Chronological Movements in American Literature Practice Test

Hereditary influence and environment shaping characters is the hallmark of naturalism. This subcategory treats people as products of forces beyond their control—biology and social surroundings—emphasizing determinism over free will. In naturalist works, heredity supplies inherent traits or tendencies, while the environment—including poverty, race, class, and harsh social conditions—steers behavior and outcomes. The aim is often to present life with a documentary realism, showing how these powerful external forces trap individuals in situations they cannot escape. Historically, naturalism rose in the late 19th century in American literature, influenced by Darwinian ideas, and writers like Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser illustrate characters whose fates seem governed by such forces rather than personal choice. In contrast, romantics highlight emotion and individual spirit, symbolists focus on inner states and imagery, and ironists explore skepticism and irony, not the heredity/environment dynamic central to naturalism.