The literary movement of Regionalism (1880-1910) gave readers of the time a view of what it was like to live in a different region through the written word. Writers such as Brete Harte, Joel Chandler Harris, and Sarah Orne Jewett used speech patterns, traditions, beliefs, scenery, and backgrounds of the area to depict the region in which their stories took place.  

In Bret Harte’s The Luck of Roaring Camp he paints a picture of the scenery for the reader “The camp lay in a triangular valley between two hills and a river.  The only outlet was a steep trail over the summit of a hill that faced the cabin, now illuminated by the rising moon.” Harte then goes on to use speech patterns “Is that him?” “Mighty small specimen;” “Hasn’t more’n got the color;” “Ain’t bigger nor a derringer.” to depict the region in which the story takes place.  

In Joel Chandler Harris’s The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story he also uses speech patterns, traditions, and beliefs to bring his story to life for the reader. The strong use of dialect such as “He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho’s you bawn-Brer Fox did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool ‘im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en got ‘im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a conrapshun wat he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot’er in de big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer ter see wat de news wus gwinter be.” lets the reader know in which region the story is being told along with the tradition of cultural story-telling.  

In A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett Regionalism is prevalent again in the use of scenery and background of the area. ” The woods were already filled with shadows one June evening, just before eight o’clock, though a bright sunset still glimmered faintly among the trunks of the trees.” “Half a mile from home, at the farther edge of the woods, where the land was highest, a great pine-tree stood, the last of its generation.” are pieces of the story that describe the imagery of the landscape.  

Each writer’s use of showing the uniqueness of the regions of their stories through speech patterns, traditions, beliefs, scenery, and backgrounds of an area are the qualities that brought forth the sub-genre of Realism we know as Regionalism. 

Harte, Brete. “The Luck of Roaring Camp.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Robert S. Levine, Norton, 2022, p 345. 

Harris, Joel Chandler. “The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Robert S. Levine, Norton, 2022, p 549. 

Jewett, Sarah Orne. “A White Heron.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Robert S. Levine, Norton, 2022, p 556,560.