Question

How is the poem 'Sadie and Maud' by Gwendolyn Brooks synonymous to Realism, Naturalism and Modernism?

Answer 1

First of all, tell us what you know about Realism

and Naturalism

and Modernism.

You have to be very clear on what those terms mean before you can make inferences.

Answer 2

For what I am trying to understand I am using these definitions:
Realism- a faithful reproduction of reality and promotes awareness
Naturalism- a harsher treatment of reality and realism
Modernism- connecting realism and naturalism to today.

Answer 3

Pretty good.

Read these, too -- a paragraph or so in each:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism#Realism_in_the_arts
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(literature)
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism#Modernism:_1930.E2.80.931945

Then ...

Tell me what lines in the poem best illustrate each of those 3 trends.

Answer 4

Would the last stanza be an example of Naturalism?

"Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.
She is living all alone
In this old house."

Answer 5

Yes, I agree.
"...detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character."