence. "Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” (American).

Well said, sir.

La Fin.

"American President: Calvin Coolidge." Miller Center of Public Affairs. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. .

"Persistence Define Persistence at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 03 Jan. 2011. .

Rundblom, Abby (circa 1994). English Class. 03 Jan. 2011.