美国文学史期末总结

1. A Psalm of Life1.1Analysis:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow begins his poem "A Psalm of Life" with the same exuberance and enthusiasm that continues through most of the poem. He begs in the first stanza to be told "not in mournful numbers" about life. He states here that life doesn't abruptly end when one dies; rather, it extends into another after life. Longfellow values this dream of the afterlife immensely and seems to say that life can only be lived truly if one believes that the soul will continue to live long after the body dies.The second stanza continues with the same belief in afterlife that is present in the first. Longfellow states this clearly when he writes, "And the grave is not its goal." Meaning that,life doesn't end for people simply because they die; there is always something more to be hopeful and optimistic for. Longfellow begins discussing how humans must live their lives in constant anticipation for the next day under the belief that it will be better than each day before it: "But to act that each to-morrow / Find us farther than to-day."In the subsequent stanza, Longfellow asserts that there is never an infinite amount of time to live, but art that is created during one's life can be preserved indefinitely and live on long after its creator dies.In the following stanzas, Longfellow likens living in the world to fighting on a huge field of battle.He believes that people should lead heroic and courageous lives and not sit idle and remain ineffectual while the world rapidly changes around them: "Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Bea hero in the strife!" His use of the word "strife" is especially interesting, since it clearly acknowledges that life is inherently difficult, is a constant struggle, and will never be easy. Longfellow then encourages everyone to have faith and trust the lord and not to rely on an unknown future to be stable and supportive.2. Commentary for A Psalm of LifeSensory languageRhyme schemeABABUses descriptive languageUses similes2. ExcelsiorSummary: Excelsior is a poem about a traveler who had only one goal stuck into his head that was to get higher and nothing could make him stop, not even the warm light of houses, nor the warm welcome of a girl, nor the storm that will come at night, nor the avalanche could stop him. And in the end he died. He did what he determined to do and he ended up losing his life.3. Sit and Look OutAnalysis:As the poet surveys the human world, he is struck by the numbers and variety of misfortunes to which mankind is subject and which are the causes of wide-spreading suffering in the world. He sees all this but he remains silent. His silence is of course due to the profundity of suffering in the world and his helplessness in the matter.4. Mending Wall (from North of Boston)Form and style: The poem is in blank verse—that is, unrhymed iambic pentameter. Its forty-five lines are in the form of a monologue, but quite different from the style of dramatic monologuepopularized by Robert Browning’s give a revelation of the speaker’s character, often unintentional, and are focused inward. Frost’s are directed outward, usually at some object that can serve: as a point of departure of general observations. The verse is largely monosyllabic, the language typically unpretentious. His Paleolithic savage, for example, is old-stone, a literal translation of the Greek word and much more effective. Simplicity and dignity set the tone.。

●American Puritanism（清教主义）◆Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. The Puritans wereoriginally members of a division of the Protestant Church, who came intoexistence in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. The first settlerswho became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few ofthem Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons, but it should beremembered that they were a group of serious, religious people, advocatinghighly religious and moral principles.◆As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs andpractices. They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Churchof Rome in doctrine form of worship, and organization of authority.◆The American Puritans, like their brothers back in England, were idealists,believing that the church should be restored to complete “purity”. Theyaccepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, andlimited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. But in thegrim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival inAmerica, they became more and more practical, as indeed they had to be.◆Puritans’lives were extremely disciplined and hard. Puritans tended tosuspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin: a Puritan woman was oncethreatened with banishment for smiling in church. They drove out of theirsettlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them, and history hascriticized their actions. Yet in the persecution of what they considered error,the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history. As aculture heritage, Puritanism did have a profound influence on the earlyAmerican mind.◆American Puritanism also had a enduring influence on American literature. Ithad become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, so much a part of thenational cultural atmosphere, rather than a set of tenets.● Influence of American Puritanism on literature◆Basis of American literature: the dream of building an Eden of Garden onearth (Early American literature were mainly optimistic because theybelieved that God sent them to the new continent to fulfill the sacred task sothey would overcome all the difficulties they met at last. GraduallyAmericans found that their dreams would not be successful, so lots ofpessimistic literary works were produced.)◆Symbolism(象征主义): lots of American writers liked to employ symbolismin their works. (typical way of Puritans who thought that all the simpleobjects existing in the world connoted deep meaning.) Symbolism meansusing symbols in literary works. The symbol means something represents orstands for abstract deep meaning.◆Style: simple, fresh and direct (just as the style of the Authorized Version ofHoly Bible)1.3 Colonial Literature● General features◆Humble origins: diaries, histories, letters etc.◆In content: serving either God or colonial expansion or both◆In form: imitating English literary traditionsAmerican Romanticism● General features of Romanticism◆ Stressing emotion rather than reason◆ Stressing freedom and individuality◆ Stressing idealism rather than materialism◆Writing about nature, medieval legends and with supernatural elements1.2 Features of American Romanticism (P43-44)● Imitative◆against the literary forms and ideas of classicism, developing some relativelynew forms of fiction and or poetry, emphasizing upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature, a liking for the picturesque, the exotic, the sensuous, the sensational, and the supernatural (P41)● Independent◆peculiar American experience (landscape, pioneering to the West, Indiancivilization, new nation’s democracy and dreams) (P41-42)◆Puritan heritage (more moralizing, edifying more than mere entertainment)(careful about love and sex. example: Scarlet Letter) (P42)◆American national consciousness—the sense of missionTRANSCENDENTALISM:Nature’s voice pushed American Romanticism into a new phase, the phase of New England Transcendentalism, the summit of American Romanticism.⏹First, the Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul，as the mostimportant thing in the universe.⏹Secondly, the Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. They weretelling people to depend upon themselves for spiritual perfection.⏹Thirdly, the Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of theSpirit or God.⏹New England Transcendentalism was the product of a combination of foreign influencesand native American Puritan tradition⏹Transcendentalism was a way of knowing —the belief that man can intuitivelytranscend the limits of the senses and of logic and receive directly higher truths and greater knowledge denied to other methods of knowing.⏹On the other hand, transcendentalism had some glaring weaknesses.⏹The transcendentalists believed in living close to nature and taught the dignity of manuallabor.1.4 The Scarlet Letter●Sample: Scarlet Letter (A: Adultery to Able to Angel)●Characters:◆Hester Prynne (heroine, attractive, active towards the sin)◆Roger Chillingworth (Hester’s husband, emotionless, only thinking aboutrevenge, real villain in the novel, signifying pure intellect which was merciless in Hawthorne’s mind)◆Arthur Dimmesdale (a handsome and admirable young priest, contradictory onthe sin he made with Hester, being a brave man at last)●Theme:(Ask students: Is this a love story? No)◆The theme of the story should be the moral, emotional and psychologicaleffects of the sin on people. (P76)(对于《红字》的主题，有很多种不同的说法，这和这本小说的复义性有关。

绪论1.一般认为，美国文学史大致可分为七个时期，分别是殖民地时期、独立战争前后时期、南北战争时期、南北战争后至第一次大战前时期、两次大战之间时期、第二次大战后至越南战争前时期、越南战争后至新世纪初时期。

2.殖民地时期的美国文学主要有三类，它们是原住民印第安人口头文学和民间故事、欧洲探险者到北美的探险日记和航海记录、早期到北美殖民地的英国官员和牧师的散文和游记。

3.在殖民地英国官员和牧师作家们中大致可分为两类，即清教主义作家和反清教主义作家。

4.独立战争前后的美国文学中，发展成果最为突出的文学类型是散文。

5.第一位获得国际声誉的美国小说家是华盛顿·欧文，他的短篇小说代表作是《瑞普·凡·温克尔》、《睡谷传奇》。

6.詹姆斯·范·库柏创作了“皮袜子五部曲”：《开拓者》、《最后一个莫希干人》、《草原》、《探路人》、《逐鹿者》；他是第一位描写美洲殖民地历史的历史小说家、第一位刻画印第安人形象的小说家。

7.爱默生的散文《论自然》是美国超验主义运动的宣言，在该文中，爱默生提出新大陆需要精神独立。

超验主义是民主思想在哲学上的表现。

8.美国诗人瓦尔特·惠特曼的诗集《草叶集》的问世标志着美国浪漫主义运动达到高潮，爱默生欢呼的伟大的美国诗人诞生了。

9.惠特曼去世标志着浪漫主义文学时代的结束，美国文学迅速走进一个现实主义和自然主义文学发展新时代。

10.马克·吐温的小说《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》开创了美国文学的一代新风；威廉·豪威尔斯被认为是美国现实主义文学的奠基人，他最先指出“金钱成了时代的史诗”，“当个百万富翁成了美国人的理想”；而亨利·詹姆斯则开创了20世纪美国心理小说的新方向。

11.欧·亨利被誉为“美国短篇小说之父”，与法国作家莫泊桑和俄国作家契诃夫并列为世界三大短篇小说家。

12.弗兰克·诺里斯是第一个名副其实的美国自然主义作家，西奥多·德莱赛被称为第一次世界大战前最优秀的自然主义作家，其代表作品有《嘉莉妹妹》、《美国的悲剧》。

美国文学期末复习资料美国文学期末复习资料美国文学是一门广泛而深入的学科，涵盖了从殖民地时期到现代的众多作品和作家。

为了帮助大家复习期末考试，本文将以不同的主题和时期为线索，介绍一些重要的美国文学作品和相关知识。

一、殖民地时期的文学在殖民地时期，美国文学主要以宗教为主题，反映了早期殖民者的信仰和生活。

《普利茅斯纪事》是美国文学史上的里程碑之一，它记录了普利茅斯殖民地的建立和早期的困难。

另外，约翰·史密斯的《弗吉尼亚史诗》和威廉·布拉德福的《普利茅斯植民地纪事》也是重要的作品。

二、启蒙时代的文学启蒙时代是美国文学的重要时期，这一时期的作品反映了人们对自由、理性和独立思考的追求。

本杰明·富兰克林是启蒙时代的代表人物，他的《贫穷理性者的儿子》和《自传》都是重要的作品。

此外，托马斯·潘恩的《常识》和托马斯·杰斐逊的《独立宣言》也是这一时期的重要文献。

三、浪漫主义时期的文学浪漫主义时期是19世纪美国文学的高峰期，作家们开始关注个人情感和内心体验。

华盛顿·欧文的《睡谷传奇》和爱德加·爱伦·坡的《乌鸦》是这一时期的代表作品。

此外，纳撒尼尔·霍桑的《红字》和赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的《白鲸》也是不可忽视的作品。

四、现实主义时期的文学现实主义时期是19世纪末到20世纪初的文学运动，作家们开始关注社会问题和人类命运。

马克·吐温的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》和斯蒂芬·克莱恩的《红字》是这一时期的代表作品。

此外，亨利·詹姆斯的《国际象棋之家》和埃德蒙·威尔逊的《了不起的盖茨比》也是重要的作品。

五、现代主义和后现代主义时期的文学现代主义和后现代主义时期是20世纪美国文学的重要阶段，作家们开始挑战传统的叙事方式和观念。

欧内斯特·海明威的《老人与海》和威廉·福克纳的《喧哗与骚动》是现代主义时期的代表作品。

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 onthe new continent for Indians.Character of colonial literature:a.content: religious, politicalb.form: diary, journal, letters, travel books, sermons, history (personalliterature)c.Style: simple. direct, concised.out of humble originsEarly 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 writer3.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 land2）Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops3）About dealing with Indians4）Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit4.Private literature: theological, moral, historical, political5.The work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, rose to the level of realpoetry. 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 bourgeoisdemocratic republic - the United States of America.2.Bourgeois Enlightenment3.Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard’s Almanac(穷人理查德的年鉴), an annual collection ofproverbs.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 recordof 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-centuryEnlightenment, 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: OptimismThe American dream began with the settlement of the American continent –the Promised Land – the Garden of Eden – optimistic about the future4.Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, 极大恢复士气5.Thomas Jefferson:The Declaration of Independence6.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 subjectmatter and the natural scenes on the new continent.⏹Here in this poem Freneau deals with the themes of loveliness and thetransience of life.⏹This poem, well within the melancholy genre, consists of the poet’s pensivemusings 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 allmust 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 firstmodern 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 AmericanNational 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 ofUsher(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 (nowpart 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 Romanmythology. 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 glorythat 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 beautifulprincess dear to the god of love, Eros (Cupid), who would visit her in a darkened room ina palace. One night she used an agate lamp to discover his identity. Later, at the urging ofEros, 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 ofsociety;C．N ature as symbolic of the Spirit or GodRalph Waldo Emerson, Father of American Essay, Essayist, poet, philosopher, orator, critic : Nature(the Bible and manifesto(宣言) of the New England Transcendentalism), Self-relianceHenry David Thoreau(The Prophet(提倡者) of Non-Violence Movement, he wasEmerson’s truest disciple, who put into practice many of Emerson’s theories): Walden5.Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter⑴女主角honest, calmly face fault 诚实，坦然的面对罪过。

美国文学史总结Part I The Literature of Colonial America（殖民地时期的文学）Chapter 1→John Smith 约翰.史密斯1. A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened inVirginia Since the First Planting of That Colony 《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》（1608）2. A Map of Virginia with a Description of the Country 《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》（1612）3.The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles 《弗吉尼亚通史》（1624）Chapter 2→William Bradford （威廉.布拉德福德）→Of Plymouth Plantation 《普利茅斯开发史》（1826）→John Winthrop （约翰.温思罗普）→The History of New England from 1630 to 1649 《新英格兰史》（1856）Chapter 3→John Cotton （约翰.科登）→Roger Williams （罗杰.威廉姆斯）→ A Key into the Language of America 《开启美国语言的钥匙》/《美国新英格兰地区土著居民语言指南》Chapter 4→Anne Bradstreet（安妮.布雷兹特里特）（女性作家）→The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America 《在美洲诞生的第十位缪斯》→Edward Taylor （爱德华.泰勒）（女性作家）→Psalms 《诗篇》Part II The Literature of Reason and Revolution（理性和革命时期文学）Chapter 5→Benjamin Franklin （本杰明.富兰克林）1.Poor Richard ’s Almanac 《穷理查德年鉴》（1732-1758，1729年正式出版）2.The Declaration of Independence 《独立宣言》（Franklin & Jefferson 杰弗逊）3.The Autobiography 《自传》4.Collect Works 《作品选集》Chapter 6→Thomas Paine （托马斯.佩因）1.The Case of the Officers of the Excise 《收税官的案子》（1772）（his first pamphlet）mon Sense 《常识》（1776）3.The America Crisis 《美国危机》（1776-1883）（a series of sixteen pamphlets）（signed“Common Sense” ）4.Rights of Man 《人权》（I 1791年， II 1792年）5.The Age of Reason 《理性时代》6.Agrarian Justice 《土地公平》（his last important treatise 他最后一部重要著作）Chapter 7→Thomas Jefferson （托马斯.杰弗逊）The Declaration of Independence 《独立宣言》（Benjamin Franklin & Jefferson 杰弗1.该集子并不是按写作顺序来安排的，而是按事件发展的先后顺序重新编排，即：TheDeerslayer（《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》；The Prairie《大草原》}Chapter 11→William Cullen Bryant （威廉.卡伦.布莱恩特）1.Thanatopsis《死亡思考/死之思考》（1817）2.To a Waterfowl《致水鸟》（is perhaps the peak of his work 是其巅峰之作）Chapter 12→Edgar Allan Poe （埃德加.艾伦.坡）1.MS. Found in a Bottle 《金瓶子城的方德先生》2.The Fall of the House of Usher《鄂榭府崩溃记》3.Tales Of the Grotesque and Arabesque《述异集》（1840）4.The Raven《乌鸦》（1845）5.To Helen《给海伦》6.Annabel Lee《安娜贝尔.李》Chapter 13→Ralph Waldo Emerson（拉尔夫.沃尔多.爱默生）1.Nature《论自然》（1836）2.Two speeches（正真让他功成名就的是两次演讲）：The American Scholar《美国学者》（a great statements 一篇优秀的论说文）& Divinity School Address《神学院致辞》3.Poem《诗集》（1847）4.Essay《随笔录》5.Representative Men《代表》（1850）6.English Traits《英国人》（1856）7.Nature《论自然》8.Self-Reliance《论自助》Chapter 14→Henry David Thoreau（亨利.戴维.梭罗）1.Walden《沃尔登》（1854）Chapter 15→Nathaniel Hawthorne （纳撒尼尔.霍桑）1.The House of the Seven Gables《七个尖角阁的房子》2.Mosses from an Old Manse《古厦青苔》（1846）3.The Scarlet Letter 《红字》（1850）The Scarlet Letter is the introductory chapter of The Scarlet Letter. 《海关》是《红字》的前言。

美国文学史及选读期末复习.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容：1）their voyage to the new land2) Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops3) About dealing with Indians4) Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit3、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 whochallenged 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。

第三部分1.美国南北战争以北方的彻底胜利告终，蓄奴制瓦解了，为工业资本主义的大发展开辟了道路，标志着旧时代的结束和新时代的开始。

2.美国与欧洲的交往增多，英国查尔斯·达尔文的《物种的起源》和哲学家赫伯特·斯宾塞的“适者生存”理论传入美国，影响深远。

3.马克·吐温与查尔斯·华纳合著的《镀金时代》成了19世纪最后二十五年的简称。

4.宗教界的神学理论也出现了相应的变化。

神学家们指出财富是神圣的标志，根据上帝的旨意，政府的职责是保护私人财富。

哲学家和神学家顺应时势，力图证明自由竞争是合法的，政府应给予大力支持，让民众享受内战后重建时期带来的好处。

5.内战后的十年最突出的变化是商业成了全国实力和尊严的主要象征。

6.1899年，美国文学艺术院成立；1904年又建立美国文学艺术科学院，进一步从体制上巩固了严肃文学的地位。

7.来自欧洲的现实主义和自然主义思潮进一步推动了美国文学的发展。

8.批评家泰纳将孔德的实证主义理论引入文艺批评，提出文学本质上来说是观察和分析人的主要方法，小说是社会的科学实验室，可以观察各种复杂的社会因素。

他强调种族、环境和时代是文学创作的三要素，他的观点成了美国现实主义的理论基础。

9.法国的自然主义也受到美国作家重视，法国作家左拉认为社会像个生物的有机体，小说家应该收集事实，做个“人与人的情欲的审问官”。

10.20世纪初，法国巴黎出现了现代主义文学思潮，影响了不少英美青年作家。

斯坦因是美国现代主义小说的奠基人。

诗歌方面，诗人庞德等在欧洲倡导意象派诗歌运动，后来由艾米·洛厄尔引入美国诗坛，揭开了美国现代片诗歌的序幕。

11.马克·吐温是美国伟大的批判现实主义文学大师，其代表作是长篇小说《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》。

海明威曾评价该书：全部现代美国文学作品来自马克·吐温写的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》这本书。

12.威廉·迪恩·豪威尔斯的代表著作是《塞拉斯·拉法姆发家记》。

Ⅰ. Write the author of each item. 10’1．Anne Bradstreet（The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America）①Contemplation②To My Dear and Loving Husband2. Benjamin Franklin①The Autobiography (early American Dream)3. Philip Freneau (Poet of American; The Father of American Poetry)①The Wild Honey Suckle②The Indian Burying Ground③To a Caty-Did4. Washington Irving(The Father of American Short Story; first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame; regarded as Father of American literature.)①The legend of Sleep Hollow②Rip Van Winkle③The Sketch Book(the beginning of American Romanticism)5. James Fennimore Cooper①The Last Mohicans②Leather Stocking Tales6. William Cullen Bryant① Thanatopsis② To a Water Fowl7. Edgar Allen Poe (Father of Modern Short Story; Father of Psychoanalysis criticism)①To Helen②The Raven③The Fall of the House of Usher④The Black Cat8. Ralph Waldo Emerson (leading new England transcendentalist)①Nature②Self-Reliance③The American Scholar9. Henry David Thoreau (an active transcendentalist)①Walden10. Nathaniel Hawthorne (a master of symbolism; first great American writer of fiction to work in moralistic tradition. combined the American romanticism with puritan moralism; created a new genre psychological romance)①The Scarlet Letter②Twice Told Tales③The Marble Faun④Blithedale Romance⑤The Minister’s Black Veil11. Herman Melville①Moby Dick12. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(the fireside poet; love of nature, love for the past)①A Psalm of Life②The Slav e’s Dream③My Lost Youth④The Song of Hiawatha13. Walt Whitman①Leaves of Grass(first genuine epic poem)②Song of Myself③I Sit and Look Out④ Beat！Beat！Drums！14. Emily Dickinson (the theme of her poetry concern religion, life, death, marriage, immorality, nature etc.)①I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed②I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain③A Bird Came Down the Walk④I Died for Beauty ___but Was Scarce⑤I Hear a Fly Buzz ___When I Died⑥Because I Could not Stop for DeathⅡ.True or False choice. 20’Ⅲ. Choose the best answer 10’Ⅳ. Appreciation 30’The Scarlet LetterAuthor: Nathaniel HawthorneSymbolism：The Scarlet Letter, A symbol of shame, but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity to Hester. The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes. Originally inte nded to mark Hester as an adulteress, the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.”Ralph Waldo Emerson1.NatureThe declaration of TranscendentalismAnalysis of “Nature”A long essay which has eight parts: the opening, commodity, beauty, language, discipline, Idealism, spirit and prospects. Our selection is taken from the opening. Taken as a whole, “Nature” expresses Emerson’s philosophy in a more systematic fashion than any other work of his.Meanings of natureI Beautynature is beautiful. : the complete, mysterious, useful and moral beauty of nature. First, nature’s beauty lies in its completeness. Second, nature’s beauty lies in its mystery. cannot be manipulated. Only when he holds a sincere respect for nature, can man feel the mysterious beauty of nature. Third, nature’s beauty lies in its usefulness. Nature provides man without any benefitII Nature Is Divine●Nature is divine and has the eternal order which should not be violated. Influenced in a way byChinese ancient philosophy, Emerson believes that all the things in the world come from the same root---the Oversoul.●Emerson believes that man can find God in his own heart by direct contact with nature●Nature has permeated (penetrate) all aspects of human life. Spirit embodied in nature hasinfluence upon us. Nature inspires man and gives him\her power. Man should find the truth,goodness and beauty in his own soul and bring into play his potentiality as human being. Then, he will become himself “All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, you have and c an do".For Emerson, the individual is potentially the most divine and any organization or existing idea can not limit the development of individual.III Nature Is ChangingEverything in nature is in a process---growing, withdrawing and falling into the ground. The flowing of nature comes from a force which impels it to develop. For instance, a river is always in constantly flowing. It originates from mountains, flows along great plains and ultimately converges into the sea. Transcendental philosophyNature symbolizes freedom, independence and change. These are Individualism elements which attend to significance of common life. Therefore Emerson's nature is the theoretical base of American Individualism---one of the characteristics of American culture. As the symbol of Spirit, nature helps to prove that man's soul is beautiful, divine and fluid. Man should pursue spiritual fulfillment2.Self-Reliance①“The Confidence”. a man must show his opinion confidently and bravely in spite of different ideas.②“The Independence”. A man should keep himself firmly ; not be easily influenced by environment.③Keep personality, which is closely related to the confidence and the independence. a man must keep his personality and conform to his own principles.④“Showing no Sympathy to the Poor” shows that why the poor are poor is mainly due to their backward thinking. Showing help to this kind of people means doing harm to them.Comment: In Self-reliance, Emerson expressed the romantic idea of individualism, with an emphasis on being self-sufficient. He promoted relying on oneself rather than on established society. Emerson was known for his repeated use of phrase “trust thyself”. “Self-reliance”is his explanation---both systematic and passionate of what he meant by this, and why he was moved to make it his catchphrase. Every individual possesses a unique genius, emerson argues, that can only be revealed when that individual has the courage to trust his or her own thoughts, attitudes, and inclinations against all public disapproval.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow1. A Psalm of Life①Love of nature, love for the past ②Trochaic tetrameter③constant theme for poets: The relationship of life and death. ④He expresses his pertinent interpretation to that by warning us that though life is hard and everybody must die, time flies and life is short, yet, human beings ought to be hold “to act,” to face the reality straightly so as to make otherwise meaningless life significant.2. My Lost YouthⅤ. Terms 10’New England PoetsThe new England poets were the representatives of imitation, authors like Irving, William Cullen Bryant, Henry wadsworth Longfellow etc. tried to imitate the forms and themes of their English brothers, such as Alexander Pope, Robert Burns, Thomas Gray, wordsworth and so on.Rip van winkleThis is one story in Washington Irving’s Sketch Book. It tells a story of a kind but hen-pecked man ripvan winkle. The protagonist does not take care of his own family very well and just wants to live idly. But his wife does not want him to live the life like that and keeps talking to him. Unhappy at home, he enters in the mountain with his gun and dog. One afternoon, he meets some strangers looking people playing at nine pins. Out of curiosity, he drinks the wine and falls into sleep. When he wakes up, he finds his dog missing and his gun rusted. He has to go back to the village again. But can not recognize the village and the folks. Later his surprise, he has been slept for 20 years. And his wife has been dead and his children grow up. At the end of story, his daughter takes him home and he still lives the life as he was used to.Ⅵ.Comment 20’1. Comment on Moby Dick:a. Although the narrator sees insanity in Ahab, Melville’s emotional sympathy is with the deficient Ahab. He begins with a noble intention to crush evil, but in taking this to the extreme, he becomes evil himself. He is destroyed by his consuming desire to root out evil.b. Moby Dick is a symbol to represent cruel, brutal, malicious powers of nature. Nature is capable of destroying the human world. Nature threatens humanity & thus calls out the heroic powers of the human beings. So the power of the universe is both of blessing and curse. In this way, the author constructs a complicated statement about American view of nature.2. Compare: Emily Dickinson with Walt Whitman in their writing style.Similarities①Along with Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman stands as one of the two giants of American ②poetry in the nineteenth century.③Pioneers of imagism④Part of American Renaissance⑤Influenced by transcendentalism⑥Thematically, they both extolled in their different ways and emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of “American Renaissance”⑦Technically, they both added to the literary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they are pioneers in American poetry.Differences①Whitman seems to keep his eyes on society at large; Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual.②Whereas Whitman is “national” in his outlook. Dickinson is “regional”③Whitman has the “catalogue techniques”, all-inclusive catalogue. Whereas Dickinson’s concise, direct, simple diction and syntax。