Detail is that special something, that je ne sais quoi that sets Realism apart from other literary schools. Detail is the stuff that Realist writers use to weave their magic with: these writers imm...

One big innovation of Realist literature was the use of simple, transparent language. No Realist novel is going to begin with some fancy-shmancy phrase like, "Behold, thy life and love are the true...

Realist writers really rocked the omniscient narrator. What's that, you ask?Omniscient narrators are sort of like the superheroes of narrators, and that's because they know everything. They can jum...

Verisimilitude is a sexy word meaning truthiness. Realist literature is famous for the way it tries to create a world that seems real or true; Realist writers want us to believe that we're watching...

You can't talk about Realism without talking about the novel. The novel is the one genre that is most closely associated with the rise of Realism as a movement: if we tick off on your fingers the m...

You wake up. You pour your Cheerios into a bowl. You add milk. You eat and think about all the stuff you have to do today: walk the dog, finish your English essay, grab a coffee with your friend. Y...

Realist writers are really into describing, analyzing, and dramatizing personality. They delve deep into their characters' psychologies and dig into their motivations, actions, and emotions. Realis...

Realist writers are all about critiquing the social and political conditions of the worlds that they write about. Authors like Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Honoré de Balzac, and Fyodor Dostoevsky...

Class is a huge deal in Realist literature. Sometimes Realist writers will delve into the intricate etiquette of the upper classes, and sometimes they'll focus on the trials and tribulations of the...

Around the time that Realism got going as a literary movement in the mid-19th century, more and more people were reading. Education was no longer the special privilege of fancy aristocrats wearing...