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`` Ain 't I A Woman ``

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Exploration of Realism Although the United States of America in the 1800s was a fairly new country, it was very hectic due to the Civil War. For a while, people wanted to get away or hide from their realities when they wrote or read literature. During the Civil War, mindsets changed and people were tired of the fantasies. People craved realistic stories with real, life-like endings. Realist writers answered the cry of Americans who wanted to explore realistic literature; Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I A Woman” is a true representation of literature during the realistic era. The start of realism in America derived from the Civil War. The Civil War in America “was a time of great social, economic, and political changes”(“Realism”). The changes of the American mindset started because people witnessed the brutalities of war firsthand. Realism originally began in France; eventually, realism travelled to American and lasted approximately 45 years. Because realism did not provide explanations for peoples actions, naturalism eventually rose up and took over (“Realism”). Also, realism did not have heroes; they “viewed the individual as simply a person”(“Realism”). The characters paid the price for their bad decisions just as any person in real life would be forced to. Realism began as a literary withdrawal from romanticism. Romantic literature focused mainly on idealized or dreamlike lifestyles while “realistic works were intended to be accurate portrayals of

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