Contemporar y Literature WWII to the Present Contemporar y Influences  Cold War & threat of nuclear destruction  Vietnam Conflict  1960’s civil rights violence Tone  Tone is the attitude a writer displays toward his subject Tone in Contemporar y Literature  Emotional  Humorous irony  Concern w/connections between people  Antiheroes Ironic Humor  Contemporary writers look at irony and absurd situations as a cause for subtle humor  “If you can’t fight it, you might as well laugh.” Social Concer n  The attitude toward the individual and society has changed We now view individuals in relation to others rather than as isolated from others Social Concer n cont  Contemporary literature often contains an implied criticism of the barriers between people The Anti-Hero  An anti-hero is a protagonist who has the opposite qualities of a hero He/she may be insecure, dishonest, most often a failure Anti-Hero cont  The purpose of an antihero is not to garner praise or criticism, but to aid in understanding Strategies for Reading Contemporar y Lit  Identify the emotions conveyed Does the narrator express emotions, or does he seem detached?  Notice any humor in the irony  Clarify what, if anything, is being criticized and what just needs to be understood and accepted