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Post-Civil War American Literature saw a transition from the prominence of romance to the development of realism. In the late 1800's, the United States was experiencing swift growth and change as a result of a changing economy, society, and culture because of an ....

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.... and began a role which he would maintain throughout his life and writings, one of a detached observer rather than participant in the American social scene. (Matthiessen 14) The first phase of James' writing begins when he is twenty-one, in 1864 and continues until 1881. He was extremely popular during this time, especially during after publication of a short story Daisy Miller, which is concerned with the destruction of a naive American girl by European mores. James continues the theme of placing Americans without sufficient social experience into the complex society and culture of Europe with The American, which chronicles a man whose finds himself ....