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. .