Local Color
After the Civil War, there was a trend of depicting the particular and the regional in a great number of novels and short stories, instead of the universal and the national.
and California
❖Something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.
❖Adam was but human—this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden.
❖Some critics link this change with --the tragic events of his later life, --the failure of his investments, --his fatiguing travels and lectures in order
to pay off his debts, --the death of his wife and two daughters
which left him Differences between Howells, James, and
Twain
❖In thematic terms,
(5) desire ‘simple, clear, direct prose’ style
