“Spoon River Anthology” by Edgar Lee Masters displays many traits of Regionalism. This poem is a collection of monologues of people from a small Midwestern town (Cone). The setting of this poem is the first and most prominent reason to this poem being Regionalism literature. The writing style of this poem is very simplistic. The style used is very similar to the vernacular of the Midwest. The setting of this poem helps the characters to appear more three-dimensional and real, which is also a characteristic of Realism, coincidentally.
Of course, one of the most important factors of Regionalism is the setting (Anderson). The first section of the poem is devoted solely to one location of the setting to introduce some of the characters and situations that will come up later in the story (Masters). There are descriptions of the location throughout the rest of the story as well as descriptions of the time period. All of these become major parts to the entire poem as a whole.
Another important characteristic of Regionalism that can be found in the Spoon River Anthology is the style in which it is written. Throughout the entire poem, the language and dialect is very simplistic, which adds to this being a work of Regionalism. The Midwest has a very simple vernacular, as there are not really words or styles of speaking particular to the area, unlike the South which commonly has a very strong vernacular. Overall, the Midwest has a dialect that is fairly easy to comprehend, which helps to make this poem even more simplistic. The use of this simple dialect in combination with easy to comprehend, simple sentences rather than the complex rhymes and patterns that can be seen in traditional poetry also helps to enhance the simplicity of this poem (Masters). External rhymes and scarce in this piece of literature, but this is not necessary as it is not the style of talking that is used in the Midwest. Masters does an excellent job of portraying the language of the Midwest, and matching the vernacular of the setting is a very important part of literature if the story is displaying the genre of Regionalism (Anderson).
The underlying theme of the poem is about the difficulty of living in America during the 20th century (Cone). The poem depicts the social and cultural changes that were taking place during that time period. This theme that comes from the collection of all of the peoples' feelings is extremely important to it being a work of Regionalism because the themes that come from the setting are, obviously, always the most important parts of Regionalism (Anderson).
The focus on the setting, the simple style, and the theme that comes from the focus on the setting combined with the characters are what make this a great work of Regionalism. The story of the people of a small, Midwestern town is the perfect way to display the characteristics of Regionalism as there are many things particular to the Midwest that can add to create a setting that embodies the entire theme of the story.
Works Cited
Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True. February 15, 2011.
Cone, Temple. "Spoon River Anthology." In Kimmelman, Burt, and Temple Cone, eds. The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CTAP0520&SingleRecord=True. February 13, 2011.
Masters, Edgar Lee. "Spoon Rivers Anthology." Bartleby: Great Books Online. 2011. Online. http://www.bartleby.com/84/index.html. February 15, 2011.
very good
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