Define Naturalism

Naturalism is a word out of the three words that we had to define that I knew I was going to enjoy writing about. I know a lot about naturalism, because I have leanred about it in other classes. "The naturalist movement dominated the second half of the period, from 1890 to 1914" (Quinn). Naturalism was more of an extreme movement than realism or regionalism was during this time. It was a movement that affected human beings a lot more than any other style of writing did at that time, and a style that still affects us today. Naturalism writers believed that we, humans, are shaped by heredity and environment. Naturalists were also the ones to believed that we were dominated by economic, social, and natural forces ("Regionalism" 487). Naturalism is a big thing that a lot of people, most, believe in our time now. People believe that we are truly shaped by our heredity and our environment around us. For example; if you were born into a family that did drugs and raised you around that, you have a bigger chance of following in those footsteps, because you have never learned anything else or know any better. I personally think that I am a believer in this. I think that people can also change though if they do not like the way that they were surrounded their whole life. Some authors that were big on naturalism, wrote about it, and are among the most important American Naturalist writers are Stephen Crane, Harold Frederic, Frank Norris, and Jack London (Quinn). These writers are ones that really changed naturalism, and are on cites like Bloom's Literary Reference getting credit for all that they did. Also, like it says in our American Literature books, there were scientists that affected and influenced these writers. Charles Darwin is a scientist that influenced a lot of naturalist writers, with his ideas of humans being shaped by their environment and their heredity. That influence that he shared with him was big deal, and what this whole thing is focused on.

Quinn, Edward. "realism and naturalism in American literature." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gfflithem0707&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 27, 2011).

"Regionalism and Realism." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Douglas FIsher, Beverly A. Chin, and Jacqueline J. Royster. American Literature ed. Coulmbus: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 487. Print.