CONTENTS:
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Realistic Fiction
Definition: Realistic fiction is stories of life in the real world (the world as we know it) and governed by the laws of the natural world as we understand them. Realistic fiction intends to provide a believable verisimilitude or plausibility to life as we experience it
- Characters may be very ordinary or quite exaggerated.
- Plots may be mundane or preposterous.
- Realistic fiction is an artistšs view of the world in which we live.
- Realistic fiction can be classified by the principal focus of the realistic element.
Types of realism:
Adventure stories
- The oldest type of fictional story.
- Characterized by
- exciting, fast-moving plot
- unusual, often bizarre, characters
- often sharply defined
- strong and daring heroes, dastardly villains
- frequently exotic settings.
- Two main kinds of adventure stories
- Survival stories
- focus on an individual(s) pitted usually against the forces of nature
- protagonist must either outwit or unite with nature in order to survive
- Mysteries
- popularized by Edgar Allan Poe in the early 19th century
- always involves the solving of a puzzle, perhaps a crime
- depends heavily on plot intricacies and clever twists
- successful mystery contains cleverly planted clues and an ingenuous crime and its solution
Domestic realism or family stories
- Focuses on the everyday manners, customs, and mores of English society
- Prior to the mid 20th century, family scenes were romantic
- After the mid 20th century, and the dramatic change in the family structure, the happy family unit is often replaced with emotionally charged situations broken homes, and nontraditional domestic arrangements.
Social realism
- Forces on societal problems--poverty, crimes, education, working conditions, corruption--and how those problems affect the characters in the novel
- Stories typically offer hope in the midst struggles.
- message is usually if hardship is to be overcome, it will be through perseverance and determination rather than through some fortuitous event that sheds rich blessings on the protagonist
- New Realism is a form of social realism in which frankness, absence of sentimentality, and at times a diminishing of hope are the basis of the story
Psychological novels and problem novels
- Psychological novel
- A product of the 20th century
- Focuses on a single individualšs emotional reaction and adjustment to lifešs experiences
- Tends to be for older readers
- Rarely carries a social message
- Not every problem has a solution
- Problem novel
- A product of the 1960s
- Focuses on a single issue of immediate concern to young people, such as divorce, first date, puberty, moving, teen pregnancy, drugs, homosexuality
- Family is usually depicted as helpless or part of the problem--a reflection of the perceived breakdown of the modern family structure
- Solutions come from outside the home--a sympathetic adult or a peer
- Used in bibliotherapy--using directed reading to help young adults cope with personal problems (some authors object to this saying it encourages the individual to narrow their perspective and focus on self-pity)
Realistic animal stories
- Originated in North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
- Animals are depicted realistically, behave as animals, are not empowered with human speech, but are given a personality and a hint of human emotion
Special characteristics of realism:
- Often seen as coming of age stories in which the main character finds greater independence, accepts responsibilities and must make decisions
- Often stories find children moving from a position of isolation and distrust to one of reaching out to others and acknowledging a need for social interaction
- Increases childrenšs thinking skills
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