I. Background: From Romanticism to Realism

　　1.the three conflicts that reached breaking point in this period

　　（1）industrialism vs. agrarian

　　（2）culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west

　　（3）plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility

　　2.1880＊s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism

　　3.the closing of American frontier

　　II. Characteristics

　　1.truthful description of life

　　2.typical character under typical circumstance

　　3.objective rather than idealized, close observation and investigation of life

　　※Realistic writers are like scientists.§

　　4.open-ending:

　　Life is complex and cannot be fully understood. It leaves much room for readers to think by themselves.

　　5.concerned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustrations of characters in an environment of sordidness and depravity

　　III.    Three Giants in Realistic Period

　　1.William Dean Howells 每 ※Dean of American Realism§

　　（1）Realistic principles

　　a. Realism is ※fidelity to experience and probability of motive§.

　　b. The aim is ※talk of some ordinary traits of American life§.

　　c. Man in his natural and unaffected dullness was the object of Howells＊s fictional representation.

　　d. Realism is by no means mere photographic pictures of externals but includes a central concern with ※motives§ and psychological conflicts.

　　e. He condemns novels of sentimentality and morbid self-sacrifice, and avoids such themes as illicit love.

　　f.  Authors should minimize plot and the artificial ordering of the sense of something ※desultory, unfinished, imperfect§.

　　g. Characters should have solidity of specification and be real.

　　h. Interpreting sympathetically the ※common feelings of commonplace people§ was best suited as a technique to express the spirit of America.

　　i.He urged writers to winnow tradition and write in keeping with current humanitarian ideals.

　　j.Truth is the highest beauty, but it includes the view that morality penetrates all things.

　　k. With regard to literary criticism, Howells felt that the literary critic should not try to impose arbitrary or subjective evaluations on books but should follow the detached scientist in accurate description, interpretation, and classification.

　　（2）Works

　　a. The Rise of Silas Lapham

　　b. A Chance Acquaintance

　　c. A Modern Instance

　　（3）Features of His Works

　　a. Optimistic tone

　　b. Moral development/ethics

　　c. Lacking of psychological depth