Headline

~Realistic Writers~
The American 4 Fathers


The Realism Era took place in the United

States took place in the late 1800’s and early

1900’s. The most notable writers of this time are

William Faulkner, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, and

last but not least Mark Twain. The Literary Realism

Era was a period in which authors started writing

about contemporary life and society. Aside from the

lovely happy endings in the Romanticism Era, these

authors focused on natural everyday life and the

hardships we might go through.

William Faulkner was an active American

novelist who is most well known for his novels; The

Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. Faulkner,

being from Mississippi, sets a few of his books in

his native southern state and in the south. For

example his book As I Lay Dying was set in

Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. Upton Sinclair was

considered as one of the best investigative

journalist of his time. His Book The Jungle is a

prime example of how he used his journalistic

strengths to inspire the government to create the

Pure food and Drug Act.

Jack London was one of the first of the

“American 4 Fathers” who made it big financially

through writing. Many of London’s writings were drawn

from his own personal experiences. For example his

story A Piece of Steak was a story about a young

boxer and an old boxer. London himself was a enthused

boxing fan. Although his real name is Samuel

Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain was his pen name. Twain

was best known and admired for his work as a

satirist. His book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is

his most notable novel. This novel being full of

situational satire of the time setting.

These 4 writers are in my opinion the most

influential writers in the Realism Era. Said writers

demonstrated exactly what it meant to be a Realistic

writer and set the bar for those to follow in their

footsteps.

Life and Times
By. Dewon Crumpton

They died..

Worthy Cause?



The time of Martin Luther King Jr. was a very

controversial period in our nation’s history.

Racism and segregation was a huge issue in society.

Dr. King was one of the most notable Civil rights

leaders in history. From protest marches to

desegregation pins. He tried his hardest to make

the rest of the country accept the fact that change

was on the horizon. The idea of acceptance in an

equal society is what he strived so hard for. He

was an inspirational figure to many and to some a

threat to their society. He showed our nation that

you should always fight for what you believe in no matter how much resistance.

Acceptance is defined as the mental attitude that

something is believable and should be accepted as

true. This definition describes exactly what Dr.

King wanted. He wanted the nation to believe that

we needed to change our ways and do away with

segregation. Dr. King wanted the nation to accept

the fact we the human race are all equal and that

no one is any better than the other regardless of

race, sex, or religion. These ideas that he

presented attracted others to join the cause, but

there were always the people who figured that they

were superior to other races. One of these people

in turn killed Dr. King for just wanting change.
The United States 35th President John

Fitzgerald Kennedy supported racial integration and

civil rights. President Kennedy also telephoned

Coretta Scott King, the wife of the jailed Reverend

Martin Luther King, Jr. John and Robert Kennedy's

intervention secured the early release of King from

jail. JFK was also a supporter of change and

nationwide equality. Although once again he like

Dr. King was assassinated for invalid reasons. The

ideas of these men and many others did fade away

though. Today we live in a world in which we all

can look back on the things that happened during

their time and feel sorrow. Now our nation has come

together not as separate people on a piece of land

but as diverse people in a glorious country.

Opinion
~ Why Kill? ~

“Human Mockingbird”


In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus, one of the main characters in the story

tells his son Jem, “Remember it’s a sin to kill a

mockingbird.” When Jem questioned his father’s ruling

their friend Miss Maudie replied, “Your father’s

right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing

but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their

hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a

mockingbird.” I’ve come to the conclusion that this

explanation does in turn pose in ironic question.

This question being: If it is a sin to kill in

innocent bird, then why do people in history feel

that it is not a sin to kill an innocent person?

If you have read the novel To Kill a

Mockingbird then you would know the person who is

killed is an older African American man named Tom

Robinson. Robinson was accused of raping a young

white woman by the name of Mayella Ewell. Tom was

granted a “fair trial” by jury, but since the equal

protection clause had not been enacted the jury was

composed of all white southerners. The trial left

many questions open for a reasonable jury to decide

upon, but this was not your present day jury. It was

as if the jury had already made their decision before

anyone had to testify. The testimonies that were

heard did not tie together, it was as though the

plaintiff’s council were leading the witnesses, and

the woman supposedly violated changed her own story

a few times. Yet the fact still remained that in this

type of society and time period the verdict would

have an obvious outcome.

When I use the term “Human Mockingbird” I

refer to the role of the mockingbird given by Miss

Maudie. Human Mockingbird being defined as: Human

being who lives their life as though everyone is the

same and does no real harm or wrong to anyone. Not

only Tom Robinson but thousands of African Americans

have in the past killed for no real reason. For Mr.

Robinson it was basically being in the wrong place at

the wrong time. For some looking at the wrong person

or even just walking down the street was reason

enough for racial prejudice to be taken out.

Although the book and the events I speak of

are mainly placed in an early post Civil War time

period, but many similar events took place before and

after this. Even now similar events are still taking

place. We as a society are continuing to overcome

the issues represented in this book. I only hope I

live to seethe day when all of the chaos is put to an

end and we unite as one.