1935年美国《社会保障法案》包括11条内容,其中9条是联邦参与州原来就有的项目,1条是全新项目,即老年保险（OAI),最后1条是结束条款。第一条,确立联邦对州拨款,支付老年援助的一般费用。在当时这是法案中最没有争议和最普遍、最主要的项目,这就是为何作为第一条的原因。第二条,关于老年受益（后来成为养老保险）问题,确立了老年年金缴费体制,设计了公式计算受益水平。实际上,当时只有工业和商业领域雇员覆盖在内。
第三条,确立联邦对州拨款,管理失业补偿的问题。确立州必须先有州立法条款,然后才能够得到补助。
第四条,规定联邦对州未成年儿童援助资金。
第五条,包括四个分别的项目,主要是对儿童、母亲和伤残人员的帮助。第六条,关于提供帮助州公共健康服务资金的规定。
第七条,规定建立“三成员”社会保障委员会,来管理社会保障法案中的项目,并负责推荐提供经济安全的有效方法。
第八条,规定支付养老保险（OAI）的税收问题,如何支付,以及谁来支付。第九条,是失业补偿管理的税收条款。
第十条,主题是对需要帮助的盲人的援助。
第十一条,结论条款,定义了法案中和管理细节上的一些术语。
1935年美国的《社会保障法》，第一次使用了社会保障法的概念，第一次在一部法中规定了社会保险、社会福利和社会救济等社会保障的内容，确立了社会保障普遍性和社会性原则，从此，社会保障作为一个基本法律制度被许多国家确立并实施。
提问者评价
一、《社会保险法》出台的背景和目的
1935年美国制定出台《社会保险法》有其内外背景：
从外部背景看，19世纪末20世纪初资本主义进入帝国主义阶段，美国成为“托拉斯帝国主义”国家。美国经济呈现出跳跃式发展，1894年美国工业总产值为英国的2倍，法国的3倍多，占世界第一位。到第一次世界大战前夕的1913年，美国工业总产值占世界的三分之一以上，比英法德日四国总和还多，成为世界第一工业强国。经过第一次世界大战，，美国工业产值已经占整个资本主义世界总值的48.5%。黄金储备占世界的89%。尽管美国在经济上走在了世界前列，但是在社会福利立法方面却明显落后。早在19世纪末，为缓解劳资矛盾，西欧一些国家制定了社
会保险法案。进入20世纪，各资本主义国家相继制定保险法案，相比之下，美国在社会保险立法方面进展甚微，甚至赶不上美洲乌拉圭和智利，这种保险立法落后状况促使美国政府考虑进行社会保险立法工作。
从内部背景看，有三个因素促使美国加快社会保险立法进程。一是工业管理革命和技术革命是美国出现经济繁荣，受惠的主要是大资产者，但却给老年工人极大冲击，由于长期应用的技术遭到淘汰，老年工人面临失业和重新寻找工作的局面，而且找工作也很难。，促使美国考虑社会保险问题。二是美国人口结构发生了变化。1900年老年人比例是4%，1932年增加到6%，他们在选民中的作用越来越重要，政府为了缓解劳资矛盾，也是为了争取更多的选民，千方百计争取他们以保证共和党的统治地位。三是1929-1933年世界经济危机加速了美国社会保险法案立法进程。大危机所带来的严重创伤主要落在美国无产者身上。他们大量被逐出工厂和农场。经济危机使农产品和工业品价格继续大跌，人民排队挤兑，银行纷纷倒闭。失业大军生活贫困，老年人处境更为悲惨，他们没有养老金，少部分人靠过去的积蓄或投奔亲友，多数靠乞讨、捡垃圾为生，有些人甚至从事偷盗活动，从而使美国的阶级矛盾急剧尖锐化。为了减少社会贫困化的程度，社会保障制度的建立，便提上了美国统治阶级的议事日程。
在内外环境的相互作用下，美国社会保障的立法工作逐渐开展起来。富兰克林.罗斯福当选美国总统后大力推行“新政”，首次系统地提出福利保障社会化主张。1934年6月29日，罗斯福任命一个经济保障协调委员会，该委员会负责“研究经济和社会保障的全部问题，和为此制定一个立法的纲领”，经过一番紧张工作之后，1935年1月15日，经济保障委员会向罗斯福报告建议：第一，对受保人及其家属提供适当的保健和医疗服务；第二，发展一项制度，使人们可以把工作损失和医疗费用编入预算；第三，保证给医务工作者和医疗机构以合理适当的报酬；第四，在专家主持下给予新的奖励来提高医疗质量。众议院在讨论社会保障立法时，争辩异常激烈，虽然困难重重，众议院7260好社会保障议案仍在4月19日以372票对33票获得通过。5月20日，众议院财政委员会提出报告，众议院随后审议了社会保障议案并通过。8月8日和9日，众、参两院分别通过了HR7260号《社会保险法》，8月14日，罗斯福签署生效。
二、《社会保险法》的特点
美国社会保险法有以下几个特点：
一是立法者在制定该法时试图避免同欧洲相似的保障范围与水平。他们认为自力更生是美国人的美德，社会保障制度的建立应充分体现美
国人的价值观和美国具体情况，尽可能不破坏市场力量的自发作用。为了不违背社会保障自我维持和发展的原则，立法者表达了一种强烈愿望，那就是限制人民对财富再分配的渴求，反对每月支付给老年人固定给付金，力求被保险人的权利与义务基本对等、给付金总额与筹集的保险金相等。
二是建立由联邦政府主办的老年保险，由联邦政府和州政府合办的失业保险。
三是为了安抚对社会保障措施持批评态度的人们，联邦政府强调他们的立法是有节制的，政府从来没有保证为百分之百的人们提供百分之百的保障。政府的基本原则是不能给将来文明社会造成浪费和奢侈，以至于损害文明社会。事实上，社会保险法不是一个致富的计划，不会为人们提供最充分的保障，只能对美国公民提供最低的生活条件，或者说是最基本的生活条件，已经达到一般生活标准的人们是不能享受社会保障的待遇的。
三、《社会保险法》的成就和不足
美国1935年《社会保障法》奠定了美国社会保障制度的格局，在美国历史上具有划时代的意义，对美国社会保障制度的建立产生了极为深远的影响。
一是它使美国开始走上了福利国家道路。1935年以前美国的社会保险是自助和个人负责，1935年《社会保障法》颁布以后使得国家在人民福利方面担当重要角色，对稳定社会、发展经济具有重要作用，成为社会安定不可缺少的因素之一。
二是美国1935年《社会保障法》为美国社会保险事业的发展奠定了基础。战后美国历届政府都是在此法基础上修订补充，形成了一整套社会保障制度。
三是美国1935年《社会保障法》部分地改善了劳动人民的生活状况，缓和了阶级矛盾，美国开创福利国家的办法也为其他国家效法。
但以此同时，美国1935年《社会保障法》也同样存在一些不足：该项法律的主要缺点是社会保障照顾面不广，既没有把农场工人、家庭仆人、商船海员以及教育、宗教与慈善机关雇员包括在内，也没有解少数民族和因长期失业而急需救助的贫民问题。即使是退休金制度也有不公平的地方：
一是约有25%的劳动力享受不到这种福利，包括农场工人、家庭仆役和医院、餐厅工人。妇女和有色人种也被排除在外。
二是养老金来源是对雇员和雇主的工资征税，实际上是一种强迫性保险计划，而非由政府保证公民在进入老年时享有一定的生活标准。三是要到940年才能支付第一次养老金。在此之前雇员和雇主的工资存放在华盛顿，人为地造成在急需扩大消费之时却减少了购买力的局面。
综上所述，作为现代第一部保障法律，美国1935年《社会保障法》虽然不尽完美，但它终究奠定了美国现代保险制度的基石，是美国当代完善的保障系统的源头。
境外销售目的国食品安全法律法规标准清单 一、CAC食品法典委员会 CAC RCP 1-1969(Rev.3-1997,Amd.1999) 食品卫生实践通则 CAC GL 2 1985(Rev.1-1993,Amd.2-2006)食品标签法典准则 CAC GL 30 1999 微生物风险评估准则和导则 CAC GL 36 1989（2011修订）食品添加剂类名和国际编码系统 CAC GL 69 2008 食品安全控制措施确认指南 CAC CODEX STAN 192-1995-2015 食品添加剂标准 CAC GL21 1997食品微生物标准建立和应用原则 CAC GL 44 2003 现代生物技术食品的风险分析原则 CAC GL 63-2007国际食品法典微生物风险管理(MRM)行为原则和准则 CAC GSFA，Codex Stan 192-1995 食品添加剂通用标准 CAC CODEX STAN 239-2003 食品添加剂的通用分析方法 CAC 食品中农药残留量2014年7月更新 CAC MRL 2 2015食品中兽药残留 CAC Codex Stan 193食品中污染物和毒素通用标准 CAC/GL 23-1997营养和健康声称使用指南 CAC/GL 24-1997 “清真”术语使用通用导则 CAC/GL 019－1995 食品安全控制紧急情况时信息交流的法典导则 CAC/GL 020－1995 食品进出口检验和出证原则 CAC/GL 025－1997 食品进口过程中拒收情况下两国信息交流导则 CAC/GL 034－1999 食品进出口检验与出证系统中增进等同互认性导则 XOT 02－1987 有关食品添加剂在食品中转移的原则 CACMISC 6 -2001食品添加剂参考规格目录 二、欧盟 1、欧盟水质标准9883EEC 2、欧盟853号规章20040429 3、欧洲议会和理事会（EC）No 852规章20040429 4、欧盟食品添加剂名单NO1129 20111111 5、欧盟EC 1441 2007微生物限量中文版20071205 6、欧盟委员会第EC 2073 2005号条例关于食品的微生物标准 7、欧盟委员会183 2005条例关于食品卫生监测的要求制定（内容与EEA相关） 8、欧盟委员会第234 2011条例（EU）关于建立食品添加剂、食品酶和食品调味料对共同批准程序的欧洲议会和理事会实施条例 9、欧盟委员会第80 1089 EEC号建议关于食品添加剂安全性评价的测试 10、欧盟委员会第953 2009 EC号条例关于在食品中添加特定营养用途的物质 11、欧洲议会与理事会令2011 91 EU 关于识别食品所属批次的标记或标示 12、欧盟委员会条例（EU）为某些食品中二恶英二恶英类多氯联苯的成分的官方控制和制定取样和分析方法以及修订条例（EC）No 18832006 13、欧盟委员会第16 -2011号条例（EU）为食品和饲料的快速警报系统制定实施措施
1. Transcendentalism The origin of it is a philosophical and literary movement centered in Concord and Boston, which marks the summit of American Transcendentalism. 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. The major features of American Transcendentalism are:It emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. It stressed the importance of the individual. To them the individual was the most important element of society. It offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. 2.Romanticism The Romanticism period stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil War. It is a term associate with imagination boundlessness, and in critical usage is contrasted with classicism which is commonly associated with reason and restriction. The features of Romanticism are: American Romanticism was in a way derivative: American romantic writing was some of them modeled on English and European works. American romanticism was in essence the expression of "a real new experience "and contained"an alien quality".Representatives:William Cullen Bryant; Henry Longfellow and James Cooper, Washington Irving. 3.Realism: In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.The representatives are Howells, James, and Mark Twain. 4. Naturalism American naturalism was a new and harsher realism, it had come from Europe. Naturalism was an outgrowth of realism that responded to theories in science, psychology, human behavior and social thought current in the late nineteenth century. The background of naturalism are: In the last decade of the nineteenth century, with the development of industry and modern science, intelligent minds began to see that man was no longer a free ethical being in a cold, indifferent and essentially Godless universe. In this chance world he was both helpless and hopeless.Major Features of it are:Humans are controlled by laws of heredity and environment.The universe is cold, godless, indifferent and hostile to human desires.Representatives of it such as Stephen Crane, Frank Norris and Theodore Dreiser. 5.New Criticism The New Criticism as a school of poetry and criticism established itself in the 1940s as an academic orthodoxy in the United States. The school has its beginning in the 1920s. It focus on the analysis of the text rather paying attention to external elements such as its social background, its author's intention and political attitude, and its impact on society. Then it explores the artistic structure of the work rather than its author's frame of mind or its reader's responses. It also see a literary work as an organic entity, the unity of content and form, and places emphasis on the close reading of the text. These New Critics included T.S. Eliot,I.A.Richards,John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate and some other critics. The New Criticism has tended to divorce criticism from social and moral concerns, which was to become one salient feature of the movement. 6.Imagism: Between 1912 and 1922 there came a great poetry boom in which about 1000 poets published over 1000 volumes of poetry. Indeed ,to express the modern spirit, the sense of fragmentization and dislocation, was in large measure the aim of quite a few modern literary movements, of which Imagism was one.The first Imagist theorist, the English writer T.E.Hulme. Hulme suggests that modern art deals with expression and communication of momentary phases in the poet's mind. The most effective means to express these momentary impressions is through the use of dominant image.It is a literary movement launched 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. The representatives are Ezra pound, William Carlos Williams and some other poets.
I. Explain the following literary terms(名词解释). 1. Romanticism The most profound and comprehensive idea of romanticism is the vision of a greater personal freedom for the individual. Appeals to imagination; Stress on emotion rather than reason; optimism, gen iality. Subjectivity: in form and meaning. 2 American transcendentalism American transcendentalism was an important movement in philosophy and literature that flourished during the early to middle years of the nineteenth century (about 1836-1860). For the transcendentalists, the soul of each individual is identical with the soul of the world and contains what the world contains. 3 Realism: ―nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.‖ the Civil war a. verisimilitude of details derived from observation b. representative in plot, setting and character c. an objective rather than an idealized view of human experience or（American Realism: In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.） 4. Modernism like modernism in general is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, and is thus in its essence both progressive and optimistic. The general term covers many political, cultural and artistic movements rooted in the changes in Western society at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. American modernism is an artistic and cultural movement in the United States starting at the turn of the 20th century with its core period between World War I and World War II and continuing into the 21st century. 5、American Puritanism: Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church. The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them. They were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to purity their religious beliefs and practices. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace form God. As a culture heritage, Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind. American Puritanism also had a enduring influence on American literature. 6、Transcendentalism: In New England, an intellectual movement known as transcendentalism developed as an American version of Romanticism. The movement began among an influential set of authors based in Concord, Massachusetts and was led by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Like Romanticism, transcendentalism rejected both 18th century rationalism and established religion, which for the transcendentalists meant the Puritan tradition in particular. The transcendentalists celebrated the power of the human imagination to commune with the universe and transcend the limitations of the material world. They found their chief source of inspiration in nature. Emerson’s essay Nature was the major document of the transcendental school and stated the ideas that were to remain central to it. 7、Free verse: free verse is the rhymed or unrhymed poetry composed without attention to conventio nal rules of meter. Free verse was first written and labeled by a group of French poets of the late 19th century. Their purpose was to deliver poetry from the restrictions of formal metrical patterns and to recreate the free rhythms of natural speech. Walt Whitman was the precursor who wrote lines of varying length and cadence, usually not rhymed. The emotional content or meaning of the work was expressed through its rhythm. Free verse has been characteristic of the work of many modern American poets, including Ezra Pound and Carl Sandburg. 8、Naturalism: A more deliberate kind of realism in novels, stories and plays, usually involving a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. Naturalism was a new and harsher realism. It
美国清洁能源立法经验对我国相关立法的启示 发表时间：2012-07-09T15:32:29.013Z 来源：《时代报告（学术版）》2012年5月（下）供稿作者：严蔚 [导读] 美国清洁能源立法较为及时，法律体系较为完备，立法与政策有机结合，且法律可操作性较强，尤其注重发挥市场机制的作用。严蔚（华北电力大学(北京)人文与社会科学学院，北京 102206） 中图分类号：X382 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1003-2738（2012）05-0157-01 摘要：美国清洁能源立法较为及时，法律体系较为完备，立法与政策有机结合，且法律可操作性较强，尤其注重发挥市场机制的作用。我国宜吸收美国发展清洁能源立法的成熟经验，结合我国的具体国情，加快建立健全清洁能源法律体系，完善相关法律法规和规章体系及实施机制。 关键词：美国清洁能源；立法；启示 从广义上讲，清洁能源是指在其生产转换过程中不排放破坏大气环境的污染物、不排放温室气体的各种一次能源，包括核能、水能、风能、太阳能等其他可再生能源以及采用先进减排技术后的洁净传统能源。当前，能源、环境、气候变化问题日益突出，发展清洁能源和“绿色”电力，推进能源战略转型，成为世界能源发展的新趋势。我国高度重视清洁能源发展，胡锦涛总书记在十七大报告中强调要发展清洁能源和可再生能源，建设科学合理的能源资源利用体系。发展清洁能源已经成为我国能源战略调整、转变电力发展方式的重要内容。但是，在积极发展的同时，我们随之面临众多的问题，如清洁能源的发展缺少相应的法律政策支持，目前我国还没有一部完整的清洁能源法出台，在管理和规划上也存在较多的漏洞。在这些方面，美国在通过立法推进清洁能源发展方面积累了较为成熟的经验，值得我国在清洁能源立法中予以借鉴。 美国大规模地制定清洁能源法律法规始于1973年石油危机之后，美国国会和联邦政府相继出台了一系列促进清洁能源发展的法律法规，主要有《1978年公用事业管制政策法》、《1978年能源税法》、《1990年大气洁净法》、《1992年能源政策法》、《2005年能源政策法》、《2009年清洁能源与安全法》等。从法律机制层面看，美国通过上述立法建立的可再生能源配额制、绿色电力上网制度、设立公共效益基金等在美国清洁能源立法保障方面发挥了重要作用。通过对美国促进清洁能源发展的法律法规的了解，我们可以看出立法保障对清洁生能源快速发展具有重要作用。中国和美国同为世界能源生产消费大国，同样面临保障能源安全稳定供应，减少温室气体排放的巨大压力，因此，美国在发展清洁能源立法方面的许多经验值得我们借鉴，具体来说有以下五个方面： 一、要通过相关立法明确清洁能源的发展目标 美国在2009年6月通过的《清洁能源与安全法》中，要求电力供应商通过可再生能源发电满足一定比例的电力需求，明确规定可再生能源发电量到2020年要占到电力需求总量的15%。为促进我国清洁能源科学发展，我们需要发挥政府主导作用，国家和政府相关部门要通过制定法律、规划和计划，明确清洁能源的发展目标和要求，加强清洁能源发展规划协调、标准规范制定及技术研发的扶持力度，从而达到促进清洁能源发展的目的。 二、要以法律形式明确规定资金投入数额或比例 美国《2005年能源政策法》规定，在未来五年内要为可再生能源项目提供超过30亿美元的资金，还批准了可再生能源激励计划，为风能、太阳能、地热能和生物质能的开发提供资助，并为住宅采用多样化可再生能源系统提供资金支持。按照《2009清洁能源与安全法》，美国将在未来10年内投入1500亿美元，资助包括乙醇燃料、混合燃料动力汽车研发等替代能源技术的研究。虽然我国也在不断加大对清洁能源发展的资金投入，但是和美国相比较而言，我们需要通过法律形式而不仅仅是政策做出具体规定。 三、要将价格财税等优惠政策上升到法律层面 为促进我国清洁能源的开发利用，我们在完善促进清洁能源发展的价格财税政策，增强优惠政策的覆盖面和实效性的同时，要通过法律的相关规定保障这些优惠政策的连续性和稳定性。美国通过立法主要推行了财政补贴、税收优惠和信贷支持。（1）在财政补贴方面，美国《2009清洁能源与安全法》制订了5项保护消费者权益的补贴措施，包括电价补贴、天然气价格补贴、供热用油补贴、中低收入家庭补贴等。包括钢铁、水泥、造纸在内的高耗能产业将获得资金补贴，补偿能源价格上升带来的成本增加。补贴机制的优点是可以调动投资者的积极性，增加生产能力、扩大产业规模，缺点是这种补贴与企业生产经营状况无关，不能起到刺激企业更新技术和降低成本的作用。（2）在税收优惠方面，一类是直接对可再生能源实施税收优惠政策，包括减免关税、减免形成固定资产税、减免增值税和所得税，如美国风力发电可享受1.7美分/千瓦时的生产税抵扣；另一类是对非可再生能源实施强制性税收政策，例如环境税和碳税等。强制性税收政策，不仅能起到鼓励开发清洁能源的作用，还能促使企业采用先进技术、提高技术水平。（3）在信贷支持方面，低息或贴息等金融政策可以减轻企业还本付息的负担，有利于降低生产成本。美国能源部在2009年10月公布了一份新的贷款担保计划。旨在通过加强与私人贷款商的合作为规模大约80亿美元的可再生能源项目提供支持。 四、通过相关立法加强清洁能源发电的并网管理 在制定激励政策与法规时，美国力求综合考虑清洁能源开发方、电网企业和消费者等多方的利益，既鼓励投资方在清洁能源开发领域的商业运作，又努力提高电网企业收购清洁能源电力的积极性，加强清洁能源并网运行管理，如美国2008年开始实施的“太阳能发电并网系统”（SEGIS）计划，并投资850万美元加强太阳能发电并网建设。虽然我国的发电并网技术也在不断发展当中，且太阳能光伏发电并网等也在逐步走向规范化，但还是需要进一步提高清洁能源发电控制和电网智能化水平，保证清洁能源发电能够送得出去，并且用得上来。并且，这些规定要通过法律、法规或部门规章等形式做出规定。 五、通过相关立法促进清洁能源市场的建立与发展 美国在清洁能源发展初期，多采用清洁能源电力强制上网、全额收购等政策鼓励其发展，但随着清洁能源发展规模的不断扩大，许多国家认为清洁能源未来能否实现真正发展主要还在于市场，并研究制定了一系列以市场为导向的政策和立法措施。同时，美国注重提高公众对清洁能源的接受度，制定和推广市场标准规范，努力开拓清洁能源市场，建立良好的市场运行机制。以核电为例，虽然美国是世界核电装机容量最大的国家，但在三哩岛核电站事故后，美国核电发展一度陷入停滞。奥巴马政府上台后，出于对温室气体减排的考虑，提出了适度发展核电的战略。为此，政府与核能行业协会及核电企业一起，在消除公众对核电的恐惧心理方面开展了大量工作，突出宣传核电安全性和在温室气体减排中的作用，为核电项目的建设营造有利氛围。在政府的鼓励下，美国核电建设逐渐复苏。据美国电力科学研究院预计，到2020年和2030年，美国新增核电装机容量将分别达到2400万千瓦和6400万千瓦。另外，美国政府鼓励公众消费清洁能源。实行
Allegory is a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. Allegories are written in the form of fables, parables, poems, stories, and almost any other style or genre. The main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative meanings. One well-known example of an allegory is Dante’s The Divine Comedy.In Inferno, Dante is on a pilgrimage to try to understand his own life, but his character also represents every man who is in search of his purpose in the world. Alliteration is a pattern of sound that includes the repetition of consonant sounds. The repetition can be located at the beginning of successive words or inside the words. Poets often use alliteration to audibly represent the action that is taking place. Aside is an actor’s speech, directed to the audience, that is not supposed to be heard by other actors on stage. An aside is usually used to let the audience know what a character is about to do or what he or she is thinking. Asides are important because they increase an audience's involvement in a play by giving them vital information pertaining what is happening, both inside of a character's mind and in the plot of the play. Gothic is a literary style popular during the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. This style usually portrayed fantastic tales dealing with horror, despair, the grotesque and other “dark” subjects. Gothic literature was named for the apparent influence of the dark gothic architecture of the period on the genre. Also, many of these Gothic tales took places in such “gothic” surroundings. Other times, this story of darkness may occur in a more everyday setting, such as the quaint house where the man goes mad fro m the "beating" of his guilt in Edgar Allan Poe's “The Tell-Tale Heart.”In essence, these stories were romances, largely due to their love of the imaginary over the logical, and were told from many different points of view. CATHARSIS is an emotional discharge that brings about a moral or spiritual renewal or welcome relief from tension and anxiety. According to Aristotle, catharsis is the marking feature and ultimate end of any tragic artistic work. IMAGERY: A common term of variable meaning, imagery includes the "mental pictures" that readers experience with a passage of literature. It signifies all the sensory perceptions referred to in a poem, whether by literal description, allusion, simile, or metaphor. Surrealism is an artistic movement doing away with the restrictions of realism and verisimilitude that might be imposed on an artist. In this movement, the artist sought to do away with conscious control and instead respond to the irrational urges of the subconscious mind. From this results the hallucinatory, bizarre, often nightmarish quality of surrealistic paintings and writings. Sample surrealist writers include Frank O'Hara, John Ashberry, and Franz Kafka.
American Puritanism: Puritanism was a religious reform movement that arose within the Church of England in the late sixteenth century. Under siege from church and crown, it sent an offshoot in the third and forth decades of the seventeenth century to the northern English colonies in the New World--- a migration that laid the foundation for the religious, intellectual, and social order of New England, Puritanism, however,was not only a historically specific phenomenon coincident with the founding of New England; it was also a way of being in the world---a style of response to lived experience---that has reverberated through American life ever since. Doctrinally, Puritans adhered to the Five Points of Calvinism as codified at the Synod of Dort in 1619:(1) unconditional election ( the idea that God had decreed who was damned and who was saved from before the beginning of the world); (2) limited atonement ( the idea that Christ died for the elect only); (3) total depravity (humanity's utter corruption since the Fall); (4) irresistible grace (regeneration as entirely a work of God, which cannot be resisted and to which the sinner contributes nothing); and (5) the perseverance of the saints (the elect, despite their backsliding and faintness of heart , cannot fall away from grace). American Dream: The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. Nowadays the American Dream has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and\ or happiness. Gothic tradition: Gothic novel or Gothic romance is a story of terror and suspense, usually set in a gloomy old castle or monastery. In an extended sense, many novels that do not have a medievalized setting, but which share a comparably sinister, grotesque, or chaustrophobic atmosphere have been classed as Gothic. It contributed to the new emotional climate of Romanticism. Historical novel: a novel in which the action takes place during a specific historical period well before the time of writing ( often one or two generations before, sometimes several centuries), and in which some attempt is made to depict accurately the customs and mentality of the period. The central character---real or imagined---is usually subject to divided loyalties within a larger historic conflict of which readers know the outcome. The pioneers of this genre were Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper American Romanticism:Romanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. The romantic period in American literature stretched from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil