American Literature 1865-1914. Regionalism: Katherine O’Flaherty Chopin, Mark Twain.

Local color or regional literature is fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. Influenced by Southwestern and Down East humor, between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century this mode of writing became dominant in American literature. According to the Oxford Companion to American Literature, "In local-color literature one finds the dual influence of romanticism and realism, since the author frequently looks away from ordinary life to distant lands, strange customs, or exotic scenes, but retains through minute detail a sense of fidelity and accuracy of description". Its weaknesses may include nostalgia or sentimentality. Its customary form is the sketch or short story.

Kate Chopin (Katherine O'Flaherty (1851–1904) was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century. Kate Chopin had different lifestyles throughout her life. These lifestyles provided her with insights, understanding and allowed her an analysis of late 19th century American society. Her childhood consisted of an upbringing by women with ancestry descending from both Irish and French family. Chopin also found herself within the Cajun and Creole part of the nation after she joined her husband in Louisiana. As a result, many of her stories and sketches were about her life in Louisiana in addition to the incorporation of her less than typical portrayals of women as their own individuals with wants and needs. Her major works were two short story collections, “Bayou Folk” and “A Night in Acadie”.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He is most noted for his novels, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, and its sequel, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, the latter often called "the Great American Novel."

Twain began his career writing light, humorous verse, but evolved into a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and murderous acts of mankind. At mid-career, with Huckleberry Finn, he combined rich humor, sturdy narrative and social criticism. Twain was a master at rendering colloquial speech and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built on American themes and language. Many of Twain's works have been suppressed at times for various reasons. “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” has been repeatedly restricted in American high schools, not least for its frequent use of the word "nigger," which was in common usage in the pre-Civil War period in which the novel was set.

A complete bibliography of his works is nearly impossible to compile because of the vast number of pieces written by Twain (often in obscure newspapers) and his use of several different pen names. Additionally, a large portion of his speeches and lectures have been lost or were not written down; thus, the collection of Twain's works is an ongoing process.

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