1. Define the term "Muckraker." Be sure to include the name of the person who created it.
a. The term “Muckraker” was created by Theodore Roosevelt, the term referred to journalists because they always wanted to stir up news and make drama.
2. Naturalism was a literary movement of the late 19th century that was an extension of Realism. What was the main focus of the Naturalistic writer?
a. Naturalistic writers believed that the laws behind the forces that govern human lives might be studied and understood through their objective study of human beings. Naturalistic writers thus used a version of the scientific method to write their novels; they studied human beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the characters' lives were governed by forces of heredity and environment. Although they used the techniques of accumulating detail pioneered by the realists, the naturalists thus had a specific object in mind when they chose the segment of reality that they wished to convey.
3. American Realists believed that humanity's freedom of choice was limited by the power of outside forces. How would this view differ from the perspective of the Romantic writer (think of someone like Emerson)?
a. The Romantic writers tried to focus on the power of the imagination to free us from the constraints of the outside world. Whereas the Realists felt that choice and freedom were limited, the Romantics felt that, due to the imagination, freedom of choice was more limitless than ever. They wanted to improve upon the outside world, and they felt that by using their imaginations, they were
