ESSAY

Realism Vs Modernism

Both realism and modernism depicted what life was really like during the time periods in
which they were written. In other words, each writing style both entailed of the stress of the
characters as well as specific and realistic background information that would make the
readers relate to the stories in which they were reading.
Realism attempts to create scenarios that are true to life and often communicate social issues.
As for modernism, it does not attempt to communicate objective truth because it believes that
this is impossible. Instead, it gives us a more abstract means of portraying the world, which
also includes important historical background evidence.
Though there may be many similarities between the two writing styles, there are many
differences that are present as well. Both writing styles were experimented in different time
periods. Realism was the first to be experimented with during the late 1800s. Despite the fact
that not much historically took place between the Civil War and the early 20th Century, many
people such as Kate Chopin, and of course Mark Twain wanted to point out their own views
on the surroundings in which they were living in. Many people were addicted to this style of
writing because they could relate to it. Notwithstanding their great expressions in the writing
world, their writing traits contain a bit of a creative disadvantage compared to Modernism
writings. When it came to the works in Modernism, it is most said that "modernism reflected
a belief that art may create meaning and thus serve as a unifying force in life and society"
(Taylor). This meant that abundant expression was put into the stories in which Modernist
writers were writing about, not only specific realistic information. Although Realism showed
an ocean of expression, each of the stories mainly focused on information that was given to
them and take that information to put it as a story. Modernist writers on the other hand used
their imagination and used the information they were given as support instead of the main
point. Due to the new styles of writing which were created during the early 20th century,
which was when Modernism first flourished, many people took notice of the new writing and
either hated or loved what they were reading.