History And Anthology of American Literature (VolumeⅠ)
美国文学史及选读1
PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖义时期的文学
1. 17世纪早期English and European explorers开始登陆美洲。在他们之前100多年Caribbean Islands, Mexico and other Parts of South America已被the Spanish占领。
2. 17th早期English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts(弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞)开始了美国历史
3. 美国最早殖民者(earliest settlers)included Dutch ,Swedes ,Germans ,Freunch ,Spaniards ,Italians and Portugueses (荷兰人，瑞典人，德国人，法国人，西班牙人，意大利人及葡萄牙人等)。
4. 美国早期文学主要为the narratives and journals of these settlements采用in diaries and in journals(日记和日志)，他们写关于the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil.
5. 第一批美国永久居民：the first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown,Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)。
6. 船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith他的作品(reports of exploration)17th早期出版，被认为是美国第一部真正意义上的文学作品in the early 1600s,have been described as the first
distinctly American literature written in English.他讲述了filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, character and events,吸引了朝圣者和清教徒前往lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.
7. 美国第一位作家：1608年Captain John Smith写了封信《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”.
8. 他的第二本书1612年《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country”.
9. 他一共出版了八本书，其中有关于新英格兰的历史及描述。其破产后做为向导sought a post as guide to the Pilgrims.他1624年《弗吉尼亚通史》“General History of Virginia”,讲述了传奇故事how the Indian princess Pocahontas( 波卡洪特斯)saved him.
10. 他保存了殖民者在Jamestown早期开荒史及explored the rivers and bays around the Chesapeake region(切萨皮克地区)，最重要的是he saw from the beginning what was eventually to be a basic principle of American history, the need of “workers”instead of “gentlemen”for the tough job of planting colonies and pushing the frontiers westward. 11. 早期新英格兰文学主要关于theological, moral, historical and political.
12. 清教徒坚韧耐劳，严格遵守教义the Puritans in New England embraced hardships, together with the discipline of a harsh
church想建立神权社会found a theocracy,他们生活简朴，意志坚定，我行我素，不屈不挠地斗争they had toughness, purpose and character, they grappled strongly with challenges they set themselves.他们的基本价值观；注重勤劳，节俭，虔诚和节制hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety这些也成了早期美国作品主导思想。
一、William Bradford and John Winthrop威廉·布拉德福德和约翰·温思罗普
普利茅斯第一任首长：William Bradford;
波斯顿第一任首长： John Winthrop.
1． William Bradford:《普利茅斯开发历史》“The History of Plymouth Plantation”文章从1630年开始写起an account of the small group of Puritans who migrated from England to Amsterdam and then to the New Wold.文字简洁，认真负责，直接叙述，可读性强simplicity and earnestness of the book, with its direct reporting, make it readable and moving.1637年他用简单的律诗对自己一生写了个总结，后来科登·马瑟写道：他是众人之福，也是众人之父“a common blessing and father to them all”
2．John Winthrop:《新英格兰历史》“The History of New England”.1630年登上“阿贝亚”（Arbella）to Massachusetts 并开始写日记keep a journal and to the rest of his life.1826年正式出版is notable for its candid simplicity and honesty. 3．他
们并不出于创作需要而是记录历史，但却运用了直接生动的散文格式使文章成为了好的文学作品 the need to record important events in permanent form. Yet, through a direct and vigorous prose style, each account literary excellence.
4．清教徒（Puritan）:就是要净化他们的信仰和行为方式，要纯洁自己信仰的人Puritans wanted to make pure their religious beliefs and practices, The Puritan was “Would-be purifier”. 总认为自己是上帝选民looked upon themselves as a chosen people.对他们的生活方式提出异议就是反对上帝旨意anyone who challenged their way of life was opposing God’s Will and was not to be accepted.对自己的信仰视之如命，对别人信仰不能容忍they were zealous in defense of their own beliefs but often intolerant of the beliefs of others. 制定法律限制个人生活行为made laws about private morality as well as public behavior 霍桑称他们为“黑眉毛的古板的清教徒”“stern and black-browed Puritans”.
二、John Cotton and Roger Williams约翰·科登和罗杰·威廉姆斯
1． John Cotton第一批知识分子代言人，称为“新英格兰教父”the Patriarch of New England”. 1633年到Boston 开始一直是这社区精神导师，他所宣讲的由来统治国家的神权思想直接影响了当时人们的行为 he was the “teacher”(spiritual leader) of the community
and its guiding influence toward the ideal of theocracy(a state ruled by the church)他的影响主要通过教堂讲坛来完成his primary influence was through the pulpit. 听众对他深信不疑。他们清教徒强调权威，忽视they were much more concerned with authority than with democracy.
2． Roger Williams:1631年came to the Massachusetts后被放逐到现罗德岛Rhode Island。对不同意见者并不赞同对其迫害而是屈服与容忍，他认为行为上的德，信仰上的诚并没有给任何人强迫别人该如何行事的权力，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. 他对印第安语言非常感兴趣Indian language.他写过《开启美国语言的钥匙》或也叫做《美洲新英格兰部分土著居民语言指南》“A Key into the Language of America” or “A Help to the language of the Natives in That Part of America Called New England”
三、Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor安妮·布莱德斯特和爱德华·泰勒
这两位清教徒写的诗达到相当高水平，真正能称得上是诗作。1． Anne Dudley Bradstreet是早期诗人中最风趣的诗人之一one of the most interesting of the early poets. 1630年乘“Arbella”
到Massachusetts.她的文学创作在抚养八个子女家庭劳作繁重劳动下进行的。
2．她的第一部作品由她的姐夫交给伦敦出版商，the title of this collection of poems, in classical allusion(用比喻的方法)即《在美洲诞生的第十个谬斯》“The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America”诗歌中传奇故事有点言过其实，但对日常琐事叙述相当高超poetic ventures were overambitious but wrote well when dealt with the simple events of her daily life.
3． Edward Taylor:清教徒诗人中最杰出的一位the best of the Puritan poets 他的作品遵循了十七世纪中期一些杰出诗人风格和形式his work followed they style and forms of the leading English poets of the mid-seventeenth century。他大部分作品关于的，大部分诗歌直接以赞美诗为基础进行创作的most of Taylor’s work treated religious themes, with many poems based directly on the Psalms. 在世时没出版过作品，1937年发现手稿，1960年泰勒诗歌全集。
Part Ⅱ The Literature of Reason And Revolution理性和革命时期文学
1．托马斯·佩因《常识》 Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”; 托马斯·杰弗逊《独立宣言》 Thomas Jefferson “Declaration of Independence”
2．在经济方面，英国要求美出口原材料，后从英国购回高成本的机
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
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
美国文学史及选读试题上册 姓名：班级：学号 I. Multiple Choice 20’ I. 1. Who is different from others according to the division of writing period? A. Washington Irving B.William Cullen Bryant C. Captain John Smith D. James Fenimore Cooper 2. The American Romantic Period lasted roughly from ____ to ____. A. 1798-1832 B. 1810-1860 C. 1860-1864 D. 1776-1783 3. How many syllables are there in this first line of Raven? (“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,”) A. 11 B. 12 C. 13 D. 16 4. What dominated the Puritan phase of American writing? A. theology B. literature C. esthetics D. revolution 5. At the initial period of the spread of ideas of the Enlightenment was largely due to ____. A. typography B. journalism C. revolution D. the development of paper-making industry 6. Who has been called the “Father of American Literature”? A. Walt Scott B. Geoffrey Chaucer C. Washington Irving D. Philip Freneau 7. Who is the first American prose stylist that acquired international fame? A. Captain John Smith B. Washington Irving C. Benjamin Franklin D. E. A. Poe 8. Who is the writer of To a Waterfowl? A. Anne Bradstreet B. Thomas Hardy C. William Cullen Bryant D. Walt Whitman 9. Thomas Paine is a ____. A. novelist B. dramatist C. poet D. pamphleteer 10. Edgar Allan Poe mainly writes ____ A. short stories B. literary critic theories C. poems D. dramas II. Blank-Filling 20’ 1. ____’s reports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, have been described as the first distinctly American literature to be written in English. 2. Hard work, ____, piety, and ____were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest American writing, including the sermons, books and letters of such noted Puritan clergymen as John Cotton and Cotton Mather. 3. Most Puritan verse was decidedly plodding, but the work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, rose to the level of____ 4. From 1732 to 1785, Franklin wrote and published his famous ____, an annual collection of proverbs. 5. On January 10, 1776, Paine’s famous pamphlet ____ appeared. It boldly advocated a
Multiple Choice (1’×15=15’) 1.______was the first colony in American history. A. Massachusetts B. New Jersey C. Virginia D.Georgia 2. ______ was the only good American author before the Revolutionary War. One of his fellow Americans said, “His shadow lies heavier than any other man’s on this young nation.”Array A. John Smith B. Benjamin Franklin C. Thomas Jefferson D.Thomas Paine 3. Romantics put emphasis on the following EXCEPT ______. A. common sense B. imagination C. intuition D. individualism 4. The Raven was written in 1844 by ________ A. Philip Freneau B. Edgar Allan Poe C. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow D. Emily Dickinson 5. The ship ______ carried about one hundred Pilgrims and took 66 days to beat its way across the Atlantic. In December of 1620, it put the Pilgrims ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts. A. Sunflower B. Armada C. Mayflower D. Titanic 6. Melville’s novel ______ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of a seemingly supernatural white whale. A. Typee B. Omoo C. White Jacket D. Moby Dick 7. As a philosophical and literary movement, ______ flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War. A.Modernism B.Rationalism C.Sentimentalism D.Transcendentalism 8. The theme of original sin is fully reflected in _________. A. The Scarlet Letter B. Sister Carrie C. The Great Gatsby D. The Old Man and Sea 9. In all his novels Theodore Dreiser sets himself to project the ______ American values. For example, in Sister Carrie, there is not one character whose status is not determined economically. A. Puritan B. materialistic C. psychological D. religious 10. Realism was a reaction against______ or a move away from the bias towards romance and self-creating fictions, and paved the way to Modernism. A. Rationalism B. Romanticism C. Neoclassicism D. Enlightenment 11. ________ was a poet in American modern period who was deeply influence by eastern culture. A. T. S Eliot B. Robert Frost C. Ezra Pound D. Walt Whitman 12. Which of the following statements about Emily Dickinson is NOT true?
美国文学史及选读名词解释 1. Transcendentalism 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound toge ther by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all cr eation, 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 conven tions of 18th-century thought; and what began in a dissatisfaction with Unitarianism developed int o a repudiation of the whole established order. 2. Langston Hughes American poet and writer emphasized on lower-class black life. He established himself as a major force of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1926, in the Nation, he provided the movement with a manife sto when he skillfully argued the need for both race pride and artistic independence in his most me morable essay, 'The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." In many ways Hughes always remaine d loyal to the principles he had laid down for the younger black writers in 1926. His art was firmly rooted in race pride and race feeling even as he cherished his freedom as an artist. He was both na tionalist and cosmopolitan. As a radical democrat, he believed that art should be accessible to as m any people as possible. He could sometimes be bitter, but his art is generally suffused by a keen se nse of the ideal and by a profound love of humanity, especially black Americans. 3. Henry David Thoreau American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher, renowned for having lived the doctrines of Tra nscendentalism as recorded in his masterwork, Walden (1854), and for having been a vigorous adv ocate of civil liberties, as evidenced in the essay “Civil Disobedience” (1849). In his writings Thor eau was concerned primarily with the possibilities for human culture provided by the American na tural environment. He adapted ideas garnered from the then-current Romantic literatures in order t o extend American libertarianism and individualism beyond the political and religious spheres to t hose of social and personal life. He demanded for all men the freedom to follow unique lifestyles, to make poems of their lives and living itself an art. In a restless, expanding society dedicated to pr actical action, he demonstrated the uses and values of leisure, contemplation, and a harmonious ap preciation of and coexistence with nature. Thoreau established the tradition of nature writing later developed by the Americans 4. the Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance, a flowering of literature (and to a lesser extent other arts) in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s, has long been considered by many to be the high point in Africa n American writing. It probably had its foundation in the works of W.E. B. Du Bois who believed t hat an educated Black elite should lead Blacks to liberation. He further believed that his people co uld not achieve social equality by emulating white ideals; that equality could be achieved only by t
美国文学史及选读考试试题（卷） A卷 院系：专业：考试科目：美国文学史及选读考试形式：闭卷考试时间：100 分钟 姓名：学号： Directions: In this part of the test, there are 9 items and 10 blanks. Fill in the best answer on the Answer Sheet according to the knowledge you have learned. 1.The first American literature was neither ____ nor really ____. 2.Of the immigrants who came to America in the first three quarters of the seventeenth century, the overwhelming majority was _____. 3.The English immigrants who settled on America’s northern seacoast were called _____, so named after those who wished to “purify” the Church of England. 4.Washington Irving, the Father of American literature, developed the _____ as a genre in American literature. 5.Franklin’s best writing is found in his masterpiece _____. 6.The most outstanding poet in America of the 18th century was _____. 7.In the early 19th century, “Rip Van Winkle”had established _____’s reputation at home and abroad, and designated the beginning of American Romanticism. 8._____ has sometimes been considered the father of the modern short story. 9.In 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne brought out his masterpiece _____, the story of a triangular love affair in colonial
第一章殖民地时期的美国文学 填空题 1. The term “Puritan” was applied to those settlers who originally were devout members of the Church of ______. 【答案】England 【解析】清教徒（Puritan），是指要求清除英国国教Church of England中天主教残余的改革派。其字词于16世纪60年代开始使用，源于拉丁文的Purus，意为“清洁”。 2. The most enduring shaping influence in American thought and American literature was ______. 【答案】American Puritanism 【解析】美国文化源于清教文化，由清教徒移民时传入北美。美国主流价值观都可以追溯到殖民地时期一统天下的清教主义，并且清教思想对美国文学有着根深蒂固的影响。 3. Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety, these were the ______ values that dominated much of the early American writing. 【答案】Puritan 【解析】清教主义，起源于英国，在北美殖民地得以实践与发展。清教徒强调艰苦奋斗、勤俭节约、虔诚和淡泊。这些价值观也影响了早期的美国文学。 4. Many Puritans wrote verse, but the works of two writers, Anne Bradstreet and
美国文学史及选读练习题 I. Choose the relevant match from Column II for each item in Column I. Section A I II ( ) 1. Walt Whitman A. The Scarlet Letter B. The Sketch Book) 2. Herman Melville ( C. ) 3. Washington Irving Typee ( D. Leaves of Grass ( ) 4. O Henry E. The Gift of the Magi) 5. Nathaniel Hawthorne ( Section B I II ( ) 1. Hester Prynne A. The Portrait of A Lady B. Uncle Tom') 2. George Hurstwood s Cabin ( C. Moby Dick ( ) 3. Isabel Archer D. Sister Carrie ) 4. Ahab ( E. The Scarlet Letter ( ) 5. Eva Clare Section C I II ( ) 1. Benjamin Franklin A. Martin Eden B. Leather-Stocking Tales ( ) 2. Thomas Paine C. ) 3. James Fenimore Cooper Rights of Man ( D. Poor Richars's Almanac ( ) 4. Mark Twain E. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) 5. Jack London ( II. Complete each of the following statements with a proper word or a phrase according to the textbook. (10%) 1In Washington Irving's work appeared the first modern Short stories and the first great American juvenile literature. 2The first important American novelist was . 3To a Waterfowl is perhaps the peak of ______'s work, it regarded as “the most perfect brief poem in the language ”. 4A superb book entitled ______ came out of Henry David Thoreau's two-year life experience near a small lake. 5William Sidney Porter，whose pen name was ______，was the author of The Cop and the Anthem． 6Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the values that dominated much of
Washington Irving Bracebridge Hall 布雷斯布里奇田庄 (1822) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Tales of a Traveller 旅客谈 (1824) Christopher Columbus (1828) c. writing characteristics (1) humorous: the function of his writing is to amuse, to entertain instead of teaching or instruction (2) vivid and true character portrayal (3) finished (refined) and musical language, thus regarded as “the Amn. Goldsmith” d. analysis on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(选自the sketch book 见闻札记 ) 1. the story:setting,character, plot 2. theme:conflicts and praise conflict betw. Ichabod and Brom conflict betw. the village and the outside world James Fenimore Cooper The Spy (1821): a historical novel The Pilot (1824): a sea novel Leatherstocking Tales 皮裹腿故事集(1823-1841): frontier novels The Last Mohicans (1826) (Colonial War betw. Britain and France) e. writing features: strong points: we can see a variety of incidents and tensions, complicated plot and structure and a beautiful description of nature. Weak points: characterization is weak. There is unsatisfactory description of characters (esp. female). He is not free from syntactical awkwardness, heavy-handed attempt at humor. “Where Irving excels Cooper is weak.” Dialect is not authentic. Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House Usher Feature: i. brevity (15 pages) ii. Single effect iii. originality in theme To Helen It was inspired by the beauty of the mother of a schoolmate of Poe in Richmond, Virginia. The poem is famous for a number of things: 1. its rhyme scheme: ababb 2. its varied line lengths 3. its metaphor of a travel on the sea 4. its oft-quoted lines: "To the glory that was Greece,/And the grandeur that was Rome." theme: praise the ideal love and beauty and ancient Greek and Roman civilizations The Raven 乌鸦 theme: the lament over the death of a beautiful woman tone: melancholy Transcendentalism (essayists, poets, novelists) Their journal is “The Dial”. Definition: Transcendentalism is idealism. (Emerson) b. features (1) stress on Oversoul, that is spirit. (2) stress the importance of individual. (3) fresh conception of nature. c. significance (1) inspired a whole generation of writers such as Whitman, Melville and Dickinson. (2) dresses man ’s subjective initiative as opposed to materialism. (3) liberated people from Calvin ’s original sin d. limitation (1) shallow: cut off from real life or reality; initiated by the rich, they were limited in a certain circle. So, in some degree, they have been cut off from social life and can ’t understand the sufferings of the common people. (2) inward contradiction: gain knowledge by intuition, shows its idealistic aspect. R.W. Emerson (Ralph Waldo) Nature (1836): the Bible of New England transcendentalism The American Scholar (1837): "America's Declaration of Intellectual The Divinity School Address 神学院致辞 (1838) Essays (1841/1847) Representative Men (1850) English Traits (1856) Poems (1847) d. significance (1) He embodied a new nation ’s desire and struggle to assert its own identity in its formative period. (2) his stress on individualism Limitation:self-centered, individual
闽江学院 教案 课程名称:主要英语国家文学史及文学作品选读 2 课程代码: 31020022 授课专业班级：英语本科, 英语师范, 英语专升本 授课教师：吴文南 系别：外语系 2010年3 月2 日
Introduction Teaching aid tool: a map of early America Teaching aim: the students learn why and how to learn literature course, get the general idea of the colonial America and their literary forms. Key Points: a. learning aim; b. Learning method; c. Colonial American characteristics. I.Introduction of the course 1.Why should we learn the course: a.One of the main reasons might be that literature offers a bountiful and extremely varied body of written material, which is “important in the sense that it says something about fundamental human issues and which is enduring rather than ephemeral. Its relevance moves with the passing of time, but seldom disappears completely the Shakespeare plays whose ending were rewritten to conform to late 17th century taste and which were later staged to give maximum prominence to their romantic hero figures are now explored for their psychoanalytic import. In this way, though its meaning does not remain static, a literary work can transcend both time and culture to speak directly to a reader in another country or a different period of history. Literature is authentic material. By that we simply mean that most works of literature are not fashioned for the specific purpose of teaching a language. Recent course materials have quite rightly incorporated many authentic samples of language---for example, travel timetable, city plans, forms, pamphlets, cartoons, advertisements, newspaper or magazine articles. Learners are thus exposed to language that is as genuine and undistorted as can be managed in the classroom context. In reading literary texts, students have also to cope with language intended for native speakers and thus we gain additional familiarity with many different linguistic uses, forms and conventions of the written mode with irony, exposition, argument, narration and so on. b. Cultural enrichment: For many language learners, more indirect routes to understand a country must be adopted so that they gain an understanding of the way of life of the country: radio programmers, films and videos, newspapers and last, literary works. It is true of course that the “world” of a novel, play, or short story is a created one, yet it offers a full and vivid context in which characters from many social backgrounds can be depicted. A reader can discover their thoughts, feelings, customs, and possessions: what they buy, believe in, fear, enjoy; how they speak and behave closed doors. Reading the literature of a historical period is one of the ways we have to help us imagine what life was like in that other foreign territory. Literature is perhaps best seen as a complement to other materials used to increase the foreign learner?s insight into the country whose language is being learnt. c. language enrichment: we have said that reading literary works exposes the student