The Turn of the Century
Background:
1. What new
development marked the increase of social problems in
2. What becomes the # 1 social problem?
3. What literary concerns occupy the writers of this period?
4. Define the following:
Reading Selections
Sarah Orne Jewett---“A White Heron”
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman---“The Revolt of ‘Mother’”
Edith Wharton---“Roman Fever”
Stephen Crane---“The Open Boat”
Theodore Dreiser---“The Second Chance”
Required Journals
1. Discuss Jewett’s regionalism in “A White Heron.”
2. Do Sarah’s actions constitute a revolt in “The Revolt of ‘Mother’?”
3. Discuss the tension in the relationship between Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade in “Roman Fever.”
4. How do the narrator’s ideas on nature and existence change during his time in the boat in Crane’s “The Open Boat?”
5. Discuss the naturalist views in Dreiser’s “The Second Chance.”