Real Folks

Whitney, A. D. T. (Adeline Dutton Train), 1824-190Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 490K words
Chapters: 49

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Real Folks by A. D. T. WhitneyAuthor: Whitney, A. D. T. (Adeline Dutton Train), 1824-1906,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Nov 9, 2004

Editor's review

Real Folks is a novel by the nineteenth-century American author A. D. T. Whitney, classified as juvenile literature. The work continues the author's characteristic moral concern and domestic narrative style, revolving around daily life, character, and community relations, with gentle language, an unhurried pace, and a marked period didacticism. Its value lies in presenting the ethical imagination of "real people" and sincere living in nineteenth-century American popular fiction; it suits use as a sample for understanding the character of juvenile reading of the time and the tradition of women's writing. Readers should not expect strong dramatic conflict but rather appreciate the values in dialogue and everyday detail. To modern readers some ideas may seem conservative, but precisely for that reason it offers a window onto the family ethics and social expectations of the era. It is suggested for selective reading from the perspectives of literary history or gender studies, and also as light reading in the original English.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying nineteenth-century American juvenile literature and women's writing
English readers who enjoy slow-paced domestic and ethical fiction
Readers seeking insight into old American everyday values and life details
Advanced English learners wanting light original-language reading to build language sense

Not a good fit for

Contemporary fiction readers who prefer strong plot and fast pace
Readers averse to didacticism and old-fashioned morality
Beginners whose English reading ability cannot yet handle nineteenth-century long sentences

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to grasp character relationships and narrative tone, then decide whether to read fully or selectively.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century American juvenile literature to understand its moral narrative tradition.
Slow down at long sentences and old-fashioned expressions, taking notes on character relationships as needed.
If used for research, focus on the domestic positioning of female characters and depictions of community interaction.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for young readers?

The information classifies it as juvenile literature, but in the nineteenth-century sense: heavily didactic and slow-paced. Today's young readers interested in old-fashioned stories may try it, but some English foundation or teacher guidance is recommended.

Do I need to know the author's other works first?

No. The book can be read independently and does not depend on prior events in other works. To understand the author's style and ethical concerns, you may supplement with biographical and period background after reading.

How difficult is the original English?

It is nineteenth-century popular fiction with long sentences and an unhurried narrative; vocabulary is not obscure, but expression differs from contemporary English. Intermediate readers and above may attempt it, ideally with annotations or selected chapters rather than forcing a complete read.

What is the main reading value of this book?

Its main value lies in literary and social history: it shows how nineteenth-century American juvenile fiction conveyed character and family values through everyday stories, and how a woman author expressed herself in this genre. For general readers, it offers a slow-paced reading experience of an older time.

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About the author

Whitney, A. D. T. (Adeline Dutton Train), 1824-190 Author

A. D. T. Whitney (Adeline Dutton Train Whitney, 1824–1906) was a nineteenth-century American author known for stories and verse written for young readers and families. Six of her works are held here: Real Folks, A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life., Mother Goose for Grown Folks, We Girls: a Home Story, Faith Gartney's Girlhood, and The Other Girls. These titles show her fondness for stories of girlhood, domestic life, and summer pastimes, along with a playful reworking of nursery rhymes. Her writing is gentle and delicate, centered on home and friendship, with an emphasis on the formation of character, and was well received by readers of her day. Public information is limited and biographical details are hard to verify, yet her themes clearly reflect an interest in the moral growth of young people and family life.