Compare and Contrast Essay
During the regionalism and naturalism writing movement, authors like Bret Harte and Mark Twain, were able to use regionalistic qualities to create stories that captured imaginations of readers living in the East, Midwest, and South. Many writings during this time period were filled with these qualities, but not all stories used them in all aspects of the story. “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain, and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte, are two stories in which this statement is true. The similarities and differences between the stories’ characters, narrators, and themes will show the characteristics of regionalism writing and how two different authors can use the same foundation to create different yet similar stories. …show more content…
“The Jumping Frog…,” has two narrators, one in which the name is not given, and Simon Wheeler. The first narrator is a character in the story which is talking in first person. They show sympathy by not interrupting throughout the story being told which is also ironic because one would believe he would ask questions. They also show they have an intelligent vocabulary by using words like garrulous, conjectured, and infamous. The second narrator, Simon Wheeler, who tells a long story about Jim Smiley to the first narrator, uses a more “uneducated vocabulary” with a lot of vernacular language. “The Outcasts…” has only one narrator. Because the story is written in third person limited point of view, this story also does not show any regionalistic qualities through the narrator. The narrator could be anybody because we do not know anything about them. It could also be said that this is a character outside of the story. This shows a direct contrast to the narrators in “The Jumping Frog…” since the narrators for that story are part of the story and serve as an advocate between the rural folk of the story and the urban audience to whom it is directed
During the regionalism and naturalism writing movement, authors like Bret Harte and Mark Twain, were able to use regionalistic qualities to create stories that captured imaginations of readers living in the East, Midwest, and South. Many writings during this time period were filled with these qualities, but not all stories used them in all aspects of the story. “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain, and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte, are two stories in which this statement is true. The similarities and differences between the stories’ characters, narrators, and themes will show the characteristics of regionalism writing and how two different authors can use the same foundation to create different yet similar stories. …show more content…
“The Jumping Frog…,” has two narrators, one in which the name is not given, and Simon Wheeler. The first narrator is a character in the story which is talking in first person. They show sympathy by not interrupting throughout the story being told which is also ironic because one would believe he would ask questions. They also show they have an intelligent vocabulary by using words like garrulous, conjectured, and infamous. The second narrator, Simon Wheeler, who tells a long story about Jim Smiley to the first narrator, uses a more “uneducated vocabulary” with a lot of vernacular language. “The Outcasts…” has only one narrator. Because the story is written in third person limited point of view, this story also does not show any regionalistic qualities through the narrator. The narrator could be anybody because we do not know anything about them. It could also be said that this is a character outside of the story. This shows a direct contrast to the narrators in “The Jumping Frog…” since the narrators for that story are part of the story and serve as an advocate between the rural folk of the story and the urban audience to whom it is directed