American Literature 美国文学
Romanticism
• American Romanticism were quasi-allegorical novels that explored such themes as guilt, pride, and emotional repression. • Anti-transcendental works from Melville, Hawthorne, and Poe all comprise the Dark Romanticism subgenre of literature popular during this time. • Edgar Allan Poe – “The Masque of Red Death” – “The Fall of the House of Usher” – “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” - an attack on transcendentalism • Nathaniel Hawthorne – Twice Told Tales – The Scarlett Letter – The Blithedale Romance - an attack on transcendentalism • Herman Melville – Moby Dick
American Literature
American Literature
•The earliest forms of American literature were pamphlets and writings extolling the benefits of the colonies. •Religious disputes that prompted settlement in America were also topics of early writing. •Other early writings described conflicts and interaction with the Native Americans. •The revolutionary period also contained political writings. –y post-revolutionary writers were interested in creating an American history. • Washington Irvin – History of New York – “Rip Van Winkle” – “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” – Tour on Prairies • James Fenimore Cooper – The Spy – Leatherstocking Tales • The Pioneers • The Last of the Mohicans • The Prairie • The Pathfinder • The Deerslayer
•Common Sense and The American Crisis
•American literature has recorded the story of a quest. –Economic –Religious –Restless •American literature has been a continuous narrative of the “pursuit of happiness.”
Transcendentalists
• Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early middle of the 19th century. Transcendentalism was rooted in the transcendental philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which the New England intellectuals of the early 19th century embraced as an alternative to the Lockean “sensualism” of their fathers. • Transcendentalism began as a protest against the general state of culture and society at the time, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard and the doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School. • Among Transcendentalists' core beliefs was an ideal spiritual state that “transcends” the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions. • Ralph Waldo Emerson – Nature • Henry David Thoreau – Walden
Early Fiction
• In the post-war period, The Federalist essays by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and James Jay represented a historical discussion of government organization and republican values. • Thomas Jefferson – Declaration of Independence – Heavily influenced the Constitution. – His Autobiography – The Notes on the State of Virginia – Many Letters • The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy, was written by Hill Brown in 1789.
【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.。
美国文学作家以及作品总汇
美国文学部分(American Literature)一．独立革命前后的文学（The Literature Around the Revolution of Independence）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．殖民地时期的文学的特点2)．主要的作家、其概况及其代表作品2．独立革命前后时期的主要作家本杰明·富兰克林Benjamin Franklin本杰明·富兰克林，散文家、科学家、社会活动家，曾参与起草―独立宣言。
《穷查理历书》Poor Richard’s Almanack《致富之道》The Way to Wealth《自传》The Autobiography托马斯·潘恩Thomas Paine托马斯·潘恩，散文家、政治家、报刊撰稿人。
《税务员问题》The Case of the Officers of Excise《常识》Common Sense《美国危机》American Crisis《人的权利》Rights of Man《专制体制的崩溃》Downfall of Despotism《理性时代》The Age of Reason菲利普·弗伦诺Philip Freneau菲利普·弗伦诺，著名的―革命诗人‖。
《蒸蒸日上的美洲》―The Rising Glory of America‖《英国囚船》―The British Prison Ship‖《纪念美国勇士》同类诗中最佳―To the Memory of the Brave Americans‖《野生的金银花》―The Wild Honeysuckle‖《印第安人殡葬地》―The Indian Burying Ground‖1二．美国浪漫主义文学（American Romanticism）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景2)．主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画和语言风格3)．清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家华盛顿·欧文Washington Irving华盛顿·欧文，美国著名小说家，被称为―美国文学之父‖.《瑞普·凡·温可尔》Rip Van Winkle《纽约外史》A History of New York《见闻札记》The Sketch Book《睡谷的传说》The Legend of Sleepy Hollow詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀James Fenimore Cooper詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀开创了以《皮裹腿故事集》为代表的边疆传奇小说，其中最为重要的一部是《最后的莫西干人》。
美国文学教案American Literature
American LiteratureLecture One A brief outline of the courseI. Teaching objectives:through this lecture, the students are expected to have a general idea about the important authors and their most influential works, and the literary focus and achievements in different periods of the formation of the nation.II. Teaching focus: a brief introduction of:1. The background of different periods2. The major writers to be covered3. The important works that are going to be studiedIII. Teaching steps1. Ask students some general questions about American literature2. Lecture by the teacher3. Group discussion by the studentsIV. HomeworkWrite a short article about what you are expecting to learn from this course, what suggestions you have for this courseLecture Two Colonial PeriodI. Teaching objectives:through this lecture, the students are expected to have a general idea about the mission of the first group of Puritan immigrants to the New World, their perseverance in seeking their purpose, and the pervading spirit of Puritanism in the early communities.I.Teaching focus1. The mission of the Puritan immigrants to the New World2. Puritanism and its influence in all spheres of life in the early communities3. The religious poems by Anne BradstreetII.Teaching steps1.Warming-up questions1.1 What is the meaning of Puritan, what are the major characteristics of thePuritans1.2 Why did some Puritans left their own country and risked their lives tocross over the Atlantic Ocean and settle on the New World?1. 3 What is the meaning of theocracy?2.Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 A brief introduction about the Puritan from a historic perspective2.2 The missions of the first group of Puritans to the new world2.3 The situation in the communities of the early settlement2.4 The spirit of Puritanism and its impact on the building of the nation andpeople’s daily life during the colonial period.3.Read and analyze the poem “Upon the Burning of Our House” by AnneBradstreetIII.HomeworkRead the e-book: Research Guide to American Literature: Colonial Literature: 1607-1776Lecture Three: Edwards and FranklinI. Teaching objectivesIn this lecture, the students are expected to get some knowledge about the major point of Puritanism and Calvinism, and how Edwards and Franklin demonstrate different aspects of the spirit of PuritanismII. Teaching focus1. The major doctrine of Puritanism2. The major doctrine of Calvinism3. Benjamin Franklin4. Jonathan EdwardsIII. Teaching steps1. Warming-up questions for the students1.1 Do you know the original of original sin?1.2 Do you have any knowledge about John Calvin and the religious doctrines that he advocated?1.3 Do you know the well-story of Franklin’s flying of kite, and can you name some of his inventions?2. Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 the major doctrines of Puritanism and its profound impact on people’s daily life of the colonial period and literary endeavors for a long time2.2 the major doctrines of Calvinism and its pervading spirit of sin and evil2.3 the most famous self-made man in America, Benjamin Franklin, and his successful story which is the best example of the American Dream from a material perspective.2.4 the pious life of Jonathan Edwards and his influence on a group of writers called the Transcendentalists in the 1830s-40s3. Read and analyze certain passage from Benjamin Franklin’s AutobiographyIV. HomeworkRead the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan EdwardsLecture Four American Romantic LiteratureI.Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, students are expected to have a general idea about the following points: the relationship between American Romantic literature and that of Britain; the major writers and their works of American Romanticism. II.Teaching focus1.The major characteristics of American Romanticism2.Washing Irving and his short stories3.James Fenimore Cooper and his Leatherstocking TalesIII.Teaching steps1. Warming-up questions1.1 Washington Irving is called the Father of American Literature, what canpossibly denote by such honorary title?1.2 There is a very interesting anecdote concerning Cooper’s trying to writenovels by himself, have you ever heard that anecdote, and what is youropinion of such a personage?2. Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 a comparison between Romanticism in America and Britain2.2 Washington Irving’s literary creation and two of his most famouslegendary tales: Rip Van Winkle and Legend of the Sleepy Hollow2.3 Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales and his importance as the builder of theAmerican myth3. Read and analyze some passages from Rip Van Winkle by WashingtonIrvingIV.HomeworkRead Irving’s Legend of the Sleepy Hollow and Cooper’s The Last MahicanLecture Five American Transcendentalist Literature(1) I.Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to have a general idea about the following points: the spirit of the period; the major writers and their works. II.Teaching focus1. The sources and doctrines of Transcendentalism2. Emerson’s work and influence during the Transcendental periodIII.Teaching steps1.Points to be covered by the teacher1.1 the various sources of Transcendentalism, such as the idealisticphilosophy of Germany and France, and Oriental mysticism.1.2 the major features of Transcendentalism: Oversoul, importance ofindividual, and nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God.1.3 Emerson’s role in the Transcendentalist movement, the dean, the editor ofthe its major journal Dial, and the founder of the Transcendental club.1.4 Emerson’s Nature and The American Scholar, one is considered to be themanifesto of Transcendentalism, the other is considered to America’s declaration of intellectual independence.2.Read and analyze passages from Nature by Ralph EmersonIV.HomeworkRead TheAmerican Scholar by EmersonLecture Six American Transcendentalist Literature(2) I.Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, students are expected to have a general idea about the following points: Thoreau and his experience; Thoreau’s masterpiece Walden II.Teaching focus1. Thoreau’s life experience2. Thoreau’s materialization of the doctrines of Transcendentalism in a smallhut on the bank of Walden pond3. The rediscovery and reevaluation of Walden in the twentieth centuryIII.Teaching steps1.Warming-up questionsDo you have any idea about what is Walden about?2.Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 Thoreau’s life style and the commentaries of his contemporaries to him2.2 rediscovery and reevaluation of Thoreau’s Walden in the twentiethcentury2.3 Walden and eco-criticism3. Read and analyze certain passages from WaldenIV.HomeworkRead Thoreau’s WaldenLecture Seven Hawthorne and MelvilleI. Teaching objectivesStudents are expected to learn something about the notorious Salem Witchcraft Trial and the major doctrines of Calvinism and their impacts on Hawthorne and his writings, they are also expected to know Melville’s profession as a sailor and the tremendous influence of his profession as a sailor on almost all his works.II. Teaching focus1.Hawthorne and his Scarlet Letter2.Melville and his Moby DickIII. Teaching steps1 warming up questions1.1 Do you have any knowledge about Moses’ten commandments in the Old Testament, and one of the commandments says that “Thou shaln’t commit adultery”, do you know the meaning of adultery?1.2 Say something about your understanding of alienation2.Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 A rough summary of Salem Witchcraft Trial of 1692 and the role played by one of Hawthorn’s preeminent ancestors2.2 Hawthorne pervading sense of sin and evil and the reflection of these themes in almost all his works, either short stories or novels.2.3 Analysis of the four major characters in The Scarlet Letter2.4 Melville’s experience as a whaler on the sea and its influence on his works2.5 An analysis of his highly symbolic work Moby Dick3. Read and analyze certain passages from The Scarlet LetterIV. HomeworkRead the novel The Scarlet Letter and see the film adapted from this novel, and then make a comparison between themLecture Eight Whitman and DickinsonI. Teaching objectivesStudents are expected to have a general idea about Whitman and Dickinson and the differences between the theme and style of their poems.II. Teaching focus1.Whitman and his Song of Myself2.Dickinson and several of her poemsIII. Teaching steps1.Points to be covered by the teacher1.1 Whitman’s gregarious habit and the democratic tendency reflected in his Leaves of Grass1.2 The different evaluation of Leaves of Grass by Whitman’s contemporaries and critics of the twentieth century.1.3 Dickinson’s reclusive living habit and meditation on death and immortality1.4 Rediscovery and reevaluation of Dickinson’s poems in the twentieth century1.5 Whitman and Dickinson’s influence on American modern poetry2. Read and analyze certain passages from Leaves of Grass and some poems by DickinsonIV. HomeworkTry to write a short poem of Dickinsonian styleLecture Nine American Realist Literature (1)I. Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to get some knowledge about the American Civil War and its impact on literary creation, and also the major doctrines and focus of American Realist literature.II. Teaching focus1. The American Civil War2. Doctrines and focus of American Realism3. William Dean Howells and his influence on the writings of other writers of thisPeriodIII. Teaching steps1. Warming-up questions2. Lecture by the teacher3. Read and analyze some passages from Criticism and Fiction by William DeanHowellsIV. HomeworkRead American Literary Realism by Barrish, Phillip Cambridge University Press, 2001Lecture Ten American Realist Literature (2)I. Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to get familiar with the writings and some realist writers such as Henry James and Mark Twain.II. Teaching focus1. Henry James and his The Portrait of a Lady2. Mark Twain and his Adventure of Huckleberry FinnIII. Teaching steps1. Warming-up questions2. Lecture by the teacher3. Read and analyze certain passages from Call of the Wild by Jack LondonIV. HomeworkRead The Ambassadors by Henry James and Life on the Mississippi River by Mark TwainLecture Eleven American Naturalist Literature (1)I.Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to have a general idea about how Zola’s naturalistic philosophy, Charles Darwin’s evolution theory and the industrialization of the United States brought about the alienation of man with nature, man with man, and man with society, and as a result, the flourish of naturalist literature that reflected these trends.II.Teaching focus1. The social background of naturalist period2. The major features of Naturalism3. The major naturalist writers and their worksIII.Teaching procedures1.Warming-up questions2.Lecture by the teacher3.Group discussion by the studentsIV.HomeworkRead American Naturalism by Bloom HaroldLecture Twelve American Naturalist Literature (2)I. Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to get familiar with the major naturalistic writers and their representative works.II. Teaching focus1.Stephen Crane and his works2. Theodore Dreiser and his works3. Jack London and his worksIII. Teaching steps1. Warming-up questions2. Lecture by the teacher3. Read and analyze certain passages from Call of the Wild by Jack LondonIV. HomeworkRead The Red Badge of Courage by Crane, American Tragedy by Dreiser, and Martin Eden by Jack LondonLecture Thirteen Literature of the Lost Generation (1)I.Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to have some knowledge about America’s role during the First World War, and the war’s impact on young people like Fitzgerald and Hemingway, and also the works that reflected the disillusion of the lost generation.II.Teaching focus1. The First World War and the Attitude of American youth toward the war2. The situation in America in the twenties of the 20th century3. Fitzgerald and his nearly autobiographical novelsIII.Teaching steps1.Warming-up questions2.Lecture by the teacher3. Read and analyze certain passages from The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald IV.HomeworkRead Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and This Side of the ParadiseLecture Fourteen Literature of the Lost Generation (2) I.Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to get some knowledge about the theme and style of the writings of Hemingway.II. Teaching focus1. Hemingway’s personal life2. His works3. His theory of “tip of an iceberg”III. Teaching steps1.Warming-up questions2.Lecture by the teacher3.Group discussion by the studentsIV. HomeworkRead Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the SeaLecture Fifteen American Literature of the SouthI.Teaching objectivesThrough this lecture, the students are expected to have a general idea about the history and current reality of the American South, and the slavery system before the Civil War, and how these combined together affected the general spirit of the southern Americans.II.Teaching focus1. The history of the American South, with slavery system as its focal point2. The situation in the south of America after the civil war3. Faulkner and his fictional world epitomized in his Yoknapatawpha county III.Teaching procedures1.Warming-up questions2.Lecture by the teacher3. Read and analyze certain passages from the Sound and the Fury byFaulknerIV.HomeworkRead Go down, Moses by FaulknerSee the film Gone with the WindLecture Sixteen Post-war American Novel (1)I. Teaching objectivesStudents are expected to have some knowledge about the situation in America after World War II, and the impact and influence of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and McCarthyism on the American people as a whole and American writers as a special group, and the pessimism and skepticism reflected in their works.II. Teaching focus1.The general situation in America after World War II2.J.D.Salinger and his Catcher in the RyeIII. Teaching steps1.Warming up questions1.1 Say something about your knowledge of World War Two1.2 Say something about the Cold War and the Vietnam War2.Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 the impact of World War Two on the consciousness of American intellectuals 2.2 the pessimism reflected in the writings of American writers2.3 the life experience of J.D.Salinger2.4 the one work that makes Salinger immortal (Catcher in the Rye)3. Read and analyze certain passages of Catcher in the RyeIV. HomeworkRead the novel Catcher in the Rye after classLecture Seventeen Post-war American Novel (2)I. Teaching objectivesStudents are expected to have a general idea about the social, political and artistic life in America, and the decline of artistic creation in the traditional style and the emergence of modern and post-modern style which was demonstrated in the absurd, metafiction, and avant-gardism; and students are also expected to have some knowledge about some of the representative writers and their most influential works of this period, such as Kurt V onnegut and his Slaughterhouse- Five, and Joseph Heller and his Catch-22.II. Teaching focus1.Modernism and post-modernism demonstrated in literary works2.Joseph Heller and his Catch-22III. Teaching steps1.Warming up questions1.1 What is modernism? And what is post-modernism1.2 Have you ever heard Catch-22, what does it mean?2.Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 a brief introduction of modernism and post-modernism and their similarities and differences.2.2 a brief introduction of Kurt V onnegut and his Slaughterhouse- Five2.3 a brief introduction of Joseph Heller and his Catch-223.Read and analyze the passages that most represent a Catch-22 situationIV. HomeworkRead Catch-22 after classLecture Eighteen American Multi-ethnic LiteratureI.Teaching objectives1.Through this lecture, the students are expected to have a general idea aboutthe following points: a survey of the situation of American blacks from ahistorical perspective; the images of blacks in the works of whiteAmericanBlack writers and the major theme of their worksII.Teaching focus1. A survey of the situation of American Blacks and other minority peoplefrom a historical perspective2. The images of the minority people like American Indians and the blacks inthe works of white Americans3. Major black writers and other minority group writers and theirrepresentative worksIII.Teaching steps1.Warming-up questions1.1 Do you know anything about the Civil Rights Movement that occurred inthe 1950s-60s in America, and what were the things that minority groups such as the blacks and the American Indians were fighting for:1.2 What is the meaning of invisible, if it is used before man, what does itconnote?2.Points to be covered by the teacher2.1 A general introduction of the Civil Rights Movement in America duringthe 1950s-60s2.2 A general survey of the images of blacks and American Indians in theworks of the whites2.3 A general introduction of the most influential writers of minority groupsand their representative works3. Read and analyze certain passages from the Invisible ManIV.HomeworkRead Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man。
美国文学介绍(殖民主义时期)
Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607
❖ Many of the people who settled in the New World came
to escape religious persecution.
Two Important New England Settlements
1948: T. S. Eliot 艾略特(USA/UK)
❖ 1980: Czeslaw Milosz
米沃什
(Poland/USA)
❖ 1987: Joseph Brodsky
布罗德斯基
(USSR/USA)
❖ Basic common qualities of American Writers: Independent，独立精神 Individualistic，个性意识 Critical，批判精神 Innovative，革新意识 Humorous，幽默风格
How to use the textbook？
❖ 1. the authors ❖ 2. the works ❖ 3. the new words ❖ 4. the related questions
The relationship between English & American Literatures?
❖ Within such a short period, American literature
swiftly developed well matured began to receive international recognition has exercised an impactful effect upon world
美国文学的名词解释_特点_流派
美国文学的名词解释_特点_流派美国文学的名词解释美国文学(American Literature 或Literature of the United States)指在美国产生的文学(也包括建国前殖民地时期的文学作品)。
用英语写成的美国文学可视为英语文学的一部分。
美国文学的历史不长，它几乎是和美国自由资本主义同时出现，较少受到封建贵族文化的束缚。
美国早期人口稀少，有大片未开发的土地，为个人理想的实现提供了很大的可能性。
美国人民富于民主自由精神，个人主义、个性解放的观念较为强烈，这在文学中有突出的反映。
美国又是一个多民族的国家，移民不断涌入，各自带来了本民族的文化，这决定了美国文学风格的多样性和庞杂性。
美国文学发展的过程就是不断吸取、融化各民族文学特点的过程。
美国文学的特点美国文学的历史不长，它几乎是和美国自由资本主义同时出现，较少受到封建贵族文化的束缚。
美国早期人口稀少，有大片未开发的土地，为个人理想的实现提供了很大的可能性。
美国人民富于民主自由精神，个人主义、个性解放的观念较为强烈，这在文学中有突出的反映。
美国又是一个多民族的国家，移民不断涌入，各自带来了本民族的文化，这决定了美国文学风格的多样性和庞杂性。
美国文学发展的过程就是不断吸取、融化各民族文学特点的过程。
许多美国作家来自社会下层，这使得美国文学生活气息和平民色彩都比较浓厚，总的特点是开朗、豪放。
内容庞杂与色彩鲜明是美国文学的另一特点。
个性自由与自我克制、清教主义与实用主义、激进与反动、反叛和顺从、高雅与庸俗、高级趣味与低级趣味、深刻与肤浅、积极进取与玩世不恭、明快与晦涩、犀利的讽刺与阴郁的幽默、精心雕琢与粗制滥造、对人类命运的思考和探索与对性爱的病态追求等倾向，不仅可以同时并存，而且形成强烈的对照。
从来没有一种潮流或倾向能够在一个时期内一统美国文学的天下。
美国作家敏感、好奇，往往是一个浪潮未落，另一浪潮又起。
作家们永远处在探索和试验的过程之中。
美国文学史资料
American Literature in the colonial（殖民） and Revolutionary （革命）:Benjamin Franklin （本杰明富兰克林）1) "Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人理查德的年鉴（以笔名Richard Sunders)2) "annual collection of proverbs " 流行谚语集 (It soon became the most popular book of its kind, largely because of Franklin's shrewd（精明） humor, and first spread his reputation)3) The Way to Wealth (Father Abraham's Sermon) 致富之道(as the preface（前言） to Poor Richard Improved)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 political ideas. 建立了一个俱乐部，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 （电气） charges.8) Writer, printer, publisher, scientist, philanthropist（慈善家）, and diplomat（外交官）. He was the most famous and respected private （私人的）figure（人物）of his time.Fhilip Freneau（菲利普费瑞诺）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（后革命时期）.(3)has been called the "Father of American Poetry"(4)imaginative（富有想象力的） and melancholy（忧郁的）treatment of nature and human life, and sharp satire（讽刺）against the British tyranny（暴政）19 Century American LiteratureWashington Irving（华盛顿欧文）1. James Fenimore Cooper（詹姆斯芬尼莫库珀）2. Nathaniel Hawthorne（纳撒尼尔霍桑）3. Edgar Allan Poe （埃德加爱伦坡）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（浪漫主义）：One of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak（爆发） of the Civil War(1861 - 1865)（内战）It started with the publication of Washington Irving's The h Sketch Book（《见闻札记》）(1820) and ended with Whitman's Leaves f of Grass(1855)（《草叶集》）Romanticism 特点 : frequently shared certain general characteristics（特征）, moral（道德） enthusiasm（热情）, faith（信仰） in the value（价值） of individualism（个人主义） and intuitive（直觉的） perception（洞察力，）, and a presumption（假定） that he naturalworld was a source of corruption（腐败）.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。
美国文学参考书目和必读书目
《美国文学》参考书目1.A. T. Rubinstein, American Literature root and Flower, Beijing: ForeignLanguage Teaching and Research Press, 1998.2.E. B. Booz, A Brief Introduction To Modern American Literature, Shanghai:Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1982.3.M. H. Abrams, A glossary of Literary Terms, Foreign language Teaching andResearch Press, 2004.4.Peter B. High. An Outline of American Literature，London and New York: LongmanPress, 1996.5.William H. Crawshaw. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Londonand New York: W.W.Norton &Company Ltd., 1994.6.程爱民：《美国文学阅读教程》，南京师大出版社，1999年。
7.陈新：《英美名家短篇小说精品赏析》（上、下），中国对对外翻译出版社，1999年。
8.范革新：《美国短篇小说赏析》，新华出版社，2006年。
9.桂扬清等：《英美文学选读》，中国对对外翻译出版社，1985年。
10.姜涛：《美国诗歌赏析》，新华出版社，2006年。
11.刘洊波；《英美文学史及作品选读》（美国部分），高等教育出版社，2001年。
12.李正栓：《美国文学学习指南》，清华大学出版社，2006年。
13.美国国务院：《美国文学概况》，辽宁教育出版社，2003年。
美国文学第1章(殖民及革命时期文学)
In 1942, Christopher Columbus found the new continent called America. ⑵ Immigrants: Spanish (they built the first town on the new continent); Dutch (they built New York city at the beginning stage); French (today still lots of people’s mother tongue is French in North America)
American Puritanism（清教主义）
To
be a Puritan: taking religion as the most important thing; living for glorifying God; believing predestination（命运天定）, original sin（原罪，人生下来就是有罪的， 因为人类的祖先亚当和夏娃是有罪的）, total depravity（人类是完全堕落的，所以人要处 处小心自己的行为，要尽可能做到最好以取 悦上帝）, limited atonement（有限救赎，只 有被上帝选中的人才能得到上帝的拯救）
Idiosyncratic Features of American Literature
Colonial
American Literature
Colonial Literature ⑴ General features ◆ Humble origins: diaries, histories, letters etc. ◆ In content: serving either God or colonial expansion or both ◆ In form: imitating English literary traditions
美国文学三个重要时期
Three main periods and their characteristics of American Literature The development of American literature can be divided into: I the Early American Literature; II the Age of American Romanticism and Transcendentalism; III the Age of Realism and Naturalism; IV Twentieth-century Literature---Modernism and Postmodernism. The following are the three main periods and their characteristics of American literature.1.The Age of American RomanticismThe period 1820s-1865 in American Literature is commonly identified as the Romantic Period in America. After the establishment of the Federal Government of 1789, American entered a new age. Its population was considerably added to by the influx of immigration. The American pioneers pushed the frontier further west beyond the Mississippi. Before 1860, the United States began to change into an industrial and urban society. The rapid growth of population, the westward expansion and the spread of industrialism produced something of an economic boom and a tremendous sense of optimism and hope among the people. The writers of this period produced works of originality and excellence that helped shape the ideas, ideals, and literary aims of many American writers. Writers of the American Romantic Period include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman.Romantic Period is one of the most important periods in the history of American literature. It was an age of westward expansion, of the increasing gravity of the slavery question, of an intensification of the spirit of embattled sectionalism in the South, and of a powerful impulse to reform in the North. In literature it was America’s first great creative period, a full flowering of the romantic impulse on American soil. The characteristics of American RomanticismAlthough greatly influenced by their English counterparts, the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，the American national experience of"pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America's landscape with its virgin forests, meadows, groves, endless prairies, streams, and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales, in Thoreau's Walden and，later, in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. With the growth of American national consciousness, American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. (4)Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts.Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers.Later，American literature came to Transcendentalism Period which emphasized individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of tradition authority. It was actually greatly influenced by romanticism. American Romanticism culminated around the 1840s in what has come to be known as “New England Transcendentalism” or “American Renaissance” (1836-1855). The Transcendentalist movement, embodied by essayists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, was a reaction against 18th century Rationalism, and closely linked to the Romantic Movement.In general, Transcendentalism was a liberal philosophy favoring nature over formal religious structure, individual insight over dogma, and humane instinct over social convention. American Transcendental Romantics pushed radical individualism to the extreme. American writers—then or later —often saw themselves as lonely explorers outside society and convention. There was a trust in the individual, democracy, possibility of continued change for the better, a need to see beyond what is before our eyes, and to see a deeper significance, a transcendentreality. Nature conceived of not as a machine but as an organism, symbol and analogue of the mind. For the Romantic American writer, nothing was a given. Literary and social conventions, far from being helpful, were dangerous. There was tremendous pressure to discover an authentic literary form, content, and voice.The romantic period of American literature stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. The Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The age of Realism came into existence.2. The age of RealismIf you study American literature, you’d better learn more about Realism. The period ranging from 1865 to 1914 has been referred to as the Age of Realism in the history of Unite States, which is actually a movement or tendency that dominated the spirit of American literature, especially American fiction from the 1850s onwards. In art and literature, Realism refers to an attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures exactly as they act or appear in life. Realism entered American literature after the Civil War, when the American society provided rich soil for the rise and development of Realism. William Dean Howells defined realism as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material”. Realists searched for the social and human nature more directly. In part, Realism was a reaction against the Romantic emphasis on the strange, idealistic, and long-ago and far-away. It has been chiefly concerned with the commonplaces of everyday life among the middle and lower classes where character is a product of social factors and environment is the integral element in the dramatic complications.Literature Features in Realism PeriodThe major form of literature produced in this era was realistic fiction.Unlike romantic fiction, realistic fiction aims to represent life as it really is and make the reader believe that the characters actually might exist and the situations might actually happen. In order to have this effect on the reader, realistic fiction focuses on the ordinary and commonplace. The major writers of the Realistic Period include William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Henry James, Bret Harte, and Kate Chopin.The Ameri can authors lumped together as “realists” seem to have some features in common: “verisimilitude of detail derived from observation,” the effort to approach the norm of experience—a reliance on the representative in plot, setting, and character, and to offer an objective rather than an idealized view of human nature and experience. They insisted on accurate documentation, sociological insight, and avoidance of poetic diction and idealization. Local colorism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early 70s. Local colorist concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. The tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life.As a literary movement, realism came in the latter half of the nineteenth century as a reaction against “the lie” of romanticism and sentimentalism. It expressed the concern for the world of experience, of the commonplace, and for the familiar and low.Naturalism i s a term of literary history, primarily a French movement in prose fiction and the drama during the final third of the 19th century. The emergence of Naturalism does not mark a radical break with Realism, rather a logical extension of it. Broadly speaking, Naturalism is characterized by a refusal to idealize experience and by the persuasion that human life is strictly subjected to natural laws. The Naturalists shared with the earlier Realists the conviction that everyday life of the middle and lower classes of their own day provided subjects worthy of serious literary treatment. Emphasis was laid on the influence of the material and economic environment on behavior，on the determining effects of physical and hereditary factors in forming the individual’s temperament. In popular use, the term naturalism is sometimes used to mean fiction that exaggerates the techniques of realism, sacrificing prose style and depth of characterization for an exhaustive description of the external, observable world. Naturalism is a more deliberate kind of realism, usually involves a view of human beings as a passive victims of natural forces and social environment. 3. The Age of ModernismBetween 1914 and 1939, American Literature entered into a phase which is stillreferred to as "The Beginnings of Modern Literature". The large cultural wave of Modernism, which emerged in Europe, and then spread to the United States in the early years of the 20th century, expressed a sense of modern life through art as a sharp break from the past. As modern machinery had changed the pace, atmosphere, and appearance of daily life in the early 20th century, so many artists and writers, with varying degrees of success, reinvented traditional artistic forms and tried to find radically new ones—an aesthetic echo of what people had come to call “the machine age.” During that period, a large number of artists and literary movements are totally different from those of the 19th-century’s, in style, form and content. Modern psychology has a profound impact on the early 20th-century’s literature.American Modernism was a complex and diverse international literary movement, originating at about the end of the 19th century and reaching its maturity in the mid 20th. Based on different social realities and influenced by different ideas and thoughts, Modernism has been made up of many facets—symbolism, surrealism, expressionism, existentialism, stream of consciousness, Black Humor, the Theatre of the Absurd, and other minor trends.The literary features of ModernismCompared with earlier writings, especially those of the 19th century, modern American writings are notable for what thy omit—the explanations, interpretations, connections, and summaries. A typical modern work will seem to begin arbitrarily, to advance without explanation, and to end with resolution. The book is no longer a record of sequence and coherence but a juxtaposition of the past and the present, of the history and the memory, or a book. Like their British counterparts, the American Modernists experimented with subject matter, form, and style and produced achievements in all literary genres.The American Modernist Period also produced many other writers that are considered to be writers of Modernist Period Subclasses. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered a writer of The Jazz Age, Langston Hughes and W.E.B. DuBois writers of The Harlem Renaissance, and Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Ernest Hemingway writers of the Lost Generation.The Great Depression marked the end of the American Modernist Period, and writers such as William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Eugene O'Neill dealt with the social and political issues of the time in their literary works.ConclusionRomantic period stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil War. Later American literature came to Transcendentalism Period which emphasized individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of tradition authority. The Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence, which was against “the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism”. Th e period between 1910 and 1930 is referred to as the era of Modernism. During that period, a large number of artists and literary movements are totally different from those of the 19th-century’s, in style, form and content.。
American Literature(美国文学考试试卷)
一、选择填空1. William Faulkner is the author of Sound and Fury.2．Robert Frost is a famous poet.3. The Old Man and the Sea is one of the great works by Earnest Hemingway.4．The great transcendental work by Henry David Thoreau is Walden.5．I Have a Dream is addressed by Martin Luther King.6．Eugene O’Neil is an American playwright.7. Grass is a poem written by Walt Whitman.8．Moby Dick is the most important work by Herman Melville.9. O. Henry earned his fame mainly for his short stories.10. Sister Carrie is a masterpiece of naturalistic work.11. The Road Not Taken is a poem written by Robert Frost.12. “God help them that help themselves” is found in Franklin’s work.13. T. S. Eliot’s most famous long poem is The Waste Land.14. The black man Jim is a character in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.15. The Grapes of Wrath is the masterpiece of John Steinbeck.16. The literary spokesman of the Jazz is often thought to be Scott Fitzgerald.17. Emerson was the most important person of the transcendental club.18. Eugene O’Neil has won the Pulitzer Prize four times and one Nobel Prize.19. Gertrude Stein initiated the name of the Lost Generation.20. On the Road is the representative work of the Beat Generation.二、判断1．Hawthorne was a symbolic writer in some sense. （√）2．Mark Twain was the father of American language. （√）3．American literature is the oldest of all the national literitures. （×）4．O. Henry paid little attention to plot in writing. （×）5．Eugene O’Neil is an American poet.（×）6．Daisy Miller is a great work by Mark Twain. （×）7. Putting the stress on traditional values is a typical feature of modernism. （×）8. Chinese poetry and philosophy have exerted great influence over Ezra Pound. （√）9．Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about human psychology. （×）10. According to Henry James,the aim of the novel is to reflect life reality. （√）11．To Hawthorne sin will get punished,one way or another. （√）12．Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about human psychology. （×）13．Hawthorne only touched upon the problem of love in The Scarlet Letter. （×）14．Allan Poe advocated "pure" poetry. （√）15．Scarlet Letter is a great work by Mark Twain. （×）16. Mark Twain depicted the adventurous spirit of American people. （√）17. Grass is a poem written by Carl Sandburg. （×）三、选择连线1. The Sound and the Fury Wiliam Faulkner2. The American Scholar Ralph Waldo Emerson3. Walden Henry David Thoreau4. The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne5. Moby Dick Herman Melville6. Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman7. The Gilded Age Mark Twain8. The Call of the Wild Jack London9. Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser10. The Waste Land T—S—Eliot11. The Old Man and Sea Hemingway12. Nature Emerson13. The Poems of Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson14. The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald四、名词解释1.Realism：Realism is the theory of writing in which familiar aspects of contemporary life and everyday scenes are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner. This is the theory that authors try to use and guide them in their writing. It stresses truthful treatment of material. It is anti-romantic, anti-sentimental, and without abstract interest in nature, death, etc. Mark Twain laughed at people who were caught up in the world of illusions, who were not mature enough to see real situations. This is one example of the truthful treatment of material.2．Imagism: A literary movement that began in London and later spread to the US at the beginning of the 20th century. It underwent three major phases in its development, and T. E. Hulme, Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell lead the movement respectively. It advocated “the use of one dominant image”. According to Ezra Pound, an image is “that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time” and the three principles that he established were: a. Direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective or objective; b. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation; c. As regarding rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome.3.American Romanticism：Romanticism was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. It wasa movement of conscious rebellion against being too objective. The romantic spirit was one of subjectivity of inward feelings that o ne could trust one’s subjective responses. Romantics placed a high premium upon the creative function of imagination, and saw art as a formulation of intuitive and imaginative perceptions that tend to speak a nobler truth than that of fact.4．Local Colorism As a literary trend, local colorism made its presence felt in the late 1860s to early 70s and lost its momentum at the end of the 19th century. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local characters of their religions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous little world with qualities that tells it apart from the world outside. The representative works of local colorism include Bret Hart's "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and H. B. Stowe's Oldtown Folks.五、简答题1.Mark Twain presented the 19th century America in his own unique way. Discuss Twain’s art of fiction: the setting, the language, and the characters, etc., based on his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.A. Mark Twain uses the Mississippi alley as his fictional kingdom, writing about the landscape and people, the customs and the dialects of one particular region, and is therefore known as a local colorist.B. He creates life-like characters, especially the unconventional Huckleberry Finn, who runs away from civilization and stands opposite to conventional village morality.C. He uses a simple, direct vernacular language, totally different from any precious literary language. It is the kind of colloquial belonging to the lower class, the living local American English.D. He has created a special humor to satirize and the decayed convention.2. Why are naturalists inevitably pessimistic in their view?A. They accept the negative implication of Darwin’s theory of evolution, and believe that society is a"jungle" where survival struggles go on.B. They believe that man’s instinct, the environment and other social and economic forces play anoverwhelming role and man’s fate is "determined" by such forces beyond his control.。