A Brief Biography on Stephen Crane

1360 Words3 Pages

Stephen Crane was one of America’s most influential nineteenth century writers of realism. He was credited for being a novelist, short-story-writer, poet, and journalist. He was born on November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey, as Stephen Townley Crane. Stephen was the youngest sibling of fourteen children (“Stephen Crane Biography”). His writing inspiration came from his family. His mother dedicated her life to social concerns, while his father was a Methodist minister. Two of Crane’s brothers were journalists so it was destined for Stephen Crane to become a writer. His passion came from his parents and the insights from his family life. He attended preparatory school at Claverack College, where he developed a better concept of the Civil War. He attended at Lafayette College and Syracuse University for less than two years. He quit college to become a full-time writer. His first work was Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. In his novel, he used firsthand experiences of poverty. The realism in this novel shows his readers what a realistic writer he was to become later (“Stephen Crane”).
He wrote his most famous work The Red Badge of Courage, in 1895, at the age of twenty-four. Much of his work was not recognized as acclaimed writing until The Red Badge of Courage. This novel won him international fame. Because of the realistic and vivid writing, he became well known for his emotional writing about fear, courage, and pride. Although he did not use firsthand experiences as he did in his first novel, he used descriptive words to make believable that he was there for first hand experiences. Crane had never been to war, so he used combat on the football field for his descriptions. It was not until later, after he published his novel that...

... middle of paper ...

...ng, but if the reader can interpret what is being said it can create a picture in his mind of what is being portrayed through the words.

Works Cited
"Stephen Crane Biography ." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. http://www.biography.com/people/stephen-crane-9260647#awesm=~oEm0FzRdGbps4s.
"Stephen Crane." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/stephen-crane.
Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage. New York, NY: Pocket of Books, 1895. Print.
Crane, Stephen. A Mystery of Heroism. Elements of Literature: 5th Course - Pennsylvania Edition Essentials of American Literature. Holt Rinehart & Winston, 2004. 435-31. Print.
Richardson, Mark Ed. Jay Parini. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. p237-255. COPYRIGHT 2003 Charles Scribner's Sons, COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning.

Open Document