Realist Literature: A Survey

Describe the distinctive features of Russian psychological realism.

Define 'interior monologue' and analyze Dostoyevsky's use of it to create psychological depth in 'Crime and Punishment'.

Explain how Dostoyevsky depicts social conditions like poverty and urban degradation through a realist lens.

Explain how Raskolnikov's 'extraordinary man' theory relates to the novel's critique of rationalism.

Analyze how Dostoyevsky uses realist techniques to explore profound moral and spiritual themes.

Compare Dostoyevsky's psychological realism with the social realism of Balzac and Dickens, noting differences in characterization and thematic focus.

Define literary naturalism and explain its relationship to realism.

Describe Zola's concept of the 'experimental novel' and its roots in scientific positivism.

Identify naturalist techniques in 'Germinal', such as determinism and the influence of heredity and environment.

Analyze how 'Germinal' depicts class struggle and labor conditions as subjects for naturalist fiction.

Distinguish between realist and naturalist approaches using examples from 'Germinal' and previously studied texts.

Describe Tolstoy's approach to realism and its distinct moral and spiritual dimensions.

Analyze how 'Resurrection' uses realist techniques to critique the Russian judicial and penal systems.

Explain how Tolstoy's philosophical ideas in 'Resurrection', such as Christian anarchism, inform his realist method.

Compare Tolstoy's morally-driven realism with Dostoyevsky's psychological realism.

Define socialist realism and explain its ideological origins in the realist and naturalist traditions.

Analyze how 'Mother' uses realist techniques to depict working-class life and political awakening.

Identify how Gorky's political commitments shape his realist approach compared to earlier, non-partisan realists.

Evaluate whether socialist realism represents a continuation of, or a departure from, literary realism.

Define modernism and explain its key departures from realism, such as the shift from objective social reality to subjective consciousness.

Synthesize the primary distinctions between realism and the adjacent movements of romanticism, naturalism, and socialist realism.

Compare the major characteristics of French, English, and Russian realism as studied in the course.

Develop a systematic framework for analyzing a novel's adherence to the realist mode, incorporating stylistic, thematic, and philosophical criteria.

Apply the developed framework to an unfamiliar literary passage to justify whether it belongs to the realist tradition.