REGIONALISMEverything Underlined needs to be written in notes.

VOCABULARY

Setting – time and place in which action occurs Dialects – the distinct form of language as it is

spoken from one geographical area or by a particular social or ethnic group

Imagery – descriptive words and phrases that a writer uses to recreate sensory experiences

Mood – feeling or atmosphere a writer creates for the reader

Description – writing that helps a reader to picture scenes, events, and characters

WHAT IS REGIONAL LITERATURE

What does the word “region” mean? What do you think Regional Literature

is? Represents the speech, manners,

habits, history, folklore, and beliefs of people in a specific geographical areas.

REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES

What type of people do you think live in each of the regions?How do they talk?

WHY DO YOU THINK SETTING IS IMPORTANT IN REGIONAL LITERATURE?

Key elements of setting in Regional Literature:

Geographical location – river, camp, house

Time – season, year, historical period Jobs and daily activities of characters Culture of characters – religious and

moral beliefs and social and economic conditions

Two means of conveying setting that are commonly foundin regional literature are the use of dialects—distinctiveforms of language spoken in particular areas or by particulargroups of people—and detailed descriptions of location.Read this example from Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frogof Calaveras County” (page 684).

“Rev. Leonidas W. H’m, Reverend Le— Well, there wasa feller here once by the name of Jim Smiley, in the winterof ’49—or maybe it was the spring of ’50—I don’t recollect

exactly, somehow, though what makes me think it was one orthe other is because I remember the big flume warn’t finished

when he first come to the camp. . . .”—Mark Twain, “The Notorious Jumping Frog

of Calaveras County”

What do you notice about the dialect used in this passage?

Now look at this description from Willa Cather’s “AWagner Matinee” (page 718), in which the narrator recalls theNebraska farm where he grew up. Notice the harshness andthe lack of color in the setting described; both the landscapeand the evidence of human habitation are black, pitted,and bare.

I saw again the tall, naked house on the prairie, black andgrim as a wooden fortress; the black pond where I had learnedto swim, its margin pitted with sun-dried cattle tracks; the raingullied clay banks about the naked house, the four dwarf ash

seedlings where the dish-cloths were always hung to dry before

the kitchen door.—Willa Cather, “A Wagner Matinee”

QUICK WRITE:

What feeling about life on the frontier do you get from the description? (What literary method is this referring to?)

MOODHow could you rewrite the passage to change that feeling? (Now, what

method is being referred to?)TONEYou do not have to write the prompt in your notes, only your responses.

I saw again the tall, naked house on the prairie, black andgrim as a wooden fortress; the black pond where I had learnedto swim, its margin pitted with sun-dried cattle tracks; the raingullied clay banks about the naked house, the four dwarf ash

seedlings where the dish-cloths were always hung to dry beforethe kitchen door.

—Willa Cather, “A Wagner Matinee”