英语国家概况（2）美国部分
1．教学内容说明
第一章美国的起始
第二章美国的政治制度
第三章美国的经济
第四章美国的宗教
第五章美国文学
第六章美国的教育
第七章20世纪60年代的社会运动
第八章美国的社会问题
第九章美国的技术
第十章美国的风景
第十一章美国的体育运动
第十二章早期的美国爵士音乐
Chapter 1 American Beginnings
I. What is an American?
--- In 1782, the Frenchman J.Hector St. John de Crevecoeur(赫克托·圣约翰·德克雷夫科尔), who settled in Pennsylvania first asked the question and answered it in his book Letters from an American Farmer(?美国农人书简?)。He believed that the American was a new man with the mixed blood of Europeans or their descendants. This new man left behind him all the ancient European traditions and received new ones in the New World. In North America, all individuals were melted into a new race of the American. This new man acted upon new principles, entertained new ideas and formed new opinions.(新型的人按照新的原则办事，吸取新的思想，形成新的见解)
II. two immigration movements to the Americas
--- 1. from Asia (American Indians, who were mistakenly called by Columbus, moved to the Americas from Asia about 25 000 years ago. They developed their own aboriginal cultures and some of them such as the Aztecs(阿兹台克文化/墨西哥地区), the Incas（印加文化/秘鲁地区）and the Mayas(玛亚文化/中美洲) were very advanced when Europeans arrived in the New World. But, as a result of European conquest, the Indian population was quickly reduced and their cultures were ruthlessly destroyed.
--- 2. from Europe and Africa, began with the expansion of Europe from the 16th century.
(the discovery of America---- Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor, believed that by sailing west from Europe he could reach the East. In 1492, he persuaded the Spanish monarchy to support his voyage. He landed on one of the Bahama Islands(巴哈马群岛) in the Caribbean Sea and thus ―discovered ‖ the New World. Based on his voyage, the Spanish king claimed the territory of the Americas and later conquered the native Americans and established a huge empire.) * The English king claimed the territory of North America based on the voyage in the year of 1497 of another Italian sailor John Cabot(约翰·卡伯特)
IV. Three forces that brought about the modern development of Europe
--- 1. Capitalism
--- 2. Renaissance
--- 3. Religious Reformation (in 1517, Martin Luther, a German theology professor, started to reform the Catholic Church which had dominated Europe for centuries.
He challenged the authority of the Pope and attacked the practice of the sale of indulgences. He believed that people could be saved only by their faith in Jesus Christ and through a direct contact with God. The next important leader of the Reformation was John Calvin(约翰·加尔文).The Religious Reformation, which was capitalistic in nature, had great impact on the modern development of
Europe and North America.)
Four colonial patterns
V. the settlement of Virginia (the 1st English permanent settlement in North America)
--- The 1st English permanent settlement was organized in 1607 by the London Company(伦敦贸易公司) with a charter（特许状）from the English king James I. The colonists settled in Virginia and survived by imposing strict discipline on themselves and by transplanting tobacco into the colony of Virginia. In 1619, the settlers elected their delegates and set up the House of Burgesses (议会), and the same time these white people seeking their own freedom
bought and enslaved（奴役）black servants. These two events greatly influenced the political and social development of the United States later.
VI. Puritanism
--- the 2nd enduring English settlement was established in Massachusetts Bay in 1620 by English
who followed the doctrine of John Calvin and wanted to purify the Church of England. They believed that human beings were predestined by God before they were born(他们深信人的命运是生前就由上帝注定的。＊这是清教主义的命运天定说). Some were God‘s chosen people while others were damned to hell. No church nor good works could save people. The sign of b eing God‘s elect was the success in his work or the prosperity in his calling. (一个人工作上的成功或事业上的兴旺是上帝选民的标志) They also argued that everyone must read the Bible in order to find God‘s will and establish a direct contact with God. (他们还说人人都要读?圣经?，从中探索上帝的意志，与上帝建立直接的联系).These beliefs had great impact on American culture.
--- the Pilgrim Fathers (清教移民先驱)
Puritans in England were persecuted for their religious beliefs, and some of them fled to Holland. In Holland, they found it hard to live in a foreign land, so they decided to move North America so that they could worship as they pleased. Supported by some merchants in London, they went on board the Mayflower in 1620. Before they landed on today‘s New England, they signed the Mayflower Compact (五月花公约)for the future civil government of their colony. These early Puritans in New England were called the Pilgrim Fathers.
--- the influence of Puritanism on American culture
Puritans have left rich cultural heritage to future Americans. The American values such as individualism, hard work, respect of education owe very much to the Puritan beliefs.(美国的价值观，如个人主义，勤奋工作，尊重教育等，在很大程度上源于清教主义)
VII. Lord Baltimore and his feudal plan
--- the 3rd colonial pattern in North America was the pattern in the colony of Maryland founded by the Catholics. The founder was the second Lord Baltimore, who carried out his father‘s will to set up a colony in North America (in today‘s Maryland) in 1632 and became the owner of the colony. He wished to introduce a feudal system similar to the manor system in Europe to his colony. Each gentleman who brought 5 servants with him settled in his land was allowed to establish a manor of 2000 acres. But this feudal plan was doomed and the colony followed a capitalist development road. (*In order to develop his colony, he encouraged the immigration of Protestants as well as Roman Catholics. The Protestant settlers, most of whom were capitalistic-minded, outnumbered the Catholics. It was impossible to have the feudal plan executed. In 1648, he appointed a Protestant governor and the next year, the Maryland Toleration Act(马里兰宗教容忍法) was passed.)
VIII. Quakerism
--- the 4th colonial pattern in North America was set by William Penn(an English Quaker who wanted to establish a colony for persecuted fellow religious believers. He assured religious freedom and easy terms for land in Pennsylvania to those Europeans who wished to settle in his colony. In his Holy Experiment, he encouraged the spirit of liberty and equality and carried out the policy of separation of state and church. He set no restrictions on immigration and naturalization was made easy for non-English Europeans. All this has left rich heritage to American culture)
--- Quakers were a group of Protestants. They believed that people could communicate with God because God‘s divine light was in everyone‘s heart. They believed in God through faith without the help of church or priest. Those
religious beliefs taught them that people were born equal, and not sinful. They worked hard and lived a simple life in order to please God.
--- the heritage of the Holy Experiment in American culture
--- the idea of the melting-pot was practiced here
--- a proof that man could lead a good life without absolute monarch, feudalism or religious and racial uniformity
--- inspired some American founding fathers
IX. the American Revolution
--- the causes
1.The English people and Europeans in the 13 English colonies in the North America had
become Americans, ready to separate themselves from the Old World.
2. Britain‘s victory in the war foug ht between Britain and France led directly to a conflict with
its American colonies. The British government began to charge new taxes (*the stamp tax印花税, the tea tax, etc.)because they argued that Britain had spent large sums of money defending their American colonies and that the colonists therefore should pay a part of those expenses. ―No taxation without representation‖(没有代表权就不纳税) was their rallying cry(是号召北美人民团结起来一致抗英的口号).
3. In1773, the ―Boston Tea Party‖tossed British merchants‘ tea into Boston harbor.
4. Te Americans disobeyed the Intolerable Act passed by British Parliament and boycotted
British trade.
* On April 19, 1775, the first shot was fired. The American war of Independence began. And it
ended in 1781.
--- major leaders
1.George Washington was one of the founding fathers of the American Republic. He was the
Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the War of Independence against the British colonial rule and the first President of the United States.
2. Thomas Jefferson was one of the founding fathers of the American Republic. He was the
chief author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States.
3. Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of the American Republic. He
participated in writing the Declaration of Independence and making the U.S. Constitution.
--- the Declaration of Independence
mainly drafted by Thomas Jefferson and was adopted by the Congress on July 4, 1776, when the people of 13 English colonies in North America were fighting for their freedom and independence from the British colonial rule. The document declared that all men were equal and that they were entitled to have some unalienable (不可剥夺的) rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It also explained the philosophy of governments: the powers of governments came from the consent of the governed and the purpose of governments was to secure the rights mentioned above. The theory of politics and the guiding principles of the American Revolution mainly came from John Locke(约翰·洛克)
Chapter 2 The Political System in the United States
I. the Articles of Confederation (联邦条款）
After the War of Independence was won, the new nation of the United States was organized under the agreement of the Articles of Confederation with a weak national government called the Congress. Each state had its own government, made its own laws and handled its internal affairs. The states did not cooperate with the Congress and with each other. The Congress had no power to force any state to contribute money to the national government and the Congress could not tax any citizen either. As a result, the Articles of Confederation failed.
II. the making of the U.S Constitution
The Articles of Confederation failed. The Congress decided to hold a constitutional convention to revise the Articles of Confederation. The delegates from 12 states (Rhode Island refused to participated) gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 and end up in writing a new constitution and set a federal system with a strong central government. The Constitution provided that an election of the president would be called for, federal laws would be made only by a Congress made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate and a Supreme Court would be set up. This new
Constitution was finally approved by the majority of the citizens in over 9 of the 13 states and was officially put into effect in 1787 )
* A federal system is one in which power is shared between a central authority and its constituent parts, with some rights reserved to each.
* to protect citizens from tyranny, a ―Bill of Rights‖ was added to the Constitution in 1791.
III. the 3 branches of the U.S federal government
--- the legislative branch is made up of elected representatives from all of the states and is the only branch that can make federal laws, levy federal taxes and declare war or put foreign treaties into effect. It consists of a Congress that is divided into the House of Representative and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 435 members who serve two-year terms. The Senate comprises 100 lawmakers who serve six-year terms. Each state, regardless of population, has two senators.
--- the executive branch is the president, who is elected to a four-year term. A president can be elected to only two terms according to an amendment passed in 1951. The president can appoint federal judges as vacancies occur. He is the commander in chief of the armed forces.
The president has other broad authorities in running the government departments and handling foreign relations.
--- the judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court with a chief justice and 8 associate justices.
The Federal courts have jurisdiction over cases arising out of the Constitution and other cases which do not arise out of individual states. The Supreme Court has the judicial review power, the power determining whether congressional legislation or executive action violates the Constitution.
* System of ―checks and balances (制约与平衡的原则)‖ of the three-part national government works to keep serious mistakes from being made by one branch or another.
IV. the Bill of Rights (another basic foundation in the U.S Constitution )
--- consists of the first 10 amendments which were added to the Constitution in 1791. The Bill of Rights was passed to guarantee freedom and individual rights such as freedom of speech, the right to assemble in public places, the right to own weapons and so on.
* There were 16 other amendments to the Constitution as of 1991. So, there are 26 amendments to the U.S Constitution.
V. Two major Political Parties
--- the Democratic Party, which is thought to be more liberal and the symbol of which is the donkey (Under President Franklin Roosevelt‘s ―New Deal‖, Democrats set up government programs that provided paid employment for people building dams and
roads and public buildings and Social Security社会保障制度, which ensures that those who are retired or disabled receive monthly payments from the government )
--- the Republican Party, which is believed to be more conservative and the symbol of which is the elephant.（Republicans place more emphasis on private enterprise and often accuse the Democrats of making the government too expensive and of creating too many laws that harm individual initiative.）
* Americans do not have to join a political party in order to vote or to be a candidate for public office. However, running for office without the money and campaign workers a party can provide is difficult (若没有钱和政党所能提供的选举活动者们，想要竞选职位是很难的)
Chapter 3 American Economy
I. Industrial Revolution in America
---After independence, America was principally an agricultural country, which remained for another century. But some early decisions by American social and political leaders planted the seeds of industrial growth.(*eg. the first Secretary of the Treasury,财政部长Alexander Hamilton亚历山大·汉密尔顿, persuaded the Congress to establish a protective tariff, which and other Hamiltonian measures encouraged business in general. )The Industrial Revolution in England during the 18th century brought many changes to American industry between 1776 and 1860. One key development was the introduction of the factory system. A second development was the ―American systems‖ of mass production, which first was used in firearms(火器，轻武器) industry.. A third development was the application of new technologies to industrial tasks. A fourth development was the emergence of new forms of business organization --- the bank and the corporation（美：股份（有限）公司）.
because it was a crime to carry factory plant out of England. The success of his factory started a process of change that turned the northeastern region of the United States into an important manufacturing center and helped the nation become a major cotton producer.
is an American inventor who invented the cotton
（棉桃）of cotton much easier. He also began manufacturing rifles with machinery, using interchangeable（可互换的）part. This contributed to the American system of mass production.
---3.the first American commercial bank appeared in the 1780s. Not until 1863 did the US create a truly national banking system with a standard paper currency.
个体经营) and the partnership（合伙经营）, the corporation may survive the death of its founder or founders（股份（有限）公司在其创业者去世后仍然可以继续下去）. Because it could draw on a pool of investor, it is a much more efficient tool for raising the large amounts of capital needed by expanding business.（由于它可以吸引众多投资者，可以很有效地在业务发展时筹到资金。）And it enjoys limited liability, so inventors only risk the amount of their investment and not their entire assets.（它具有债务有限的特点，这样投资者的风险仅限于其投资的数额，不涉及其全部财产）
---finally, the construction of railroads beginning in the 1830s, marked the start of a new era for the United States.
II. service industries
--- industries that sell a service rather than make a product，which now dominate the economy. Service industries range from banking to telecommunications to he provision of meals in restaurants. As more and more people are employed in service industries in the US, it is sometimes said the US has moved into a
―post-industrial era‖(后工业时代)
III. free enterprise自由经济(lack of government oversight政府不干预)
--- The story of American economic growth is a story of people inventing new devices and process, starting new businesses and launching new ventures. When starting new businesses and launching new ventures money is needed. That money is known as capital(资本)
--- people in the United States made money by lending it to those who wanted to start of expand a business, which led to the creation of an important part of the current economic scene（经济环境）: the selling of stock(买卖股票), or shares, in a business.
---stock --- When starting or expanding business, corporations need to borrow money. They may issue stocks for people to buy. When people buy stock, they become part owner of the company. If the company makes a profit, they receive a share of
it. Likewise, if the company loses money, the stockholders will not make a profit or the value of their shares will drop—they lose money. Therefore buying stock is a risk. * The best-known stock exchange is the New York Stock Exchange(纽约证券交易所), located in the Wall Street area of New York City, the nation‘s largest city and a major business center.
IV. the roots of America‘s affluence
--- bountiful resources, the geographical size of the country and population trend (US is the 4th in the world in terms of land area and size of population )
--- religious, social and political traditions(eg. The Constitution of the US bars all kinds of internal tariffs, so manufactures do not have to worry about tariff barriers when shipping goods from one part of the country to another); the institutional structures of government and business; and the courage, hard work and determination of countless entrepreneurs and workers
V. agribusiness 农业产业
Because American agriculture is big business, people coined the term
―agribusiness‖ to reflect the large-scale nature of agricultural enterprises in the modern US economy. The term covers the entire complex of farm-related business, from the individual farmer to the multinational maker of farm chemicals. It also includes farmer cooperatives, rural banks, shippers of farm products, commodity dealers, firms that manufacture farm equipment, food-processing industries, grocery chains and many other businesses.
VI. migrant workers
Many big farms hire temporary workers only for a specific chore—such as picking crops. Many of these seasonal workers travel from farm to farm, staying only until the crops are picked. They are known as migrant workers.
VII. the success of American agriculture
--- American farmers are virtually unrivaled(无敌的) in producing crops cheaply and in quantity. The U.S produces as much as half of the world‘s soybeans and corn for grain.
--- About 1/3 of the cropland in the US is planted in crops destined for export. Agricultural imports lags far behind export, leaving a surplus in the agricultural balance of trade (在农业贸易上有顺差)
--- The standard of living of American farmers is generally high.
---The readiness of many farmers to adopt new technology has been one of the strengths of American agriculture. Yet farmers preserve a deep conservatism and respect for tradition that has helped to lend stability to rural communities in times of rapid change.(农民保留了深刻的保守主义和对传统的尊重，这使得他们在多变的时期保持了稳定.)
VIII. the problems of American agriculture
--- High productivity keeping food prices low, the rise of cost of the products, and high interest rates have made it hard for farmers to make a profit.
--- A period of economic difficulty began in the early 1980s. Agricultural exports declined, partly due to the high value of the US dollar (which raised the cost of American products to foreign buyers.)
--- Critics accuse both corporate and family farmers of damaging the environment. Since 1940s, American farmers have multiplied their use of artificial fertilizer and chemicals designed to kill weeds and insect pest and to protect against crop diseases.
Chapter 4 Religion in the United States
I. American history and religious liberty
---history
--―WASP‖(央格鲁撒克逊白人新教文化), which stands for ―White Anglo-Saxon Protestant‖, is believed to be the basis of the mainstream culture of the United States.
-- Although the Church of England was an established church in several colonies, Protestants lived side by side in relative harmony.(英国国教虽然在几个殖民地是官立教会，但新教各派都能和平相处.) They had began to influence each other. The Great Awakening of the 1740s, a ―revival ‖ movement which sought to breathe new feeling and strength into religion, cut across the lines of
Protestant religious groups, or denominations.(18世纪40年代的宗教大复兴运动力图把新的感觉和新的力量注入北美各殖民地人民的宗教信仰中去。这次―复兴‖运动打破了新教各派的界限。)
--John Locke reasoned that the right to govern comes from an agreement or ―social contract‖ voluntarily entered into by free people. The Puritan experience in
forming congregations(圣会) made this idea seem natural to many Americans.
-- Influenced by the new science and new ideas of the Enlightenment in Europe, a few Americans became deist(自然神论信仰者), believing that reason teaches that God exists but leaves man free to settle his own affairs.
-- Many traditional Protestants and deists could agree that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable(不能被剥夺的)
rights and that the laws of Nature and Nature‘s God(创造自然的上帝) entitled them to form a nation.
---religious liberty– The Declaration of Independence guaranteed the basic right of religious freedom and this right was a political necessity. The First Amendment to the U.S Constitution explicitly forbade the federal government to give special favors to any religion or to hinder the free practice, or exercise, of religion. When disputes about the relationship between government and religion arise, American courts must settle them. But American institutions presuppose a Supreme being (美国的社会风俗习惯都是以上帝的存在为前提的), therefore Christianity is often in practice, more favored than other religions.
II. the Three Faiths in the U.S
--- 1. Protestant (Over 60% of Americans are said to be Protestant believers. )
-- The Baptists(浸礼教徒) are the largest Protestant group in America. They believe in adult baptism by immersion, symbolizing a mature and responsible
conversion experience（主张成人全身浸水，以表示成熟负责任的皈依经
历。）. They are concentrated particularly in the Southern Bible Belt (南部信仰原教旨主义的地区). White Baptists and black Baptists go separately to
their own churches.
-- The Methodists(卫理公会派) are the second largest Protestant group in the U.S.
The Methodist Church has a form of service based on that of the Church of
England.
---2. the Catholics
The Catholic Church is the largest single religious group in the U.S. More than
25% of all Americans are now of the Roman Catholic faith. The majority of the Catholic are descendants of immigrants from Ireland, Italy and Poland. They
have the main strength in the east coast. In American history, the Catholics were discriminated against. By 1960, J.F. Kennedy‘s presidential election victory put to rest the Catholic religion as an issue in national politics(结束了在国家政治中关于天主教的争端). Today, the Catholics are active in running their own
institutions, and have risen to positions of leadership in business, politics and
labor.
* The Catholic Church continues to have an all-male clergy.
---3. the Jewish
More liberal Protestant and Jewish clergymen joined non-believers in maintaining that abortion is a basic right for women.（自由清教徒和犹太教牧师加入到信仰者之列，坚持认为流产是妇女的一项基本权利)
* By the 1950s, the above three faiths model of American religion had developed. The order reflects the strength in numbers of each group.
*It is unconstitutional in the U.S. that public money is provided to support religious schools.
III. religious diversity
Frontier America has made the U.S. a fertile ground for the growth of new religious movements. Many religious communities(宗教团体) and secular utopias（世俗的乌托邦组织）, experiments in new forms of social living (试验新的社会生活方式的团体), were founded in 18th and 19th century America. Many small sects（教派）and cults （信徒）appear in American society all the time. They have certain tendencies in common. They regard the larger society as hopelessly corrupt. Some of them never win a large following, but some others prosper and graduate into the rank of the respectable（有相当地位（数量）的）denominations. Some non-Western religious such as Buddhism（佛教）, Hindus（印度教）and Islam（伊斯兰教）are also begging to grow.
IV. characteristics of American religious beliefs
---1. The Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution provides that there is no state religion and that church and state must be separated. (没有国教及政教分离)
---2. American religious beliefs continue to be strong with social progress.
---3. In the United States, every church is a completely independent organization and concerned with its own finance and its own building. There has been little
concentration on doctrine or religious argument such as in European history.
* In the U.S., people go church mainly for the following reasons: (1) for having a place in community (2) for identifying themselves with dominant values(使自己和社会的主流价值观保持一致) (3) for getting together with friends.
世界性三大宗教为基督教、伊斯兰数和佛教，而其它宗教则主要为民族性宗教或地域性宗教。中国人习惯上称中国有五大宗教，即天主教、基督教(指
基督新教)、伊斯兰教、佛教和道教，而实际上只是在世界三大宗教基础上加上了中国传统宗教——道教。天主教与新教(中国人俗称基督教)乃基督敦三大致派中的两大敦派，另一大派是东正教。这三大敖派虽各自独立、自成体系，但仍被视为同属一教。
当然，社会上也流行有世界七大宗教或十大宗教之说，但分法不一，大体包括有基督教、伊斯兰教、佛教、道教、犹太教、印度教(及其前身婆罗门教)、神道教、摩尼教(基于琐罗亚斯德教)、锡克教等。西方人还将中国人传统信仰―儒教‖也算作一大宗教。这些宗教都是由民族宗教或古代宗敦发展演变而来，与它们各自的文化进程和历史命运息息相关。
Chapter 5 American Literature
I. Writers of the post-Revolutionary period (had been embarrassed that America did not have
much of a history)
---Washing Irving(华盛顿·欧文) inventing a history.
--History of New York?纽约外史?(1809), Rip Van Winkle?瑞普·凡·温克尔?, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?睡谷的传说?, The Alhambra?阿尔罕伯拉?(accounts of history历史传奇故事集in 1832),Tour on Prairies?草原漫游记? (1835)
--- James Fenimore Cooper (詹母士·费尼莫·库珀)
--The Spy?间谍? (novel1821),
Leatherstocking Tales?皮袜子的故事集? including The Pioneers?拓荒者? (1823),The Last of Mohicans?最后的莫希干人? (1826), The Prairie?大草原? (1827), The Pathfinder?探路人?(1840) and The Deepslayer?杀鹿者? (1841)
* In The Pioneers, he introduced the fabulous woodsman, Natty Bumppo, who was the forerunner of all heroic forest scouts (侦察员), bear hunter, and cowboys of later American novels and films
II. Transcendentalists 超验主义者
--- In his book Natur e, Ralph Waldo Emerson(拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生1803-1882)claimed that by studying and responding to nature individuals could reach a higher spiritual state without formal religion.(通过学习自然，与自然沟通，个人能够达到一个更高的精神境界，而不必借助正式的宗教). A circle of intellectuals who were discontented with the New England
establishment gathered around Emerson. They accepted Emerson‘s theories about spiritual transcendence. They are known as Transcendentalists.
--- Henry David Thoreau (亨利·大卫·梭罗1817-1862)was Emerson‘s most gifted fellow-thinkers. He was passionate about individual‘s learning to think for themselves and being independent. He carried out this ideal by going to live by himself for two years in simple cabin beside a wooded pond named Walden. He spent the two years in labor and solitary meditation. He wrote about this experience in his book Walden?沃尔登/林中生活? (1854)
New England intellectuals presented perspective of literature and life
III. Power of Imagination
Some writers concentrated upon human imagination and emotion rather than the intellect
---Edgar Allan Poe (埃德加·艾伦·坡1809--1849), a young Virginian, publishing poems of musical language and extravagant imagery, which made him a worthy rival of the European Romantic poets. In 1835, he began writing bold, original short stories, TheMasque of Red Death ?红死病的假面舞会?,The Fall of the House of Usher?厄舍尔厦的倒塌?.
---Nathaniel Hawthorne (纳撒尼尔·霍桑1804-1864), a young writer in New England published a volume of stories Twice-Told Tales?重述的故事?in 1837. His masterpiece was a novel The Scarlet Letter?红字?published in 1850. Set in the Puritan past, this masterpiece is the stark drama of a woman harshly cast out from her community for committing the sin of adultery. In this novel, Hawthorne explored certain moral themes such as guilt, pride and emotional repression.
---Herman Melville (赫尔曼·梅尔维尔1819-1891) published Moby Dick ?白鲸?. Moby Dick is the name of a big white whale. In this book, the author uses a story of a whaling voyage to explore profo und themes such as fate, the nature of evil, and the individual‘s struggle against the universe. This book is considered an American masterpiece.
* The above 3 writers all struggled to find their individual voices, and through them American literature began to acquire its own personality.
IV. Walt Whitman (瓦尔特·惠特曼1818-1892)
--- assert a truly American voice and in 1855, published a ground-breaking book Leaves of Grass ?草叶集?, which is a collection of poems. Whitman used
free-flowing structures and long irregular lines in his poetry. He ventured beyond traditional forms to meet his need for more space to express the American spirit.
In one of the poems ―Song of Myself‖ he dwelt on (详细讲述)himself because he saw himself as a prototype (原型)of ―The American‖.
V. Reform and Liberation
New England intellectuals had a tradition of involvement in liberal reform.
---Harriet Beecher Stowe (哈里叶特·比彻·斯特1811-1896), a New England woman who in 1852 wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin?汤姆叔叔的小屋?, an antislavery novel that galvanized (刺激，激励) political opinion across the nation. Sentimental and melodramatic as it was, it portrayed black slaves as sympathetic, suffering
figures, and created an image of the cruel slaveowner in the character of Simon Legree. (该书具有伤感和情节剧的特点，把黑人奴隶描绘成遭受苦难的，值得同情的人物，并把西蒙·拉瑞刻画成一个残酷的奴隶主形象)
VI. Regionalism (地方主义)
As pioneers settled new territories in the West, writers now focused on the differences between the various regions of the United States rather than on a single vision of the expanding country.
---William Dean Howells (威廉·狄恩·豪威尔斯1837-1920) was one of the most imp ortant leaders of ―regionalism‖ movement, who became the editor of the
influential Atlantic magazine ?大西洋月刊?(美国现实主义文学奠基人) ---Mark Twain(pen name of Samuel Clemens 塞缪尔·克莱门斯1835-1910) one of the greatest American writers and the first major American writer to be born
away from the East Coast. His major work was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?哈克贝利·费恩历险记? (1884) which has been called the greatest novel in American literature. His normal prose style(文风) sounded distinctively
American – rich in metaphor, newly invented words and drawling（拖长音的）rhythms although sometimes he used local dialect for comic effect(滑稽效
果).(美国现实主义文学奠基人)
---Emily Dickinson(爱米莉·狄更生1830-1886), a woman poet admired by later generations, but barely known while alive.
VII. A new wave
As the wounds of the Civil War slowly healed, many Americans became discontented with the growing materialism (唯物主义) of society in the U.S.
---Henry James(亨利·詹姆斯1843-1916) an American who lived in Europe, examined America society by observing the divergence between American and European culture in novels like The American and Portrait of a Lady?女士的画像?。（他被视为心理现实主义的创始人之一）
---the naturalists(自然主义作家) were novelists who concentrated upon the grim aspects of reality and a deterministic view of life. They were linked with European naturalists such as French novelist Zola(左拉). The most representative naturalists in American literature were Stephen Crane(斯蒂芬·克莱恩), Theodore Dreiser(西奥多·德莱塞), and Jack London(杰克·伦敦).
---Stephen Crane(斯蒂芬·克莱恩1871-1900) Maggie, A Girl of the Streets?街头女郎玛?(1893)
--- Theodore Dreiser(西奥多·德莱塞1871-1945) Sister Carrie?嘉莉妹妹? in 1900
--- Upton Sinclair (厄普顿·辛克莱1878－1968) The Jungle ?屠场?
--- Jack London(杰克·伦敦1876-1916) Call of the Wild?野性的呼唤?
---exploring the fate of the individual.
---Henry James
---Edith Wharton (伊迪丝·华顿1862-1937), one of Henry James‘s close friends and literary followers. One of her finest books is The House of Mirth ?欢乐之家?(1905). The Age of Innocence?纯真年代?(1920) is another successful novel.
VIII. Sympathetic Views (3 women writers)
--- Kate Chopin (凯特·肖邦1851－1904) The Awakening ?觉醒?
---Willa Cather (威拉·凯瑟1873－1947)O Pioneers! ?啊！拓荒者?
---W.E.B. Dubois (威·爱·伯·杜伯伊斯1869-1963)Souls of Black Folk?黑人的灵魂?
IX. Rebellious Spirit
In the first decades of the 20th century, two major works of literature expressed the new attitude of rebellion against the limited life of the typical small American town.
---Sherwood Anderson(舍伍德·安德森1876-1941) published a book of short stories Winesburg, Ohio?俄亥俄州的瓦恩斯堡?in 1919.
·路易斯1885－1951) published a novel Main Street?大草原?in
格弗草原?Babbitt?巴比特?Arrowsmith?艾罗·史密斯?
X. The Modernists
One important literary movement of the time was ―Imagism‖(意象派), whose poets focused on strong, concrete images.
---Ezra Pound(埃兹·拉庞德1885-1972)
---T.S. Eliot(托·斯·艾略特1888－1965) published a long poem The Waste Land?荒原?in
1922. Using fragmented(不连续的), haunting(萦绕心头的) images and a dense structure of symbols, it revealed a pessimistic vision of post-World War I society. With the publication of ―The Waste Land‖, Eliot dominated the so-called ―Modern‖ movement in poetry.
---E.E. Cummings (爱德华·埃斯特林·肯明斯1894-1962), didn‘t use rules of punctuation, spelling, and even he way words were placed on the page.
---Wallace Stevens
---William Carlos Williams
XI. the ―Lost Generation‖ (迷惘的一代)
In the aftermath of World War I, many novelists produced a literature of disillusionment(幻灭). Some lived abroad. They were known as the ―Lost Generation‖. The two most representative writers of the ―Lost Generation‖ were Hemingway and Fitzgerald.
---F. Scott Fitzgerald(弗·司各特·菲兹杰拉德) The Great Gatsby ?了不起的盖茨比?
---Ernest Hemingway(厄内斯特·海明威1899-1961) The Sun Also Rises?太阳照样升起?(1926),which is the representative of the ―Lost Generation‖ A Farewell to Arms?永别了，武器?(1929) For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)?丧钟为谁而鸣?. He won the Nobel Prize and is considered one of the greatest American writers.
---William Faulkner(威廉·福克纳1897-1962). Some of his best novels are The Sound and the Fury?喧哗与骚动? (1929)and Light in August?八月之光? (1932). He won a Nobel Prize.
XII. Harlem Renaissance(哈莱姆文艺复兴)
The 1920s saw the rise of an artistic black community centered in Harlem, a black neighborhood in New York City. Magazines and newspapers dedicated to the black writing sprang up in Harlem. Black poets such Langston Hughs and Countee Cullen wrote about what it meant to be black. The Harlem Renaissance gave African-American culture prominence and an impetus to grow.
XIII.New Drama
---Eugene O‘Neil (尤金·奥尼尔1888-1953) borrowed ideas from European playwrights. He used symbolism, adapted stories from classical mythology(神话) and the Bible and drew upon (利用)he new science of psychology to explore his character‘s inner lives.Desire Under the Elms ?榆树下的欲望? (1924) Mourning Becomes Electra?悲悼?(1931, The Iceman Cometh ?卖冰的人来了?(1946) Long Day‘s Journey into Night ?长夜漫漫路迢迢?(1956) He won a Nobel Prize in 1936 for literature.
IVX. Depression Realism and Escapism
---John Steinbeck(约翰·斯坦贝克1902-1968) is a great writer during the Great Depression. His 1939 masterpiece is The Grapes of Wrath?愤怒的葡萄?
---Margaret Mitchell (玛格丽特·米歇尔) Gone with the Wind is a 1936 best-seller about Civil War.
VX. Post-World War II voices and the ―Beat Generation‖（跨掉的一代）
---Black writers
---Richard Wright (理查德·赖特1908－1960) published a novel Native Son?土生子? in 1940.
---Ralph Ellison(拉尔夫·埃利森1914－1994)Invisible Man ?看不到的人?(1952)
---James Baldwin(詹母斯·鲍德温1924－1987) novel G o Tell It on the Mountain?向苍天呼吁?(1953) essay The Fire Next Time?下一次将是烈火?
---Jewish writers
---Saul Bellow(索尔·贝娄1915- ) The Adventures of Augie March?奥吉·玛琪历险记?1953
---Isaac Bashevis Singer(艾萨克·巴什维斯·辛格1904- )
Both of them won the Nobel Prize for literature
---playwright
---Tennessee Williams(田纳西·威廉斯1911－1983)The Glass Menagerie?玻璃动物园?(1945)
---The ―Beat Generation‖ was made up of a group of young writers in the 1950s based in San Francisco. The name referred simultaneously to the rhythm of Jazz music, to their sense that society was worn out, to the interest in new forms of experience, through drugs, alcohol or Eastern mysticism. Alan Ginsburg‘s (艾伦·金斯堡)Howl?嚎叫?set for them a tone of social protest.
VIX. New American V oices
---the feminist movement of 1960s and 1970s fueled creative energies form many women writers.
---Toni Morrison(1931- ), a black woman writer, a professor at Princeton University, whose Song of Solomon(1977) and Beloved(1987) are considered her best works. She won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993, the first African-American writer to receive this honor.
---Alice Walker, a black woman writer, The Colored Purple in 1982
---Maxine Hong Kingston, a Chinese-American, The Woman Warrior in 1975 and China Men in 1980.
---Amy Tan, a Chinese-American The Joy Luck Club ?喜福会?in 1989
Chapter 6 Education in the United States
I. the goal of education
---To achieve universal literacy and to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote both their own individual welfare as well as that of the general public.普及教育，并使每个人掌握必要的知识和技能。这不仅能提高人的福利，同时也改善了公众的福利。
II. expenditure of education
---About 85% of American students attend public schools supported by American taxpayers.
Religious instruction is not given in public schools. In public schools where public taxes are involved, spending and the school curriculum, teacher standards and certification are guided by boards of education (policy makers for schools) at the state or district level.
---The other 15% attend private schools, for which their families choose to pay special attendance.
80% private schools in the U.S. are run by churches, synagogues(犹太教教学) or other religious groups. Religious teachings are a part of the curriculum.
Private schools that meet state standards use the fees they collect as they think best.
---The combined expenses of both education systems, public and private, exceed $190000 million
a year. (1900亿美元)
III. different education laws for different states
---Every state in American has its own laws about education and all states require young people to go to school. Thus every child in America is guaranteed up to 13 years of education. Each state have the right to provide for the education of its people. (州政府有权管理本州的教育)
---the age limits vary: 32 states require attendance to age 16; 8 to 18; etc.
IV. several levels of schooling
---Elementary School/Grammar school
1. usually grades kindergarten through 8 --- K-8
2. in some places: K-6
3. sometimes grades 4,5,6 called ―middle school‖)
4. teach mathematics, language, arts, social studies and some other subjects
---Secondary School
1. generally grades 9-12, popularly called ―high school‖
2. in many districts, grades7-9 are called ―junior high school‖
3. when grades 7-9 are included with the 10th, 11th and 12th grades, all six are said to a ―senior
high school‖
---Higher Education
---It refers to American education on the college level. It includes 4 categories of institutions.
They are (1)the university, (2)the four-year undergraduate institution (the college)(四年制本科学院), (3)the technical training institution(技术培训学院) and (4) the two-year or community college（两年制社区学院）. Some are supported by public funds and some by private funds. Many universities and colleges have won reputations for providing their students with a higher quality of education. The great majority are generally regarded as quite satisfactory. A few other institutions provide only adequate education.
---In order to go to university, secondary school students must (1) have high school records (2) recommendations from their teachers (3)get good scores in the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SATs学习能力倾向测试---指根据美国大学入学考试委员会编的试题进行的高等学校入学前的预测性测验) (4)make good impressions during the interviews
---Every year more than 3 million students graduate from secondary schools, only about 1 million students go on for higher education.
---Public and private colleges depend on three sources of income: student intuition, endowments (捐赠gifts made by wealthy benefactors慈善家) and government funding. Harvard, Princeton and Yale Universities get very large endowments, more than 1000 million dollars each.
---degrees and trends in degree programs:
---the undergraduate student gets a bachelor‘s degree after earning a certain number of credits (120) in four years of college. The other two higher degrees are master‘s degree and doctor‘s deg ree.
---During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a trend away from the traditional liberal arts. Many students were choosing major fields that would prepare them for specific jobs. But some