"Spoon River Anthology"

"Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters definitely does demonstrate characteristics of both Realism and Regionalism, but not so much with Naturalism. The cemetery in Spoon River, which just so happens to be in the delightful state of Illinois, is the entire setting for the story and the very thorough description of the setting instantly gives the story parts of Regionalism. The story is really made up of a lot of different monologues, but the setting is still the same for each one and therefore gets quite a few descriptions even though there is not too much. And the setting is the only real tie between the different people giving the monologues for the story (Masters). There are probably some other same similarities between all of them, but the setting is definitely the biggest and most important one. More Regionalism is exhibited through the various dialect and characters that tell the story, although all of them do come from the Midwest their dialect and background differ slightly from tale to tale (Campbell "Regionalism"). Masters gives the story a lot of description but the cemetery is still not described in excessive detail; it mostly just seems that way because it is the setting for the entire story. The setting of a story is the main part of Regionalism, and something that makes "Spoon River Anthology" a part of the genre. The characters all share a pretty similar way of talking, most likely because they come from the Midwest and have a very neutral accent (Masters). The many different point of views that come into play in the story are a little hard to follow, but the writing and story and basically simple and to the point so it is not hard to catch up and realize what is happening.

This simple writing makes the story display Realism, because this is a major indicator of the genre (Campbell "Realism"). The characters are also pretty average, so this displays parts of Realism as well. If there really is a main hero in the story, which I do not really see, he or she would be completely average like most of the other characters in the story. The many viewpoints of the story also give a more realistic side as well because if the stories within the story happen to coincide together, then they can immediately be seen as more accurate because there is more than one person backing up the story line.

Despite displaying a lot of Realism and Regionalism, there is not a lot of Naturalism there, nor is there a lot of mention of government and religion or psychological influences. Naturalism does not play a key part in the story, but "Spoon River Anthology" is still definitely a work of Realism and Regionalism. The American Dream of the time period is briefly brought into the story because the people in the story are very real and there are things in their lives that they are working hard towards, and I think working hard to achieve what you want is a big part of the American Dream.

Campbell, Donna M. "Naturalism in American Literature. " Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web. 11 Feb 2011.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm

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

Campbell, Donna M. "Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Web. Feb 10 2011.
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/lcolor.html

Masters, Edgar Lee. "Spoon Rivers Anthology." Bartleby: Great Books Online. 2011. Online. Feb 13 2011.
http://www.bartleby.com/84/index.htm