【英美概况】【课堂笔记】美国文学american literature
AMERICAN LITERATUREWe shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all our exploringWill be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time.T.S. Eliot --- Little GiddingLiterature represents the language of a people, their culture and their tradition. But the reading of literature is more important to us than just a historical or cultural activity. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. When we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays, we may also grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.American literature is a literature that has recorded the stories of a search. Early explorers searched for new lands and new wealth. The puritans searched for a place that would become the ideal community, one of which God would approve. Many Americans travelled across America simply because they were restless and were searching for new experiences and opportunities. These searches can be said to be the “pursuit of happiness” and Americ an literature is the story of that pursuit.Some of the early literature was concerned with life in the cities and on the frontier. It created heroes and characters that epitomised the adventurous, the brave and the strong individual. This literature could be said to have created a history for a country which, in European eyes, had very little history!As the country expanded westwards, some authors questioned some of the beliefs and lifestyle of the established east coast communities. For instance, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a book called ‘Nature’ that questioned whether or not humans needed religion to reach a higher state of spirituality. Henry Thoreau wrote about how important it was for individuals to think for themselves, and claimed that an individua l’s conscience is more important than the demands of society. These ideas caused much controversy and discussion.Other writers of this time were writing about human imagination and emotion, rather than intellect. These novels asked the reader to understand the nature of guilt, pride and emotional repression, and to find meaning in his/her life.After the Civil War (1861-1865) many Americans became discontent with the growing materialism of society, and some writers wrote about the harsher reality which was facing some Americans in their daily lives. For instance, they wrote of poor working conditions, unsympathetic reactions by the community to someone who has committed ‘sin’, and of people findingthemselves trapped in their environment and struggling to find happiness.There were also writers like Emily Dickinson who wrote poems such as this:If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain;If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain,Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,I shall not live in vain.The first half of the 20th century saw the emergence of writersc alled “Imagists” whose poems focused on strong, concrete images. An example of this style was T.S.Eliot’s poem called the ‘The Waste Land’. This poem created images for the reader to interpret. Another such writer was E. E. Cumming, who threw away the rules of punctuation, spelling and even changed the way words were placed on the page.In the 1920’s in New York there emerged of a lively, powerful form of African-American music called jazz, and at the same time African-American writers began writing about the black community and their lives. Their writings used the rhythms drawn from their African and slavery. They told the American people not only about the injustices that society inflicted upon blacks, but also about the rich cultural life of the “the new negro” who was proud of his/her racial identity. Two African-American writers of this period were Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen.Mother To Son by Langston HughesWell, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So, boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps.'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now—For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.Post World War 2 authors started to write about American society in ways that questioned the direction in which society was going. After a short period of conservatism (1940’s and 1950’s), Americans saw a significant change in their culture and lifestyle. It was the period of African-American activism/protest, the feminist movement, the sexual revolution, the peace movement, and, it was a time when many alternative lifestyles were being experimented with. Politically, the world was in the midst of the Cold War between the USA with its political allies and the USSR and communism in general.People who immigrated to America were often said to be pursuing “The American Dream”. The term “The American Dream” represented an ideal. Simply stated, it meant that in America a person could achieve anything if he/she really wanted it enough. In recent history some people started doubting the possibility of this ideal: it seemed that the ideal could not be possible while society was the way that it was. Some people wanted to change society, and said that “The Dream” should be not be so much about economic success but more about personal fulfillment and the development of a just and caring society. People wanted to feel that they had a purpose in society, where they were needed, where they could fulfill their potential and where they could develop as an individual. It can be seen that some writers expressed a sense of hopelessness about achieving “The Dream” in their books and poetry.Richard Coryby Edwin Arlington RobinsonWhenever Richard Cory went downtown,We people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored, and imperially slim.And he was always quietly arrayed,And he was always human when he talked;But still he fluttered pulses when he said, “Good morning,” and he glittered when he walked. And he was rich -- yes, richer than a king,And admirably schooled in every grace:In fine, we thought that he was everythingTo make us wish that we were in his place.So on we worked, and waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread, And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,Went home and put a bullet through his head.Books, such as the following, also reflected this era:‘Catch 22’ (Joseph Heller) portrayed war as an absurd exercise for madmen. (1961)‘Death of a Salesman’ (Arthur Miller) is a play about the com mon man pressured by society. He tries to provide for his family but ultimately he fails to achieve what he thinks (and what society thinks) he should achieve. His unfulfilled dreams lead to a tragic ending.‘Native Son’ (Richard Wright) is a novel which has a black hero, whose character has been heavily impacted upon by a violent and cruel society. (1940)‘Catcher in the Rye’ (J.D.Salinger) is a book which portrays, through the eyes of a teenage boy, the hypocrisies of the adult world. The boy feels a sense of hopelessness about his world.Toni Morrison’s poems portrayed strong black women in society, and the struggles of growing up being black in America during the 1960’s and 1970’s.‘America’ (Allen Ginsberg) is a poem of anger and rage. It expresses the feelings of the Beat writers about the state of American culture in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Th e poem rages against the traditional American values of that time.‘The Kitchen God’s Wife’ by Amy Tan (1991) is a novel about her mother, who was born in China but who later, with her American husband, moved to America. The novel shows how the author sees her mother as a slight embarrassment, because of her traditional Chinese behaviour. Her mother tells her the story of her life in China. At the end of the story the young women comes to see her mother in an entirely different way. The love for her mother is still there, but her respect for her is now immense. Amy Tan was born in America and lives with her family.Extra PoemsWhat Fifty Said by Robert Frost (1925) When I was young my teachers were the old.I gave up fire for form till I was cold.I suffered like a metal being cast.I went to school to age to learn the past.Now when I am old my teachers are the young. What can't be molded must be cracked and sprung.I strain at lessons fit to start a suture.I got to school to youth to learn the future.Hey, that's no way to say goodbye by Leonard CohenI loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but now it's come to distances and both of us must try,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time, walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.So long, Marianne by Leonard CohenCome over to the window, my little darling,I'd like to try to read your palm.I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy before I let you take me home.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we beganto laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again.Well you know that I love to live with you,but you make me forget so very much.I forget to pray for the angelsand then the angels forget to pray for us.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...We met when we were almost youngdeep in the green lilac park.You held on to me like I was a crucifix,as we went kneeling through the dark.Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...Your letters they all say that you're beside me now. Then why do I feel alone?I'm standing on a ledge and your fine spider web is fastening my ankle to a stone.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...For now I need your hidden love.I'm cold as a new razor blade.You left when I told you I was curious,I never said that I was brave.Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...Oh, you are really such a pretty one.I see you've gone and changed your name again. And just when I climbed this whole mountainside, to wash my eyelids in the rain!Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...It Ain’t Me Babe by Bob DylanGo 'way from my window,Leave at your own chosen speed.I'm not the one you want, babe,I'm not the one you need.You say you're lookin' for someone Never weak but always strong,To protect you an' defend you Whether you are right or wrong, Someone to open each and every door, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.Go lightly from the ledge, babe,Go lightly on the ground.I'm not the one you want, babe,I will only let you down.You say you're looking' for someone Who will promise never to part, Someone to close his eyes for you, Someone to close his heart, Someone who will die for you an' more, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.Go melt back into the night, babe, Everything inside is made of stone. There's nothing in here movingAn' anyway I'm not alone.You say you're looking for someone Who'll pick you up each time you fall, To gather flowers constantlyAn' to come each time you call,A lover for your life an' nothing more, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.The Times They Are A-Changing by Bob Dylan Come gather 'round peopleWherever you roamAnd admit that the watersAround you have grownAnd accept it that soonYou'll be drenched to the bone.If your time to youIs worth savin'Then you better start swimmin'Or you'll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin'.Come writers and criticsWho prophesize with your penAnd keep your eyes wideThe chance won't come againAnd don't speak too soonFor the wheel's still in spinAnd there's no tellin' whoThat it's namin'.For the loser nowWill be later to winFor the times they are a-changin'.Come senators, congressmenPlease heed the callDon't stand in the doorwayDon't block up the hallFor he that gets hurtWill be he who has stalled There's a battle outsideAnd it is ragin'.It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the landAnd don't criticizeWhat you can't understandYour sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road isRapidly agin'.Please get out of the new oneIf you can't lend your handFor the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawnThe curse it is castThe slow one nowWill later be fastAs the present nowWill later be pastThe order isRapidly fadin'.And the first one nowWill later be lastFor the times they are a-changin'.Suzanne by Leonard CohenSuzanne takes you down to her place near the river You can hear the boats go byYou can spend the night beside herAnd you know that she's half crazyBut that's why you want to be thereAnd she feeds you tea and orangesThat come all the way fromChinaAnd just when you mean to tell herThat you have no love to give herThen she gets you on her wavelengthAnd she lets the river answerThat you've always been her loverAnd you want to travel with herAnd you want to travel blindAnd you know that she will trust youFor you've touched her perfect body with your mind.And Jesus was a sailorWhen he walked upon the waterAnd he spent a long time watchingFrom his lonely wooden towerAnd when he knew for certainOnly drowning men could see himHe said "All men will be sailors thenUntil the sea shall free them"But he himself was brokenLong before the sky would openForsaken, almost humanHe sank beneath your wisdom like a stoneAnd you want to travel with himAnd you want to travel blindAnd you think maybe you'll trust himFor he's touched your perfect body with his mind. Now Suzanne takes your handAnd she leads you to the riverShe is wearing rags and feathersFrom Salvation Army countersAnd the sun pours down like honeyOn our lady of the harbourAnd she shows you where to lookAmong the garbage and the flowersThere are heroes in the seaweedThere are children in the morningThey are leaning out for loveAnd they will lean that way foreverWhile Suzanne holds the mirrorAnd you want to travel with herAnd you want to travel blindAnd you know that you can trust herFor she's touched your perfect body with her mind.。
American Literature 美国文学第2课汇总
genre. ❖ 6. His use of the gothic looks forward to Poe.
Washington Irving
❖ Irving was born in a wealthy merchant family and was well educated. He visited several European countries and stayed there for many years. His writings about the New World aroused European interest.
Rip Van Winkle
The Legend of Sleepy
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
❖ Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away in perfect contentment; but his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family.
美国文学总复习AmericanLiteraturereference名词解释.docx
American Literature1.What is Transcendentalism?In New England, an intellectual movement known as transcendentalism developed as an American version of Romanticism. The movement began among an influential set of authors based in Concord, Massachusetts, and was led by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Like Romanticism, Transcendentalism rejected both 18th-century rationalism and established religion, which for the transcendentalists meant the Puritan tradition in particular. Instead, the transcendentalists celebrated the power of the human imagination to commune with the universe and transcend the limitations of the material world. The transcendentalists found their chief source of inspiration in nature. Emerson\ essay M加沧(1836) was the first major document of the transcendental school and stated the ideas that were to remain central to it. His other key transcendentalist works include The American Sc/zo/d厂(1837)，a volume in which he addressed the intellectual's duty to culture, and Self-Reliance( 1841), an essay in which he asserted the importance of being true to one's nature.2.What is Puritanism?The word Puritanism is originally used to refer the theology advocated by a party within the Church of England. The term Puritanism is also used in a broader sense to refer to attitudes and values considered characteristic of the Puritans. It has been employed to denote a rigid moralism, or the condemnation 谴责of innocent pleasure, or religious narrowness adhered by the early New England Puritans. The American Puritanism as cultural heritage exerted great influence over American moral values. And this Puritan influence over American Romanticism was conspicuously noticeable. The American Puritans accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God.3.What is Free verse ?Free Verse, is the rhymed or unrhymed poetry composed without attention to conventional rules of meter. Free verse is used to deliver poetry free from the restrictions of formal metrical patterns and to re-create instead the free rhythms of natural speech.Pointing to the American poet Walt Whitman as their precursor, they wrote lines of varying length and cadence 节奏,usually not rhymed. The emotional content or meaning of the work was expressed through its rhythm. Free verse has been characteristic of the work of many modern American poets, including Ezra Pound, and Carl Sandburg.4.What is Local Colorism?Post-Civil War America was large and diverse(various enough to sense its own local difference. Regional voices had emerged from newly settled territories in the South and tothe west of the Appalachan. Local colorism is a unique variation of the American literary realism. Generally, the works by local colorists are concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region. This kind of fiction depicts the characters from a specified setting or of an era, which are marked by its customs, dialects, landscape, or other peculiarities that have escaped standardizing cultural influence.What is naturalism?5.In literature, the term refers to the theory that literary composition should aim at adetached, scientific objectivity in the treatment of natural man. The movement is an outgrowth of 19,h-century scientific thought, following in general the biological determinism of Darwin's theory, or the economic determinism of Karl Marx. Artistically, naturalistic writings are usually unpolished in language, lacking in academic skills and unwieldy in structure. Philosophically, the naturalists believe that the real and true is always partially hidden from the individual, or beyond his control and that men are controlled and conditioned by heredity, instinct, chance and above all environmen匸Notable writers of naturalistic fiction were Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Sherwood Anderson and Theodore Dreiser.6.What is "stream-of-consciousness^?Stream of consciousness is a term coined by William James in his The Principles of Psychology to describe the flow of thoughts of the waking mind. Now it is widely used in a literary context to describe the unspoken thoughts and feelings of the characters, without resorting(jiezhu) to objective description or conventional dialogue. It was adapted and developed by Joyce, V. Woolf, and others. The ability to represent the flux of a character^ thought, impressions, emotions, or reminiscences, often without logical sequence or syntax, marked a revolution in the form of novel at that time.7.What is the Lost Generation?The Lost Generation refers to the disillusioned(awaken) intellectuals and artists of the years following the First World War, who rebelled against former ideals and values but could replace them only by despair of a cynical hedonism. The remark of Gertrude Stein, "You are a lost generation/5 addressed to Hemingway, was used as a preface to the latter novel The Sun also Rises, which brilliantly describes those expatriates(yimin) who had cut themselves off from their past in America in order to create new types of writing.8.What is Black Humor?Black humor is a type of modern humor that is caused by anger. It often describes gruesome events, which are normally associated with pleasant occasions, thus producing the congruous effect for hum or. Black humor attacks on social mores through shocking language and offensive imagery. Black humor is a kind of desperate humor. It is the laughter at tragic things. In this meaningless world, according to Black Humorists, man's fate is decided by incomprehensive powers. We can't do anything about it; therefore wemay as well laugh. Sardonic and imaginative 20lh-century American writers often used the novel to ridicule society. Such novelists as Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, and Kurt Vonnegut, came to be known as the black humorists, because of their darkly comic writings.9.What is the Beat Generation?Beat Generation is a group of American writers of the 1950s whose writing expressed profound dissatisfaction with contemporary American society and endorsed an alternative set of values. They rejected traditional forms and sought expression in the beatific illumination. The term sometimes is used to refer to those who embraced the ideas of these writers. The Beat Generation's best-known figures were writers Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Jack Kerouac.10.What are the thematic concerns and the artistic characteristics of Emily Dickinsorfspoetry?Emily Dickinson is America's best-known female poet. Her poetry covers the issues vital to humanity, which include religion, death, immortality, love, and nature. Her poems have no titles, hence are always quoted by their first lines. In her poetry, there is a particular stress pattern, in which dashes are used as a musical device to create cadence and capital letters as a means of emphasis. A master of imagery that makes the spiritual materialize in surprising ways, Dickinson managed manifold variations within her simple form. Due to her deliberate seclusion, her poems tend to be very personal and meditative.Dickinsonpoetry, despite its ostensibleobvious formal simplicity, is remarkable for its variety, subtlety and richness; and her limited private world have never confined the limitless power of her creativity and imagination.11.Discuss the character of Huck in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.And what is the social significance of the novel?The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered a masterpiece of Mark Twain. The book is the story of the title character, known as Huck, a boy who flees his father by rafting down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave, Jim. The climax arises with Huck's inner struggle in the Mississippi, when Huck is polarized by the two opposing forces between his heart and his head, between for Jim and the laws of the society against those who help slaves escape. With the eventual victory of his moral conscience over his social awareness, Huck grows- Huckleberry Finn, which is almost entirely narrated from Huck's point of view, is noted for its authentic language and for its deep commitment to freedom. Huck's adventures also provide the reader with a panorama of American life along the Mississippi before the Civil War. The readers are impressed by Twain's thematic contrasts between innocence and experience, nature and culture, wilderness and civilization.12.Briefly discuss the question from THREE of the following aspects: the setting, thelanguage, the character (s) , the theme and the style.A.Setting: In the novel Mark Twain recreates a small-town world of America and presents the local color.nguage: He uses simple, direct language faithful to the colloquial speech, the vernacular (native)language of the local people.C.Character (s) : The author recreates two rebels and fugitives(taowangzhe) running away from civilization, especially Huckleberry Finn, an innocent boy who refuses to accept the conventional village morality.D.Theme: The novel is a criticism of social injustice, hypocrisy, conservativeness and narrow-mindedness of the American small town society.E.Style: The novel employs a humorous style of narration and is also highly symbolic with the central symbol.13.What is the feature of the main character in W. Faulkner^s A Rose far Emily?A Rose for Emily is Faulkner's first short story published in 1930・ Set in the town of Jefferson in Yoknapatawpha, the story focuses on Emily, an eccentric spinster who refused to accept the passage of time, or the inevitable change and loss that accompanies it. As a descendent of the Southern aristocracy, Emily is typical of those in Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha stories that are the symbols of the Old Deep South but the prisoners of the past. The deformed (disabled)personality and abnormality Emily demonstrates Faulkner^ point of view that by alienating oneself from reality, a person is bound to be a tragedy. Emily is regarded as the symbol of tradition and the old way of life. Thus her death parallels with the decline of the Old South.14.William Faulkner, a Nobel Prize winner, has an important position in Americanliterature. Do you know anything about u Yoknapatawpha County?” What are his artistic achievements?a Yoknapatawpha County is an imagined place based on Faulkner's own hometown, a place that he took for the setting of 15 of his 19 novels and many short stories. This small region in the American South becomes in Faulkner's fiction an allegory or a parable of the Old Deep South.b. The Sound and the Fury, his masterpiece, is an account of the tragic downfall of the Compson family. The novel uses four different narrative voices to piece together the story and thus challenges the reader by presenting a fragmented plot told from multiple points of view. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1949- Faulkner especially was interested in multigenerational family chronicles, and many characters appear in more than one book; this gives the Yoknapatawpha County saga a sense of continuity that makes the area and its inhabitants seem real.15.What are the stylistic features of Hemingwaynovels?Hemingway^s novels are mainly concerned with "tough" people, known for the Hemingway hero of athletic prowess(weili) and masculinity(male) and unyielding(never give up) heroism, whose essential courage and honesty are implicitly (implied)contrasted with the brutality of civilized society. He deals with a limited range of chatacters in quite similar circumstance and measures them against an unvarying code, known as "grace under pressure'： which is actually an attitude towards life that Hemingway had been trying to demonstrate in his works. In the general situation of his novels, life is but a losing battle; however, it is also a struggle man can demonstrate in such a way that loss becomes dignity; man can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually.Hemingway once said, "The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eight of it being above water/5 Typical of this "iceberg" analogy (leisi)is Hemingway's style: Hemingway's economical writing style often seems simple, but his method iscalculated(right qiadangde). In his writing, Hemingway provided detached descriptions of action, using simple nouns and verbs to capture scenes precisely. By doing so he avoided describing his character^ emotions and thoughts directly. Hemingway was deeply concerned with authenticity in writing. Besides, Hemingway develops the style of colloquialism initiatied by Mark Twain. The accents and mannerisms(special habit) of human speech are well presented, and the use of short, simple words and sentences has an effect of clearness, terseness and great care.16.What is the theme and the major character in F.S. Fitzgerald，s The Great Gatsby? Considered as Fitzgerald^ finest work, The Great Gatsby, written in crisp, concise prose and told by Nick Carraway, a satiric yet sympathetic narrator, it is the story of Jay Gatsby, a young American from the Midwest. Gatsby becomes a bootlegger in order to attain the wealth and lavish way of life he feels are necessary to win the love of Daisy, a married, upper-class woman who had once rejected him. The story ends tragically with Gatsby's destruction. The book deals with the bankruptcy of the protagonists' personal dreams due to the clashes between their romantic vision of life and the sordid reality.The hero of the novel, Gatsby, is the last of romantic heroes, whose energy and sense of commitment takes him in search of his person grail. Gatsby's failure magnifies to a great extent the end of the American dream. The protagonist's pursuit of his dream only proves to be nothing but an illusion. Nevertheless, the affirmation of hope and expectation is self-asserted in the characters.17.What does the term Catch-22 refer to?Catch-22 is a darkly comic and wildly inventive novel by Joseph Heller about the insanity of war and the absurdity of military authority. The novel is a leading example of the black-humor movement in American fiction. Catch-22 features the airman Yossarian as the hero and moral center of a satirical depiction of life in the army. Yossarian is portrayed as one of the last rational people in an insane war. In the novel, the absurdities of military life are represented by the regulation "Catch-22：The regulation, which prevents airmen from escaping service in bombing missions by pleading insanity, states that any airman rational enough to want to be grounded cannot possibly be insane and therefore is fit to fly. The term has now become part of English vocabulary, referring to a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule.What is Robert Frosts nature poem?Robert Frost, American poet, known for his verse concerning New England life. He learned the familiar conventions of nature poetry from his predecessors, and made the colloquial New England speech into a poetic expression. A poem so conceived thus becomes a symbol or metaphor, a careful, loving exploration of reality. Images or symbols in his poems are drawn from the simple country life. However, profound ideas are delivered under the disguise of the plain language and the simple form, for what Frost did is to take symbols from the limited human world and the pastoral landscape to refer to the great world beyond the rustic scene. These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature, as well as its beauty, and the loneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. In short, the nature poems demonstrate Frosts love of life and his belief in a serenity that comes from the common experience.27what are the characteristics of modern American literature?In general terms, much serious literature written from 20th century onwards attempted to convey a vision of social breakdown and moral decay and the writers? task was to develop technique that could represent a break with the past. Thus the defining formal characteristics of the modernistic works are discontinuity and fragmentation. An awareness of the irrational and the workings of the unconscious mind are pervasive in much modernist writing. Technically, modernism was marked by a persistent experimentalism. It rejected the traditional framework of narrative, description, and rational exposition in poetry and prose, in favor of a stream・of -consciousness presentation of personality, a dependence on the poetic image as the essential vehicle of aesthetic communication, and upon myth as a characteristic structural principle. Compared with earlier writings, modern American writings are notable for what they omit: the explanations, interpretations, connections, and summaries. There are shifts in perspective, voice, and tone, but the biggest shift is from the external to the internal, from the public to the private, from the chronological to the psychic, from the objective description to the subjective projection.29 What is the Harlem Renaissance?The Harlem Renaissance was an African American cultural movement of the late 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. It marked the first time that African American literature attracted significant attention. No comm.on style or ideology defined the Harlem Renaissance, but the poets, novelists, political essayists, and dramatists who participated in the endeavor shared a commitment to giving artistic expression to the African American experience・ They also shared a strong sense of racial pride and a desire to better the social and economic situation of blacks. Major prose writers in the movement were historian and sociologist W.E .DuBois, and writer Langston Hughes. Hills Like White Elephants。
1 History of American Literature 美国文学史 英语简介
Brief Introduction of the American Literature History
1. The Colonial Period (1607-End of the 18th C) 2. The Romantic Period (19th C-1865) 3. The Age of Realism (1865-1918) 4. The Modern Period (1918-1945) 5. The Postwar Period (1945- )
regarded as one of the American authors writing in the Modernist tradition of the 1920s)
The Modern Period (19181945)
The 1920s African American literature (Harlem Renaissance) Langston Hughes The 1930s Left or socialist-oriented writers: John Dos Passos and John Steinbeck
Henry David Thoreau Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson Edgar Allan Poe Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman Melville
The Age of Realism (18651918)
William Dean Howells Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn;
Frank Norris
Dreiser
(McTeagaue,
美国文学史概述及选读复习资料
美国文学史American Literature in the colonical and Revolutionary:1.Benjamin Franklin(本杰明.富兰克林)2.hilip Freneau 菲利普·费瑞诺Benjamin Franklin(本杰明.富兰克林)1)"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴(以笔名Richard Sunders)2)“annual collection of proverbs “流行谚语集(It soon became the most popular bookof its kind, largely because of Franklin's shrewd humor, and first spread his reputation) 3)The Way to Wealth (Father Abraham’s Sermon)致富之道(as the “perface to Poor RichardImproved)4)The Autobiography自传(18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传)5)Founded the Junto, a club for informal discussion of scientific, economic and politicalideas. 建立了一个秘密俱乐部，讨论的主题是政治、经济和科学等时事方面的问题.6)established America's first circulating library, founded the college--University ofPennsylvania. 建立了美国第一个可租借的图书馆，还创办了一所大学——就是现在的宾夕法尼亚大学.7)first applied the terms "positive" and "negative" to electrical charges.8)Writer,printer,publisher,scientist,philanthropist,and diplomat,he was the most famousand respected private figure of his time.The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲；The British Prison Ship英国囚船；To the Memory of the Brave Americans纪念美国勇士-----同类诗中最佳；The Wild Honeysuckle野生的金银花；The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地(1)poet and political journalist 诗人和政治方面的新闻记者(2)perhaps the most outstanding writer of the post-revolutionary period.(3)has been called the "Father of American Poetry" 美国诗歌之父(4)Imaginative and melancholy treatment of nature and human life,and sharp satire against the British tyranny19th Century American LiteratureWashington Irving(华盛顿.欧文)1．James Fenimore Cooper(詹姆斯.芬尼莫.库珀)2．Nathaniel Hawthorne(纳萨尼尔.霍桑)3．Edgar Allan Poe （埃德加.阿伦.坡）4．Henry Daived Thoreau(亨利.戴维.梭罗)5．Herman Melville(赫尔曼.麦尔维尔)6．Walt Whiteman(沃尔特.惠特曼)The Rise of American Romanticism• One of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War(1861-65).• It started with the publication of Washington Irving's e T he h Sketch Book(1820) and ended with Whitman's s Leaves f of Grass(1855)..Romanticism的特点：frequently shared certain general characteristics, moral enthusiam,faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception, and apresumption that he natural world was a source of corruption.浪漫主义之间大多是相通的，都注重道德，强调个人主义价值观和直觉感受，并且认为自然是美的源头，人类社会是腐败之源。
美国文学简史完全笔记
Chapter 3 The Age of Realism I. Background: From Romanticism to Realism 1.the three conflicts that reached breaking point in this period （1）industrialism vs. agrarian （2）culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west （3）plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility 2.1880＊s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism 3.the closing of American frontier II. Characteristics 1.truthful description of life 2.typical character under typical circumstance 3.objective rather than idealized, close observation and investigation of life ※Realistic writers are like scientists.§ 4.open-ending: Life is complex and cannot be fully understood. It leaves much room for readers to think by themselves. 5.concerned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustrations of characters in an environment of sordidness and depravity III. Three Giants in Realistic Period 1.William Dean Howells 每※Dean of American Realism§ （1）Realistic principles a. Realism is ※fidelity to experience and probability of motive§. b. The aim is ※talk of some ordinary traits of American life§. c. Man in his natural and unaffected dullness was the object of Howells＊s fictional representation. d. Realism is by no means mere photographic pictures of externals but includes a central concern with ※motives§ and psychological conflicts. e. He condemns novels of sentimentality and morbid self-sacrifice, and avoids such themes as illicit love. f. Authors should minimize plot and the artificial ordering of the sense of something ※desultory, unfinished, imperfect§. g. Characters should have solidity of specification and be real. h. Interpreting sympathetically the ※common feelings of commonplace people§ was best suited as a technique to express the spirit of America. i.He urged writers to winnow tradition and write in keeping with current humanitarian ideals. j.Truth is the highest beauty, but it includes the view that morality penetrates all things. k. With regard to literary criticism, Howells felt that the literary critic should not try to impose arbitrary or subjective evaluations on books but should follow the detached scientist in accurate description, interpretation, and classification. （2）Works a. The Rise of Silas Lapham b. A Chance Acquaintance c. A Modern Instance （3）Features of His Works a. Optimistic tone b. Moral development/ethics c. Lacking of psychological depth 2.Henry James （1）Life （2）Literary career: three stages a. 1865~1882: international theme l The American l Daisy Miller l The Portrait of a Lady b. 1882~1895: inter-personal relationships and some plays l Daisy Miller （play） c. 1895~1900: novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, then back to international theme l The Turn of the Screw l When Maisie Knew l The Ambassadors l The Wings of the Dove l The Golden Bowl （3）Aesthetic ideas a. The aim of novel: represent life b. Common, even ugly side of life c. Social function of art d. Avoiding omniscient point of view （4）Point of view a. Psychological analysis, forefather of stream of consciousness b. Psychological realism c. Highly-refined language （5）Style 每※stylist§ a. Language: highly-refined, polished, insightful, accurate b. Vocabulary: large c. Construction: complicated, intricate 3.Mark Twain （see next section） Local Colorism 1860s, 1870s~1890s I. Appearance 1.uneven development in economy in America 2.culture: flourishing of frontier literature, humourists 3.magazines appeared to let writer publish their works II. What is ※Local Colour§? Tasks of local colourists: to write or present local characters of their regions in truthful depiction distinguished from others, usually a very small part of the world. Regional literature （similar, but larger in world） lGarland, Harte 每 the west lEggleston 每 Indiana lMrs Stowe lJewett 每 Maine lChopin 每 Louisiana III. Mark Twain 每 Mississippi 1.life 2.works （1）The Gilded Age （2）※the two advantages§ （3）Life on the Mississippi （4）A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur＊s Court （5）The Man That Corrupted Hardleybug 3.style （1）colloquial language, vernacular language, dialects （2）local colour （3）syntactic feature: sentences are simple, brief, sometimes ungrammatical （4）humour （5）tall tales （highly exaggerated） （6）social criticism （satire on the different ugly things in society） IV. Comparison of the three ※giants§ of American Realism 1.Theme Howells 每 middle class James 每 upper class Twain 每 lower class 2.Technique Howells 每 smiling/genteel realism James 每 psychological realism Twain 每 local colourism and colloquialism。
美国文学笔记
美文学美国部分——浪漫主义时期Part two: American LiteratureChapter 1 The Romantic Period浪漫主义时期1. From the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of he Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Le aves of Grass. It is also called “the American Renaissance”.浪漫主义时期开始于十八世纪末，到内战爆发为止，华盛顿.欧文出版的《见闻札记》标志着美国文学的开端，惠特曼的《草叶集》是浪漫主义时期文学的压卷之作。
（也可称为“美国德文艺复兴”）2. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.对逃离社会，回归自然的渴求成为美国文学的一个永恒的话题。
3. The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values.美国清教作为一种文化遗产，对美国人的道德观念产生了很大的影响。
4.Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of original sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers. 在霍桑，麦尔维尔以及其他一些小作家的作品种加尔文主义的原罪思想和罪恶的神秘性都得到了充分的表现。
美国文学复习笔记
History And Anthology of American Literature (Volume ⅠⅡ )美国文学史及选读 1、2Part Ⅰ The Literature of Colonial America 殖民主义时期的文学1. 17 世纪早期 English and European explorers 开始登陆美洲。
在他们之前 100 多年 Caribbean Islands,Mexico and other Parts of South America 已被 the Spanish 占领。
2. 17th 早期 English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts( 弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞 )开始了美国历史3. 美国最早殖民者 (earliest settlers)included Dutch ,Swedes ,Germans ,French ,Spaniards ,Italiansand Portuguese(荷兰人，瑞典人，德国人，法国人，西班牙人，意大利人及葡萄牙人等 )。
4. 美国早期文学主要为 the narratives and journals of these settlements 采用 in diaries and injournals( 日记和日志 )，他们写关于 the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil.5. 第 一 批 美 国 永 久 居 民 ： the first permanent English settlement in North America wasestablished atJamestown,Virginia in 1607( 北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿 )。
6. 船长约翰·史密斯 Captain John Smith 他的作品 (reports of exploration)17th 早期出版，被认为是美国第一部真 正意义上的文学作品 in the early 1600s,have been described as the first distinctlyAmericanliterature written inEnglish. 他讲述了 filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, character and events, 吸引了朝圣者和清教徒前往 lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.7. 美国第一位作家： 1608 年 Captain John Smith 写了封信《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》 “ A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony ” .8. 他的第二本书 1612 年《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》 “ A Map of Virginia: with a Descriptionof th eCountry ” .9. 他一共出版了八本书，其中有关于新英格兰的历史及描述。
英美文学笔记
英美文学重要笔记，精华版，流泪推荐！Old English 450-1066 <Beowulf>《贝尔武夫》Medieval English 1066 - middle 14th centuryGeoffrey Chaucer乔叟- the father of English poetry<The Canterbury Tales> first time to use 'heroic couplet' The Renaissance - rebirth or revivalHumanism - the essence of the Renaissance, the dignity of human being & the importance of the present life Edmund Spenser 埃德蒙斯宾塞- the poets' poet <The Faerie Queene>《仙后》Christopher Marlowe马洛- University Wits, the pioneer of English dramaBlank verse无韵诗体, hyperbole夸张<Dr. Faustus> 《浮士德博士的悲剧》the human passion for knowledge, power and happiness<The Passionate Shepherd to His Love>激情的牧人和心爱的姑娘pastoral lifeWilliam Shakespeare威廉。
莎士比亚- above all writers in the past and in the present timeFour tragedies – Hamlet哈姆雷特, Othello奥赛罗, King Lear李尔王& Macbeth麦克贝斯<Sonnet 18十四行诗之十八> eternal or immortal beauty<The Merchant of Venice> 《威尼斯商人》to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio安东尼和巴塞尼奥, to idealize Portia a heroine of great beauty, wit and loyalty, to expose the insatiable greed and brutality<Hamlet>《哈姆雷特》hesitate between fact and fiction, language and action, too sophisticated to degrade his nature to the conventional role of a stage revengerTo be, or not to be - to live on in this world or to die; to suffer or to take actionSoliloquy or monologue - fully reveal the inner conflict of the charactersFrancis Bacon 弗朗西斯培根- brevity, compactness & powerfulness, his essays is an important landmark in the development of English proseInductive method 归纳法in place of deductive method 演绎法<Of Studies> 《论学习》uses and benefits of study - studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Studies perfect nature, and are perfected by experience. Different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies - studies and experience are complementary 互补to each other.The correct attitude to reading books - to weigh and consider. How studies exert influence over human character - reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.John Donne约翰邓尼<I>metaphysical poetry 玄学派诗歌- break away from love poetry, a seemingly unfocused diversity of experiences and attitudes, and a free range of feelings and moodsConceits, syllogism 三段论<The Sun Rising> the busy sun is always ready to interfere with other things and everywhere<Death, Be Not Proud>死亡别骄傲whatever you are, you can not escape from death. When you are living, you are always in the shadow of death. Death only lasts a moment, our life after death is eternal. The more pleasure the death gives people, not only the pleasure of the rest & the sleep, because 'whom the gods love die young'. Though death is usually considered powerful, it actually provides a rest for a man's body and a birth for his soul. John Milton约翰弥尔顿<Paradise Lost>失乐园the only generally acknowledged epic in English literature since Beowulf.The conflict is between human love and spiritual duty. In heaven, Satan led a rebellion against God with his unconquerable will.<Paradise Regained>复乐园<Samson Agonistes>力士参孙the most perfect example of the verse drama after the Greek style in English.Neoclassicism - a revival of interest in the old classical works, order, logic, restrained emotion抑制情感& accuracyEnlightenment - a progressive intellectual movement, reason (rationality), equality & science Gothic novel - mystery, horror & castlesJohn Bunyan<The Vanity Fair> from <The Pilgrim's Progress>, a religious allegory, pursue the truthAlexander Pope<An Essay on Criticism> a poem written in heroic couplets, criticize the present poem lack of true taste & call on people to turn to the old Greek and Roman writers for guidance, 'true wit' is best set in a plain (simple & clear) style.Daniel Defoe - the first writer study of the lower-class people<Robinson Crusoe>, praise the human labor and the Puritan fortitude 清教徒坚韧Jonathan Swift - a master satiristIn his opinion, human nature is seriously and permanently flawedProper words in proper places<A Modest Proposal><Gulliver's Travels>, four parts - Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Flying Island & HouyhnhnmHenry Fielding - Father of English novel, Prose HomerComic epic in prose<The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling>Samuel Johnson - first combine an English dictionary, last neoclassicist enlightener<A Dictionary of the English Language><To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield> Richard Brinsley Sheridan - the only important English dramatist of the 18th century<The Rivals> and <The School for Scandal> are regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw.Thomas GrayThe Graveyard School <Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard>Romantic - emotion over reason, spontaneous emotion, a change from the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit, poetry should be free from all rules, imagination, nature, commonplaceThe romantic period began with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge's <Lyrical Ballads>William Blake -engraver雕刻家<The Chimney Sweeper> from <Songs of Innocence> a happy and innocence world from children's eye<The Chimney Sweeper> from <Songs of Experience> a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy 忧郁的tone from men eyes Childhood, paradoxes, a pairing of opposites<The Tyger>William Wordsworth - the leading figure of the English romantic poetry, simple, spontaneous, worshipper of nature'Lake Poets' - William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge & Robert SoutheyHe defines the poet as a'man speaking to men', and poetry as 'the spontaneousoverflow of powerful feelings, which originates in'emotion recollected in tranquillity'.<I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud> the poet is very cheerful with recalling the beautiful sights. In the poem on the beauty of nature, the reader is presented a vivid picture of lively and lovely daffodils 水仙and poet's philosophical ideas and mystical thoughts.<Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802> the sonnet describes a vivid picture of a beautiful morning in London, silent, bright, glittering, smokeless & mildly. It is so touching a sight that the poet expressed his religion piety 虔诚for nature.<She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways><The Solitary Reaper> thanks to poet's rich imagination, the mass of associations, this commonplace happening becomes a striking event, the poet succeeds in making the reader's share his emotion. The poem also shows the poet's passionate love of nature.Samuel Taylor Coleridge - supernatural, remotePoet can be divided into two groups - the demonic (supernatural) & the conversationalThe demonic group includes 3 masterpieces - <The Rime of the Ancient Mariner>, <Chrisabel>, <Kubla Khan> George Gordon Byron'Byronic hero' is a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin, against tyrannical rules or moral principles. Such a hero appears first in <Childe Harold's Pilgrimage>.<Song for the Luddites> 'will die fighting, or live free' the Luddites destroyed the machines in their protest against unemployment. The poet's great sympathy of the workers in their struggle against the capitalists is clearly shown.<The Isles of Greece> from <Don Juan> (the masterpiece of Byron, a long satirical poem), song by a Greek singer at the wedding of Don Juan and Haidee.'Fill high the bowl with Samian wine'?Percy Bysshe Shelley<Men of England><Ode to the West Wind> terza rima,destructive-constructive potential, hopeful, 'I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!', 'If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?'John Keats4 great odes - <Ode on Melancholy>, <Ode on a Grecian Urn>, <Ode to a Nightingale>, <Ode to Psyche><Ode on a Grecian Urn> the contrast between the permanence of art and the transience 短暂of human passion, 'Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter', 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty'Jane Austen<Pride and Prejudice>The Victorian PeriodDarwin's <The Origin of Species> and <The Descent of Man> shook the traditional faith, everything is created by GodUtilitarianism 功利主义was widely accepted and practiced Critical realists were all concerned about the fate of the common peopleCharles Dickens - one of the greatest critical realist writers of the Victorian AgeCharacter-portrayal is the most distinguishing feature of his worksA mingling of humor and pathos 悲伤<A Tale of Two Cities><Oliver Twist>The Bronte Sisters - Charlotte, Emily & AnneEmily, a rather reserved and simple girl, was very much a child of nature.<Jane Eyre><Wuthering Heights>Alfred Tennyson - invents dramatic monologue, Poet Laureate 桂冠诗人, a real artist<Break, Break, Break> the death of his best friend, his sadness feeling are contrasted with the carefree, innocent joys of the children and the unfeeling movement of the ship and the sea waves<Crossing the Bar> we can feel his fearlessness towards death, his faith in God and an afterlife. 'Crossing the bar' means leaving this world and entering the next world<Ulysses> not endure the peaceful commonplace everyday life, old as he is, he persuades his old followers to go with him and to set sail again to pursue a new world and new knowledge, dramatic monologue, 'Myself not least, but honour'd of them all' means I am not the least important, buthonoured by all of themRobert Browning - the most original poet, who improve and mature the dramatic monologue<The Ring and the Book> his masterpiece<My Last Duchess> this dramatic monologue is the duke's speech addressed to the agent who comes to negotiate the marriage, the duke is a self-conceited, cruel and tyrannical man<Meeting at Night><Parting at Morning>George Eliot:As a woman of exceptional 特有的intelligence and life experience, she shows a particular concern for the destiny of women<Middlemarch> a sharp contrast is set between the cold, lifeless, dull house and Dorothea who is full of youthful life and vigorThomas Hardy - both a naturalistic and a critical realist writerLocal-colored, Wessex, 'novels of character and environment'<Tess of the D'Urbervilles> experience is as to intensity, and not as to durationAmerican Romantic PeriodStarted with Washington Irving's <The Sketch Book> and ended with Whitman's <Leaves of Grass>, also called 'the American Renaissance'Free expression of emotion, escapes from society, and return to nature New England TranscendentalismWashington Irving - father of the American short stories, the American GoldsmithPerfected the best classic style that American literature ever producedFirst novel <A History of New York><The Sketch Book> contains German folk tales <Rip Van >, <The Legend of Sleepy Hollow>Ralph Waldo Emerson - the spokesman of New England Transcendentalism movement<The American Scholar>, <Self - Reliance>, <The Over-Soul><The Poet> a reflection upon the aesthetic problems in terms of the present state of literature in America<Experience> a discussion about the conflict between idealism and ordinary lifeAmerican Puritanism, European Romanticism, intuitive knowledge, over-soul, individual, nature<Nature> is regarded as the Bible of New England TranscendentalismNathaniel HawthorneInterior of the heart, there is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, through the whole life, but circumstances may rouse it to activity<The Scarlet Letter><Young Goodman Brown>Walt WhitmanOpenness, freedom, individualismI - me, my nation (society), Free verse, Envelope structure, Catalogue (Listing)A new ideal, a new world, a new life-style<There Was a Child Went Forth> how a child is greatly influenced by his growing environments<Cavalry Crossing a Ford> a scene of the AmericanCivil War, all the movements described in this picture are frozen.<Song of Myself> Whitman is a man bubbling with energy and laden with ideas, spontaneous expression of his original ideasHerman Melville - a master of allegory and symbolism, like Hawthorne<Moby-Dick> the first American prose epic, Ishmael both as a character and a narrator, the captain, Ahab is a monomaniacRealistic period - the Gilded Age, the poor poorer and the rich richer, people's attention was now directed to the interesting features of everyday existenceLocal colorism, social Darwinism, bestiality, beyond man's controlMark Twain - the true father of American literature Local colorist, vernacular, simple sentence, 'the damned human race' The Gilded Age3 boyhood books <Life on the Mississippi>, <The Adventures of Tom Sawyer>, <Adventures of Huckleberry Finn><Adventures of Huckleberry Finn> Huck's inner conflict about whether or not he should write a letter to tell Miss Watson where Jim is.Henry James - international theme, psychological realistStream of consciousness, interior monologue, free association<Daisy Miller> the narrator is an American expatriate, named Winterbourne. Daisy is the most innocent girl. The clash is between two different cultures.Emily DickinsonBased on her own experiences, her sorrows and joys<This is my letter to the World> express Dickinson's anxiety about her communication with the outside world.<I heard a Fly buzz - when I died - > de<I>script</I>ion of a moment of death<I like to see it lap the Miles> Dickinson makes the train part of nature by animalizing it, like a horse.<Because I could not stop for Death - > personify death and immortality so as to make her message strongly felt Theodore Dreiser - America's literary naturalists Case history including everything Determinism (heredity biological & environment), survival of the fittest, the jungle law Trilogy of Desire - <The Financier>, <The Titan>, <The Stoic> <Sister Carrie> 'who shall cast the first stone?'The modern period - the second American Renaissance, the expatriate movement, the Lost Generation, a transformation from order to disorderSeize the day, enjoy the present, spiritual wasteland, collective unconscious, psychoanalysisImagist movement, Jazz AgeEzra Pound - a leading spokesman of the 'Imagist Movement'<The Cantos><In a Station of the Metro> Pound attempts to produce the emotion he felt when he walked down into a Paris subway station and suddenly saw a number of faces in the dim light. To capture the emotions, Pound uses the image of petals on wet, black boughs.<The River - Merchant's Wife: A Letter><A Pact> agreement with Whitman's free verse Robert Lee Frost - four times awarded Pulitzer Prize, pastoral life and scene<After Apple-Picking><The Road Not Taken><Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening>Eugene O'Neill - founder of the American drama, won the Pulitzer Prize four times<The Hairy Ape>F. Scott Fitzgerald - spokesman of the Jazz Age, Dollar Decade, 1920sA double vision of the Jazz Age, both an insider and an outsiderAmerican Dream<The Great Gatsby>Ernest Hemingway - awarded the Nobel PrizeIceberg style, Code hero, the lost generation, grace under pressure<Indian Camp> from <In Our Time> birth and death coexistWilliam Faulkner - awarded a Nobel PrizeSouth, imprisonment in the pastStream of consciousness, multiple points of view Yoknapatawpha Country<A Rose for Emily> Emily is regarded as the symbol of tradition and theold way of life. Thus her death is like the falling of a monument.。
(word完整版)英美文学史复习笔记(2021年整理精品文档)
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Chapter 1 Old and Medieval English Literature（450—1066—1340)1.Beowulf： a typical example of Old English poetry is regarded as the national epic of the Anglo—Saxons. It is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.2.Romance:①It uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period。
②It has developed the characteristic medieval motifs of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful beloved.③The hero is usually the knight, who sets out on a journey to accomplish some missions。
美国文学史及选读2复习笔记
History And Anthology of American Literature (VolumeⅡ)美国文学史及选读2PartⅣ The Literature Of Realism现实主义文学1.美国国内战争Civil War 1861-1865.美国现实主义文学：他们寻找描写美国人真实生活的方法，他们声称平凡的、就近的事件同重大的、遥运的事件一样都是艺术创作的源泉they sought to portray American life as it really was,, insisting that the ordinary and local were as suitable for artistic portrayal as the magnificent and the remote.2.现实主义一词来源于法语realism, 她是一种文学原则，她强调描写平凡的生活，强调其“真实性和现实性”。
Realism had originated in France asrealism, a literary doctrine that called for “reality and truth” in the depiction of ordinary life. “现实主义要求创作素材绝对真实，即不能夸张，也不能缩小”,William Dean Howells(豪厄斯) defined realism as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material”.他反对那些表现失意和绝望类苍白无力的小说，他强调现实主义作品要发掘出生活中微笑的一方面，因为美国人都坚信自己的国家是一个充满希望，什么奇迹都有可能发生的一个国家，作为文学也应该把这些特征表现出来he spoke out against the writing of a bleak fiction of failure and despair. He called for the treatment of the “Smiling aspects of life” as being the more “American”, insisting that Americ an was truly a land of hope and of possibility that should be reflected in its literature.3.美国现实主义文学总体说来对生活的表面现象进行了乐观的处理，这是其局限，然而最伟大的现实伟大的现实主义大师亨利·詹姆斯、马克·吐温则摆脱了对十九世纪美国进行肤浅描写的局限，詹姆斯对他作品中的人物个性心理进行了深度探讨，他运用深厚的和复杂的写作方式对复杂的个人经历进行了揣摩。