“A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist! » “However,” replied the universe. 'It didn't create a sense of obligation in me.' (Quotes from Stephen Crane). This quote is from Stephen Crane, one of America's greatest realist writers. Stephen Crane (1871-1900) is one of the most influential and important writers of the American Realism period. The period of realism extends from approximately 1865 to 1910. For those working in serious literary circles, this period is full of upheaval. A literary civil war begins between the romantics and the realists, then between the naturalists. American realists believed that man's freedom of choice was limited by the power of other forces. Crane was inspired to write by his family: his father, a Methodist minister, and his mother, a pious woman devoted to social concerns, where two of his brothers were journalists. His desire to write about the war grew out of his close encounters with a war correspondent. Crane became a foreign war correspondent, first in Greece and then, during the Spanish-American War, in Cuba. This is important in Crane's life because people believed that Crane never witnessed anything relating to the military or battle. This helped Crane with many of his war stories and novels. He particularly helped Crane with his Civil War story, Red Badge of Courage. Crane challenged and changed the literary world in many ways and not just in one specific way. Crane challenged the literary world because it was a time when there was a literary civil war between romantics, realists, and then naturalists. Crane challenged romantic and naturalist beliefs with his own. Crane changed the literary world using his experience and imagination, but at the same time...... middle of paper ....... New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 225. Literature Resource Center. Internet. May 7, 2014. "Stephen Crane - The World of 1898: Hispanic Americans..." May 7. 2014 “A review of “The Red Badge of Courage.” The Spectator 76.3548 (June 27, 1896): 924.Rpt. in 20th century literary criticism. Ed. Paula Kepos. Flight. 32. Detroit: GaleResearch, 1989. Information Resource Center. Internet. May 8, 2014. Carter, Everett. Howells and the Age of Realism. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1954. Chase, Richard. The American novel and its tradition. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1957 “The Literature of an Expanding Nation.” Harper's American Literature. Donald McQuade, editor. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. “Stephen Crane Quotes.” Happy reading. Goodreads Inc, 2014. The web. May 15 2014..