Tess

Word Sort Activity: 19th Century Literary Movements

Situation: Think about how much fashion has changed over the time
youve been alive. So many things that were in are now out and
new styles and trends take their place. We can think about these
trends as fashion periods or movements. Oftentimes the trends and
fashions of a particular period reflect social issues or respond to the
fashion period that came before it. The same ideas apply to literature.
Throughout history, literature has had certain trends and styles that we
have organized into literary time periods. These time periods also
reflect social issues and respond to other literary movements or
periods.
Instructions: Use scissors to cut out each of the words listed below
and then sort the words into the three categories to the best of your
ability based on patterns you may see. Each word describes an aspect,
author, or work from one of the 19th century literary time periods. Its
ok if things dont seem to make sense right away; just do your best!
Objectives:
1. Students will distinguish between the often-confused literary
movements of the 19th century, Realism, Naturalism, and
Regionalism. (SOL 11.4R b)
2. Students will know the characteristics and prominent themes of
Regionalism, Naturalism, and Realism. (SOL 11.4R b)
Standards:
11.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze relationships
among American literature, history, and culture.
b) Compare and contrast the development of American literature
in its historical context.
Categories:
Stephen Crane
Kate Chopin
Direct response to

Naturalism
Realism
Regionalism
Examples:

Great Expectations
Detached author
Middle class life
Everyday experiences

Romanticism

Deterministic

Thomas Hardy

Dialect

Misery

Nostalgia

Mark Twain

Intense detail

Life as it is

Emile Zola

Disease

Henry James

Without artistic convention

Focus on characters

Poverty

background

Leo Tolstoy

The Jungle
Taboo activities
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Charles Dickens
Nothing Happens Plot
Concerned with literary
technique
Social class critique
Chronicle of despair
Philosophical basis
The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn
The character not the individual
Dark aspects of life
Bored housewife, petty
government
official, regular folk

Verisimilitude
Setting of main
importance
Local color
Intrusion of outsider
Customs
Maggie: A Girl of the
Streets
War and Peace
Nature as a powerful
force
Diction

Answer Key:
Naturalism
Philosophical Basis
Maggie: A Girl of the
Streets
The Jungle
Chronicle of despair
Taboo activities
Nature as a powerful
force
Emile Zola
Deterministic
Detached author
Dark aspects of life
Poverty
Disease
Misery
Thomas Hardy
Stephen Crane

Realism
Life as it is
Everyday experiences

Regionalism
Dialect
Customs

Without artistic
convention
Middle class life
Verisimilitude

Diction

Great Expectations
The Catcher in the
Rye
War and Peace
Bored housewife,
petty government
official, regular folk
Charles Dickens
Intense detail
Social class critique
Leo Tolstoy
Concerned with
literary technique
Henry James
Direct response to
Romanticism

Local color
Setting of main
importance
Focus on characters
background
The character not the
individual
Stereotypes
Nothing Happens
Plot
Nostalgia
Intrusion of outsider
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Mark Twain
The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn
Kate Chopin