Description
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
- Textbook: Chapter 7, 8
- Lesson
- Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook for historical/political influences)
Initial Post Instructions
Choose one of the literary movements that you read about this week and at least one work from that movement. Movements, authors, and famous works are discussed in the lesson as well. You do not have to choose authors or works discussed in the lesson, but you may. For your initial post, address one of the following:
Option 1: Examine the movement and specific work in relation to historical and political influences of the movement. Include a one paragraph summary of the plot before moving on to the examination of the work in relation to the movement.
Option 2: Examine a specific artwork influenced by a literary work and how the artist captured the subject or story. Here are a few examples, but you are not restricted to this list:
- Asher B. Durand’s Thanatopsis (influenced by William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis”)
- John William Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott (influenced by Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott”)
- Sir John Everett Millais’s Ophelia (influenced by Shakespeare’s Ophelia from Hamlet)
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne or The Rape of Prosperina (influenced by ancient myths)
- Ancient Greek vase painting (influenced by various ancient myths)
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least one peer. Respond to one peer who chose an option different from yours. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification.
Week 4 Discussion: Literary MovementsProfessor and class, For this weeks discussion,I have chosen the literary movement of realism. The realism movement began in France in the 1850s following the 1848 Revolution. The decline of the British Empire was the greatest influence on the development of realism. Realists rejected Romanticism, revolting against the exotic subject matter and exaggerated emotionalism of the movement (Jacobus & Martin, 2019). An example of literary realism is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, which was written in 1888. The plot of the story is that of Huckleberry Finn, who was a friend of Tom Sawyer. Huck lived in poverty, and was abused by his alcoholic father. He escaped by fleeing down the river with a companion that he met named Jim, a slave who ran away because he feared being sold to another family and separated from his wife and children. Huck struggles with the concept of slavery and Jims freedom throughout the book. The only time Huck and Jim feel truly free is when they are floating on the river on their raft. The raft is seized by the duke and king who force Huck and Jim to stop at various river towns and perform scams on the towns people. The income is not enough and the duke and king end up selling Jim back into slavery. Huck goes to rescue Jim, and is mistaken for Tom Sawyer. Tom then arrives and pretends to be his own brother, Sid, and joins Huck in his quest to free Jim. During that escape plan, Tom is shot in the calf by a farmer. Jim will not leave Tom, and is therefore recaptured and forced back into slavery. In the end, Jim finds out that his original owner had died and set him free in her will and Tom knew it the entire time (History.com editors, 2009) Realism represents reality by portraying mundane, everyday experiences as they are in real life, using simple, transparent language and detail. There is no sugar- coating or fluffy words. In relation to realism, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was originally written in Hucks Missourian dialect. Realism often depicts stories which include familiar people, places, usually about the middle and lower classes of society. Huck grew up impoverished with an alcoholic, abusive father, and Jim was a slave. The political and historical influences of the institution of slavery, racism, and social attitudes are present throughout the story as well. Jim is strong, brave, and loyal, forced into slavery, and many of the white characters are portrayed as violent and selfish. References Jacobus,L.A. & Martin, F.D. (2019). The Humanities through the Arts. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. History.com Editors (2009). Mark Twain publishes The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn, History. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/twain-…
