Question

In the late nineteenth century, how did naturalist writing most clearly differ from realist writing of the same period?

1) Naturalist writing more deeply explored the intense internal motivations of characters than realist writing.
2) Naturalist writing developed characters more in-depth and included more character flaws than realist writing.
3) Naturalist writing stressed the importance of plot and included more romance and myth than realist writing.
4) Naturalist writing utilized American's newly-acquired territories as settings more often than realist writing.

Answer 1

Naturalist writing differed from realist writing by emphasizing the impact of heredity and environment on characters and by addressing more provocative subjects.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the late nineteenth century, naturalist writing most clearly differed from realist writing of the same period by exploring the influence of heredity and environment on human behavior. Unlike Realism, which focused on depicting everyday life and the struggles of ordinary people with authenticity, Naturalism took this further by emphasizing how characters were shaped by natural and social forces beyond their control. Naturalist writers, influenced by Charles Darwin and Émile Zola, investigated human lives under the lens of pessimistic materialistic determinism, bringing to light more provocative subjects such as prostitution, alcoholism, domestic violence, and the stark realities of human existence.