American Contemporary Literature

literature单词记忆一、单词记忆“literature”这个单词可以拆分成“liter”和“ature”两部分来记忆。

“liter”让我联想到“literal”（字面的），有文字相关的感觉，而“ature”可以看作是一种常见的词尾，就像“nature”（自然）一样。

把它们组合起来，就和文字作品、文学之类的概念联系起来啦。

还可以通过记忆一些包含这个单词的经典句子或者文学作品标题来加深印象，比如“English literature”（英国文学）。

二、单词释义“literature”主要有以下几个意思：1. 文学；文学作品。

例如，“I'm really into classic literature.”（我真的很喜欢古典文学。

）这里的“literature”指的就是那些经典的文学作品，像《哈姆雷特》《红楼梦》之类的。

2. 文献；资料。

比如，“There is a lot of scientific literature on this topic.”（关于这个话题有很多科学文献。

）就是指和这个科学话题相关的各种资料、研究报告之类的。

三、单词用法1. 作不可数名词，表示文学这个概念。

例如：“Literature reflects the society of its time.”（文学反映其所处时代的社会。

）2. 作可数名词，表示具体的文学作品或者文献资料。

如：“This library has a large collection of English literatures.”（这个图书馆有大量的英国文学作品。

）四、近义词1. writings：和“literature”一样都可以表示书面的作品。

例如：“His writings, like many great li teratures, are full of profound thoughts.”（他的作品，就像许多伟大的文学作品一样，充满了深刻的思想。

1.The History of American literatureThe literature of Colonial American (1607-1765)The literature of Reason and Revolution(1765—18世纪末）The literature of Romanticism（1800—1865）The literature of Realism（1865—1918）The literature of Modernism（1918－1945）The contemporary literature (1945－Now)2.Benjamin Franklin The AutobiographyThat good fortune, when I reflected on it, which is frequently the case, has induced me something to say that were it left to my choice, I should have no objection to go over the same life from its beginning to the end, only asking the advantage authors have of correcting in a second edition some faults of the first.3.Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of IndependenceWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.4.Edgar Allan Poe The Cask of AmontilladoI must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.5.Washington Irving Rip Van Winkle ( The Sketch Book )“Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but, sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.”Interpretations of Rip Van WinkleA New Critical Approach: A peaceful village before Revolution Natural world in the mountains ; A noisy world after revolution ------Irving was unwilling to accept a modern democratic America ------both Rip and Irving prefer the past and a dream-like worldA Feminist Approach : Rip is a good person with more advantages than disadvantages, and readers always show sympathy on him because he has such bad-tempered wife. It seems that he has good reason to go out from his family. He was forced to go out .In fact , Rip: a lazy ,foolish man,an irresponsible father,a hard-hearted husband.His wife :a hard-working ,thrift woman, a kind ,responsible mother, an able, brave woman.6.Summit of Romanticism (American Transcendentalism)Emerson Nature & Self-RelianceThoreau WaldenNature : Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, -- master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages.Self Reliance:Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.Walden:1 A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.2 I have frequently seen a poet withdraw , having enjoyed the most valuable part of a farm, while the crusty farmers supposed that he had got a few apples only.3 The hollow and lichen-covered apple trees, gnawed by rabbits, showing what kind of neighbors I should have.4 But I would say to my fellows, once for all, as long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the country jail.5 As I have said , I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.6 The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it.7 The Harivansa says,“An abode without birds is like a meat without seasoning.”such was not my abode, for I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds, not by having imprisoned one, but having caged myself near them8 “There was a shepherd that did live, And held his thoughts as high .As were the mounts whereon his flocks. Did hourly feed his by”What should we think of the shepherd’s life if his flocks always wandered to higher pastures than his thoughts?Purpose : 1.escaping the effects of the Industrial Revolution by leading to a simpler life.2.simplifying life and reducing expenditures, increasing writings time3.putting into practice the Transcendentalist beliefIdeas : 1. the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.2 .was very critical of modern civilization.3.spiritual richness is real wealth7.Hawthorne The Scarlet LetterHester Prynne--1.confesses her guilty, faces the future optimistically，helps others2. able to construct her life, wins a moral success3. moral growth-----angelDimmesdale----1.hides his guilty first2.undergoes the physical and spiritual tormentsChillingworth--morally degrades by his pursuit of revengePearl----1, it means treasure ( the treasure to her mother. )2, Came out of an ugly shell but is beautifulTheme: 1 Don’t intend to tell a love story2 assumes the universalityof guilty3 explores the complexities and ambiguities of man’s choices4 focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects of the sin on the people.8.Longfellow A Paslm of Life / The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / I shot an Arrow / My Lost Youth / The Rainy DayThe tide rises,The Tide Falls (1879)The tide rises, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;Along the sea-sands damp and brown, The traveler hastens toward the town,And the tide rises, the tide falls.Darkness settles on roofs and walls,But the sea in the darkness calls;The little waves, with their soft white hands,Efface the footprints in the sands,And the tide rises, the tide falls.The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls, Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;The day returns, but nevermore . Returns the traveler to the shore,And the tide rises, the tide falls.My Lost YouthOften I think of the beautiful townThat is seated by the sea;Often in thought go up and downThe pleasant streets of that dear old town,And my youth comes back to me.And a verse of a Lapland songIs haunting my memory still'A boy's will is the wind's will,And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughtsI shot an arrowI shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where;For, so swiftly it flew, the sight. Could not follow it in its flight.I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where;For who has sight so keen and strong,That it can follow the flight of song?Long, long afterward, in an oak. I found the arrow, still unbroken;And the song, from beginning to end,I found again in the heart of a friend.9.Edgar Allan Poe To Helen Annabel Lee “The Raven”For the moon never beams without bringing me dreamsOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE ；And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyesOf the beautiful ANNABEL LEE ；And so，all the night-tide , I lie down by the sideOf my darling —my darling —my life and my bride，In her sepulcher there by the sea—，In her tomb by the sounding sea.10.Emily Dickinson I Started Early-Took My Dog- I am NobodyTo Make a Prairie Success is counted sweetestI started Early -- Took my Dog -- And visited the Sea --The Mermaids in the Basement Came out to look at me --And Frigates -- in the Upper Floor Extended Hempen Hands --Presuming Me to be a Mouse -- Aground -- upon the Sands --But no Man moved Me -- till the Tide Went past my simple Shoe --And past my Apron -- and my Belt -- And past my Bodice -- too --And made as He would eat me up --As wholly as a Dew Upon a Dandelion's Sleeve --And then -- I started -- too -- And He -- He followed -- close behind --I felt his Silver Heel Upon my Ankle -- Then my ShoesWould overflow with Pearl --Until We met the Solid Town -- No One He seemed to know --And bowing -- with a Might look -- At me -- The Sea withdrew --1 The speaker is extremely frightened by the sea.2.The speaker also seems attracted to the sea.3. The speaker runs to town to escape the sea.4. She has a conflicted relationship to the sea.5. she is attracted to sth that frightens her---her self consciousness may mean she has some desire about which she feels guilty.Water, The seaThe unconscious, the emotions, the desire, the sexuality.The speaker’s conflicted attitude toward the sea implies a conflicted attitude toward sex (sex both attract and frightens her)11.Whitman Leaves of Grass One's Self I Sing O Captain! My Captain(free verse)The "ship" is intended to represent the United States of America, while its "fearful trip" recalls the troubles of the American Civil War. The "Captain" is Lincoln himself. (metaphor ) Rrhyme scheme : a a b b c d e d12.Mark Twain (realism) The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras CountyThe Adventure of Tom Sawyer13.Naturalism Theodore Sister CarrieStephen Crane The Open Boat1. Sister CarrieOh, Carrie, Carrie! Oh, blind strivings of the human heart! Onward, onward, it saith(say), and where beauty leads, there it follows. Whether it be the tinkle of a lone sheep bell o‘er some quiet landscape, or the glimmer of beauty in sylvan places, or the show of soul in some passing eye, the heart knows and makes answer, following. It is when the feet weary and hope seems vain that the heartaches and the longings arise. Know, then, that for you is neither surfeit(过量）nor content. In your rocking-chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. In your rocking-chair, by your window, shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel.2. The Open BoatNaturalism in the story1,The indifference of natureThe oiler was the most skilled and capable manIf nature were just, The oiler would be the last of the four men who should have died. The oiler’s death and lack of explanation surrounding it reinforce the randomness of nature’s whims and symbolize the indifference of nature toward manIn the story a bird watches them and is completely indifferent.2,The survival of the fittestWhile the cook, captain, and correspondent all depend on a manmade or naturally occurring device to help them to the shore, the oiler goes it alone, relying only on his human strength and not on his more evolved capacity for thought and strategy.The “fittest”are the men who have relied on man’s ability to intelligently adapt and create.3,Man’s insignificance and aloneness in the universeThey think the man sees them. Then they think they see two men, then a crowd and perhaps a boat being rolled down to the shore. They stubbornly think that help is on the way as the shadows lengthen and the sea and sky turn black.14.Sherwood Anderson The Triumph of The EggThe Egg’s Symbolic Meanings :1.The Egg: The Robber2.The Egg: Beautiful But Fragile American Dream3 The Egg: The Old Unsolved Riddle15.Anne Porter The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (Stream-of-Consciousness Narration)16.F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great GatsbyEast Egg represents the established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made richThe unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals.Do you think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”?It is complicated to say Gatsby deserves to be “great”or not.For one thing, Gatsby’s capacity to dream makes him “great”. Gatsby was ambitious, hardworking, generous and passionate. He was so extremely loyal to his love Daisy that he could do anything to get Daisy back: he did shady business to earn money and social position; he threw luxurious parties just to draw Daisy’s attention; he could take the blame for a death that he did not cause. Gatsby never gave up his idealistic dream while striving for material joy. Gatsby kept on making efforts to balance the both sides. In this respect, he is great.For another thing, Gatsby never realized that Daisy wasn’t the girl he loved anymore. He is not so wise and he can not see the people clearly. Gatsby was so innocent that he staked everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. In this respect, He wasn’t sober enough to be great.17.Ernest Hemingway (Iceberg theory)A Clean, Well-lighted Place The Old Man and The Sea18.Modern Poetry ImagismPound In a Station of the MetroWilliam Carlos Williams Spring and All The Red Wheelbarrow so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.19.Robert FrostFire And IceThe Road Not TakenStopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningWhose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though; (woods 象征着大自然，而village 象征着人类社会)He will not see me stopping here,To watch his woods fill up with snow (snow --- purity )My little horse must think it queer，To stop without a farmhouse near,Between the woods and frozen lake，The darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shake, (he---My horse,Personification )To ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound’s the sweep, (Alliteration )Of easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep, (Alliteration )But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.Rhyme : interlocking enclosed rhyme (aaba ,bbcb,ccdc, dddd)Rhetorical DeviceAlliteration---sound & sleep; dark & deepPersonification “he”—horse “My little horse must think it queer.”Repetition (重复) “and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.( Superficial meaning: there is still a long distance before the speaker arrives at home and sleeps. Implied meaning: there are still numerous responsibilities before the speaker’s life comes to an end.SymbolismWoods--The mystery of nature; the temptations in our lifeVillage & He (the owner of the woods)—Human world & societySnow--Something of purityPromises--The unavoidable responsibilities & obligationsMiles--Long distance; the heavy duty of lifeSleep--Rest during night; the end of life (death)I am on my way--The journey of life20.Eugene O’Neill Desire Under the Elms (Abbie,Eben,Ephraim, Simeon ,Peter)21.Toni Morrison Recitatif。

比较文学与世界文学专业（专业代码：050108）所属学科门类：文学所属一级学科：中国语言文学所属院系：文学研究院一、培养目标1. 培养我国社会主义建设事业所需要的、具有较高政治素养和人文品格，德、智、体全面发展的人才。

2. 培养具有坚实的比较文学理论和实践能力、具有比较深厚中外文学、文化修养、具有良好的中外语言功底和跨文化沟通能力的国际型人才。

3. 培养人文视野宽广、具有人文精神和人文情怀、富有创新意识的社会精英。

4．培养具有高尚的社会品德和敬业精神，并具有强烈社会责任感、有较强组织能力和良好心理素质的高层次人才。

二、学制硕士研究生学制为两年半。

在规定时期完成课程学习，但未完成学位论文者，可申请延长学习年限，累计不得超过一年。

三、研究方向四、课程简介和学分㈠课程简介1、专业必修课2、专业选修课㈡课程设置和学分比较诗学文化理论与世界文学翻译文学研究中外文学关系史五、培养方式和课程考核采取系统理论学习和专业研究相结合，导师个别指导和学校、文学研究院集体培养相结合的办法。

充分发挥导师的指导作用和研究生的学习主动性，着重培养研究生的独立科研能力。

1：研究生需根据培养方案，制定每学期的学习计划，导师定时检查。

2：研究生的学习以自主学习为主，教师进行辅导和质疑，上课可采用讲解和讨论相结合的方式进行。

3：每门课程的任课教师应提出必读和参考的书目。

4：每门课程考核方式为学期末撰写课程论文一篇，不少于4千字。

成绩采用百分制。

5：课程学习以及学分的要求为：总学分为32学分。

其中：学位公共课共2门，必须修，共计10学分；专业必修课5门，必须修，共计10学分；专业选修课5门，必须修，共计10学分；公共选修课1门，必须修，共计2学分。

6：学校和研究生院要加强对研究生的政治思想工作的领导，教师在执行教学任务时，要做到既教书又育人。

7：研究生积极参加各项政治思想教育活动、公益劳动和体育锻炼。

六、学位论文1：时间安排：第3、第4学期，共两个学期。

Personal Statement Program： 20th Century American Literature “The apparition of these faces in the crowds： /Petals on a wet， black bough.” My first reaction on reading Ezra Pound's 1916 poem In a Station of the Metro was that of outrage. Is it a poem by any definition？ If it is a poem， how is it to be interpreted and understood？ And finally， what are the implications that this poem has produced for the twentieth-century American literature？ My initial bewilderment subsided as I realized that there must a raison d'etre behind this apparently bizarre literary phenomenon. What I should do is to put this poem into the context of the American literary evolution and literary history. At least， the poem raises an important challenge. It requires me to understand some of the crucial changes that must be happening around the turn of the last century. My subsequent studies indicate that this poem represents part of the larger literary movement known as Imagism，which included such theorists and practitioners as T. E. Hume， Hilda Doolittle， Amy Lowell， Ezra Pound， etc. The movement was a direct reaction to the late Victorian poetry， which had become extremely artificial， emptily “rhetorical” and “ornamental”。

Toni Morrison’s Critical Reception in ChinaYang JincaiAbstract：The reception of any author in a foreign culture is rarely a one-dimensional matter．The factors that predetermine and govern this reception，though sometimes a matter of chance，are in-tricately connected to the features of the receiving culture．In this sense，if we want to explain the way Toni Morrison and her works have found their place in Chinese culture，we need to consider the specific processes of development of the Chinese literary consciousness from the mid-1980s till now．There could be discerned two distinct sociocultural periods．Morrison’s reception in China has followed the national agenda of each of the two different periods of sociocultural development as well as the tastes and reading horizons of the audience．Key words：Toni Morrison Chinese perspectives critical receptionAuthor：Yang Jincai is professor of English at the Institute of Foreign Literature，Nanjing Uni-versity．He is author of American Renaissance Authors：A Political and Cultural Reading（Shang-hai Foreign Language Education Press，2009）and numerous critical essays on British and Ameri-can literature．Email：jcyang@nju．edu．cn标题：托尼·莫里森在中国的批评与接受内容摘要：托尼·莫里森于20世纪80年代被译介到中国，从此这位非裔美国作家开始了在中国的“旅行”，并逐步成为中国学界研究的“宠儿”，有关她的评论和著述无论在数量还是在质量上都一直呈上升趋势。

American Literature Lecture One 060511/2, 9th Nov. 2009Part I. IntroductionPart I: introduction questions1.Teaching schemes, examination, requirements, advice, contacts, and so on2.What is literature?3.How to define American Literature?4.How to study literature?1. What is literature?1)The definition of 14th century:It means polite learning through reading. A man of literature or a man of letters = a man of wide reading, “literacy”2)The definition of 18th century:practice and profession of writing3)The definition of 19th century:the high skills of writing in the special context of high imagination4)Robert Frost’s definition:performance in words5)Modern definition:We can define literature as language artistically used to achieve identifiable literary qualities and to convey meaningful messages. Literature is characterized by beauty of expression and form and by universality intellectual and emotional appeal.2. How to define the American literatureAmerican literature mainly refers to literature produced in American English by the people living in the United States.3. How to study literatureHistorical Perspectives: Biographical-Historical and Moral-Philosophical.(Diverse Types of Historicisms: including Feminist, Sociological or Marxian Studies of Language, Literature and Translation)Structuralist Perspectives: Looking for Systematic Deep Structures both in Form and Content.(Semiotics, TG Grammar, Systematic/Functional Grammar, Narratology, Freudian psycho-analysis, Russian Formalism, Anglo-American New Criticism, Archetypalism, Myth Criticism, Structural Marxism, Ideology)Poststructuralist or Postmodern Perspectives: Deconstructing Structuring Binaries (No Clear Distinction between Form and Content)[Postmodern Feminism, Postcolonialism, Postmodern Narratologies, New Historicism, Ideological Studies, Discourse Analysis, Reception Theories, Trauma Studies, Trans-Atlantic Studies, Transnationalism, Eco-criticism, Cultural Pathology, and other Postmodernisms]Approaches on Literature1. The Traditional Approaches:1)Analytical ApproachBe familiar with the elements of a literary work, eg: plot, character, setting, point of view, structure, style, atmosphere, theme, etc; answer some basic questions about the text itself.2)Thematic Approach“What is the story, the poem, the play or the essay about?”3)Historical - Biographical Approach4)Moral - Philosophical Approach.2.The Formalistic AppoachStructuralism, Poststructuralism, Semiotics3.The Psychological Approach: Freud4.Mythological and Archetypal Approach5.Feminist Approaches6.Sociological Approach7.Deconstruction8.Phenomenology, Hermeneutics, Reception Theory9.Cultural CriticismAmerican MulticultualismThe New Historicism, British Cultural Materialism10.Additional Approaches:①Aristotlian Criticism②Genre Criticism③Rhetoric, Linguistics, and Stylistics④The Marxist Approach⑤Ecological Criticism⑥Post ColonialismLecture Two 060511/2, 10th Nov. 2009Part II. The periods of American literature①The colonial period (约1607 - 1765)②The period of Enlightenment and the Independence War (1765 -1800)③The romantic period (1800 - 1865)④The realistic period (1865 - 1914)⑤The period of modernism (1914 - 1945)⑥The Contemporary Literature (1945 - 2000)1.The colonial period (约1607 - 1765)The main featuresPuritanism2.The period of Enlightenment and the Independence War (1765 -1800)Benjamin Franklin3.The romantic period (1800 - 1865)1)The early romanticismWashington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper2)“New England Transcendentalism” or “American Renaissance (1836 - 1855)”Emerson, Thoreau/ Whitman, Dickinson/ Hawthorne, Melville , Allan Poe3)“New England Poets” or “Schoolroom Poets”Bryant/ Longfellow/ Lowell/ Holmes/ Whittier4) The Reformers and AbolitionistsBeecher Stowe/ Frederick Douglass4.The realistic period (1865 - 1914)1)Midwestern RealismWilliam Dean Howells2)Cosmopolitan NovelistHenry James3)Local ColorismMark Twain4)NaturalismStephen Crane/ Jack London/ Theodore Dreiser5)The “Chicago School” of PoetryMasters/ Sandburg/ Lindsay/ Robinson6)The Rise of Black American LiteratureWashington/ Du Bois/ Chestnutt5.The period of modernism (1914 - 1945)1)Modern poetry: experiments in form (Imagism)Ezra Pound/ T.S.Eliot/ Robert Frost/ Wallace Stevens/ Carlos Williams2)Prose Writing: modern realism (the Lost Generation)F.Scott Fitzgerald/ Ernest Hemingway/ William Faulkner3)Novels of Social AwarenessSinclair Lewis/ Dos Passos/ John Steinbeck/ Richard Wright4)The Harlem RenaissanceLangston Hughes/ Zora Neals Hurston5)The Fugitives and New Criticism6)The 20th Century American DramaEugene O’ Neil6.The Contemporary Literature (1945 - 2000)I.American Poetry Since 1945: the Anti-traditionII.American Prose Since 1945: Realism and Experimentation.I. Poetry:1)Traditionalism2)Idiosyncratic poets3)Experimental poetry4)Surrealism and Existentialism5)Women and Multiethnic poets6)Chicano / Hispanic / Latino poetry7)Native American poetry8)African-American poetry9)Asian-American poetry10)New DirectionsExperimental Poetry:1)The Black Mountain School2)The San Francisco School3)Beat Poets4)The New York SchoolII. Prose:1.The Realist Legacy and the Late 1940s2.The Affluent but Alienated 1950s3.The Turbulent but Creative 1960s4.The 1970s and 1980s: New Directions1.The Realist Legacy and the Late 1940s1)Robert Penn Warren2)Arthur Miller3)Tennessee Williams4)Katherine Anne Porter5)Eudora Welty2.The Affluent But Alienated 1950s1)John O’Hara2) James Baldwin3) Ralph Waldo Ellison4) Flannery O’Conner5) Saul Bellow6) Bernard Malamud7) Isaac Bashevis Singer8) Vladimir Nabokov9) John Cheever10) John Updike11) J.D.Salinger12) Jack Kerouac3. The Turbulent but Creative 1960s1) Thomas Pynchon2) John Barth3) Norman Mailer4. The 1970s and 1980s: New Directions1) John Gardner2) Toni Morrison3) Alice WalkerPart II. Early American and Colonial Period to 17651. Introduction1. Instead of beginning with folk tales and songs the American literature began with abstractions and proceededfrom philosophy to fiction because there were no written literature among the more than 500 different Indian languages and tribal cultures that existed in North America before the first Europeans arrived there and set up the first colony Jamestown in about 1607.2. American writing began with the work of English adventurers and colonists in the New World chiefly for thebenefit of readers in the mother country. Some of these early works reached the level of literature, as in the robust and perhaps truthful account of his adventures by Captain John Smith and the sober, tendentious journalistic histories of John Winthrop and William Bradford in New England. From the beginning, however, the literature of New England was also directed to the edification and instruction of the colonists themselves, intended to direct them in the ways of the godly.3. Therefore the writing in this period was essentially two kinds: (1) practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming,hunting, travel, etc. designed to inform people “at home” what life was like in the new world, and, often, to induce their immigration; (2) highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions.4. Furthermore, the influential Protestant work ethic, reinforced by the practical necessities of a hard pioneer life,inhibited the development of any reading matter designed simply for leisure-time entertainment.It is the belief that work itself is good in addition to what it achieves; that time saved by efficiency or goodfortune should not be spent in leisure but in doing further work; that idleness is always immoral and likely to lead to even worse sin since “the devil finds work for idle hands to do”. This belief late r developed into the American philosophic idea Puritanism.5. divines who wrote furiously to set forth their views was to defend and promote visions of the religious state. They set forth their visions —in effect the first formulation of the concept of national destiny —in a series ofimpassioned histories and jeremiads from Providence (1654) to Cotton Mather ’s epic Magnalia Christi Americana6. Even Puritan poetry was offered uniformly to the service of God. Michael Wigglesworth ’s Day of Doom (1662) wasuncompromisingly theological, and Anne Bradstreet ’s poems, issued as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650), were reflective of her own piety. The best of the Puritan poets, Edward Taylor , whose work was not published until two centuries after his death, wrote metaphysical verse,Sermons and tracts poured forth until austere Calvinism found its last utterance in the words of Jonathan Edwards . In the other colonies writing was usually more mundane and on the whole less notable, though the journal of the Quaker John Woolman is highly esteemed, and some critics maintain that the best writing of the colonial period is found in the witty and urbane observations of William Byrd , a gentleman planter of Westover, Virginia.2. The Main Features of this period1) American literature grew out of humble origins. diaries, histories, journals, letters, commonplace books, travelbooks, sermons, in short, personal literature in its various forms, occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period.2) In content these early writings served either God or colonial expansion or both. In form, if there was any format all, English literary traditions were faithfully imitated and transplanted.3) The Puritanism formed in this period was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought andAmerican literature.3. Puritanism1) Simply speaking, American Puritanism just refers to the spirit and ideal of puritans who settled in the NorthAmerican continent in the early part of the seventeenth century because of religious persecutions. In content it means scrupulous moral rigor, especially hostility to social pleasures and indulgences, that is strictness,sternness and austerity in conduct and religion.2) With time passing it became a dominant factor in American life, one of the most enduring shaping influences inAmerican thought and American Literature. To some extent it is a state of mind, a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the American breathes, rather than a set of tenets.3) Actually it is a code of values, a philosophy of life and a point of view in American minds, also a two-facetedtradition of religious idealism and level-headed common sense.Part III. The period of Enlightenment and the Independence War (1765 -1800)I. Introduction1) The 18th-century American enlightenment as a movement marked by an emphasis on rationality rather thantradition, scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and representative government in place of monarchy.2) Enlightenment thinkers and writers, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine, were devoted to the idealsof justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man.3) In these period with the exception of outstanding political writing, such as Common sense, Declaration ofIndependence, The Federalist Papers and so on, few works of note appeared. Even if there appeared poetry and fiction, they were full of imitativeness and vague universality. So most Americans were painfully aware of their excessive dependence on English literary models. The search for a native literature became a national obsession.4) Despite these we should pay attention to several points in this period:William Hill Brown (1765-1793) published the first American novel The Power of Sympathy in 1789.Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810) was the first American author to attempt to live from his writing. Hedeveloped the genre of American Gothic.The Dictionary edited by Noah Webster (1758-1843) based the American lexicography. Updated Webster’sdictionaries are still standard today.Philip Freneau’s (1752-1832) was known as "the poet of the American Revolution". His major themes are death, nature, transition, and the human in nature. All of these themes become important in 19th century writing. All the while...in romanticizing the wonders of nature in his writings...he searched for an American idiom in verse. II. Benjamin Franklin1706 - 1790(An Extraordinary Life and An Electric Mind)1. His Life1)Born the tenth of fifteen children in a poor candle and soap maker’s family, he had to leave school before he waseleven.2)At twelve he was apprenticed to an older brother, James, a printer in Boston.3)As a voracious reader he managed to make up for the deficiency by his own effort and began at 16 to publishessays under the pseudonym, Silence Dogood, essays commenting on social life in Boston.4)When he was 17 he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune marking the beginning of a long successstory of an archetypal kind.5)He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher, found the Junto Club and subscription library,issued the immensely popular Poor Richard’s Almanac.6)Retired around forty-two, he did what was to him a great happiness: read, make scientific experiments and dogood to his fellowmen. He helped to find the Pennsylvania Hospital, an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania, and the American Philosophical Society.7)At the same time he did a lot of famous experiments and invented many things such as volunteer firedepartments, effective street lighting, the Franklin Stove, bifocal glasses, efficient heating devices, lightning-rod and so on.8)Beginning his public career in the early fifties, he became a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, the DeputyPostmaster-General for the colonies, and for some eighteen years served as representative of the colonies in London.9)During the War of Independence, he was made a delegate to the Continental Congress and a member of thecommittee to write the Declaration of Independence. One of the makers of the new nation, he was instrumental in bringing France into an alliance with America against England, and played a decisive role at the Constitutional Convention.2. Major Works1)Poor Richard’s AlmanacMaxims（谚语，格言）and axioms（哲理，格言）a)Lost time is never found again.b) A penny saved is a penny earned.c)God help them that help themselves.d)Fish and visitors stink in three days.e)Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.f)Ale in, truth out.g)Eat not to dullness. Drink not to elevation.h)Diligence is the Mother of Good Luck.i)One Today is worth two tomorrow.j)Industry pays debts. Despair encreaseth them.2)Autobiographya.It is perhaps the first real post-revolutionary American writing as well as the first real autobiography in English.b.It gives us the simple yet immensely fascinating record of a man rising to wealth and fame from a state ofpoverty and obscu rity into which he was born, the faithful account of the colorful career of America’s first self-made man.c.First of all, it is a puritan document. The most famous section describes his scientific scheme of self-examinationand self-improvement.d.It is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Franklin was spokesman for the new order of eighteenthcentury enlightenment, and that he represented in America all its ideas, that man is basically good and free, by nature endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.e.It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision. The plainness of its style, the homeliness ofimagery, the simplicity of diction, syntax and expression are some of the salient features we cannot mistake.3. Evaluation1)He was a rare genius in human history. Nature seemed particularly lavish and happy when he was shaped.Everything seems to meet in this one man, mind and will, talent and art, strength and ease, wit and grace, and he became almost everything: a printer, postmaster, citizen, almanac maker, essayist, scientist, inventor, orator, statesman, philosopher, political economist, ambassador, musician and parlor man.2)He was the first great self-made man in America, a poor democrat born in an aristocratic age that his fineexample helped to liberalize.3)Politically he brought the colonial era to a close. For quite some time he was regarded as the father of allYankees, even more than Washington was. He was the only American to sign the four documents that created the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the treaty of alliance with France, the treaty of peace with England, and the constitution.4)Scientifically, as the symbol of America in the Age of Enlightenment, he invented a lot of useful implements. Hisresearch on electricity, his famous experiment with his kite line and many others made him the preeminent scientist of his day.5)Literally, he really opened the story of American literature. D. H. Lawrance agreed that Franklin waseverything but a poet. In the Scottish philosopher David Hume’s eyes he was America’s “first great man of letters”.Assignment: Please read the material by Ralph Waldo EmersonLecture Three 060511/2, 16th Nov. 2009The American Romanticism(I)I. What is RomanticismSimply speaking, Romanticism is a literary movement flourished as a cultural force throughout the 19th C and it can be divided into the early period and the late period. Also it remains powerful in contemporary literature and art.Romanticism, a term that is associated with imagination and boundlessness, as contrasted with classicism, which is commonly associated with reason and restriction. A romantic attitude may be detected in literature of any period, but as an historical movement it arose in the 18th and 19th centuries, in reaction to more rational literary, philosophic, artistic, religious, and economic standards.... The most clearly defined romantic literary movement in the U. S. was Transcendentalism.The representatives of the early period includes Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper, and those of the late period contain Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe.II. The reasons on the rise of American RomanticismInternal causes:1)American burgeoned into a political, economic and cultural independence. Democracy and political equalitybecame the ideals of the new nation. Radical changes came about in the political life of the country. Parties began to squabble and scramble for power, and new system was in the making.2)The spread of industrialism, the sudden influx of immigration, and the pioneers pushing the frontier furtherwest, all these produced something of an economic boon and, with it, a tremendous sense of optimism and hope among the people.3)Ever-increasing magazines played an important role in facilitating literary expansion in the country.External causes:1)Foreign influences added incentive to the growth of romanticism in America.2)The influence of Sir Walter Scott was particularly powerful and enduring.III. Characteristics of American Romanticism (b)1)Sentimentalism, primitivism and the cult of the noble savage2)Political liberalism3)The celebration of natural beauty and the simple life4)Introspection5)The idealization of the common man, uncorrupted by civilization6)Interest in the picturesque past and remote places7)Antiquarianism8)Individualism9)Morbid melancholy10)Historical romanceIV. The Representatives of the early American romanticismA. Washington Irving(1783-1859 )1. About the Author1)Washington Irving was born in New York City on April 3, 1783 as the youngest of 11 children. His parents,Scottish-English immigrants, were great admirers of General George Washington, and named their son after their hero.2)Early in his life Irving developed a passion for books. He studied law privately but practiced only briefly. From1804 to 1806 he travelled widely in Europe. After returning to the United States, Irving was admitted to the New York bar in 1806.3)He was a partner with his brothers in the family hardware business and representative of the business inEngland until it collapsed in 1818. During the war of 1812 Irving was a military aide to New York Governor Tompkins in the U.S. Army.4)Irving's career as a writer started in journals and newspapers. His success in social life and literature wasshadowed by a personal tragedy because his engaged love died at the age of seventeen. So he never married or had children.5)After the death of his mother, Irving decided to stay in Europe, where he remained for seventeen years from1815 to 1832.6)In 1832 Irving returned to New York to an enthusiastic welcome as the first American author to have achievedinternational fame. Between the years 1842-45 Irving was the U.S. Ambassador to Spain.7)Irving spent the last years of his life in Tarrytown. From 1848 to 1859 he was President of Astor Library, laterNew York Public Library. Irving's later publications include Mahomet And His Successors(1850), Wolfert's Roost(1855), and his five-volume The Life of George Washington(1855-59). Irving died in Tarrytown on November 28, 1859.2. His Major Works1)His earliest work was a sparkling, satirical History of New York (1809) under the Dutch, ostensibly written byDiedrich Knickbo cker (hence the name of Irving’s friends and New York writers of the day, the “Knickbocker School”.)2)The Sketch Book (1819-20 as Geoffrey Crayon) - contains 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'3)The Life of George Washington (1855-59, five volumes)3. Evaluation to him1)American author, short story writer, essayist, poet, travel book writer, biographer, and columnist. Irving hasbeen called the father of the American short story. He is best known for 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,' in which the schoolmaster Ichabold Crane meets with a headless horseman, and 'Rip V an Winkle,' about a man who falls asleep for 20 years.2)The first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame, so he was regarded as father ofAmerican literature.3)The short story as a genre in American literature probably began with Irving’s The Sketch Book, ACOLLECTION OF ESSAYS, SKETCHES, AND TALES. It also marked the beginning of American Romanticism.B. James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)1. His Major WorksIn his life Cooper wrote over thirty novels which can be divided into frontier novels, detective novels and reference novels. He considered The Pathfinder (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841) his best works.The unifying thread of the five novels collectively known as the Leather-Stocking Tales is the life of Natty Bumppo. Cooper’s finest achievement, they constitute4 a vast prose epic with the North American continent as setting. Indian tribes as Characters, and great wars and westward migration as social background. The novels bring to life frontier America from 1740 to 1804.1)The Pioneers(1823): Natty Bumppo first appears as a seasoned scout in advancing years, with the dyingChingachgook, the old Indian chief and his faithful comrade, as the eastern forest frontier begins to disappear and Chingachgook dies.2)The Last of the Mohicans(1826): An adventure of the French and Indian Wars in the Lake George county.3)The Prairie(1827): Set in the new frontier where the Leatherstocking dies.4)The Pathfinder(1840): Continuing the same border warfare in the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario county.5)The Deerslayer(1841): Early adventures with the hostile Hurons on Lake Otsego, NY.2. Contributions of CooperThe creation of the famous Leatherstocking saga has cemented his position as our first great national novelist and his influence pervades American literature. In his thirty-two years (1820-1851) of authorship, Cooper produced twenty-nine other long works of fiction and fifteen books - enough to fill forty-eight volumes in the new definitive edition of his Works. Among his achievements:1)The first successful American historical romance in the vein of Sir Walter Scott (The Spy, 1821).2)The first sea novel (The Pilot, 1824).3)The first attempt at a fully researched historical novel (Lionel Lincoln, 1825).4)The first full-scale History of the Navy of the United States of America (1839).5)The first American international novel of manners (Homeward Bound and Home as Found, 1838).6)The first trilogy in American fiction (Satanstoe, 1845; The Chainbearer, 1845; and The Redskins, 1846).7)The first and only five-volume epic romance to carry its mythic hero - Natty Bumppo - from youth to old age. 3. His Skills1)He is good at making plots.2)All his novels are full of myths.3)He had never been to the frontier and among the Indians and yet could write five huge epic books about them isan eloquent proof of the richness of his imagination.4)He created the first Indians to appear in American fiction and probably the first group of noble savages.5)He hi t upon the native subject of frontier and wilderness, and helped to introduce the “Western” tradition intoAmerican literature.V. American Renaissance1. The Concept1)It also called New England Renaissance period from the 1830s roughly until the end of the American CivilWar in which American literature, in the wake of the Romantic movement, came of age as an expression of a national spirit.2)The literary scene of the period was dominated by a group of New England writers, the “Brahmins”. They werearistocrats, steeped in foreign culture, active as professors at Harvard College, and interested in creating a genteel American literature based on foreign models.3)One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists, including Emerson,Thoreau and so on.4)The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. Theyadvocated reforms in church, state, and society, contributing to the rise of free religion and the abolition movement and to the formation of various utopian communities, such as Brook Farm. The abolition movement was also bolstered by other New England writers, including the Quaker poet Whittier and the novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) dramatized the plight of the black slave.5)Apart from the Transcendentalists, there emerged during this period great imaginative writers—NathanielHawthorne, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman—whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature. Contemporary with these writers but outside the New England circle was the Southern genius Edgar Allan Poe, who later in the century had a strong impact on European literature.Lecture Four The American Romanticism(II)TranscendentalismIt is a 19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought.Emerson defined it as “idealism” simply. In reality it was far more complex collection of beliefs: that the spark of divinity lies within man; that everything in the world is a microcosm of existence; that the individual soul is identical to the world soul, or Over-Soul. By meditation, by communing with nature, through work and art, man could transcend his senses and attain an understanding of beauty and goodness and truth.In application, American transcendentalism urged a reform in society, and that such a reform may be reached if individuals resist customs and social codes, and rely rather on reason to learn what is right. Ultimately, transcendentalists believed that one should transcend society's code of ethics and rely on personal intuition in order to reach absolute goodness, or Absolute Truth.It was indebted to the dual heritage of American Puritanism. That is to say, it was in actuality romanticism on the puritan soil.Transcendentalism dominated the thinking of the American Renaissance, and its resonance reverberated through American life well into the 20th century. In one way or another American most creative minds were drawn into its thrall, attracted not only to its practicable messages of confident self-identity, spiritual progress and social justice, but also by its aesthetics, which celebrated, in landscape and mindscape, the immense grandeur of the American soul.The Representativesof American RenaissanceI. The Essayists1)Ralph Waldo Emerson2)Henry David ThoreauRalph Waldo Emerson(1803 - 1882)1.His philosophy:1)Strongly he felt the need for a new national vision.2)He firmly believes in the transcendence of the Oversoul and thought that the universe was composed of Nature。

美国文学1.殖民地时期及独立革命战争时期的美国文学Philip Freneau（菲利普﹒弗瑞诺）(1)He was considered as the “Poet of the American revolution” as the most outstanding poet in America of the 18th century. (2)He was a satirist, a bitter polemicist. (3)He wrote many poems encouraging revolution and encouraging the glory that would be won by overcoming the British. The Wild Honey Suckle 《野金银花》The Indian Burying Ground 《印第安人的殡葬地》The British Ship《英国囚船》The Rising Glory of America 《美洲光辉的兴起》(1)The Wild Honey Suckle is Freneau’s best lyric (2)It anticipated the 19th—century use of simple nature imagery.The Indian Burying Ground anticipated romantic primitivism and the celebration of the “Noble Savage”.Thomas Jefferson（托马斯﹒杰弗逊）The Declaration of Independence《独立宣言》(1)The Declaration of Independence was adopted July 4, 1776. (2)It not only announced the birth of a new nation, but also expounded a philosophy of human freedom. (3)It lists 13 cruelties committed by the King of Britain. (4)The famous lines are: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”(5) Thomas Jefferson’s thought was inspiredby the thoughts of John Locke.2.浪漫主义时期的美国文学Calvinism（加尔文主义）(1)Calvinism refers to the religious teachings of John Calvin and his followers. (2) Calvin taught that only certain persons, the elect, were chosen by God to be saved, and these could be saved only by God’s grace. (3) Calvinism forms the basis for the doctrines and practices of the Huguenots, Puritans, Presbyterians, and the Reformed churches.American Romanticism（美国浪漫主义）(1) American Romanticism is one of the most important periods in the history of American literature. (2) It was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. For romantics, the feelings ,intuitions and emotions were more important than reason and common sense. They emphasized individualism, placing the individual against the group. They affirmed the inner life of the self, and cherished strong interest in the past, the wild, the remote, the mysterious and the strange. They stressed the element “Americanness”in their works. (3)It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. (4) Being a period of the great flowering of American literature, it is also called “the American Renaissance.”(5) American Romanticists include such literary figures as Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman and some others.Transcendentalism（超验主义）(1) Transcendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the middle 1800’s, which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition, the Over—soul, and Nature. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self—reliant. (2)New England Transcendentalism is the product of a combination of native American Puritanism and European Romanticism.Free verse（自由体诗歌）(1)Free verse means the rhymed or unrhymed poetry composed without paying attention to conventional rules of meter.(2) Free verse was originated by a group of French poets of the late 19th century. (3)Their purpose was to free themselves from the restrictions of formal metrical patterns and to recreate instead the free rhythms of natural speech. (4)Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is, perhaps, the most notable example.Symbol（象征）(1) Symbol means an act, a person, a thing, or a spectacle that stands for something else, usually something less palpable than the named symbol. (2) The relationship between the symbol and its referent is not often one of simple equivalence. Allegorical symbols usually express a neater equivalence with what they stand for than the symbols found in modern realistic fiction.Theme（主题）(1) Theme means the unifying point or general idea of a literary work. (2) It provides ananswer to such questions as “What is the work about?”(3)Each literary work carries its own theme or themes. For example, King Lear has many themes, among which are blindness and madness.3.现实主义与自然主义时期的美国文学American Naturalism(美国自然主义)(1)The American Naturalists accepted the more negative interpretation of Darwin’s evolutionary theory and used it to account for the behavior of those characters in literary works who were regarded as more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes, their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.(2)American Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic. It is no more than a gloomy philosophical approach to reality, or to human existence.(3)Dreiser is a leading figure of his school.Darwinism(达尔文主义)(1)Darwinism is a term that comes from Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory.(2)Darwinist think that those who survive in the world are the fittest and those who fail to adapt themselves to the environment will perish. They believe that man has evolved from lower forms of life. Humans are special not because God created them in His image, but because they have successfully adapted to changing environmental conditions and have passed on their survival-making characteristics genetically.(3)Influenced by this theory, some American naturalist writers apply Darwinism as an explanation of human nature and social reality.Local Colorists(乡土作家)(1)Generally speaking, the writing of local colorists are concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region or province. The characteristic setting is the isolated small town.(2)Local colorists were consciously nostalgic historian of a vanishing way of life, recorders of a present that faded before their eyes. Yet for all their sentimentality, they dedicated themselves to minutely accurate descriptions of the life of their regions. They worked from personal experience to record the facts of a local environment and suggested that the native life was shaped by the curious conditions of the locale.(3)Major local colorists include Hamlin Garland, Mark Twain , Kate Chopin, etc.Theodore Dreiser(西奥多·德莱塞)He is generally acknowledged as one of America’s literary naturalists.Works Sister Carrie《嘉莉妹妹》(1) Sister Carrie tells about a poor country girl (Carrie Meeber) who goesto Chicago to pursue the American Dream.(2) The novel shows Dreiser’s naturalistic view about life by illustratingthe purposelessness of life.(3) The dominant symbol of the novel is the rocking chair that is the rocking chair thatis indicative of the uncertainty of life.Jennie Gerhardt《珍妮姑娘》Trilogy of Desire《欲望》三部曲a. The Financier《金融家》b. The Titan《巨人》c. The Stoic《斯多葛》The Genius 《天才》An American Tragedy 《美国的悲剧》(1) An American Tragedy is Dreiser’s greatest work and the title of theBook implies Dreiser intention to tell us that it is the social pressurethat makes Clyde’s downfall inevitable.(2) Clyde’s tragedy is a tragedy that depends upon the American socialsystem which encouraged people to pursue the “dream of success ” atall costs.Sherwood Anderson (舍伍德·安德森)(1)He has been called the first of America’s “psychological writers” because he first explored the motivations and frustrations of his fictional characters in terms of Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychology.(2)He tremendously influenced such writers as Hemingway and Faulkner.Works Winesburg, Ohio《小镇畸人》(1) Winesburg, Ohio is a collection of 23 interrelated stories ofsamll-town life. These stories sound morbid and grotesque, butUnderneath them runs a strong desire to communicate, and love andbe loved.(2) It won the author a foremost position in contemporary Americanliterary.4.现代时期的美国文学The Lost Generation (迷惘的一代)(1)The Lost Generation is a term first used by Gertrude Stein to describe the post-World War I generation of American writers: men and women haunted by a sense of betrayal and emptiness brought about by the destructiveness of the war.(2)Full of youthful idealism, these individuals sought the meaning of life, drank excessively, had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to date.(3)The three best-know representatives of Lost Generation are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos.(4)Others usually included among the list are Sherwood Anderson, Kay Boyle, Hart Crane, Ford Maddox Ford and Zelda Fitzgerald.Imagism (意象派诗歌)（1）Imagism came into being in Britain ans U.S. around 1910 as a reaction to the traditional English poetry to express the sense of fragmentation and dislocation.（2）The imagists, with Ezra Pound leading the way, hold that the most effective means to express these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image.（3）Imagism is characterized by the following three poetic principles:i) direct treatment of subject matter;ii) economy of expression;iii) as regards rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in thesequence of metronome.（4）Ezra Pound’s In a Station of the Metro is a well-known imagist poem.The Beat Generation (垮掉的一代)（1）The members of the Beat Generation were new bohemian libertines, who engaged in a spontaneous, sometimes messy, creativity.（2）The beat writers produced a body of written work controversial both for its advocacy of non-conformity and for its non-conforming style.（3）The major beat writings are Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Allen Ginsberg’s Howl. Howl became the manifesto of the Beat Generation.American Dream (美国梦)（1）American Dream refers to the dream of material success, in which one, regardless of social status, acquires wealth and gains success by working hard and good luck.（2）In literature, the theme of American Dream recurs. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby comes from the west to the east with the dream of material success. By bootlegging and other illegal means he fulfilled his dream but ended up being killed. The novel tells the shattering of American Dream rather than its success.Expressionism (表现主义)（1）Expressionism refers to a movement in Germany early in the 20th century, in which a number of painters sought to avoid the representation of external reality and, instead, to project a highly personal or subjective vision of the world.（2）Expressionism is a reaction against realism or naturalism, aiming at presenting a post-war world violently distorted.（3）Works noted for expressionism include: Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones, James Joyce’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, and T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, etc..（4）In a further sense, the term is sometimes applied to the belief that literary works are essentially expressions of their own authors’moods and thoughts; this has been the dominant assumption about literature since the rise of Romanticism.Feminism (女权主义)(1) Feminism incorporates both a doctrine of equal rights for women and an ideology of socialtransformation aiming to create a world for women beyond simple social equality.(2) In general, feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation based on the belief that womensuffer injustice because of their sex. Under this broad umbrella various feminists offer differing analyses of the causes, or agents, of female oppression.(3) Definitions of feminism by feminists tend to be shaped by their training, ideology or race. So,for example, Marxist and Socialist feminists stress the interaction within feminism of class with gender and focus on social distinctions between men and women. Black feminists argue much more for an integrated analysis which can unlock the multiple systems of oppression.Hemingway Code Hero (海明威式英雄)（1）Hemingway Hero, also called code hero, is one who, wounded but strong, more sensitive, enjoys the pleasures of life (sex, alcohol, sport) in face of ruin and death, and maintains,through some notion of a code, an ideal of himself.（2）Barnes in The Sun Also Rises, Henry in A Farewell to Arms and Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea are typical of Hemingway Hero.Harlem Renaissance (哈莱姆文艺复兴)（1）Harlem Renaissance refers to a period of outstanding literary vigor and creativity that occurred in the United States during the 1920s.（2）The Harlem Renaissance changed the images of literature created by many black and white American writers. New black images were no longer obedient and docile, instead they showed a new confidence and racial pride.(3) The leading figures are Langston Hughs, James Weldon Johnson, Wallace Thurman, etc..Impressionism (印象主义)（1）Impressionism is a style of painting that gives the impression made by the subject on the artist without much attention to details. Writers accepted the same conviction that the personal attitudes and moods of the writer were legitimate elements in depicting character or setting or action.（2）Briefly, it is a style of literature characterized by the creation of general impressions and moods rather than realistic moods.现代时期的美国文学Ezra Pound(1) He was identified as the father of modern American poetry and the most influential leader of.the Imagist Movement.(2) He had an enormous influence on the modernist writers in Britain and America after WWII.Works The Cantos《诗章》In a Station of the Metro 《在地铁站里》(1) In a Station of the Metro serves as a typical example of the Imagist ideas.(2) The one-image poem is an observation of the poet of the human faces seen in aParis subway station.(3) “Apparition”suggests a visible appearance of something not present, andespecially of a dead person. Here the faces of people in the subway station arecompared to petals on a wet, black bough.A Pact 《盟约》(1) A Pact is a poem in which Pound started to find some agreement between“Whitmanesque”free verse, which he had attacked for its carelessness incomposition.(2) In the poem “broke the new wood” means that Whitman made experiments withthe conventions of traditional poetry. “commerce” means the exchange of views orattitudes. The poem indicates that Pound would like to learn from the free verseand show respect to Whitman.Word文档。

美国文学笔记I。

Colonial Period（殖民地时期)(约1607—1765）II。

The Revolutionary period（革命时期) ：（1765—18世纪末）Benjamin Franklin（1706-1790）III.The Romantic period （浪漫主义时期)：（1800—1865) Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849）Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)Henry Daivd Thoreau （1817-1862)Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804—1864)Herman Melville （1819—1891)Walt Whitman （1819~1892)Emily Dickinson （1830-1886）IV。

The Realism and Naturalism（现实主义和自然主义）: （1865—1918）Mark Twain (1835—1910）Henry James (1843-1916)Stephen Crane (1881—1900)V。

The Modern period （现代主义时期）：1918-1945F。

Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940）William Faulkner (1897-1962）Ernest Hemingway (1899—1961）Ezra Pound （1885—1972)Robert Frost（1847-1963）Eugene O’ Neil (1888—1953)VI。

Contemporary literature（当代文学)：（1945- ）I。

Colonial Period（殖民地时期）（约1607-1765）II。

The Revolutionary period（革命时期）：（1765—18世纪末）Benjamin Franklin（1706-1790)：1。

IHE CONTEMPORARYPERIODAmerican Literature(1945—)TOPIC OUTLINE INTRODUCTION BLA C K WRITER S J EI SH WRITERS Q UESTION LITERATURE O F T H EM O D ERN SOUT HT H E BEAT M O V E M ENTQ UESTIONQuestion 2:Can you name a few representative genres ofcontemporary literature?Question 3:Who has won the Nobel Prize inLiterature?Question 1:What year is generally considered the beginningof contemporary American literature?INTRODUCTION•The rise of fascism in Europe during the 1930s led to the outbreak of the World War II ( 1939-1945).Although Americans did not fall into despair like the "LostGeneration" of the 1920s after World War II, the war still brought many crises -such as the McCarthy hearings on anti-communism and the Cold War with the Soviet Union.Background•Overall, America still entered a continuouslyprosperous and peaceful era.• 1. Explore issues such asidentity, race, gender , andsexual orientation 。

The Influence of Puritanism on American Literature 清教主义对美国文学的影响Introduction to LiteratureDecember 9, 2013AbstractThe spread and permeation of Puritan is accompanied the whole course of the early immigrants’ cultivati on and settlement in North America. As a set of tenets, Puritanism has lost its original meaning, but it has become a part of the national cultural atmosphere in America because of its enduring influence on New England and even the whole America. Puritanism connects with American individuality and has played an important role in the development of American literature. This article will tell about the meaning of Puritanism and Puritanism’s influence on the literature. Keywords: Puritanism; American character; American literatureThe Influence of Puritanism on American LiteratureThe spread and infiltration of Puritanism is embodied in the whole process of early immigrants and settlements in North America. As a kind of doctrine, Puritanism has no longer the original meaning, but its influence on New England and the United States has a long history, and forms a special kind of culture in the United States, that is not only associated with individualism of the American character, but also connected to the development of American literature and characteristics.Puritanism is the Puritan thought and their faith doctrine. The Puritans was reformist of the Anglican in the middle of the 16th century. They advocated the republican form of government, insists on the separation of church and state, because they represented the interests of medium and small bourgeois persecuted by the government. So they had to emigration to seek religious freedom. The first emigration got on "may flower" from continental Europe in 1620, and began the colonial frontier at the Plymouth in New England. Because of entrepreneurial hardships and successful start, the new settlers believed relationship between the personal efforts and success. They realized that clear, honest and industrious style of work is a necessary quality. What's more, according to the Puritan doctrine, although God had already decided his voters who are unknown, however, everyone wanted to be successful through personal struggle to prove that God love them. In this way, the emphasis on individual struggle can prompt the individualism in the character of the United States, and lead to the formation of the so-called "American ideal", the ideal has inspired generationafter generation of youth, that it plays a very important role in the development process of United States.The Puritans is not a strict faction, but an attitude, a tendency, a kind of values. It is a kind of group of believers collectively. The Puritans is the most devout and holy protestant, they think "everyone is priest, and everyone has a call". They think every individual can communicate with god directly. They do not advocate bossy, corruption and red tape, against the group formalism. They argue that simple, realistic, everyone is equal before the God of believers.They also agree with the real life, and that is born with world-weary concept. They think, "The world is our monastery." (Calvin). And the world of work is the way we do, is the task of G od’s arrangement, and is a sacred duty. Everyone should do the practice and worship. This is doing one's duty.Pilgrims are all full of confidence, whether engaged in business trade or production cultivation. They have courage and confidence to face the difficulty for extraordinary success. They are good at creation and innovation, and constantly explore and conquer. The value of them is worth people to learn spirit very much.The influences of Puritanism are more mainly manifested in the infiltration of early American literature on American culture. The early American literatures during the colonial are along with certain purpose and the religious fervor. Colonists make notes of farming, or describe immigrant lives, or discuss the religious, to describe the new world of life and promote Puritanism. The settlers mostly believe the doctrine of John Calvin: according to his perfect image, God created Adam and Eve, but they fallto steal to eat the forbidden fruit, so men is original sin, must try to redeem themselves. God has supreme power, and decides the fate of the people in advance. The worship of the God and absolute trust makes the early colonial American literature a strong religious color. Enthusiasms on religion inevitably lead to blind suppression of freedom of thought. The reflection of the problem is to performance in the legend of romantic literature represented by Hawthorne novel. The grandparents of Hawthorne are Puritan who is under the influence of New England tradition. He is not a Puritan, the age he lives away from the rule of Puritanism in New England for a century, but the growing materialistic made him rethink some of the basic concept of Puritan. He inherited the Puritan completely the concepts of original sin and stealth, becomes a faithful record of these ideas and positive reviewers, and explores the "evil" as the theme of his works. In his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter, he used symbolism to expose the character of the psychological and idea deep in the soul of the struggle between good and evil. Not just him, each author's works are influenced by Puritanism, that is not only truly reflects the Puritan view of life, but also criticized the inhibition of Puritanism.This period has actually started the Renaissance in the United States, the American literary activities for the first time - the Transcendentalist. Transcendentalist stressed intuition, believe that people can perceive the external world through perception and intuition, to achieve harmonious unification between God and the natural. It emphasizes individualism is the most important element in society; the ideal state is man of self-reliance. Transcendentalist abandoned the religious factorson surface, but essentially retained the Puritan marked characteristics, moral integrity, the harmony between people, nature, and God is everywhere, thrifty life attitude, etc. As a moral guide, transcendentalists essentially tend to call on people to abandon the old customs and traditions and believe personal dignity and value, to create a new kind of their own American literature.The rule of Puritanism in New England had already become history, but its influence still exists. Americans advocate individualism and emphasizes individual struggle and success, advocating pragmatic style of work, that dates back to the success of original Puritan colonial frontier and Puritanism thoughts about the hard work, efforts to redeem themselves. In early American literature, the early colonial literature religiosity, or the narrative about the Puritan doctrine of original sin in the legend of the romantic literature, or the attention of the transcendentalist literature to strengthen the harmony of man and nature, it is visible to see the moral integrity of Puritanism. Thereafter, whether realism, naturalism, the lost generation, or the modern and contemporary literature, the attention for individual destiny, and the preference for aloof from the group of the hero is characteristic of its different from other countries' literature. This kind of publicity of American characteristics to escape from the stubborn theme still associated with Puritanism. Thus, for the United States, Puritanism is not only a doctrine, but also a cultural atmosphere, that has a deep-seated to the influence of American literature of US. In a sense, Puritanism is what makes the American people and literature has its own characteristics.Works Citedi.WANG Xiao yang, The Influence of Puritanism on American Literature,2001 ii.The Survey of American Literature,2008。

American Puritanism(美国清教主义) Puritanism was a religious reform that arose within the church of England in the late 16thcentury. Under siege from church and crown, it sent an offshoot in the third and fourth decades of the 17th 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 at the synod of 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 g race: regeneration as entirely a work of God, which cannot be re3sisted and to which the sinner contributes nothing;5) the perseverance of the saints: the elect, despite their backsliding and faintness of heart, cannot fall away from grace.清教主义是16世纪晚期在英国教会内进行的一场宗教改革.在教会和皇权的双重压力之下,清教的一个分支于17世纪30,40年代迁至美洲新大陆的北方殖民地,他们为新英格兰奠定了宗教、知识和社会秩序的基础。