1890-1910 & NATURALISM

1. 1890-1910 & NATURALISM English & U.S. History Paper 11th Grade 2011

2. AMBROSE BIERCECIVIL WAR STORIES • “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce • An American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist. He is best known for his short story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" a realistic account of the horrors of war during the Civil War. • Historical Connections: Journalism, Civil War Available Online: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

3. KATE CHOPINTHE AWAKENING & SELECTED STORIES • “…Tells the story of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother who, determined to control her own life, flouts convention by moving out of her husband’s house, having an adulterous affair, and becoming an artist.” • Historical Connections: Women’s rights, Oppression

4. STEPHEN CRANETHE RED BADGE OF COURAGE • “The Red Badge of Courage portrays the initial cowardice and later courage of a Union soldier in the Civil War.” • Historical Connections: Civil War

5. THEODORE DREISERSISTER CARRIE • “This epic of urban life tells of small- town heroine Carrie Meeber, adrift in an indifferent Chicago. Setting out, she has nothing but a few dollars and an unspoiled beauty. Hers is a story of struggle— from sweatshop to stage success—and of the love she inspires in an older, married man whose obsession with her threatens to destroy him.” • Historical Connections: Naturalism

6. PAUL LAURENCE DUNBARSELECTED POEMS • “Paul Laurence Dunbar was "the most promising young colored man" in nineteenth-century America, according to Frederick Douglass, and subsequently one of the most controversial. His plantation lyrics, written while he was an elevator boy in Ohio, established Dunbar as the premier writer of dialect poetry and garnered him international recognition .” • Historical Connections: African American life

7. MARY E.W. FREEMANSHORT STORIES • Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman • “A popular and prolific author, for most of her works she drew from  the •  environment in which she had been born and brought up—the small towns and farms and villages of  • New England.” • Historical Connections: Women’s issues, Puritans Available Online: http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/freeman.htm

8. CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMANTHE YELLOW WALLPAPER & OTHER STORIES • “A terrifying tale about a woman driven to the brink of insanity by the "rest cure" she is ordered to follow by her doctor to relieve her postpartum depression.” • Historical Connections: Feminist movement

9. JACK LONDONTHE CALL OF THE WILD • “Transported from California to the subarctic climate of the Yukon, Buck is transformed from a domestic pet dog into a creature that reacts instinctively.” • Historical Connections: Naturalism, Gold prospector, War correspondent

10. FRANK NORRISTHE PIT: A STORY OF CHICAGO • “Considered one of the leading pioneers in American Naturalism, Frank Norris is read and studied for his vivid and honest depiction of life at the beginning of a lusty and developing new century. The Pit (1903) is a novel about speculation on the Chicago wheat exchange.” • Historical Connections: Industrialization of agriculture

11. BOOKER T. WASHINGTONUP FROM SLAVERY • “His controversial conviction that blacks could best gain equality in the U.S. by improving their economic situation through education rather than by demanding equal rights was termed the Atlanta Compromise, because Washington accepted inequality and segregation for blacks in exchange for economic advancement.” • Historical Connections: Slavery

12. SOJOURNER TRUTHNARRATIVE OF SOJOURNER TRUTH • “This inspiring memoir, first published in 1850, recounts the struggles of a distinguished African-American abolitionist and champion of women's rights. Sojourner Truth tells of her life in slavery, her self-liberation, and her travels across America in pursuit of racial and sexual equality.” • Historical Connections: Slavery, Feminism