In 1904, an author, named Willa Cather, published a short story, A Wagner Matinee. Highly educated and knowledgeable, Cather demonstrated realism techniques and language throughout the tale. Most of his writings, published at the end of the realist era, were not well received. A Wagner Matinee strongly contradicts the literary techniques and devices of Romanticism while emphasizing regionalism, a form of realism. In comparing and contrasting the literary techniques and style of the Romantic and Realist eras, A Wagner Matinee, by Willa Cather, would use less emphasis on specific geographic settings, the idea of ​​achieving the American Dream through hard work and hardship, and would exploit the main characters into larger than life heroes, rather than ordinary people. A Wagner Matinee focuses on the idea of ​​regionalism, literature that emphasizes a specific geographic setting and uses the language and ways of the people of that specific region. Cather uses Nebraska's terrain, such as rugged trails, climate, agriculture, and society to highlight the difficulty of living in the '90....