ⅠColonial America(17th century)殖民主义时期文学
1.In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America and he mistook the native people on
the new continent for Indians.
Character of colonial literature:
a.content: religious, political
b.form: diary, journal, letters, travel books, sermons, history (personal
literature)
c.Style: simple. direct, concise
d.out of humble origins
Early in the 17th century, the English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history.
The earliest settlers in America included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese.
The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)
2.Captain Town Smith, the first American writer
3.Puritan Thoughts: hard work, thrift(节俭), piety(虔诚), sobriety(节制), 这些也成了早期
美国作品主导思想.
典型的清教徒：John Cotton & Roger William, John Cotton was called “the Patriarch of New England(新英格兰教父)”
清教徒采用的文学体裁：narratives(日记) and journals(游记)
清教徒在美国的写作内容：
1）Their voyage to the new land
2）Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops
3）About dealing with Indians
4）Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit
4.Private literature: theological, moral, historical, political
5.The work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, rose to the level of real
poetry. Anne Bradstreet is one of the most interesting of the early poets, 英国最早移民到美国的诗人. The best of the Puritan poets was Edward Taylor.
ⅡReason and Revolution(18th century)理性和革命时期文学
1.The War for Independence (1776-1783) ended in the formation of a Federative
bourgeois democratic republic - the United States of America.
2.Bourgeois Enlightenment
3.Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard’s Almanac(穷人理查德的年鉴), an annual collection of
proverbs.
The Autobiography, 18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传
?The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is Puritan because it is a record
of self-examination and self-improvement. The Puritans, as a type, were very much given to self-analysis.
?The Autobiography shows Franklin was spokesman for the new order of 18th-century
Enlightenment, and that he represented in America all its ideas, that man is basically good and free, by nature endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
?It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision. The plainness of its style,
the homeliness of imagery, the simplicity of diction, syntax and expression are some of the obvious features we cannot mistake.
?Tone: Optimism
The American dream began with the settlement of the American continent –the Promised Land – the Garden of Eden – optimistic about the future
4.Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, 极大恢复士气
5.Thomas Jefferson:The Declaration of Independence
6.Philip Freneau, Father of American Poetry: The Indian Burring Ground(印第安人的坟地)
The Wild Honey Suckle(野忍冬花)
?The poem is an indication of the poet’s dedication to American subject
matter and the natural scenes on the new continent.
?Here in this poem Freneau deals with the themes of loveliness and the
transience of life.
?This poem, well within the melancholy genre, consists of the poet’s pensive
musings on the flower’s story.
?The first two stanzas picture the advantages of the flower’s country retreat.
?The next two stanzas unite the theme of the seasons with the thought that all
must die. Death and decay, as well as creation, are so common, so much a part of the universal law.
ⅢRomanticism(end of the 18th century——Civil War)浪漫主义文学
1.Washington Irving, Father of American literature: Sketch Book(见闻札记, the first
modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature, a collection of essays, sketches, and tales)
2.James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales(皮袜子故事集, the American
National Epic) contains of The Deerslayer(杀鹿者), The Last of the Mohicans(最后的莫希干人), The Pathfinder(探路人), The Pioneers(拓荒者), and The Prairie(大草原).
3.Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven(乌鸦), Annabel Lee(安娜贝尔·李), The Fall of the House of
Usher(鄂榭府崩溃记)
To Helen
○Edgar Allan Poe wrote “To Helen” as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard, of Richmond, Va., who died in 1824. She was the mother of one of Poe’s school classmates, Robert Stanard. When Robert invited Edgar, then 14, to his home (at 19th and East Grace Streets in Richmond) in 1823, Poe was greatly taken with the 27-year-old woman, who is said to have urged him to write poetry. He was later to write that she was his first real love.
○ 1 stanza
?Helen: An allusion to Helen of Troy in Greek mythology.
?Nicean: Of or from Nicea (also spelled Nicaea), a city in ancient Bithynia (now
part of present-day Turkey) near the site of the Trojan War.
?Barks: small sailing vessels.
?End rhyme: A, B, A,B, B.
○ 2 stanza
?wont: accustomed to
?Naiad: Naiads were minor nature goddesses in Greek and Roman
mythology. They inhabited and presided over rivers, lakes, streams, and fountains.
?Naiad airs: Peaceful, gentle breezes or qualities
?The glory that . . .Rome: These last two lines, beginning with the glory
that was, are among the most frequently quoted lines in world literature.
?End rhyme: A, B, A, B, A.
Half rhyme: Face and Greece
○ 3 stanza
?Psyche: In Greek and Roman mythology, Psyche was a beautiful
princess dear to the god of love, Eros (Cupid), who would visit her in a darkened room in
a palace. One night she used an agate lamp to discover his identity. Later, at the urging of
Eros, Zeus gave her the gift of immortality. Eros then married her.
?End rhyme: A, B, B, A, B.
?from the regions which are Holy Land: from ancient Greece and Rome;
from the memory Poe had of Mrs. Stanard
○Theme
■Beauty, as Poe uses the word in the poem, appears to refer to the woman's soul as well as her body. On the one hand, he represents her as Helen of Troy–the quintessence of physical beauty–at the beginning of the poem. On the other, he represents her as Psyche–the quintessence of soulful beauty–at the end of the poem. In Greek, psyche means soul.
4.Transcendentalism(超验主义):
19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of man, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. In their religious quest, the Transcendentalists rejected the conventions of 18th-century thought; and what began in dissatisfaction with Unitarianism developed into a repudiation of the whole established order.
Representative figures: some 30 men and a couple of women such as Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller, most of them teachers or clergymen, radicals against rigid rationalism of Unitarianism.
Time: 1836-1855
Essence: “Transcendentalism is idealism” in essence
Major Features:
A.Emphasis on spirit;
B.The importance of the individual as the most important element of
society;
C．N ature as symbolic of the Spirit or God
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Father of American Essay, Essayist, poet, philosopher, orator, critic : Nature(the Bible and manifesto(宣言) of the New England Transcendentalism), Self-reliance
Henry David Thoreau(The Prophet(提倡者) of Non-Violence Movement, he was
Emerson’s truest disciple, who put into practice many of Emerson’s theories): Walden
5.Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
⑴女主角honest, calmly face fault 诚实，坦然的面对罪过。
⑵弗洛伊德人格理论：Id 本我→ 欲望，只要快乐→Roger 女主角的丈夫
Ego 自我→ 分辨对错，受约束，符合现实→Hester 女主角
Superego 超我→ →Dim 女主角的情人，牧师
⑶女主角的自我成长和自我救赎的过程。Ego growth and redeem by her own of
process
“The Scarlet Letter”分析：It is not a praise of a Hester sinning, but a
hymn on the moral growth of the woman when sinned against. Young Hester
borders on being licentious. Her drive is sexual. She does her best to keep
her hold on the magic chain humanity. Her life eventually acquires a real
significance when she reestablishes a meaningful relationship with her
fellowmen Symbolic of her moral development is the gradual imperceptible
change with the scarlet letter undergoes in meaning. At first it is a token
of shame, “Adultery” but then the genuine sympathy and help Hester offered
to her f ellow villagers’ changes it to “Able”. Later in the story, the
letter A appears in the sky, signifying “Angel”. There is reason to agree
with the critical observation that A may represent Adamic, or prehistoric,
an archetypal vice suggestive of “original sin,” Dimmesdale, on the other
hand, banishes himself form society. Deeply preoccupied with himself, he
lives a stranger among his admirers. The result is that, whereas Hester
is able to reconstruct her life and win a moral victory, Dimmesdale
undergoes the tragic experience of physical and spiritual disintegration.
Between him and Hester they point to a moral as Hawthorne may intend them
to do, that the best policy for man is to be true, honest, and ever ready
to show one’s worst to the outside world.
6.Herman Melville: Moby Dick(白鲸)
①a tremendous chronicle of whaling voyage in pursuit of a seemingly
supernatural white whale.主要讲述了一个为追捕一只想象中的神秘白鲸的漫长海上故事。②The book is steeped in symbolism. 本书达到了象征主义手法的创作高峰。
③主人公：Ishmael，取自圣经。④在书中说：to write a mighty book you must have
a mighty theme. 写一部宏大的著作，必须有一个宏大的主题。⑤故事人物：Captain
Ahab.船长阿哈比；Queequeg，捕鲸人奎因奎格，was a friendly person；⑥the rebellious struggle of Captain Ahab against the overwhelming, mysterious vastness of the universe and its awesome, sometimes merciless forces. The fitting symbol for h is theme was the “gliding great demon of the seas of life.”阿哈比舰长和各种危险之间的激烈斗争，他同那些强大的、神秘的自然展开斗争，他们令人毛骨悚然，有时还冷酷无情。他把那只大白鲸贴切的比喻为“生命海洋中滑行的恶魔”。
⑦“Moby Dick”：One of the major themes in Melville is alienation, which he
sensed existing in the life of his time on different levels, between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Captain Ahab seems to be the best illustration of it all. The voyage itself is a metaphor for “search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experie nce.” He had Ahab
topmost in his mind. In a sense Ahab embodies all of the evil he once consigned to Moby Dick.
7.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: A Psalm of Life(人生礼赞)
8.Walt Whitman(Father of American Poetry):Leaves of Grass
free verse (自由诗体) without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme.无固定节奏，无有规律的韵脚,t he first genuine epic poem美国历史上第一部真正的史诗
Poem’s 特点：Most of the poems in “Leaves of Grass” are about man and nature.
9.Emily Dickinson: Because I could not stop for Death
■“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is a lyric poem on the theme of death. It contains six stanzas, each with four lines. A four-line stanza is called a quatrain.
■It reveals Emily Dickinson’s calm acceptance of death. It is surprising that she presents the experience as being no more frightening than receiving a
gentleman caller—in this case, her fiancé (Death personified).
■The overall theme of the poem seems to be that death is not to be feared since it is a natural part of the endless cycle of nature.
■Theme：死亡是实现永恒Immortality的途径
■特点：Her poetry in unique and unconventional in its own way. Her poems have no titles, hence are always quoted by their first lines.
ⅣRealism(Naturalism) (Civil War—World War I)现实主义文学
1.Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
2.William Dean Howells, middle class
3.Mark Twain, lower class: The Adventure of Tom Sawyer
A story of his seeking for freedom, fame, fortune, love, manhood. The novel reveals the
American values: one is hero complex, the other is American dream. His adventures are the realization of American dream. On the other hand, the book records the rising Age of American Bourgeois system. It also bears the irony and satire toward the religion and by-then popular rigid, didactic children education, which curbs the imagination of children and their innate nature for freedom and adventures and molds them into a stereotype of lifeless man.
4.Henry James(international theme), upper class: The Portrait of A Lady, Isabel Archer
伊莎贝尔·阿切尔，一位美国少女，父母双亡后，被她富有的姨母(Mrs. Touchett)
带到英国。在那，先后拒绝了英国贵族沃伯顿(Lord Warburton)和美国富商戈德伍德
(Caspar Goodwood)的求婚。她的表兄拉尔夫(Ralph Touchett)也爱上她，但他知道自
己患不治之症无法结婚，便说服父亲把一笔巨额遗产留给表妹。
伊莎贝尔又结识了梅尔夫人(Madame Merle)，对这位已彻底欧洲化了的美国女人十分倾倒。姨父死后，伊莎贝尔得到遗产去意大利游历。进入梅尔夫人布下的圈
套。梅尔夫人介绍她认识了长期侨居意大利的美国人奥斯蒙德(Gilbert Osmond)，外
表儒雅斯文。伊莎贝尔为之动心；他的女儿帕茜(Pancy)，也引起她的爱怜。她不顾
亲戚朋友的警告和反对，自作主张下嫁于他。
婚后她发现自己受骗，奥斯蒙德是平庸卑鄙的小人。她还发现梅尔夫人是奥斯蒙德
的情妇，帕茜是他们的私生女。痛苦中，她强作欢颜，对外人隐瞒了婚姻的不幸。
表兄拉尔夫在英国病危，伊莎贝尔不顾丈夫的反对赶去看他。拉尔夫死后，伊莎贝
尔出乎众人的预料，又回到罗马。
5.O. Henry: The Cop and the Anthem
6.Jack London: The Sea Wolf, Martin Eden(Martin Eden, Arthur Morse, Ruth)
7.Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie(嘉莉妹妹)
■Sister Carrie tells the story of two characters: Carrie Meeber, an ordinary girl who rises from a low-paid wage earner to a high-paid actress, and George
Hurstwood, a member of the upper middle class who falls from his comfortable
lifestyle to a life on the streets. Neither Carrie nor Hurstwood earn their fates
through virtue or vice, but rather through random circumstance. Their successes
and failures have no moral value; this stance marks Sister Carrie as a departure
from the conventional literature of the period.
■Dreiser touches upon a wide range of themes and experiences in Sister Carrie, from grinding poverty to upper-middle class comfort. The novel dwells on the
moment as it is experienced; the characters’ identities are constantly subject to
change, reflecting the modern American experience that at that time thousands
of rural Americans rushed to the cities to find jobs and to build themselves new
lives and identities. Sister Carrie captures the excitement of that experience.
Ⅴ20th century poets
1.Carl Sandburg
2.Ezra Pound: imagism, , The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter
About the poem, In a Station of the Metro:
①The “Metro” is the underground railway of Paris.
②The word “apparition”, with its double meaning, binds the two aspects of the
observation together:
Apparition meaning “appearance”, in the sense of something which appears, or shows up; something which can be clearly observed.
Apparition meaning something which seems real but perhaps is not real;
something ghostly which cannot be clearly observed.
③The poem is an observation of the poet of the human faces seen in a Paris
subway station. It looks to be a modern adoption of the Japanese haiku.
④He tries to render exactly his observation of human faces seen in an
underground railway station. He sees the faces, turned variously toward light and darkness, like flower petals on the wet, dark texture of a bough.
⑤Repeating it, you can have a colorful picture, also you can feel the beauty of
music through its repetition of different vowels and consonants, such as /p/ and /au/.
Especially the repetition of /e/ in the second line emphasizes its sense of music.
⑥In this brief poem, Pound uses the fewest possible words to convey an
accurate image, according to the principles of the “Imagists”. Pound wrote an account of its composition, which claims that the poem’s form was determined by the experience that inspired it.
⑦Whether truth or myth, the piece has become a famous document in the
history of Imagism.
3.T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land(荒原), The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock(J·阿尔弗雷德·普鲁
弗洛克的情歌)
Analysis of Prufrock:
?His character:
Self-conscious, self-distrusting, timid, lacking in vitality and courage/coward
Impotent physically and spiritually, tortured between desire and impotence
?His world:
Elegant, empty, trivial, trifling, without force and vitality, sluggish, lifeless,
listless, futile, meaningless
?His situation:
Desire for love, yet afraid of being rejected and misunderstood, desires for
true life, love, turn a new leaf , yet has not courage to act/take action
?Symbolic meaning of this character
Archetypal modern man, western intellectuals
4.Wallace Stevens: Anecdote of the Jar(坛子的轶事)
5.Robert Frost, 自然主义诗人:
The Road Not Taken(没有走的路):
?The poem begins as if when the poet was walking in a wood in late autumn at
a fork in the road. He was choosing which road he should follow. Actually, it is concerned
with the important decisions which one must make in life; one must give up one desirable thing in order to possess the other.
?Stanza 2
After the judgment and hesitation, the traveler makes up his mind to take the road which looks grassy and wants wear. This is often beloved to be the symbol of the poet’s choice of a solitary life---taking poetry writing as his life profession.
?Stanza 3
The two roads are equally pretty, so as soon as he made the choice of the one, the poet felt painful for abandoning the other. He is quite aware that his intention of “next choice” will be nothing than an empty promise.
?Stanza 4
The poet was imagining many years later when he recalling the choice he made today, he would respond with nothing else but a sigh, for it would be too hard
for anyone, after many more experiences in life, to make any comment on the
choice made early in life.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening(雪夜林边小立):
■It is an iambic tetrametre (抑扬格四音步) and interlocking enclosed rhyme（连锁抱韵）is used, that is, the first, second and fourth line in each stanza are
rhymed, the last sound of the third line is the rhyme of the next stanza. All the
four lines in the last stanza are rhymed to give readers a completely harmonious
impression.
■It represents a moment of relaxation from the onerous journey of life, an almost aesthetic enjoyment and appreciation of natural beauty which is wholesome
and restorative against the chaotic existence of modern man.
6.Edwin Arlington Robinson, the first important poet of the twentieth century:
Richard Cory(理查·珂利)
As "Richard Cory" is only sixteen lines, we scarce need be reminded at the beginning that because of its compactness each word becomes infinitely important.
While stanza one introduces the narrator, more importantly it emphasizes his
limited view of Richard Cory. Line one introduces us to Cory while line two establishes that the narrator has only an external view of Cory. From this viewpoint, then, the narrator proceeds to make an assortment of limited value judgments.
Richard Cory resembles a king (“crown,” “imperially slim,” and “richer than a king”); obviously the speaker imagery (as well as movement in “sole to crown”) reveal his concerns wi th Cory status and wealth (further emphasized by “glittered”). Charles Morris notes the speaker use of Anglicism (“pavement,” “sole to crown,” “schooled,” and “in fine”) pictures Cory as “an English king;” thus, the narrator can be seen expressing prejudices in terms of nationalistic pride.
The poet, with a more profound grasp of life than either, shows us only what life itself would show us; we know Richard Cory only through the effect of his personality upon those who were familiar with him, and we take both the character and the motive for granted as equally inevitable. Therein lies the ironic touch, which is intensified by the simplicity of the poetic form in which this tragedy is given expression.
Miniver Cheevy
Miniver is the archetypal frustrated romantic idealist, born in the wrong time for idealism. He is close enough to being Robinson himself so that Robinson can smile at him and let the pathos remain unspoken.
"Miniver Cheevy" is generally regarded as a self-portrait. The tone, characteristics sketched by Robinson and shared by the poet and Miniver, and the satiric humor of the poem all lead to that interpretation.
The poem satirizes the age and, especially, its literary taste.
Ⅵ20th century novels
1.Lost generation refers to the disillusioned intellectuals and aesthetes of the years
following WWI, who rebelled against former ideals and values but could replace them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. The remark of Gertrude Stein, " You are all a lost generation." addressed to Hemingway, was used as a preface to the latter's novel The Sun Also Rises, which brilliantly describes an expatriate group typical of the " lost generation".
Other expatriate American authors of the period to whom the term is generally applied included E. E. Cummings, Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound and so on.
2. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
3.Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms
■The novel shows the filth, meaningless, calamity of war and disillusionment of people.
Henry is completely disillusioned. He has been to the war, but has seen nothing
sacred and glorious. He is determined to say farewell to arms. But the adversity,
threat of death still foreshadows his life. At last the death of his wife and baby makes
him taste and experience the death, the nothingness of life, the disillusionment with
future, hope, love and happiness.
4.John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath(愤怒的葡萄)
5.William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily
narrative method叙述方法:1、stream of consciousness 意识流
2、multiple point of view, narrator多角度，多个叙述者
Part I The Literature of Colonial America I．Historical Introduction The colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607. ( A group of people was sent by the English King James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607. They named the James River and build the James town.) II．The pre-revolutionary writing in the colonies was essentially of two kinds: 1) Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc. designed to inform people "at home" what life was like in the new world, and, often, to induce their immigration 2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions. III．The First American Writer The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, their lives in the new land, their dealings with Indians. Captain John Smith is the first American writer. A True Relation of such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608) A Map of Virginia: A Description of the Country (1612) General History of Virgini a (1624): the Indian princess Pocahontas Captain John Smith was one of the first early 17th-century British settlers in North America. He was one of the founders of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. His writings about North America became the source of information about the New World for later settlers. One of the things he wrote about that has become an American legend was his capture by the Indians and his rescue by the famous Indian Princess, Pocahontas. IV．Early New England Literature William Bradford and John Winthrop John Cotton and Roger Williams Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor V．Puritan Thoughts 1. The origin of puritan In the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th Century, the English King Henry VIII (At that time, the Catholics were not allowed to divorce unless they have the Pope's permission. Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife because she couldn't bear him a son. But the Pope didn't allow him to divorce, so he) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church of
美国文学史常耀信版 很有用的哦！ 2008-08-10 22:02 阅读206 评论0 字号：大中小 美国文学史常耀信版 美国文学 Part 1. Colonial America浪漫主义American Romanticism(1815-1865) 早期浪漫主义early romanticism——Irving欧文, Cooper库柏, Bryant布莱恩特 先验主义transcendentalism and symbolic representation——Emerson 爱默森，Margaret Fuller玛格丽特福勒，Thoreau 梭罗 三位重要的小说家——Hawthorne 霍桑，Melville 梅尔维尔，Poe 坡 二位重要的诗人——Whitman 惠特曼，Dickinson 狄更生 现实主义American Realism（1865-1914） 带有地方色彩的写作local color writing——Mark Twain马克吐温 现实主义literary realism——James 詹姆士，Howells 豪斯尔斯 自然主义literary naturalism——Garland 加兰特，Grane 格雷恩，Frank Norris 弗兰克诺里斯，Jack London 杰克伦敦，Theodore Dreiser 西奥多德莱塞 现代主义American Modernism(1914-1945) 现代主义在欧洲American modernism in Europe——Gerturde Stein 格特鲁德斯坦因，Ezra Pound 艾兹拉庞德，Amy Lowell 艾米洛威尔，H.D.(Hilda Doolittle) 杜丽埃尔 战时的现代派小说modern fiction between the wars——William Faulkner 威廉福克纳，Hemingway 海明威，Fitzgerald 费兹杰罗，Passos 帕索斯，Steinbeck 斯坦贝克 现代派诗歌modern American poetry——T.S. Eliot 艾略特，Wallace Stevens 史蒂文斯，William Carols Williams 威廉姆斯，卡明斯 Thomas Paine托马斯?潘恩1737-1809 The Case of the Officers of Excise税务员问题；Common Sense常识；American Crisis美国危机；Rights of Man人的权利：Downfall of Despotism专制体制的崩溃；The Age of Reason理性时代 Philip Freneau菲利普?弗伦诺1752-1832 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 Jonathan Edwards The Freedom of the Will The Great Doctrine of Original Sin defended The Nature of True Virtue Benjamin Franklin本杰明?富兰克林1706-1790 A Modest Inquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Moneyoor Richard’s Almanack穷查理历书；The Way to Wealth致富之道；The Autobiography自传 Part 2. American Romanticism Washington Irving华盛顿?欧文1783-1859 A History of New York纽约的历史-----美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；The Sketch Book见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说-----使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家；
仅作参考，最主要还是要自己消化，整理 Chapter 1 Colonial Period 1. Puritanism: American puritans accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. 2. Influence (1) A group of good qualities – hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful) influenced American literature. (2) It led to the everlasting myth. All literature is based on a myth – garden of Eden. (3) Symbolism: the American puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chi efly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. (4) With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible. II. Overview of the literature 1. types of writing diaries, histories, journals, letters, travel books, autobiographies/biographies, sermons 2. writers of colonial period (1) Anne Bradstreet (2) Edward Taylor III. Benjamin Franklin 1. life 2. works (1) Poor Richard’s Almanac (2) Autobiography 3. contribution (1) He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society. (2) He was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this case) from heaven”. (3) Everything seems to meet in this one man –“Jack of all trades”. Herman Melville thus described him “master of each and mastered by none”. Chapter 2 American Romanticism Section 1 Early Romantic Period I. American Romanticism 1. Background (1) Political background and economic development (2) Romantic movement in European countries Derivative – foreign influence 2. features (1) American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new experience and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien. (2) There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize. Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than they entertained. (3) The “newness” of Americans as a nation is in connection with Am erican Romanticism. (4) As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent. II. Washington Irving: Father of American Literature 1. several names attached to Irving (1) first American writer (2) the messenger sent from the new world to the old world (3) father of American literature 2. life 3. works (1) A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (2) The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.) (3) The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (4) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada (5) The Alhambra 4. Literary career: two parts (1) 1809~1832
Captain John Smith (first American writer). Anne Bradstreet；The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America （colonists living） Edward Taylor(the best puritan poet) John Cotton ”the Patriarch of New England” teacher spiritual leader Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography Poor Richard’s Almanack Thomas Jefferson： Political Career Thoughts The Declaration of Independence we hold truth to be self-evidence Philip Freneau“Father of American Poetry” The Wild Honey Suckle American Romanticism optimism and hope Nationalism Washington Irving“Father of American Literature short story”The first “Pure Writer” A History of New York The Sketch Book marked the beginning of American Romanticism! “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”Rip Van Winkle James Fenimore Cooper Father of American sea and frontier novels Leather stocking Tales The Last of the Mohicans The Pioneers The Prairie The Pathfinder The Deerslayer Edgar Allan Poe father of detective story and horror fiction Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque “MS. Found in a Bottle” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” “The Fall of the House of Usher”“The Masque of the Red Death”“The
美国文学史复习1（colonialism) 第一部分殖民主义时期的文学 一、时期综述 1、清教徒采用的文学体裁：a、narratives 日记b、journals 游记 2、清教徒在美国的写作内容： 1）their voyage to the new land 2) Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops 3) About dealing with Indians 4) Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit 3、清教徒的思想： 1）puritan want to make up pure their religious beliefs and practices 净化信仰和行为方式 2) Wish to restore simplicity to church and the authority of the Bible to the theology. 重建教堂，提供简单服务，建立神圣地位 3）look upon themselves as chosen people, and it follow logically that anyone who challenged their way of life is opposing God's will and is not to be accepted. 认为自己是上帝选民，对他们的生活有异议就是反对上帝 4）puritan opposition to pleasure and the arts sometimes has been exaggerated. 反对对快乐和艺术的追求到了十分荒唐的地步5）religious teaching tended to emphasize the image of a wrathful God.强调上帝严厉的一面，忽视上帝仁慈的一面。 4、典型的清教徒：John Cotton & Roger William 他们的不同：John Cotton was much more concerned with authority than with democracy; William begins the history of religious toleration in America. 5、William的宗教观点：Toleration did not stem from a lack of religious convictions. Instead, it sprang from the idea that simply to be virtuous in conduct and devout in belief did not give anyone the right to force belief on others. He also felt that no political order or church system could identify itself directly with God. 行为上的德，信仰上的诚，并没有给任何人强迫别人该如何行事的权利。没有任何政治秩序和教会体制能够直接体现神本身的意旨。 6、英国最早移民到美国的诗人：Anne Bradstreet 7、在殖民时期最好的清教徒诗人：the best of Puritan poets is Edward Tayor. 学习指南： 1、Could you give a description of American Puritans? 关于美国清教徒的描绘 Like their brothers back in England, were idealists, believing that the church should be restored to the "purity" of the first-century church as established by Jesus Christ himself. To them religion was a matter of primary importance. They made it their chief business to see that man lived and thought and acted in a way which tended to the glory of God. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God, all that John Calvin, the great French theologian who lived in Geneva had preached. It was this kind of religious belief that they brought with them into the wildness. There they meaant to prove that were God's chosen people enjoying his blessings on this earth as in Heaven. 2、Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest American writing. 3、The work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet & Edward Taylor, rose to the level of real poetry. 4、The earliest settlers included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards Italian, and Portuguese. 美国文学史复习2（reasoning and revolution) (2009-01-17 15:54:25) 一、美国的性质： The war for Independence ended in the formation of a Federative bourgeois democratic republic - the United States of America. 联邦的资产阶级民主共和国--美利坚合众国。 二、代表作家： 1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1706-1790 1）"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴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 humor, and first spread his reputation 2) Founded the Junto, a club for informal discussion of scientific, economic and political ideas. 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 3）established America's first circulating library, founded the college--University of Pennsylvania. 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。 4）first applied the terms "positive" and "negative" to electrical charges. 5)As a representative of the Colonies, he tried in vain to counsel the British toward policies that would let America grow and flourish in association with England. He conducted the difficulty negotiations with France that brought financial and military support for America in the war. 作为殖民地的代表，他不断建议英国改变政策，使美国可以和英国一起发展、繁荣。他说服法国支持美国的独立战争。 6）As an author he had power of expression, simplicity, a subtle humor, sarcastic.作为作家具有非凡的才能，表达简洁明了，幽默，讽刺天才、 7）The Way to Wealth致富之道The Autobiography自传18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传
文学史笔记： 一、Early American and colonial period (1607-1765) (religious conflicts Catholism vs.Puritanism) 1.Puritanism: 1.) Simply speaking , American Puritanism just refers to the spirit and ideal of puritans,who settled in the North American continent in the early part of the seventeenth century because of religious persecutions.In content it means scrupulous ,moral rigor ,especially hostility to social pleasures and indulgences,that is strictness,sternness and austerity in conduct and religion. 2.)with time passing it became a dominant factor in American life , one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and literature .To some extent it is a state of mind , a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the American breathes ,rather than a set of tenets. 3.）Actually it is a code of values , a philosophy of life and a point of view in American minds , also a two-faceted tradition of religious idealism and level -headed in common sense . 2.The main features of this period 1).American literature grew out of humble origins. Diaries, histories, journals, letters, commonplace books, travel books, sermons, in short, personal literature in its various forms, occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period.
History And Anthology of American Literature （6） 附：作者及作品 一、殖民主义时期The Literature of Colonial America 1．船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith 《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” 《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》 “A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country” 《弗吉尼亚通史》“General History of Virginia” 2．威廉·布拉德福德William Bradford 《普利茅斯开发历史》“The History of Plymouth Plantation”3．约翰·温思罗普John Winthrop 《新英格兰历史》“The History of New England” 4．罗杰·威廉姆斯Roger Williams 《开启美国语言的钥匙》”A Key into the Language of America” 或叫《美洲新英格兰部分土著居民语言指南》 Or “A Help to the Language of the Natives in That Part of America Called New England ” 5．安妮·布莱德斯特Anne Bradstreet 《在美洲诞生的第十个谬斯》 ”The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America” 二、理性和革命时期文学The Literature of Reason and Revolution 1。本杰明·富兰克林Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) ※《自传》“ The Autobiography ” 《穷人理查德的年鉴》“Poor Richard’s Almanac” 2。托马斯·佩因Thomas Paine (1737-1809) ※《美国危机》“The American Crisis” 《收税官的案子》“The Case of the Officers of the Excise”《常识》“Common Sense” 《人权》“Rights of Man” 《理性的时代》“The Age of Reason” 《土地公平》“Agrarian Justice” 3。托马斯·杰弗逊Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) ※《独立宣言》“The Declaration of I ndependence” 4。菲利浦·弗瑞诺Philip Freneau (1752-1832) ※《野忍冬花》“The Wild Honey Suckle” ※《印第安人的坟地》“The Indian Burying Ground” ※《致凯提·迪德》“To a Caty-Did” 《想象的力量》“The Power of Fancy” 《夜屋》“The House of Night” 《英国囚船》“The British Prison Ship” 《战争后期弗瑞诺主要诗歌集》 “The Poems of Philip Freneau Written Chiefly During the Late War” 《札记》“Miscellaneous Works” 三、浪漫主义文学The Literature of Romanticism 1。华盛顿·欧文Washington Irving (1783-1859) ※《作者自叙》“The Author’s Account of Himself” ※《睡谷传奇》“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” 《见闻札记》“Sketch Book” 《乔纳森·欧尔德斯泰尔》“Jonathan Oldstyle” 《纽约外史》“A History of New York” 《布雷斯布里奇庄园》“Bracebridge Hall” 《旅行者故事》“Tales of Traveller” 《查理二世》或《快乐君主》“Charles the Second” Or “The Merry Monarch” 《克里斯托弗·哥伦布生平及航海历史》 “A History of the Life and V oyages of Christopher Columbus” 《格拉纳达征服编年史》”A Chronicle of the Conquest of Grandada” 《哥伦布同伴航海及发现》 ”V oyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus” 《阿尔罕布拉》“Alhambra” 《西班牙征服传说》“Legends of the Conquest of Spain” 《草原游记》“A Tour on the Prairies” 《阿斯托里亚》“Astoria” 《博纳维尔船长历险记》“The Adventures of Captain Bonneville” 《奥立弗·戈尔德史密斯》”Life of Oliver Goldsmith” 《乔治·华盛顿传》“Life of George Washington” 2．詹姆斯·芬尼莫·库珀James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) ※《最后的莫希干人》“The Last of the Mohicans” 《间谍》“The Spy” 《领航者》“The Pilot” 《美国海军》“U.S. Navy” 《皮袜子故事集》“Leather Stocking Tales” 包括《杀鹿者》、《探路人》”The Deerslayer”, ”The Pathfinder” 《最后的莫希干人》“The Last of the Mohicans” 《拓荒者》、《大草原》“The Pioneers”, “The Praire” 3。威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) ※《死之思考》“Thanatopsis” ※《致水鸟》“To a Waterfowl” 4。埃德加·阿伦·坡Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) ※《给海伦》“To Helen” ※《乌鸦》“The Raven” ※《安娜贝尔·李》“Annabel Lee” ※《鄂榭府崩溃记》“The Fall of the House of Usher” 《金瓶子城的方德先生》“Ms. Found in a Bottle” 《述异集》“Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque” 5。拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) ※《论自然》“Nature” ※《论自助》“Self-Reliance” 《美国学者》“The American Scholar” 《神学院致辞》“The Divinity School Address” 《随笔集》“Essays” 《代表》“Representative Men” 《英国人》“English Traits” 《诗集》“Poems” 6。亨利·戴维·梭罗Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) ※《沃尔登我生活的地方我为何生活》 1
美国文学史作品作家汇总 美国文学 Part 1. Colonial America Thomas Paine托马斯?潘恩1737-1809 The Case of the Officers of Excise税务员问题；Common Sense常识；American Crisis美国危机；Rights of Man人的权利：Downfall of Despotism专制体制的崩溃；The Age of Reason理性时代 Philip Freneau菲利普?弗伦诺1752-1832 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 .Jonathan Edwards The Freedom of the Will 论意志自由The Great Doctrine of Original Sin defended论原罪The Nature of True Virtue论真是德行的本原 Benjamin Franklin本杰明?富兰克林1706-1790 A Modest Inquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Money; Poor Richard’s Almanac穷查理历书；The Way to Wealth致富之道；The Autobiography自传 Part 2. American Romanticism Washington Irving华盛顿?欧文1783-1859 A History of New York纽约的历史-----美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；The Sketch Book见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说-----使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家；Brace bridge Hall布雷斯布里奇田庄；Talks of Travelers旅客谈；The Alhambra阿尔罕伯拉 Jamie Fennimore Cooper詹姆斯?费尼莫尔?库珀1789-1851 The Spy间谍;The Pilot领航者;The Little page Manuscripts利特佩奇的手稿;Leather stocking Tales皮裹腿故事集:The Pioneer拓荒者；The Last of Mohicans最后的莫希干人;The Prairie大草原;The Pathfinder探路者;The Deer slayer杀鹿者 Part 3.New England Transcendentalism Ralf Waldo Emerson拉尔夫?沃尔多?爱默生1803-1882 Essays散文集:Nature论自然-----新英格兰超验主义者的宣言书;The American Scholar 论美国学者;Divinity; The Over soul论超灵;Self-reliance论自立;The Transcendentalist超验主义者;Representative Men代表人物;English Traits 英国人的特征;School Address神学院演说 Concord Hymn康考德颂;The Rhoda杜鹃花;The Humble Bee野蜂;Days日
美国文学史序言部分 殖民地时期（colonialism)约1607-1765 时期综述（随便看看，重点没有涉及这部分） 1、清教徒采用的文学体裁：a、narratives 日记b、journals 游记 2、英国最早移民到美国的诗人：Anne Bradstreet 3、在殖民时期最好的清教徒诗人：the best of Puritan poets is Edward Tayor. 启蒙时期与独立战争时期（reasoning and revolution)1765-18世纪末p1 代表作家： 1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林 1706-1790 Poor Richard's Almanac《格言历书》A Collection of maxims,or proverbs,on the value of work and savings for success. The Autobiography《自传》开创了美国名人写传记的风气 2、William Hill Brown 威廉·希尔·布朗 The Power of Sympathy《同情的力量》 浪漫主义时期（Romanicism)1800-1865 一、文学特征： 1、Transcendentalism超验主义 代表人物：Emerson爱默生，believed that man was a part of absolute good。人性本善 Thoreau 梭罗，beheld divinity in the “unspotted innocence” of nature. 自然才是神圣的“洁白无瑕” 二、代表作家： 1、Washington Irving华盛顿.欧文 The Sketch Book《见闻札记》开创了美国短篇小说的传统 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow《睡谷的传说》和Rip Van Winkle《瑞普·凡·温克尔》取材于德国民间故事，以纽约哈德逊河谷为背景 2、James Fenimore Cooper 詹姆斯.芬尼莫.库珀 frontier saga 边疆传奇小说----Leatherstocking Tales《皮袜子故事集》五部曲 创造了原型人物-班波 3、William Cullen Bryant 威廉.卡伦.布莱恩特第一个浪漫主义诗人 To a Waterfowl《致水鸟》The Yellow Violet《黄色的堇香花》 4、Ralph Waldo Emersion 拉尔夫.沃尔多.爱默生是把超验主义引入新英格兰的先驱p18 作品：Nature《论自然》超验主义理论的“圣经” Essays《论文集》Poems《诗集》The American Scholar《论美国学者》 Representative Men 《人类代表》English Traits《英国特征》 5、Henry David Thoreau 亨利.戴维.梭罗p45 In Walden《沃尔登》描写在湖畔的生活，宣传自然的美好 on the duty of Civil Disobedience《论公民的不服从》