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Realism, in the broadest of definitions, is the faithful representation of reality or verisimilitude. The realist is considered to be the "philosophical extrovert" . Within the scope of American literature, ‘realism' spans the time period from the Civil War to the turn of the century. Some claim that American realism was the product of a country shaken by war combined with technological advances and increased consciousness of nationhood. Realism, according to Weinberg, "denies the continuum of time as meaningful dimension of experience because time cannot be seen or touched" . In essence, realism was a solution to the problem of the past. It "made a religion out of newness and contemporaneity" . However, some critics of realism have criticized it as having been "exposed as an insidious agent of the capitalistic-imperialistic-bourgeois hegemony" .

The advent of realism was much appreciated by writers everywhere for it was a response to the changing cultural needs. William Dean......

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Approximate Word Count: 1780
Approximate Pages: 8 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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