American Realism in Literature

A 1,500-word count approximately 5 pages double-spaced when using normal 1-inch margins, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, and a standard A4 (letter size) page size. Format: MLA8.

Option Selected : #1 Realism
Realism Option: In this option, the student will clearly explain the characteristics of American Realism in literature and the significance of the movement in the American canon. In the process, he or she will choose three authors from the list below, select one work from each chosen author, and prove that the work is representative of American Realism. Possible authors for this assignment include Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Henry James, Kate Chopin, Charles Chesnutt, and William Dean Howells.

After selecting one of these options, students should begin collecting and evaluating reliable sources to help them in the writing of their paper. Depending upon the chosen option, students will structure their paper to make it as effective as possible in achieving its goal.
• To be clear, in option 1, I am looking for strong textual evidence from the selected literary works that can justify each as being an example of American Realist literature.

In composing this paper, students must use a minimum of five sources and may use no more than seven sources. In any case, two of these sources must be from your textbook. In other words, at least two of the sources must be primary sources. The remaining secondary sources should be located from reliable locations (library, AVL, reputable website or database, etc.). Any secondary source should be evaluated using the CRAAP test document located in this week’s module to ensure the source meets reliability standards.
*Note: Shmoop, LitCharts, and other such “cheat” sites are unacceptable for a two-hundred level college literature class and should not be used for research.

For academic and/or formal papers in all college English courses, students should eliminate the use of first-person and second-person pronouns (e.g., I, me, we, us, our, ours, you, your, yours, etc.), unless students are using a direct quote. Essays will receive an automatic 10% deduction in correctness points if first or second person is used.

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