Final answer:
The literature explosion in the late 1700s aimed to capture the experiences and challenges of life on the water, depicting maritime adventures and exploring survival and human struggle against the elements. Realistic artists also depicted the sea, highlighting its power and indifference. This cultural response reflected the influence of Romanticism and the shift towards valuing emotion and nature.
Step-by-step explanation:
The explosion of literature during the late 1700s sought to capture the experiences and challenges of life on the water. Novels like Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Samuel Richardson's Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded found large audiences by depicting maritime adventures and exploring themes of survival and human struggle against the elements. Realistic artists, such as Winslow Homer, also depicted the sea and its dangers, highlighting the power and indifference of nature. These works reflected the cultural response to industrialization and the emphasis on nature and emotion as seen in the artistic movement of Romanticism.