Tennessee's Partner

Critics sometimes number notable authors such as Mark Twain and Kate Chopin as belonging to the local color school of American writing. Choose a short story by one of these authors and compare their approach to Harte’s.

Bret Harte is often described as a “regionalist” rather than a “realist,” though both literary movements were interested in verisimilitude. How does this story reflect Literary Realism and how does it differ?

How do the townsfolk perceive friendship? How does the story portray the friendship between Tennessee and his partner, and how does it fit into broader cultural practices in Sandy Bar?

How would the story change if it were narrated by Tennessee’s partner? How would this change the tone and mood?

What does this story communicate about gender roles and the conventions of masculinity in mining camp culture? How does gender interact with the central friendship?

Discuss the author’s use of dialect. How do different characters speak, and what do their dialects communicate about their narrative roles?

The town paper covers Tennessee’s hanging as a moral warning to onlookers. What is the role of morality in this story? How does it intersect with the story’s examination of justice?

How does humor function in this story, both between characters and as part of the narrator’s voice? Why does Harte use humor when he does?