Lit 325 Cambridge College

1. 1940 - 1960 REALISM, NATURALISM, AND MODERNISM IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE

2. Categorically... Realism: "A faithful reproduction of reality" Naturalism: "A harsher treatment of that reality" Modernism: "A strong and intentional break with tradition"

8. Invisible Man Ralph Waldo Ellison achieved international fame with Invisible Man, written in 1952. According to its publisher, " Invisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood," and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.

11. "An attempt to be loved" Baldwin admitted that his writing was an escape to another world and an attempt to find love. His passage to that other world was limited by his experiences of racism and homophobia. He was known for his attacks on protest fiction which secured his place as a major American writer. He was called the "conscience of the nation" criticizing failed democracy.