美国文学名词解释

Imagism：A literary movement launched by British and American poets early in the 20th century that advocated the use of free verse, common speech patterns, and clear concrete images as a reaction to Victorian sentimentalism.RomanticThe American Romantic period stretches from the end of the eighteenth century through the outbreak of the Civil War.Romanticism shares certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm, faith in value of individualism and intuitive perception and a presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s society a source of corruption.SymbolismSymbolism is the writing technique of using symbols. It’s a literary movement that arose in France in the last half of the 19th century and that greatly influenced many English writers, particularly poets, of the 20th century. It enables poets to compress a very complex idea or set of ideas into one image or even one word. It’s one of the most powerful devices that poets employ in creationThe Lost Generation“a lost generation” is used to refer to expatriate Americans bitter about their WW1 experiences and disillusioned with American society. This term has been used again and again to describe the people of the postwar years. It describes the writers like Hemingway who lived in poverty. It describes the Americans who returned to their native land with an intense awareness of living in an unfamiliar changing world. They were caught in the war and cut off from the old values and yet unable to come to terms with the new era when civilization had gone mad. They were lost in disillusionment and existential voids. They indulged in hedonism（享乐主义）in order to make their life less unbearable.O, captain! My captain!In this poem, the word ’Captain’ refers to Abraham Lincoln, who bring victory to the Civil War and freedom to the slaves but was murdered at the end. The ship represented the United States and ‘fearful trip’ represented the Civil War. This poem was written to honor the death of Abraham Lincoln. Walt Whitman appreciated him and was frustrated by his death.Whitman uses line length and word choice to represent a wide range of emotion from joy to sorrow. The poem begins with the narrator feeling overjoyed because the "fearful trip is done." Soon, however, the mood swings from enthusiasm to sorrow once the narrator realizes that the Captain is dead. By using the second person is to express his longing for the captain and his sorrowful mourning over the death of the captain.The first line of each stanzas begins with Captain to remind the reader that the focus remains on the Captain, while ends with "fallen cold and dead", at first to inform the reader of what is to come, later simply to remind the reader of the tragedy.The calling“O captain! My captain!” vividly shows how grieved and dismal the poet was. This is also the inner crying of the poet’s heart. “Cold and dead” is not just the description of Lincoln, but also the feeling of the whole America. Lincoln’s death had broken their dreams. They had lost their hope. It progresses the whole poem to its climax.Throughout the traditional iambic verse, there is a distinct rhyme scheme--aabbcded.In addition, Metaphor, repetition,symbolism, alliteration occurs many times in this poem.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningOn the surface, this poem is simplicity itself. The speaker is stopping by some woods on a snowy evening. He takes in the lovely scene in near-silence, is tempted to stay longer, but acknowledges the pull of obligations and the considerable distance yet to be traveled before he can rest for the night. Actually, this poem evoked universal issues, suggesting deep thought about death and life, about the relation between mortal obligations and the eternal rest.Frost frequently uses the technique of symbolism in his poetry. The strange attraction of death to man is symbolized by the dark woods silently filled up with the coldness of snow. The "village" stands for the human world, "woods" for nature, "horse" for the animal world, "promises" for obligations or goal, and “sleep” for death. The person felt lonely and wished he could stop time where it stands and let life go on without him. The jingle of the harness bells represents the person's "snap" back into reality.The refrain-like repetition in the last two lines reminds the reader a simple fact of life: whatever happens, one must go forward in the journey of his life. One cannot die before fulfilling one’s dream. One leaves no regrets after he dies, as long as one has reached his goal.The form is regular iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is a fairly complex one, aaba, bbcb, ccdc, and dddd. The tone of the text is very calm and peaceful.A Clean, Well-Lighted PlaceThe old man is a reflection of the people after the First World War, material comfort but spiritually barren. He tries to escape from the nihility of life by attempting suicide but failed. So he tries to get drunk to forget about life. However, he is a man with desperate deep in his heart but still remain his dignity.The old waiter is mature and sober. He could understand the old man’s nihility of life and feels pity for the old man because his life is like the old man. However differently from the old man, he isn’t going to escape from the nihility in life. He bravely faced it and tries to live with it.The younger waiter is impatient, shortsighted, blindly confident about life. No sense that his future life will just like the old man. His understanding about life is shallow and superficial. What’s more, he is indifferent and selfish, showing no sympathy for the old man.The café is clean and well-lighted, a symbol of the soul of shelter. the Emptiness of the café symbolizes nihility. The darkness outside the café refers to the cruel reality of that time.The theme of the story is the nihility in people’s life after World War I. Hemingway’s idea of nothingness was based on his experiences and his own living conditions. He is the lost generation. All the characters live in Nada. Nada commonly exists in people’s life no matter it is realized or not. Although people cannot escape from Nada, they can face it bravely by keeping a clean, well-lighted place in soul, that is, love, sympathy and dignity.The Great GatsbyThe novel was narrated through the eyes of the narrator Nick in both first and third person, which objectively compares Gatsby with the Daisy couple and compares their social class of different values they represent.On the surface the novel is a love story, but actually is the irony and criticism about the present situation of social. The society in which the novel takes place is one of moral decadence. Whether their money is inherited or earned, the inhabitants are morally decadent, living life in quest of cheap thrills and with no seeming moral purpose of their lives. Any person who attempts to move up through the social classes becomes corrupt in the process. Gatsby has not achieved his wealth through honest hard work, but through bootlegging and crime. His wealthy lifestyle is little more than a façade, as is the whole person Jay Gatsby.Moreover, it reflects the corruption of the American dream. The American Dream is the idea that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve wealth and happiness. But the material affluence results in spiritual decadence and disillusionment. Increased wealth did not eliminate the social poverty and narrow prejudice towards social class.Gatsby appears to be the embodiment of this dream-he has risen from being a poor farm boy with no prospects, to being rich in only a few short years. His "great" is his perseverance in the pursuit of his dream. But his dream conflicts with reality. He builds the dream and the meaning of life only in idealized Daisy and wealth. His dream and life has lost meaning. Actually, he was killed by his own dream.。