Dialects In American Literature

Dialects in American Literature

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries dialect was not common in American Literature. Writers who attempted to accurately capture American dialect and slang often failed to make it believable. In my essay, "Dialects in American Literature," I will compare and contrast three writers who used dialect in their writings and explain the difference between effective and ineffective use of dialect. The writers I will be discussing are Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and William Dean Howells.

The use of dialect in American literature comes from using a combination of realism and regionalism. According to dictionary.com "realism is an inclination toward literal truth and pragmatism and regionalism is the use of regional characteristics, as of locale, custom, or speech, in literature or art." Regionalism includes local language, which is often expressed by using dialect. Three examples of accurately capturing regionalism are: Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" (1869), Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884-1885), and William Dean Howells "A Hazard of New Fortunes" (1890).

The Biography of Bret Harte states that he was born in Albany New York on August 25, 1839. In 1854, his mother, a widow, moved him to California. In California Harte worked as a miner, school teacher, express messenger, printer, and journalist. While Harte was in San Francisco writing for "The Californian" he worked with Mark Twain, Charles Warren Stoddard, Prentice Mulford and the editor, Henry Webb. He contributed many poems and prose pieces to the paper. Bret Harte was appointed Secretary of the United States Branch Mint at San Francisco in 1864. He held that office until 1870. Harte then became the first editor of the "Overland Monthly." "The Luck of Roaring Camp" published in the "Overland Monthly" brought him instant and wide fame. He was thereafter requested to contribute poems and articles to a number of publications. His stories of the American West were much in demand in the eastern United States. In 1871 he moved to New York. He later moved to Boston.

"The Outcasts of Poker Flat" was first published in an issue of the Overland Monthly magazine in January, 1869. Bret Harte was also the editor of Overland Monthly magazine at the time of the stories debut. The story was a successful follow-up to "The Luck of Roaring Camp," which was written in August, 1868.

In "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," a group of inappropriate people are thrown out of a small western town. What I mean by "inappropriate," is that they were not liked by the local citizens. They were considered outcasts. The outcast characters were, "Duchess," also known as "Mother Shipton," and "Uncle Billy," a suspected sluice-robber and confirmed drunkard. The other character in the story is Mr. John Oakhurst, a gambler. Bret Harte establishes regionalism through description of his characters and also the dialogue that he gives his characters. For example, Uncle Billy says "Is this yer a d---d picnic?" 'With inward scorn, as he surveyed the sylvan group, the glancing firelight, and the tethered animals in the foreground hurst returns to the group he speaks in a particular dialect.'

This dialogue Hate uses is a great example of capturing dialect that is local to time and place. The dialect portrays the way people actually talked. The story takes original characters and places them in a typical western situation. Harte uses regionalism through dialect to successfully portray his characters the way they actually are. I enjoyed reading "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," and truly believe that the use of dialect successfully portrayed the people of the time. According to Edward O'Brien in an essay written in 1923 about the advance of the American short story, "Harte is far from being the greatest of American story writers, but he is probably the most representative of the characteristic qualities and weaknesses, and historically he may have been our most influential man."

Mark Twain uses a different approach to capture regionalism through his writing in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The direct use of dialect throughout "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is extremely effective. It sure kept my attention when reading the long but interesting story. The different dialects really add color and depth to his story. The two things I liked the most about Twain's use of dialects were his ability to give the characters a personality, and his ability to carefully tell about the conditions in which the character grew up.

The biography of Samuel Clemens, alias Mark Twain states, that Mark Twain is an American icon whose razor-sharp wit and inimitable genius have entertained countless readers for more than a century. His many publications include such gallant childhood essentials as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn," 'along with many dozens of other works ranging from airy magazine columns to focused, biting anti-imperialist satire.'

He was born in Hannibal, Missouri in 1835. The Clemens family consisted of two brothers, a sister, and the family-owned slave, Jenny, whose vivid storytelling was a formative influence on the young Sam. As he was growing up, his parents explained their perspective on the nature of things in the established South, about the slave-owning tradition, and about 'rough western justice.

Reflections of this pre-war southern upbringing are found in many of Twain's writings, and although his images are quite idyllic, one cannot ignore the constant historical reminders of some of America's more unacceptable social realities. Sam Clemens first discovered his literary talents through an apprenticeship at a local printing shop. He was exposed to countless books and became an avid reader. For him, a career in journalism was more than natural, but it wasn't until the marriage of his sister that Sam was inspired to real action. Bound by train, he left Hannibal for New York City. Shortly thereafter he found himself in Philadelphia, working in the publishing and journalism fields.

In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Twain first develops Huck's speech pattern as a ten year old boy. Huck's personality can be pictured through his choice of words. He was slightly educated, but he still had a rough manner of speech. While his speech was improper he tried to think about the words to use, he was sincere, and he really spoke what he thought. His honesty and openness would have been impossible to reveal