American realism was a late nineteenth-century literary movement that began as a reaction against romanticism and the sentimental tradition associated primarily with women writers. ... Although the realist aesthetic influenced European as well as American literature, the American tradition emerged somewhat later in the century and employed slightly different conventions than its continental counterpart. ... Nineteenth-century realist writers Stephen Crane and Stephen Foster addressed social, economic, and political concerns through their depictions of various aspects of life during that time, ...

• Word Count: 765
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"The early nineteenth century was beguiled by things Gothic – quaint folklore, macabre legends, preternatural events, medieval history, forgotten tombs, ruined abbeys. ... - and at length even Pluto, who was now becoming old, and consequently somewhat peevish - even Pluto began to experience the effects of my ill temper."9 There are, on the other hand, some biographers who proclaim that, "if the use of horror [including the contributing motif of madness] in fiction can be taken as an indication of horror in the mind of the author, then most of the tale-writers of the first hal...

• Word Count: 1406
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

" The time period and cultural influences from the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century influences the story theme and symbolism (Thompson 4). ... Although it is now difficult to trace direct localized sources for "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," scholars have located analogs in regional folklore for material in Irving's tales as well as real-life models, from the eighteenth-century, for Ichabod Crane and Brom Bones. ... The story is founded in regional history, most prominently building on the fact that New York was initially a Dutch colony and retained Dutch influences thr...

• Word Count: 1590
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Regarding the events of the story, they develop in the nineteenth century. During this century the South and the North were in conflict due to the differences they had in the way of living and thinking; Northerners were characterized by its commercial and industrial interests while southerners were inclined to agriculture; wealthy plantation worked by slaves (Tim McNeese 2003). ...

• Word Count: 1289
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate