美国文学1

American literatureChapter 1 The Embryo of American Literature1、Benjamin FranklinA Brief Introduction of Benjamin FranklinFranklin was one of the leading founding fathers of the United States of America. He was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence and was one of its signatories(签名人)。

He also signed the Constitution of the United States, and served as the new nation’s ablest diplomat. Franklin was also unequaled in America as an inventor until Thomas Edison. He invented the Franklin stove(火炉，窖，温室)，bifocal eyeglasses and the lightning rod.※BiographyBenjamin Franklin was born on January 17,1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the youngest child ,and tenth boy of 17 children. Franklin’s formal schooling ended early but his education never did. He believed that “the door to wisdom are never shut,” and read every book he could get his hands on. Franklin taught himself simple algebra and geometry ,navigation, logic, history, science, English grammar and a working knowledge of five other languages.Franklin had a simple formula for success. He believed that successful people worked just a little harder than other people. Benjamin Franklin certainly did. He built a successful printing and publishing business in Philadelphia; he conducted scientific studies of electricity and made several important discoveries; he was an accomplished diplomat and statesman; he helped establish Pennsylvania’s first university and America’s first city hospital. He also organized the country’s first subscription library.Franklin had strong belief that good citizenship included an obligation of public service. Franklin himself served the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the new United States of America, in one way or the other, for most of his life. To Benjamin Franklin there was no greater purpose in life than to“live usefully.”※The Works·Poor Richard’s Almanac.1733·The Way to Wealth,1758·Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin ，1791·Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues1TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.2SIlENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.3ORDER.Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.4RESOLUTION.Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.5FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e.,waste nothing.6INDUSTRY.Lose no time;be always employeed in something useful; cut off all unneccessary actions.7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.9. MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.※Selected ReadingToo Dear for the WhistleWhen I was a child of seven years old , my friends , on a holiday ,filled my pocket with coppers . I went at once to a shop where they sold toys for children . Being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I had seen by the way , in the hands of another boy , I handed over all my money for one . I then came home , went whistling all over house , much pleased with my whistle , but disturbing all my family .My brother and sister and cousins ,when I told of the bargain I had made,said I had given four times as much as the whistle was worth . They put me in mind of what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money, and laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation(n.苦恼，恼怒，令人烦恼的事) . Thinking about the matter gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.This , however , was afterwards of use to me , for the impression continued on my mind . so that often , when I was tempted to buy something I do not need . I said to myself . “Don't give too much for the whistle ,”and I saved my money . As I grew up , came into the world，and observed the actions of men . I thought I met with many ,very many ,who “gave too much for the whistle .”When I saw some man too eager for cout favour, wasting his time at court getherings ,giving up his rest , his liberty ,his virtue, and perhaps his friends ,for royal favour , I said to myself “This man gives too much for the whistle.”When I saw another fond of popularity , constantly taking part in political affairs ,neglecting his own business ,and ruining it by neglect , “He pays , indeed ,”said I , “too dear for his whistle .”If I knew a miser（守财奴，吝啬鬼）who gave up every kind of comfortable living , all the pleasure of doing good to others , all the esteem of his fellow citizens and the joys of friendship , for the sake of gathering and keeping wealth —“Poor man.”said I , “you pay too dear for your whistle .”When I met a man of pleasure , who did not try to improve his mind or his fortune but merely devoted himself to having a good time ,perhaps neglecting his health ,“Mistaken man,”said I , “you are providing pain for yourself , instead of pleasure ; you are paying too dear for your whistle .”If I saw someone fond of appearance of who had fine clothes , fine houses , fine furniture , fine earrings , all above his fortune , and for which he had run into debt ,and ends his career in a prison .“Alas,”said I , “he has paid dear , very dear , for his whistle . ”In short the miseries of mankind are largely due to their putting a false value on things —to giving “too much for their whistles”.。

1. “God helps them that help themselves.” is found in ____________work.A. Paine’sB. Franklin’sC. Freneau’sD. Jefferson’s2. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic?A. The American Crisis.B. The Federalist.C. Declaration of Independence.D. The Age of Reason.3. “These are the times that try men’s souls”, these words were once read to Washington’s troops and did much to spur excitement to further action with hope and confidence. Who is the author of these words?A. Benjamin FranklinB. Thomas PaineC. Thomas JeffersonD. George Washington4. Which work is written by Freneau?A. The Right of ManB. The Wild honey SuckleC. Poor Richard’s AlmanacD. The Day of Doom5. Who was considered as the “Poet of American Revolution”?A. Anne BradstreetB. Edward TaylorC. Michael WiggleworthD. Philip Freneau6. In Moby Dick, the voyage symbolizes ___________.A. the microcosm of human societyB. the search for truthC. the unknown worldD. nature7.Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communication with _________________.A. natureB. transcendentalist ideasC. human beingsD. celestial beings8. The Transcendentalist group includes two of the most significant writers America has produced so far, Emerson and ____________-.A. Henry David ThoreauB. Washington IrvingC. Nathanel HawthorneD. Walt Whitman9. ___________is regarded as the first American prose epic.A. NatureB. The Scarlet letterC. WaldenD. Moby Dick10. The Romantic Period of American literature started with the publication of Washington Irving’s ___________ and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.A. The Sketch BookB. Tales of a TravelerC. The AlhambraD. A History of New York11. The convention of the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature in American literature is particularly evident in ___________________.A. Cooper’s Leatherstocking TalesB. Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.C. Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.D. Irving’s Rip Van Winkle.12. As a philosophical and literary movement, _________ flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism13. For Melville, as well as for the reader and ____________, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe.A. StarbuckB. StubbC. IshmaelD. Arab14. All of the following are works by Nathaniel Hawthorne except_____________.A. The House of Seven GablesB. White JacketC. The Marble FaunD. The Blithdale Romance15. In the following works, which signs the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leatherstocking Tales..D. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn16. The main theme of Emily Dickinson is the following except_______________.A. religionB. love and marriageC. life and deathD. war and peace17. Emily Dickinson’s poetic idiom is noted for the following except_____________.A. brevityB. directnessC. plainestD. obscure18. “There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, trough the whole life, but circumstances may rouse it to activity.” Which of the following writings is the thought reflected in?A. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Yo ung Goodman Brown.B. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.C. Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.D. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.19. The publication of ____________established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over Soul20. Most of the poems in Whitman’s leaves of Grass sing of the “en-mass” and the ___________as well.A. natureB. lifeC. selfD. self-relianceII. Fill into the blanks with suitable phrase or term. (2x10=20%)1.The American of Scholar is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.2.In 1620, a number of Puritans who tried to purify or reform the church of Englandstepped on the New England shore at Plymouth in the ship named Mayflower3.Among all the settlers in the New Continent, English settlers were the mostinfluential.4.In American Literature, the eighteenth century was an Age of Reason andRevolution.5.In Franklin’s Autobiography he talks first of all about how he studied language.6.Irving was best known for his famous short stories such as Rip Van Winklewhich is about a good-natured lazy husband who falls into a 20-year sleep. 7．Published in 1823, The Pioneers was the first of the Leatherstocking Tales, in their order.8．Philip Freneau was considered as the “poet of the American Revolution” and the “Father of American Poetry.”9．A superb book Walden came out of Thoreau’s two-year experiment at Walden pond. 10．As one of America’s first and foremost realists and humorists, Mark Twain , the pen name of Samuel Langhorne. Clemens, usually wrote about his own personal experiences and things he knew about from firsthand experiences.III. Match the writer in Column A with the works in Column B (1X10=10%)Column A Column Ba.Franklinb.John Smithc.William Cullen Bryantd.James Fennimore Coopere.Philip Freneauf.Washington Irvingg.Nathaniel Hawthorneh.Edgar Allan Poei.Ralph Waldo Emersonj.Walt Whitman1.( b) A Description of New England2.( h) The Raven3.( g) The Scarlet Letter4.( a) Autobiography5.( e) The Wild Honey Suckle6.( c) To a Waterfowl7.( d) The Deerslayer8 ( j)Leaves of Grass9.( f) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow10.( i ) Nature。

第一部分殖民地时期的美国文学What are the characteristics of Colonial America?All of the works written during this period are utilitarian , polemical , or didactic .The purpose of literature for these Puritans was first of all usefulness . It should teach some kond of lesson . In content , the literature of the colonial settlement served either God or colonial expansion or both . The literary style of the earliest American writers , in fact seems to have been determined by a practical consideration of the sort of impression each writer wanted to make upon a selected group of readers . Puritans’metaphorical mode of perception helped to develop literary symbolism as they saw the physical world a symbol of God . Hence symbolism as a technique was a common practice in writing . The Piritans placed unusual stress upon plainness in writing because they were unusually interested in influencing the simp;e-minded people . Bearing the direct influence fo the Christian Biblical poetics , the Puritan writings are fresh , simp;e ,direct , and with a touch of nobility . As it faithfully imitated and transplanted European forms to the new experience , early American literature was as much a product of continuities as an indigenous creation.第二部分理性文学和革命文学1 As we have seen , theology dominated the Puritan phase of American writing . Politics was the next great subject to command the attention of the best minds.2 From 1732 to 1758 , Franklin wrote and published his famous Poor Richard’s Alman ac , an annual collection of proverbs .3 EnlightementThe eighteenth –century England is also , and better , known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age fo Reason . The Enlightenment was a progressive intellectual movement going on throughout Europe at the time , with France in the vanguard . The Enlightenment celebrated reason (rationality) , equality , science and human beings’ ability to perfect themselves and their society . The movement was based on the basic theories provided by the philosophers of the age , which ranged from John Locke’s materialism , Lord Shaftsbury’s deism , and George Berkeley’s immaterialism to David Hume’s skepticism . Whatever philosophical beliefs they might have , they held the eommom faith in human rationality and the possibility of human perfection through education . They believed that when reason served as the yardstick for the measurement of all human activities and social relations , superstition , injustice , privilege and oppression were to yield place to “eternal truth” ,”eternal justice” , and “natural equality” or inalienable rights of men . Everything was put under scrutiny , to be measured by reason . No authorities , political or religious or otherwise , were acepted unchallenged while almost allthe old societies and governments and all the traditional concepts , including Christianity , were examined and criticized . The belief provided theory for the French Revolution in 1789 and the American War of Independence in 1776 .Alexander Pope (1688~1744) , Joseph Addison (1672~1719) , Richard Steele (1672~1792) , Jonathan Swift (1667~1745) , Daniel Defoe (1660~1731) , Henry Fielding (1707~1754) , Richard B. Sheridan (1751~1816) , Oliver Goldsmith (1730~1774) , Edward Gibbon (1737~1794) , and Samuel Johnson (1709~1784) were among the famous enlighteners in England . As England had already gone through its bourgeois revolution , what the English enlighteners were lege to do was to strive the bring the revolution to and end by clearing away the feudal remnants and rep;ace them with bourgeois ideology .第三部分美国的浪漫主义文学1 In 1828 the election of the frontier hero Andrew Jackson as the seventh President of the United States had brought an effective end to the “Virginia Dynasty” of American Presidents .2 Wsahington Irvi ng’s Skwtch Book bacame the first work by an American writer to win financial success on both sides of the Atlantic .3 Washington Irving was the first great prose stylist of American romanticism , and his familiar style was destined to outlive the formal prose of such eontemporaries as Acott and Cooper ,and to provide a model for the prevailing prose narrative fo the future .4 What are the unique features of American Romanticism? Although foreign influnences wre strong,American romanticism exhibited from the very outset distinct features of its own.It was different from its English and European counterpart because it originated from an amalgam of factors which were altogether American rather than anything else.American romanticism was in essence the e xpression of”a real new experience”and contained”an alien quality”for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place”was radically new and alen.Foe instance ,the American national experience of “pioneering “ into the west proved to be a rich fund of material for Ameican writers to draw upon.The wilderness with its virgin forests ,the sound of the axe cutting its way westward, the exotic landscape with its different sights, smells,and sounds(the robin rather than the nightingale is Emily Dicckinson’s “criterion of tone,”for example), and the quaint,picturesque civilization of a primitive race—all these constituted an incomparably superior source of inspiration for native authors.A rude Natty Bumppo in buckskin, dweling in a fromtier blockhouse, treading a solitary bridle path through virgin forests was ,perhaps , matter enough for any romantic genius.And indeed, American authors were quite responsive to thestimulus which American life offered.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s tentive treatment of the frontier and the Indians in his works such as Hudson valley, William Cullen Bryant’s sketches of the wild west prairie where no human being had ever set foot and James Fenimore Cooper’s five Leatherstocking tales with”their majestic descriptions of American’s limitles s forests and broad blue inland lake”—these are but aafew instances whereby the new American sensibility began to make itself felt.And ,of course , we should not forget to mention Emerson,Thoreau,Hawthorne,Melville and Whitman, all people who were instrumental ,in one way or another ,in creating an indigenous American literature.Then there is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider.American moral values were essentially Puritan.Public opinion was overwhelmingly Puritan;social life and cultural taste were predominantly conditioned by the Puritan and cultural taste were predominantly conditioned by the Puritan atmosphere of the nation.Nothing has left a deeper imprint on the character of the people as a whole than did Puritanism;no one has been so successful in imposing his way of thinking on the continent as the American Puritan.puritanical influence over Ameican romanticism w3as conspicuously noticeable.One of its palpable manifestations is the fact that American romantic authors tended more to moralize than their English and European brothers.It is true that Edgar Allan poe fought vehemently against “the heresy of the didactic”,and writers like John Greenleaf Whittier tried to advocate both beauty and goodness.But the fact remains, nonetheless ,that many American romantic writings intended to edify more than theyentertained.There seemed to be areas of life which it was better for them to leave alone, taboos of a kind that most of the literary world agreed,however tacit it may have been, on not breaking.Sex and love werem for instance, subjects American authors were particularly careful in approaching.Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter talks eloquently about the sin itself ,and Whitman was for a long time misunderstood by his own countrymen because Leaves of Grass contains lines and passages not at all palatable to their “genteel” taste.练习二1.Emerson was recognized throughout his life as the leaderof_________ movement, yet he never applied the term to himself or to his beliefs and ideas.2.Emerson’s truest disciple, the man who put into practice many ofEmerson’s theories, was_________.Define the literary terms listed belowAmerican TranscendentalismKeys: 1. Transcendentalist, 2, H.D ThoreauTerm: American Transcendentalism or “New English Transcendentalism” or “American Renaissance” is more of a tendency, an attitude, than the philosophy of Transcendentalists.To “transcend” something is to rise above it, to pass beyond its limits. Transcendentalists took their ideas from the romantic literature of Europe, from new-Platoism, from German idealistic philosophy, and from the revelations of Oriental-mysticism. They spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society. The major features of New England Transcendentalism can be summarized as the follows.Firstly, the Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the Universe. Secondly, they stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual was the most important element of society. Thirdly, they offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spi rit or God. Nature was , to them, alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that the most fundamental truths about life and death can be reached only by going beyond the world of the senses.As a philosophical and literary movement, Transcendentalism flourished in New England from 1830s to the Civil War. Its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Emerson’s Nature has been called the “Manifesto of American Transcendentalism” an d his The American Scholar has been rightly regarded as America’s “Declaration of Intellectual Independence.” Thoreau built and went to live in a small cottage on Walden Pond for a little over two years, and then came back to write about his experience there in his famous book Walden. To later generations, scarred by the horrors of the Civil War, the transcendentalist persuation that humanity was godlike and that evil was non-existent appeared to be an optimistic folly. As a philosophy, Transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical. It exalted feeling over reason, individual expression over the restraints of law and custom. Yet Transcendentalism wasa powerful expression of the intellectual mood of the age, and theideas it represented have remained a strong influence on great American writers from the days of Hawthorne and Whitman to the present.练习31．_________deals with the effects of a curse, and though the tale itself is fiction, the germ of the story sprang from the author’s family history.2. Hawthorne’s unique gift was for the creation of strongly_________stories which touch the deepest roots of man’s moral nature. The finest example is the recreation of Puritan Boston, _________.3. _________ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage inpursuit of a seemingly supernatural white whale.Define the literary terms listed belowSymbolismKeys:1.The House of the Seven Gables 2, symbolic The scarlet letter3. Moby-Dick.Symbolism: Symbolism is the writing technique of using symbols. A symbol is something that conveys two kinds of meaning; it is simply itself, and it stands for something other than itself. In other words, a symbol is both literal and figurative. People, places, things and even events can be used symbolically. A symbol is a way of telling a story and a way of conveying meaning. The best symbols are those that are believable in the lives of the characters and also convincing as they convey a meaning beyond the literal level of the story. Hawthorn and Melville were the two masters of symbolism. For example, the scarlet letter “A” on Hester’s breast can give you symbolic meanin gs. If the symbol is obscure or ambiguous, then the very obscurity and the ambiguity may also be part of the meaning of the story.Answer the following questions.1.Give a brief analysis of the main characters in The scarlet Letter2.Give a brief analysis of the character Ahab in Moby-Dick.3.What is the theme in Moby-Dick?4.What is Hawthorn’s style?Keys:2, The way in which Hawthorn wrote The Scarlet Letter suggests that American Romanticism adapted itself to American Puritan moralism. The load of didacticism is nowhere heavier and the desire to elevate nowhere stronger than it is, perhaps, in this 19th American classic. Reading it, one wonders whether it is a story of love. The answer is yes, but then no, because the love part of the story is long over before the book begins. One wonders whether it is a story if sin. The answer is yes, but then no, for the sinning part is long over before the book opens Modern and contemporary authors would have written pageswhere Hawthorn uttered not a word, What he was predominantly concerned was the moral, emotional, and psychological effect of the sin on the people in general and those complicated in it in particular. In the strong character of Hester Psynne we see the tension between society and solitude which, as Marius Bewley put it, lies near the center of all Hawthorn’s art, The Scarlet Letter is not a praise of a Hester Prynne sinning, but a hymn on the moral growth of the woman when sinned against. Hawthorn’s female characters tend to fall into two broad categories. (答案未完)4．Ahab may have been Melville’s portrait of an Emersonian self-reliant individual. Melville lost no opportunity in his criticism of New England Transcendentalism. Constantly under his attack is its emphasis on individualism and Oversoul. To say that the whole of Moby-Dick is a negative reflection upon Transcendentalism is not in fact an exaggeration. Take Emerson’s self-reliance for instance. Ahab is too much of a self-reliant individual to be a good human being. He stands alone on his own one leg among the millions of the peopled earth, For him the only law is his own will. To him the world exists for his sake. His selfhood must be asserted at the expense of all else: lives may be sacrificed, and nature may have to be vanquished in order that he may do what he will. He never stops to think---and he never bothers about it---that, in asserting his private personality, he denies ruthlessly the humanity and individuality of his fellowmen. Ahab is no Odysseus, and this crew seems to be a ship of fools too much under the captain’s evil spell to exercise their discretion. Between them, they encompass their own undoing. Richard Chase is right when he says that the idea Melville conveys in Moby-Dick is “Death-spiritual, emotional, physical,” which is the p rice of self-reliance when it is pushed to the point of solipsism. Ahab is, to be more exact, a victim of solipsism, his tragedy stemming in the main from extreme individualism, selfish will, a spirit too much withdrawn to itself to warrant salvation, Moby-Dick thus reveals the basic pattern of 19th century American life: loneliness and suicidal individualism in a self-styled democracy,5. One of the major themes in Melville is alienation, which he sensed existing in the life of his time on different levels, between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Captain Ahab seems to be the best illustration of it all. He cuts himself off from his wife and kid, and stays away most of the time from his crew, and he hates Moby---Dick which is am embodiment of nature. He is angry because his pride is wounded. After the loss of his leg in his encounter with the white whale, he seems to hold God responsible for the presence of evil in the universe. Thus his anger assumes the proportions of a cosmicnature. He is bent on avenging himself. He hears of no objection. In his egocentric obsession within “the masoned, walled town of a captain’s exclusiveness,” he loses his sanity and humanity and becomes a devilish creature rushing headlong toward his doom. And he know s it most clearly of all. When D.H Lawrence remarks,”“he {Melville}records also, almost beyond pain or pleasure, the extreme transitions of the isolated, far-driven soul, the soul which is now alone, without any real human contact” he had Ahad topmost in his mind. In a sense Ahab embodies all of the evil he once consigned to Moby-Dick9. A. Hawthorne wrote romance because he thought it the predestined form of American narrative. He presented material on the alienation between fact and fancy. The purpose of a novel, as it developed in 18th century Europe, was to record the actual events of life, to stick to what actually happened, but Hawthorn explained that the purpose of romance was to present the truth of the human heart by the writer’s own choice or cre ation. He wanted to reveal reality and satirize it but not to offend the Puritan conventions, For Hawthorne, romance, unlike the novel, was not tied to conventional reality. Romance had the freedom to depart from novelistic realism. Hawthorne felt that the literary artist was justified in changing events around if that could better get to the truth of the individual psychology. Psychological truth was more important than actual truth. Hawthorne used atmosphere to help reach the truth of the heart. Often he would use shadow to create effect. He used this because the world of light and shadow was the world of imagination. Therefore, for Hawthorne romance was the meeting place of the actual and the imaginary. In this stories, there is a strong fairytale element, He would use his imagination to change the actual events, but the purpose was to reach psychological truth. Hawthorne mingled the supernatural with the actual and developed analytic, psychological romanticism.B, Hawthorne used symbols and setting to reveal the psychology of the characters. It is characteristic of Hawthorne. He used masks, veils, shadows, emblems to give dramatic forms to the universal dilemmas of humanity. A black veil stands for the wickedness of man; a marble heart symbolizes an indivi dual’s unpardonable sin; and a garden of poisonous flowers represents hell.C. He wrote stories with narrative interest, ease in transition, coherence, and complexity, One of the means he adopted is making stories parable in form and symbolic in style.D. His style is soft, flowing, and almost feminine. His touch is light, but his observation is somber.E. He used ambiguity to keep the reader in a world of uncertainty. Important questions are never fully resolved. The simple word “or”enjoys high frequency in his stories. Hawthorne gave the reader many ways to interpret the story and then he stopped without telling the reader which one he wanted the reader to choose. To create ambiguity, the author often employed the technique of multiple views.。

1.约翰·史密斯（探险家）约翰·史密斯上校（1580.1-1631.6.21），新英格兰的舰队司令，是英国军人，探险家和作家。

他因在北美弗吉尼亚州建立了英国第一个永久殖民地詹姆斯敦而扬名天下。

作品A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608)A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country (1612)The Proceedings of the English Colony in Virginia (1612)A Description of New England (1616)New England's Trials (1620, 1622)The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624)An Accidence, or the Pathway to Experience Necessary for all Young Seamen (1626)A Sea Grammar (1627) – the first sailors' word book in EnglishThe True Travels, Adventures and Observations of Captain John Smith (1630)Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England, or Anywhere (1631)2.威廉·布拉德福德（William Bradford，1590年-1657年）五月花号公约签署人之一，于1620年参与创立了普利茅斯殖民地，并在长达30余年的时间里担任普利茅斯总督。

美国⽂学选读课后习题答案Unit 1 Benjamin Franklin1.Why did Franklin write his Autobiography?Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed?His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother.3.How did he arrive in Philadephia?First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which w as going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine o’clock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Street wharf.4.What features do you find in the style of the above selection?It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision(⾔简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的).Unit 2 Edgar Allen Poe1.Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress?Montresor.Fortunato,one of wine experts insulted him, so he wanted to murder him.2.What is the pretext he uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar?He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a cask of Amontillado a rare and valuable sherry wine. Fortunato is anxious to determine whether or not it is truly Amontillado, so he goes to the vault with Montresor.3.What happens to Fortunato in the end?He was walled up alive behind bricks in a wine cellar.Unit 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne:1.Why is the prison the setting of Chapter 1 ?No matter how optimistic the founders of new colonies may be, they are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia,” for they know that misbehavior, evil, and death are unavoidable.This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized life. What is the implication of the description of the roses?The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlast man's activities. The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Nature's kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he sa ys, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.2.Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her.The second paragraph on page 30.The crowd in front of the jail is a mixture of men and women, all maintaining severe looks of disapproval. Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have received such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges. One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate deathfor Hester.3.What has happened to Hester? As a young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to America to live. While waiting for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale, after which she gave birth to Pearl. The scarlet letter is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate?It seems to declare that she is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin. In reality, however, Hester simply accepts the “sin” and its symbol as part of herself, just as she accepts her child. And although she can hardly believe her present “realities,” she takes them as they are rather than resisting them or trying to atone for them. How does this tell us about her character? Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure.Unit 6 Henry David Thoreau1. Where indeed did Thoreau live, both at a physical level and at a spiritual level? He lived in a cabin on Walden Pond,which belonged t o Emerson’s property.2.Had Thoreau ever bought a farm? Why did he enjoy the act of buying? No, he h adn’t. He avoided purchasing a farm because it would inevitably tie him down financially and complicate his life. Thoreau didn’t see the acquisition of wealth as the goal for human existence, he saw the goal of life to be an exploration of the mind and of the magnificent world around us. He regarded the places as an existence free of obligations and full of leisure.3. Is it significant that Thoreau mentioned the Fourth of July as the day on which he began to stay in the woods? Why? Yes, it is. Because The Fourth of July is known as Independence Day, the birthday of the United States. Here Thoreau uses the day to express his beginning of regeneration at Walden. It also means a symbol of his conquest of being.Unit 7 19th Century American Poets1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1) I Shot an Arrow…1. Why did the speaker lose sight of his arrow and song?The arrow flies too swiftly and too far away to be seen by the speaker; whereas the song is naturally invisible.2. In what circumstances did he find them again?He finds them unexpectedly years later from the trunk of a tree and the heart of a friend.3. What do arrow and song stand for in this poem?The images of arrow and song here may stand for friendship.(2) A Psalm of Life1. What kind of person is the speaker of this poem?The speaker is a man of action, always optimistic and cheerful, trying to achieve as much as possible in the short span of life.2. According to the poem, how should our lives be led to overcome the fact that each day brings us nearer to death?We should work harder and live happier.3. Interpret the metaphor of "Footprints on the sand of time" (line 28).The metaphor refers to human deeds in real life.2. Walt Whitman(1) One’s Self I Sing1. What is the significance of singing about one's self? It is an exaltation of the individual spirit, which is typical of American people.2. What is the difference between physiology and physiognomy?Physiology is a science that deals with the functions and life process of human beings, whereas physiognomy refers to an art of judging character from contours of face itself or the appearance of a person.3. What does Whitman mean by the term of "the Modern Man"?He means that a man should be free from any prejudice and pride, totally different from the traditional one that is full of bias.(3) O Captain! My Captain!1. Why is the word "Captain" capitalized throughout the poem?In this poem the word “Captain” specially refers to Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States.2. What overall metaphor does the poet employ in this poem? Life is a journey.3. Why do people on the shores exult and bells ring, while the speaker remains so sad?They welcome the ship returning from its hard trip, whereas the speaker is sad because the captain fails to receive his own honor.3. Emily Dickinson(1) To Make a Prairie …1. What things are needed to "make" a prairie? In what sense can one really do it?Some grass and insects and small animals. People can make a prairie with their imagination. 2. How can "revery alone" create a prairie?The prairie stays in one's mind.(2) Success Is Counted Sweetest1. Why is success "counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed"?Those who have tasted the bitterness of failure would have a keener desire for success.2. Who are "the purple host"?The so-called successful people in the world.3. Who is "he" in the last stanza? Anyone who is pursuing his success.(3)I'm nobody!1. Who are the "pair of us" and "they?"in this poem? The "pair of us" refers to the speaker in the poem and the reader, and "they" refers to the public, especially those in power.2. What does "an admiring bog" really mean?" (line 28). It implies the vain and empty common people, who are always admiring and pursuing the celebrities.3. What is the theme of this poem?The real admirable life is a secluded and common one.4. Do you want to be "nobody" or "somebody"? Explain your reasons. Different persons would have different answers to his question. Personally, I prefer to be nobody.Unit8 mark twainQuestions1: Why do you think Mr. Wheeler is so eager to tell these stories?From Mr. Wheeler’s behaviors and contents of his narration. First, when "I" asked him to tell "me" something about W. Smiley, he “backed me into a corner and blockaded me with his chair, and then sat down and reeled off the narrative”. And during the process of telling his stories, he never paid any attention to others' response to his story and just went on telling what amused him. At last when the listener felt boring and wanted to leave, Mr. Wheeler even didn't notice it and still asked him to sit there listening to him.Question2: Does his audience share his enthusiasm in telling the stories?No. the audience does not show any interest in Mr. Wheeler’ stories. In fact, the narrator was very feverish about his stories, but, in the eyes of the listener, the stories were very boring and had nothing to do with his preoccupation. As an educated man, the listener couldn't understand the way of laborers for joy, and he would never bother himself to understand it. So after the longtime of Mr. Wheeler’ solo narration and when the audience got a chance, he fled away. Question3: Do you think the narrator and his listener ever suspect the presence of humor? Why? How do you interpret their interactions?The narrator and his listener never noticed or suspected the presence of humor. During the intercourse, the narrator went vigorously on his monotonous narrative "without a little smiling" talking about the animals and the things like, while the listener felt rather puzzled or bothered by his stories. It seemed to be kind of coarse things. So the two different scenes go on separately without an intersection. And their interaction was a complete failure according tour common sense about communication. But it in this sense produced the effect of humor which can be tasted by our readers due to the skills adopted by Mark Twain .Unit14 The Great GatsbyDo you think G atsby deserv es to be called “the great”? Why?(1)I think it is too complicated to simply say Gatsby deserves to be ―great‖or not.For one thing, Gatsby was ambitious, hardworking, generous and passionate. He was so extremely loyal to his love and Daisy that he could do anything to get Daisy back. In this respect, he ismuch ―greater‖ than his contemporaries. For another thing, Gatsby never realized that Daisy wasn’t the girl he loved anymore. Gatsby was so innocent that he staked everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him. He wasn’t sober enough to be great. 2.Does “the green light” Gatsby believed in exist in reality? Why orwhy not ?(1)I think ―the green light‖does not exist in reality. Because the green light which situated at th e end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from West Egg lawn represents Gatsby’s unattainable dream. Although the color itself can be seen as hope and bright future, Gatsby’s quest for Daisy back is doomed to be impossible. Daisy livedin ―a materi al world without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dream like air‖. The distinction between ideal and reality was huge. As if American dream between golden past and golden future always suffered from the realistic betrayal and crush.3.What does Gats by’s Schedule reveal about him and how does it relate to the American Dream?(1)The schedule is a reflection of Gatsby’s determination and ambition. It reveals that he is hard on himself in pursuitof his goal—to be an upper-class man.(2)On one hand, we can know that he is persistent in pursuing his American Dream-- to attain wealth and happiness through his struggle. On the other hand, he is too idealistic and naive. The girl he loves is as vulgar andsuperficial as others in her circle, she is unable to meetsGatsby’s romantic fantasy. So his dream is destined to shatter,which indicates the disillusion of American Dream. 4.Whenyou read the line “He (the man with owl-eyed glasses)took off his glasses and wiped them again, outside andin ,” what images does it create in your mind, given thenovel’s numerous references to the strikingly strangescene of the spectacled eyes?(1)From this line , superficially, owl-eyes is a person with thick and blurry glasses who can not see clearly all the things in the world. However, we know he is actually an owl-wise observer and sees more clearly than anyone else in the novel. Owl-Eyes, except Nick, is the only friend to appear at the rain-soaked burial of Gatsby, when others are unwilling to come. He feels sympathy for Gat sby’s tragedy.Unit 16 Ernest Hemingway1.How do you interpret the irony of the title after readingthe story?(1)The title ―A Clean Well-Lighted Place‖ refers to thecaféin the text. The caféwas very clean and well- lighted.From the literary meaning, we may feel this place was verywarm and comfortable, was a place where people needwarmth wanted to go. So the old man, who was rich butdeaf and lonely came here to find warmth and avoided nada.It was the only place he could go and could find somecomfort.(2)However, the younger waiter was very selfish.Therefore, he refused to offer the old man another cup ofwine by the excuse that the business was finished. This caféshould be warm but the younger waiter forced the lonely anddeaf to leave without any sympathy. This is the irony of thetitle.2.Do you think youth and confidence can help onewithstand the metaphorical dark?Why or why not?(1)I don’t think so.In our opinion, the m etaphorical darkmeans nada,nothing in one’s inner heart. In the article, the younger waiter had both youth and confidence; however, he never made full use of them. As we can see, he didn’t understand the old man’s suicide and excessive drinking, and failed to see his tomorrow through the old man’s present situation.3.The older wait er said to the younger waiter:“We are of two different kinds.” In what way do you think they are different? (1)I think they are different from each other in the following four aspects:In the beginning, they are in different ages.The older waiter was in his middle age; while the other was much younger.(2)Then, they have different attitudes towards the old man. From the article, the older waiter could understand the old manand show sympathy to him. However, the young man was very selfish. He showed hatred rather than sympathy to the old man.(3)Next, they have different attitudes towards life. The older waiter had a deep sense of life. He was brave and wanted to fight again nada. Besides, he cared about others. he has a shadow understanding of life. He satisfied with his present love and work, he only care about himself. He even never thought of his future.(4)Finally, they have different attitudes towards nada. The older waiter had realized that it is impossible to avoid nada in one’s whole life. The only thing h e can do is to keep a kind of clearness in his own mind. But out of youth and confidence, he failed to overcome nada. On the contrary, the younger waiter had the two most important factors for withstanding nada; however, he didn’t realize the nada in his heart at all. Then his youth a nd confidence became useless.Unit 17 20th -Century American Poets1.Ezra Pound In A Station of the Metro1.Why does the poet call the faces of pedestrians "apparition"?These pedestrians are all walking in a hurry amidst the drizzling rain. What do "petals" and "bough" stand for? Petals refer to the faces while the bough stands for the floating crowd.2.Wallace Stevens Anecdote of the Jar1.What does the jar in poem symbolize? Why does the speaker place it on top of a hill?The jar here symbolizes a certain perspective on looking at this world. If the perspective of the viewing iscreative and unique, it will change the conventional order of the old world. When a new perspective comes out, it will certainly hold attention from the rest.2. The jar is "round" and "of a port in air," meaning that it has a stately importance. What effect does it have on surroundings when placed on the ground? Maybe the round jar assumes the air of a domineering figure, which helps to form a certain order out of the disordered surrounding.3. How did the wilderness of Tennessee characterized? What words or phrases does the poet use to describe it?Tennessee seems to a place full of life and energy. “Slovenly,” “sprawl” and “wild” are some of the words used to describe the place. (See Anecdote of the Jar ) 3.Robert Frost(1)Fire and Ice 1. What are the symbolic meanings of fire in this poem? Fire symbolizes natural disaster, human passion, as well as war. 2. Why does the speaker say that ice is also great for destruction? Explain what ice stands for here. Ice, oppose to fire, is also a dreadful natural disaster in this world, and ice is always related to indifference, coldness, hatred, and the other negative sentiments of human beings. 3. What is your opinion about fire and ice? Which one is more destructive? Both fire and ice can destroy this beautiful world if they are beyond control of human beings. Therefore we should be open-minded and reduce our prejudice and pride so as to keep this world in peace.(2)Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening 1. In your opinion, what was the reason that made the speaker stop by the woods on a snowy evening? The poet was deeply attracted by the natural beauty of the scene at that very moment. 2. Why did the horse give the harness bell a shake? The horse grew impatient by stopping in the middle of the dark, cold woods at midnight. It was eager to go home.3. Why couldn't the speaker stay longer by the woods to appreciate its mysterious beauty? He realized that it was late at night and he would have to hurry home to get some food and sleep, because the next morning he would have a lot of work to do.4. What is the effect of repetition in the last two lines? The refrain-like repetition in the last two lines reminds the reader a simple fact of life: whatever happens, one must go forward in the journey of his or her life.(3) The Road Not Taken 1. What is the speaker's initial response to the divergence of the two roads? The speaker is at a loss which road he should choose, and he feels sorry that he cannot explore both roads at the same time. 2. Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take?Two roads are similar except one of them is more “grassy,” which impl ies that it is less traveled by people. The speaker prefers the less traveled one, because he likes adventure. 3. What might the two roads stand for in the speaker's mind? One road stands for the traditional one and the other is unconventional one and full of challenges and difficulties. To follow other people's footsteps or to open a new road for himself is really not an easy decision for us to make in our lives.。

第一章美国浪漫主义时期一、美国浪漫主义时期概述Ⅰ.本章学习目的和要求通过本章学习，了解１９世纪初期至中叶美国文学产生的历史、文化背景；认识该时期文学创作的基本待征、基本主张，及其对同时代和后期美国文学的影响；了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。

Ⅱ.本章重点及难点：1．浪漫主义时期美国文学的特点2．主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义。

3．分析讨论选读作品Ⅲ.本章考核知识点和考核要求：1.美国浪漫主义时期概述(1)．"识记"内容：美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景(2)．"领会"内容：美国浪漫主义在文学上的表现a.欧洲浪漫主义文学的影响b.美国本土文学的崛起及其待证(3)．"应用"内容：清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家Ａ．华盛顿·欧文1．一般识记：欧文的生平及创作主涯2．识记：《纽约外史》《见闻札记》3．领会：欧文的创作领域、创作思想，及其作品的艺术风格4.应用：选读《瑞普·凡·温可尔》的主题及其艺术特色Ｂ．拉尔夫·华尔多·爱默生1．一般识记：．爱默生的生平及创作生涯2．识记：爱默生的超验主义思想3．领会：（1）爱默生的散文：《论自然》《论自助》《论美国学者》等（2）．爱默生与梭罗：梭罗的超验主义思想和他的《沃尔登》4．应用：《论自然》节选：爱默生的基本哲学思想及自然观Ｃ．纳撒尼尔·霍桑1．一般识记：霍桑的生平及创作主涯2．识记：霍桑的长短篇小说3．领会：（1）《红字》的主题、心理描写、象征手法和、小说结构（2）霍桑的清教主义思想及加尔文教条中的"原罪"对霍桑的影响（人性本恶的观点）（3）霍桑对浪漫主义小说的贡献4．应用：选读《小伙子布朗》的主题结构、象征手法及语言特色Ｄ．华尔特·惠特曼1．一般识记：惠特曼的生平及其创作生涯2．识记：惠特曼的民主思想3．领会：（1）惠特曼的《草叶集》的主创意图、思想感情及诗体形式、语言风格（2）．惠特曼的个人主义4．应用：选读《草叶集》诗选："一个孩子的成长"、"涉水的骑兵'"、"自己之歌"的主题结构、诗歌的艺术特色、语言风格Ｅ．赫尔曼·麦尔维尔1．一般识记：麦尔维尔的生平及创作生涯2．识记：麦尔维尔的早期作品：《玛地》《雷得本》《白外衣》，后期作品《皮埃尔》《骗子的化装表演》《比利伯德》等3．领会：《白鲸》的（1）主题：表层及深层意义（2）小说结构：浪漫主义和现实主义的统一（3）象征手法和寓言的运用（4）语言特色4．应用：选读《白鲸》最后一章的节选：主题思想、人物刻画、象征手法、语言特色Chapter l The Romantic Period(一)"识记"内容：1.The origin of Romantic American literatureThe Romantic Period, one of the most important periods in the history of American literature, stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving's The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman's Leaves of Grass.2.The American Renaissance or New England Renaissance is a period of the great flowering of American literature, from the i830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War. It came of age as an expression of a national spirit. One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau. The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. Apart from the Transcendentalists, there emerged during this period great imaginativewriters ---Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman---whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature.3.Its social historical and cultural backgroundThe development of the American society nurtured "the literature of a great nation." America was flourishing into a politically, economically and culturally independent country. Historically, it was the time of westward expansion in America economically, the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation. Politically, democracy and equa1ity became the ideal of the new nation, and the two-party system came into being. Worthy of mention is the literary and cultural life of the country. With the founding of the American Independent Government, the nation felt an urge to have its own literary expression, to make known its new experience that other nations did not have: the early Puritan settlement, the confrontation with the Indians, the frontiersmen's life, and the wild west. Besides, the nation's literary milieu was ready for the Romantic movement as we11. Thus, with a strong sense of optimism, a spectacular outburst of romantic feeling was brought about in the first ha1f of the 19th century.4.Major writers of this periodThere emerged a great host of men of letters during this period, among whom the better-known are poets such as Philip Freneau, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow, James Russel Lowell, John Greenleaf Whitter, Edgar Ellen Poe, and, especially, Walt Whitman, whose Leaves Of Grass established him as the most popular American poet of the 19th century. The fiction of the American Romantic period is an original and diverse body of work. It ranges from the comic fables of Washington Irving to the The Gothic tales of Edgar Allen Poe, from the frontier adventures of James Fenimore Cooper to the narrative quests of Herman Melville, from the psycho1ogical romances of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the social realism of Rebecca Harding Davis.(二)．领会内容1.The impact of European Romanticism on American Romanticism Foreign literary masters, especially the English counterparts exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the new world. Born of one common cultural heritage, the American writers shared some common features with the English Romanticists. They revolted against the literary forms and ideas of the period of classicism by developing some relatively new forms of fiction or poetry.(1) They put emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature, which included a liking for the picturesque, the exotic,the sensuous, the sensational, and the supernatural.(2) The Americans also placed an increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions and disp1ayed an increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters.Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement.(3) The strong tendency to exalt the individual and the common man was almost a national religion in America. Writers like Freneau, Bryant, and Cooper showed a great interest in external nature in their respective works.(4) The literary use of the more colorfu1 aspects of the past was also to be found in Irving's effort to exploit the legends of the Hudson River region, and in Cooper's long series of historical tales.(5)In short, American Romanticism is, in a certain way, derivative.2.The unique characteristics of American RomanticismAlthough greatly influenced by their English counterparts, the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e,(1) the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America's landscape with its virgin forests, meadows, groves, endless prairies, streams, and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. (2)The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper's Leather Stocking Tales, in Thoreau's Walden and, later, in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (3) With the growth of American national consciousness,American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. (4) Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. (5) Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers.(三)．应用内容1. The American Puritanism and its great influence over American moral values, as is shown in American romantic writings.(1) American PuritanismPuritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. (The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church, who came into existence in the reigns Queen Elizabeth and King James Ⅰ.The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quitea few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons, but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Church of 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".They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. But in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America, they became more and more practical, as indeed they had to be. Puritans were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinated their whole way of life. Puritans' lives were extremely disciplined and hard. They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them, and history has criticized their actions. Yet in the persecution of what they considered error, the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history. As a culture heritage, Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind and American values. American Puritanism also had a conspicuously noticeable and an enduring influence on American literature. It had become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere, rather than a set of tenets.(2) One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers.2. New England TranscendentalismNew England Transcendentalism is the mot clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period. It was started in the area around Concord, Mass. by a group of intellectual and the literary men of the United States such as Emerson, Henry David Thoreau who were members of an informal club, i. e. the Transcendental Club in New England in the l830s. The transcendentalists reacted against the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism in Boston. They adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation , the innate goodness of man, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The writings of the transcendentalists prepared the ground of their contemporaries such as Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.The main issues involved in the debate were generally philosophical, concerning nature, man and the universe. Basically, Transcendentalismhas been defined philosophical1y as "the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses." Emerson once proclaimed in a speech, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism inc1ude the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self-re1iant.3. American Romanticists differed in their understanding of human nature.To the transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau, man is divine in nature and therefore forever perfectible; but to Hawthorne and Melville, everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is therefore indispensab1e for the improvement of human nature, as is shown in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.二.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家Ⅰ. Washington Irving(1783-l859)Irving's position in American literature Washington Irving was one of the first American writers to earn an international reputation, and regarded as an early Romantic writer in the merican literary history and Father of the American short stories.一．一般识记His life and major worksWashington Irving was born in New York City in a wealthy family. From a very early age he began to read widely and write juvenile poems, essays, and plays. In l798, he conc1uded his education at private schools and entered a law office, but he loved writing more.His first successful work is A History Of New York from the Beginning Of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, which, written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker, won him wide popularity after it came out in 1809. With the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in serials between 1819 and 1820, Irving won a measure of international fame on both sides of the Atlantic. The book contains familiar essays on the Eng1ish life and Americanized versions of European folk tales like "Rip Van Winkle ＂, and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Geoffrey Crayon is a carefully contrived persona and behind Crayon stands Irving, juxtaposing the Old World and the New, and manipulating his own antiquarian interest with artistic perspectives.The major work of his later years was The Life of George Washington.二．识记1.Irving's great indebtedness to European literatureMost of Irving's subject matter are borrowed heavily from European sources, which are chiefly Germanic. Irving's relationship with the Old World in terms of his literary imagination can hardly be ignored considering his success both abroad and at home.A History of New York is a patchwork of references, echoes, and burlesques. He parodies or imitates Homer, Cervantes, Fielding, Swift and many other favorites of his. He was also absorbed in German Literature and got ideas from German legends for two of his famous stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The Alhambra is usually regarded as Irving's "Spanish Sketch Book" simply because it has a strong flavor of Spanish culture. Most of the thirty-three essays in The Sketch Book were written in England, filled with English scenes and quotations from English authors and faithful to British orthography. Washington Irving brought to the new nation what its peop1e desired most in a man of 1etters the respect of the Old World.2.Irving's unique contribution to American literatureIrving's contribution to American literature is unique in more than one way. He was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame. Although greatly influenced by European literature, Irving gave his works distinctive American flavor. "Rip Van Winkle" or "The Legend of Sleepy Hol1ow", however exotic these stories are, are among the treasures of the American language and culture. These two stories easily trigger off American imagination with their focus on American subjects, American landscape, and, in Irving's case, the legends of the Hudson River region of the fresh young 1and. It is not the sketches about the Old World but the tales about America that made Washington Irving a household word and his fame enduring.He was father of American short stories. And later in the hands of Hawthorne and Melville the short story attained a degree of perfection.三．领会1.Irving's theme of conservatism as is revealed in "Rip Van Winkle"Irving's taste was essentia1ly conservative and always exa1ted a disappearing past.This socia1 conservatism and literary preference for the past is revea1ed, to some extent, in his famous story "Rip Van Winkle." The story is a tale remembered mostly for Rip's 20-year s1eep, set against the background of the inevitably changing America. Rip went to sleep before the War of Independence and woke up after it. The change that had occurred in the 20 years he slept was to him not always for the better. The revolution upset the natural order of things. In the story Irving ski1lfu1ly presents to us paralleled juxtapositions of two totally different worlds before and after Rip's 20 years' s1eep. By moving Rip back and forth from a noisy world with his wife on the farm to a wild but peaceful natural world in the mountains, and from a pre-Revolution villageto a George Washington era, lrving describes Rip's response and reaction in a dramatic way, so that we see clearly both the narrator and Irving agree on the preferabi1ity of the past to the present, and the preferability of a dream-like world to the real one. Irving never seemed to accept a modern democratic America.2.Irving's literary craftsmanshipWashington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who "perfected the best classic style that American Literature ever produced."(1) We get a strong sense impression as we read him along, since the language he used best reveals what a Romantic writer can do with words. We hear rather than read, for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose.(2) We seldom learn a mora1 lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed. So we often find ourselves lost in a world that is permeated witha dreaming quality.(3) The Gothic elements and the supernatural atmosphere are manipulated in such a way that we could become so engaged and involved in what is happening in a seemingly exotic place.(4) Yet Irving never forgets to associate a certain place with the inward movement of a person and to charge his sentences with emotion so as to create a true and vivid character. He is worth the honor of being "the American Goldsmith" for his literary craftsmanship.四．应用Selected Reading:An Excerpt from "Rip Van Winkle"The story of Rip Van WinkleRip, an indolent good-natured Dutch-American, lives with his shrewish wife in a village on the Hudson during the years before the Revolution. One day while hunting in the Catskills with his dog Wolf, he meets a dwarflike stranger dressed in the ancient Dutch fashion. He helps him to carry a keg, and with him joins a party silently playing a game of ninepins. After drinking of the liquor they provide, Rip falls into a sleep which lasts 20 years, during which the Revolutionary War takes place. He awakes as an old man and returns to his home village that has greatly altered. Upon entering the village, he is greeted by his old dog, which dies of the excitement and then learns that his wife has long been dead. Rip is almost forgotten but he goes to live with his daughter, now the mother of a family, and is soon befriended with his generosity and cheerfulness.This excerpt below is taken from the story, describing for us Rip's difficulties at home, which he often escapes by going to the local inn to spend his time with his friends and sometimes by going hunting in thewoods with his dog, and then focusing on Rip 's return from his 20 years' sleep to his greatly altered home village. Here, Irving's pervasive theme of nostalgia for the unrecoverable past is at once made unforgettable.What are the theme and the artistic features of "Rip Van Winkle"?(1) The theme:Irving's taste was essentia1ly conservative and always exa1ted a disappearing past.This socia1 conservatism and literary preference for the past is revea1ed, to some extent, in his famous story "Rip Van Winkle." The story is a tale remembered mostly for Rip's 20-year s1eep, set against the background of the inevitably changing America. Rip went to sleep before the War of Independence and woke up after it. The change that had occurred in the 20 years he slept was to him not always for the better. The revolution upset the natural order of things. In the story Irving ski1lfu1ly presents to us paralleled juxtapositions of two totally different worlds before and after Rip's 20 years' s1eep. By moving Rip back and forth from a noisy world with his wife on the farm to a wild but peaceful natural world in the mountains, and from a pre-Revolution village to a George Washington era, lrving describes Rip's response and reaction in a dramatic way, so that we see clearly both the narrator and Irving agree on the preferabi1ity of the past to the present, and the preferability of a dream-like world to the real one. Irving never seemed to accept a modern democratic America.(2) The artistic features:"Rip Van Winkle" is not only well-known for Rip's 20-year sleep but also considered a model of perfect English in American Literature and in the English language as well. Washington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who "perfected the best classic style that American Literature ever produced." He has a clear, easy style.(a) We get a strong sense impression as we read him along, since the language he used best reveals what a Romantic writer can do with words. We hear rather than read, for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose.(b) We seldom learn a mora1 lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed.So we often find ourselves lost in a world that is permeated with a dreaming quality. He uses genial humor to exaggerate the seriousness of situation. He uses dignified words to produce a half-mocking effect.(c)The Gothic elements and the supernatural atmosphere are manipulated in such a way that we could become so engaged and involved in what is happening in a seemingly exotic place.( Rip Van Winkle was overwhelmed by the magic power of the drink and fell into sleep for 20 years.)(d)Yet Irving never forgets to associate a certain place with theinward movement of a person and to charge his sentences with emotion so as to create a true and vivid character. He is worth the honor of being "the American Goldsmith" for his literary craftsmanship.II. Ralph Waldo Emerson一.一般识记His life: Ralph Waldo Emerson is the chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism, which is unanimously agreed to be the summit of the Romantic period in the history of American literature.Emerson was son of a Unitarian minister. Though born of an impoverished family, Emerson never failed to receive some formal education. Whi1e a student at Harvard he began keeping journals, a practice he continued throughout his 1if e. He later drew on the journal for materials for his essays and poetry. After Harvard, he taught as a schoolmaster, which he soon gave up for the study of theology. He began preaching in 1826 and three years later he became a pastor in a church in Boston. Emerson was ardent at first in his service in religion, but gradually grew skeptical of the beliefs of the church; feeling Unitarianism intolerable, he finally left the ministry in l832.Emerson was greatly influenced by European Romanticism. He Carlyle, and listened to some famous Romantic poets like Coleridge and Wordsworth. Through his acquaintance with these men he became closely involved with German idea1ism and Transcendentalism. After he was back from Europe, Emerson retreated to a quiet study at Concord, Massachusetts, where he began to pursue his new path of "self-reliance." Emerson formed a club there at Concord with peop1e like Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, which was later known as the Transcendenta1 Club. And the unofficial manifesto for the Club was Nature(l836), Emerson's first little book, which established him ever since as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism. Nature was the fundamental document of his philosophy and expressed also his constant, deeply-felt love for nature. It was called "the Manifesto of American Transcendentalism". He also helped to found and edit for a time the Transcendental journal, The Dial. Emerson lived an intel1ectually active and significant life between the mid-1830s and the mid-1840s, 1ecturing all over the country, and occasionally, abroad. He preached his Transcendental pursuit and his reputation expanded dramatically with his lectures and his essays. Though the rest of Emerson's life was a slow anticlimax to his midd1e years, people continued to honor the most influentia1 prophet and the intellectua1 liberator of their age, and his reputation as a family man of conventional life and a decent, solid citizen has remained always.二．识记内容：His major works:Emerson is generally known as an essayist. During all his life he worked steadily at a succession of essays, usually derived from his journals or lectures he had already given. Nature did not establish him as an important American writer. His lasting reputation began only with the publication of Essays(1841 ). Many of his famous essays are included in Essay, which convey the best of his philosophical discussions and transcendental pursuits, such as The American Scholar, Self Reliance, The Over Soul.The second collection of Emerson's essays, Essays: Second Series (1844) demonstrated even more thorough1y than the first that Emerson's intellect had sharpened in the years since Nature. The Poet and Exprience are examples, the former a reflection upon the aesthetic problems in terms of the present state of literature in America and the latter a discussion about the conflict between idealism and ordinary 1ife.三．领会1. Emersonian TranscendentalismEmersonian Transcendentalism is actual1y a philosophical school which absorbed some ideological concerns of American Puritanism and European Romanticism, with its focus on the intuitive knowledge of human beings to grasp the absolute in the universe and the divinity of man. In his essays, Emerson put forward his philosophy of the over-sou1, the importance of the Individual, and Nature.(1) Emerson's philosophy of the over-sou1Emerson rejected both the formal religion of the churches and the Deistic philosophy; instead he based his religion on an intuitive belief in an ultimate unity, which he called the "over-soul."Emerson and other Transcendentalists believed in the transcendence of "over-soul". It is an impersonal force that is eternal, moral, harmonious, and beneficient in tendency. They believed that there should be an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal "oversoul", since the over-sou1 is an all-pervading power from which all things come from and of which a1l are a part. One of the tendencies of the "over-soul " is to express itself in form, hence the world of nature as an emanation of the world of spirit. Emerson's remarkable image of "a transparent eyebal1" marks a paradoxical state of being, in which one is merged into nature, the over-soul, whi1e at the same time retaining a unique perception of the experience.(2) Emerson's philosophy of the importance of the IndividualEmerson is affirmative about man's intuitive knowledge, with which a man can trust himself to decide what is right and to act accordingly. The ideal individual should be a self-reliant man. "Trust thyself," hewrote in Self Reliance, by which he means to convince people that the possibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite.(3) Emerson's view on natureEmerson's nature is emblematic of the spiritual world, alive with God's overwhelming presence. It mediates between man and God, and its voice leads to higher truth; hence, it exercises a healthy and restorative inf1uence on human mind. "Go back to nature, sink yourse1f back into its inf1uence and you'1l become spiritually who1e again." By employing nature as a big symbol of the Spirit, or God, or the over-soul, Emerson has brought the Puritan 1egacy of symbolism to its perfection.Emersonian Transcendentalism inspired a whole generation of famous American authors like Thoreau, Whitman, and Dickinson.2.Thoreau's TranscendentalismHenry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is most often mentioned as inspired by Emerson, the most representative of the phi1osophical and literary school which is American Transcendenta1ism. Thoreau embraced his master's ideas as a disciple. In 1845 he built a cabin on some land belonging to Emerson by Walden Pond and moved in to live there in a very simple manner for a litt1e over two years, which gave birth to a great transcendentalist work Walden (1854). The book not only fully demonstrates Emersonian ideas of self-reliance but also develops and tests Thoreau's own transcendental philosophy.(1)For Thoreau, nature is not merely symbolic, but divine in itself and human beings can receive precise communication from the natural world by way of pure senses. So he was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communion with nature.(2)Thoreau strongly believed in se1f-culture and was eager to identify himself with the Transcendental image of the self-reliant man. To achieve personal spiritual perfection, he thinks, the most important thing for men to do with their lives is to be self- sufficient, so he sought to reduce his physical needs and material comforts to a minimum to get spiritual richness.(3)His positiveness about the importance of individual conscience was such that he even considered the society fetters of the freedom of individuals.Though Thoreau became more than Emerson's disciple eventually, his indebtedness to Nature and its author has never been over1ooked.3. The style of Emerson's essaysEmerson's essays often have a casual style, for most of them were derived from his journals or lectures. They are usually characterized by a series of short, declarative sentences, which are not quite logically。

美国文学美国文学Part 1. Colonial AmericaPhilip Freneau Philip Freneau菲菲利普·弗伦诺1752-1832The Wild Honeysuckle野生的金银花；The Indian Burying Ground 印第安人殡葬地印第安人殡葬地 Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards The Freedom of the Will The Great Doctrine of Original Sin The Freedom of the Will The Great Doctrine of Original Sindefended T he The Nature of True VirtueBenjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林本杰明·富兰克林Poor Richard’s Almanack 穷查理历书；The Autobiography 自传Part 2. A merican American Romanticism It is one of the most important periods in the history of American literature ,t Romantic Period ,which stretches from the end of the 18th century through the out breakof Civil War.It started with the publication of Washington Irving's The Sketch bookand ended with Whitman's Leave of Grass .American Romanticism was in essence the expression of "a real new experience "and contained "an alien quality "for the simplereason that "the spirit of the place" was radically new and alien.And it was bo imitative and independent.Washington Irving 华盛顿·欧文1783-1859 A History of New York 纽约的历史纽约的历史---------------美国人写的第一部诙谐文学美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；杰作；The The Sketch Book 见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 睡谷的传说的传说---------------使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家；使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家；Rip Van Winkle -------short storyJames Fenimore Cooper 詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀1789-1851The Spy 间谍;The Pioneer 拓荒者；;The Prairie 大草原;ThePathfinder 探路者;The Deerslayer 杀鹿者Part 3.New England TranscendentalismRalf Waldo Emerson 拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生1803-1882Essays 散文集散文集::Nature 论自然-----新英格兰超验主义者的宣言书;TheAmerican Scholar 论美国学者;Henry David Threau 亨利·大卫·梭罗1817-1862W adden,or Life in the Woods 华腾湖或林中生活Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ·朗费罗 An April Day 四月的一天/A Psalm of Life 人生礼物(poem )/PNathaniel Hawthorne 纳撒尼尔·霍桑1804-1864 Twice-told Tales 尽人皆知的故事尽人皆知的故事;Mosses from an Old Manse ;Mosses from an Old Manse 古屋青苔:Young Goodman Brown 年轻的古德曼·布朗年轻的古德曼·布朗年轻的古德曼·布朗;The Scarlet Letter ;The Scarlet Letter红字红字;The House of the Seven Gables ;The House of the Seven Gables 有七个尖角阁的房子有七个尖角阁的房子----------------心理若们罗曼史心理若们罗曼史;The Blithedale Romance ;The Blithedale Romance 福谷传奇福谷传奇;The Marble Faun ;The Marble Faun玉石雕像玉石雕像Herman Melville Moby Dick/The White Whale 莫比·迪克/白鲸；Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass 草叶集:Song of Myself 自我之歌Emily Dickinson ； “Because I could not stop for death ” “I ＇ｍ no body... ”poemEdgar Allan Poe 埃德加·爱伦·坡1809-18491809-1849（以诗为（以诗为诗；永为世人共赏的伟大抒情诗人伟大抒情诗人----------叶芝）叶芝）The Fall of the House of Usher 厄舍古屋的倒塌;Annabel Lee 安娜贝尔·李Poem-----歌特风格；首开近代侦探小说先河，又是法国象征主义运动的源头T 诗:The Raven 乌鸦;To Hellen 致海伦 Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin 汤姆叔叔的小屋;Part 4. The age of RealismWilliam Dean Howells 威廉·狄恩·豪威尔斯恩·豪威尔斯The Rise of Silas Lapham 赛拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹;A Hazard of Now Fortunes 时来运转;2323、、Henry James 小说：Daisy Miller苔瑟·米乐；The Portrait of a Lady 贵妇人画像；Part 5. Local ColorismMark Twain 马克·吐温（Samuel Longhorne Clemens Clemens））------美国文美国文学的一大里程碑学的一大里程碑The Gilded Age 镀金时代 -----------novel;The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 哈克贝利·费恩历险记How to Tell a Story 怎样讲故事怎样讲故事---------对美国早期幽默文学的总结对美国早期幽默文学的总结对美国早期幽默文学的总结 O. Henry short story 短篇小说 The Four Million ”《四百万》”《四百万》 小说集小说集、“The Gift of the Magi ”《麦琪的礼物》《麦琪的礼物》Part 6. American NaturalismFrank Norris The Octopus 章鱼,The Pit 小麦交易所);4040、、JackLondon 杰克·伦敦1876-1916T he Call of the Wild 野性的呼唤----novel ;The Sea-wolf 海狼;White Fang 白獠牙;T ;Martin Eden 马丁·伊登;Part 7. The 1920s ImagismEzra Pound 艾兹拉·庞德1885-1972美国现代诗歌之父美国现代诗歌之父Cathay 华夏（英译中国诗The Cantos of Ezra Pound 庞德诗章（109首及8首未完成稿）《In a station of the Metro 》----在地铁站里 Thomas Stearns Eliot The Waste Land 荒原;名诗：名诗：Ash Ash Wednesday 圣灰星期三圣灰星期三;;FourQuarters 四个四重奏Robert Frost 罗伯特·弗罗斯特1874-1963 After Apple-picking 摘苹果之后)(The Road Not taken 没有选择的道路)----poem---------Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening <雪夜林畔>F Scott Fitzgerald 弗朗西斯·菲茨杰拉德1896-1940(迷惘的一代一代) )The Side of Paradise 人间天堂;The Beautiful and the Damned 美丽的和倒霉;The Great Gatsby 了不起的盖茨比;Tender in the Night 夜色温柔Ernest Ernest Hemingway Hemingway 欧内斯特·海明威1899-19611899-1961（“迷惘（“迷惘的一代”的代表人物）物）The Sun Also Rises 太阳照样升起太阳照样升起;;Farewellto Arms 永别了，武器;For Whom the Bell Tolls 丧钟为谁而鸣William William Faulkner Faulkner威廉·福克纳1897-1962短篇小说：;The Sound and the Fury 愤怒与喧嚣;；Short story ------A Rose For Emily 《给艾米丽小姐的玫瑰》 Theodore Dreiser西奥多·德莱塞1871-1945Sister Carrie 嘉莉姐妹----Novel ;Trilogy of Desire 欲望三部曲(Financer 金融家,The Titan 巨人,The Stoic);An American Tragedy 美国的悲剧（被称为美国最伟大的小说） Arthur Miller ;The Death of a Salesman 推销员--------Play ;１．《了不起的盖茨比》表现了“美国梦”的幻灭，这部小说谴责以托姆为代表的美国特权阶级自私专横，为所欲为，以同情的态度描写了盖茨比的悲剧，并指出他的悲剧来自他对生活和爱情的幻想，对上层社会缺乏认识。

1. “God helps them that help themselves.” is found in ____________work.A. Paine’sB. Franklin’sC. Freneau’sD. Jefferson’s2. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic?A. The American Crisis.B. The Federalist.C. Declaration of Independence.D. The Age of Reason.3. “These are the times that try men’s souls”, these words were once read to Washington’s troops and did much to spur excitement to further action with hope and confidence. Who is the author of these words?A. Benjamin FranklinB. Thomas PaineC. Thomas JeffersonD. George Washington4. Which work is written by Freneau?A. The Right of ManB. The Wild honey SuckleC. Poor Richard’s AlmanacD. The Day of Doom5. Who was considered as the “Poet of American Revolution”?A. Anne BradstreetB. Edward TaylorC. Michael WiggleworthD. Philip Freneau6. In Moby Dick, the voyage symbolizes ___________.A. the microcosm of human societyB. the search for truthC. the unknown worldD. nature7.Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communication with _________________.A. natureB. transcendentalist ideasC. human beingsD. celestial beings8. The Transcendentalist group includes two of the most significant writers America has produced so far, Emerson and ____________-.A. Henry David ThoreauB. Washington IrvingC. Nathanel HawthorneD. Walt Whitman9. ___________is regarded as the first American prose epic.A. NatureB. The Scarlet letterC. WaldenD. Moby Dick10. The Romantic Period of American literature started with the publication of Washington Irving’s ___________ and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.A. The Sketch BookB. Tales of a TravelerC. The AlhambraD. A History of New York11. The convention of the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature in American literature is particularly evident in ___________________.A. Cooper’s Leatherstocking TalesB. Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.C. Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.D. Irving’s Rip Van Winkle.12. As a philosophical and literary movement, _________ flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism13. For Melville, as well as for the reader and ____________, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe.A. StarbuckB. StubbC. IshmaelD. Arab14. All of the following are works by Nathaniel Hawthorne except_____________.A. The House of Seven GablesB. White JacketC. The Marble FaunD. The Blithdale Romance15. In the following works, which signs the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leatherstocking Tales..D. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn16. The main theme of Emily Dickinson is the following except_______________.A. religionB. love and marriageC. life and deathD. war and peace17. Emily Dickinson’s poetic idiom is noted for the following except_____________.A. brevityB. directnessC. plainestD. obscure18. “There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, trough the whole life, but circumstances may rouse it to activity.” Which of the following writings is the thought reflected in?A. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Yo ung Goodman Brown.B. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.C. Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.D. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.19. The publication of ____________established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over Soul20. Most of the poems in Whitman’s leaves of Grass sing of the “en-mass” and the ___________as well.A. natureB. lifeC. selfD. self-relianceII. Fill into the blanks with suitable phrase or term. (2x10=20%)1.The American of Scholar is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.2.In 1620, a number of Puritans who tried to purify or reform the church of Englandstepped on the New England shore at Plymouth in the ship named Mayflower3.Among all the settlers in the New Continent, English settlers were the mostinfluential.4.In American Literature, the eighteenth century was an Age of Reason andRevolution.5.In Franklin’s Autobiography he talks first of all about how he studied language.6.Irving was best known for his famous short stories such as Rip Van Winklewhich is about a good-natured lazy husband who falls into a 20-year sleep. 7．Published in 1823, The Pioneers was the first of the Leatherstocking Tales, in their order.8．Philip Freneau was considered as the “poet of the American Revolution” and the “Father of American Poetry.”9．A superb book Walden came out of Thoreau’s two-year experiment at Walden pond.10．As one of America’s first and foremost realists and humorists, Mark Twain , the pen name of Samuel Langhorne. Clemens, usually wrote about his own personal experiences and things he knew about from firsthand experiences.III. Match the writer in Column A with the works in Column B (1X10=10%)Column A Column Ba.Franklinb.John Smithc.William Cullen Bryantd.James Fennimore Coopere.Philip Freneauf.Washington Irvingg.Nathaniel Hawthorneh.Edgar Allan Poei.Ralph Waldo Emersonj.Walt Whitman1.( b) A Description of New England2.( h) The Raven3.( g) The Scarlet Letter4.( a) Autobiography5.( e) The Wild Honey Suckle6.( c) To a Waterfowl7.( d) The Deerslayer8 ( j)Leaves of Grass9.( f) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow10.( i ) Nature。

美国文学知识一．殖民地时期（The Literature of Colonial American）北美的第一本书：《海湾圣诗》（The Bay Psalmbook）约翰·史密斯（John Smith）：被誉为美国文学的第一位作家。

代表作《关于弗吉尼亚的真实叙述》（A True Relation of Virginia）是美国文学第一书。

纳撒尼尔·沃德（Nathaniel Ward）：被誉为“北美讽刺文学第一笔”。

代表作《北美的阿格瓦姆鞋匠》（The Simple Cobbler of Aggawam in America）。

威廉·布拉福德（William Bradford）：被誉为“美国历史之父”。

代表作《普利茅斯种植园史》（History of Plymouth Plantation）。

安妮·布拉德斯特里特（Anne Bradstreet）：殖民地时期的第一位诗人。

代表作《最近在北美出现的第十位缪斯》（The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America）。

迈克尔·威格尔斯沃斯（Michael Wigglesworth）：诗人。

代表作《判决日》（The Day Of Doom）。

爱德华·泰勒（Edward Taylor）：诗人。

代表作《上帝对其选民有影响的决定》（Gods Determinations Touching His Elect）。

乔纳森·爱德华兹（Jonathan Edwards）：“大觉醒”（The Great Awakening）运动中的主要思想家。

代表作《愤怒是上帝手中之罪人》。

二．独立战争到南北战争（American Literature between the War of Independence and the Civil War）本杰明·富兰克林（Benjamin Franklin）：美国启蒙运动的开创者、科学家、实业家、政治家和革命家，参与撰写了《独立宣言》（Declaration of Independence）。

美国文学一期末复习资料I. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement.1. For Melville, as well as for the reader and _________, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe.A. AhabB. IshmaelC. StubbD. Starbuck8. Stylistically, Henry James’ fiction is characterized by____________.A. short, clear sentencesB. abundance of local imagesC. ordinary American speechD. highly refined language9. One of the characteristics that have made Mark Twain a major literary figure in the 19th century America is his use of____________ .A. vernacularB. interior monologueC. point of viewD. photographic description10. It is on his____________ that Washington Irving’s fame mainly rested.A. childhood recollectionsB. sketches about his European toursC. early poetryD. tales about America11. At the middle of 19th century, America witnessed a cultural flowering which is called “____________________”.A. the English RenaissanceB. the Second RenaissanceC. the American RenaissanceD. the Salem Renaissance12. As a philosophical and literary movement, the main issues involved in the debate of Transcendentalism are generally concerning ____________________.A. nature, man and the universeB. the relationship between man and womanC. the development of Romanticism in American literatureD. the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism13. About the novel The Scarlet Letter, which of the following statements is NOT right?A. It’s very hard to say that it is a love story or a story of sin.B. It’s a highly symbolic story and the author is a master of symbolism.C. It’s mainly about the moral, emotional and psychological effects of the sinupon the main characters and the people in general.D. In it the letter A takes the same symbolic meaning throughout the novel.14. The great sea adventure story Moby-Dick is usually considered____________.A. a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe.B. an adventurous exploration into man’s relationship with natureC. a simple whaling tale or sea adventureD. a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the artistic truth and beauty15. In his poems, Walt Whitman is innovative in the terms of the form of his poetry, which is called “____________________.”A. free verseB. blank verseC. alliterationD. end rhyming16. After the Civil War America was transformed from ______ to _________.A. an agrarian community …an industrialized and commercialized societyB. an agrarian community … a society of freedom and equalityC. a poor and backward society …an industrialized and commercialized societyD. an industrialized and commercialized society …a highly developed society18. Which of the following is not right about Mark Twain’s style of language?A. His sentence structures are long, ungrammatical and difficult to read.B. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect.C. His humor is remarkable and characterized by puns, straight-facedexaggeration，repetition and anti-climax.D. His style of language had exerted rather deep influence on the contemporary writers.20. Which of the following is not written by Henry James?A. The Portrait of A Lady and The Europeans.B. The Wings of the Dove and The Ambassadors.C. What Maisie Knows and The Bostonians.D.The Genius and The Gilded Age.21. More than five hundred poems Dickinson wrote are about nature, in which hergeneral Skepticism about the relationship between ______ is well-expressed.A. man and manB. men and womenC. man and natureD. men and God22. Which of the following is right about Emily Dickinson’s poems about nature?A. In them, she expressed her general affirmation about the relationship betweenman and nature.B. Some of them showed her disbelief that there existed a mythical bondbetween man and nature.C. Her poems reflected her feeling that nature is restorative to human beings.D. Many of them showed her feeling of nature’s inscrutability and indifference tothe life and interests of human beings.23. As a great innovator in American literature, Walt Whitman wrote his poetry in anunconventional style which is now called free verse, that is _________.A. lyrical poetry with chanting refrainsB. poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme schemeC. poetry without rhymes at the end of the lines but with a fixed beatD. poetry in an irregular metric form and expressing noble feelings37. Which of the following is not a work of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s?A. The House of the Seven Gables.B. The Blithedale Romance.C. The Marble Faun.D.White Jacket.38. In Hawthorne’s novels and short stories, intellectuals usually appear as ______________.A. commentatorsB. observersC. villainsD. saviors39. Besides sketches, tales and essays, Washington Irving also published a book on ______, which is also considered an important part of his creative writing.A. poetic theoryB. French artC. history of New YorkD. life of George Washington41. In American literature, escaping from the society and returning to nature is a common subject. The following titles are all related, in one way or another, to the subject except _________.A. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Hu ckleberry FinnB. Dreiser’s Sister CarrieC. Copper’s Leather-Stocking TalesD. Thoreau’s Walden43. Emily Dickinson wrote many short poems on various aspects of life. Which of the following is not a usual subject of her poetic expression?A. Religion.B. Life and death.C. Love and marriage.D. War and peace.44. In 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson made a speech entitled _______ at Harvard, which was hailed by Oliver Wendell Holmes as "Our intellectual Declaration of Independence."A. "Nature"B. "Self-Reliance"C. "Divinity School Address"D. "The American Scholar"46. In American literature the first important writer who earned an international fameon both sides of the Atlantic Ocean is_______________.A. Washington IrvingB. Ralph Waldo EmersonC. Nathaniel HawthorneD. Walt Whitman47. The American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his“black vision．”TheTerm “black vision” refers to______________.A. Hawthorne's observation that every man faces a black WallB. Hawthorne's belief that all men are by nature evilC. that Hawthorne employed a dream vision to tell his storyD. that Puritans of Hawthorne's time usually wore black clothes52. Though Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were romantic poets in theme andtechnique, they differ from each other in a variety of ways. For one thing, whereasWhitman likes to keep his eye on human Society at large, Dickinson oftenaddresses such issues as_______, immortality, religion, love and nature.A. progressB. freedomC. beautyD. death53. The Romantic writers would focus on all the following issues EXCEPT the_______in the American literary history．A. individual feelingB. survival of the fittestC. strong imaginationD. return to nature55. With Howells, James, and Mark Twain active on the literary scene, ______becamethe major trend in American literature in the seventies and eighties of the 19thcentury．A. SentimentalismB. RomanticismC. RealismD. Naturalism57. Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth and Pearl are most likely Characters in_______.A. The House of the Seven GablesB. The Scarlet LetterC. The Portrait of a LadyD. The pioneers58. In his realistic fiction, Henry James's primary concern is to present the_________.A. inner life of human beingsB. American Civil War and its effectsC. life on the Mississippi RiverD. Calvinistic view of original Sin60. Which of the following is NOT the virtue that Franklin enumerated in his The Autobiography?A. TemperanceB. Humanity (Humility)C. FrugalityD. Immoderation61. American Romanticism stretches from the end of the ________ century through the outbreak of ______.A. 18th, the Civil WarB. 18th, the War of IndependenceC. 19th, WWID. 19th, WWII62. _________ believes that the chief a im of literary creation is beauty, and “the death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.”A. Walt Whitman B. Edgar Allen PoeC. Anne BradstreetD. Ralph Waldo Emerson63. In Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for Death, ______________.A. death is personified as a devilB. death is described as the tragic end of a person’s lifeC. death is a stage of life and it leads people to the Heaven of immortalityD. death is described as a beaut iful girl who couldn’t find her final destination64. Which is generally regarded as the manifesto and the Bible of American Transcendentalism?A. Thoreau’s WaldenB.Emerson’s NatureC. Poe’s Poetic PrincipleD. Tho reau’s Nature65. Henry David Thoreau’s work, ________, has always been regarded as amasterpiece of the New England Transcendental Movement.A. WaldenB. The PioneersC. NatureD. "Song of Myself"66. ‘Leaves of Grass’ commands great attention because of its uniquely poeticembodiment of________, which are written in the founding documents of both the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War.A. the democratic idealsB. the romantic idealsC. the self-reliance spiritsD. the religious ideals67. ________is the author of the work “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.A. Washington IrvingB. James JoyceC. Walt WhitmanD. William Butler Yeats68. After "The Adventure of Tom Sawyer", Twain gives a literary independence toTom’s buddy Huck in a book called_________, and the book from which "all modern American literature comes".A. Life on the Mississippi RiverB. The Gilded AgeC. Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. The Sun Also Rises69. The greatest work written by Theodore Dreiser is__________.A. Sister CarrieB. An American TragedyC. The FinancierD. The Titan70. We can perhaps summarize that Walt Whitman’s poems are characterized by all the following features except that they are _______________.A. conversational and crudeB. lyrical and well-structuredC. simple and rather crudeD. free-flowing72. Mark Twain, one of the greatest 19th century American writers, is well known for his ____.A. international themeB. waste-land imageryC. local colorD. symbolism74. Most of Herman Melville’s novels are based on sea voyag es and sea adventures. Which of the following is not the case?A. Typee.B. Moby-Dick.C. Omoo.D. The Confidence-Man75. In Henry James’ Daisy Miller, the author tries to portray the young woman as an embodiment of _______________.A. the force of conventionB. the free spirit of the New WorldC. the decline of aristocracyD. the corruption of the newly rich77. The Transcendentalists believe that, first, nature is ennobling, and second, the individual is ____________.A. insignificantB. vicious by natureC. divineD. forward-looking78. The Publication of ______established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over-SoulExplain the following literary terms.2. American TranscendentalismNew England Transcendentalism was, in essence, romantic idealism on Puritan soil. It was a system of thought that originated from three sources. First William Ellery Channing (1780---1842) was an American Unitarian clergyman. His Unitarianism represented a thoughtful revolt against orthodox Puritanism. Unitarianism believed God as one being, rejecting the doctrine of trinity, stressing the tolerance of difference in religious opinion, and giving each congregation the free control of its own affairs and its independent authority. It laid the foundation for the central doctrines of transcendentalism. Secondly, the idealistic philosophy from France and Germany exerted enormous impact on American intellectuals. Thirdly, oriental mysticism asrevealed in Hindu and Chinese classics reached America in English translations. As a result, New England Transcendentalism blended native American tradition with foreign influences.3. American Realism Realism is the theory of writing in which familiar aspects of contemporary life and everyday scenes are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner. This is the theory that authors try to use and guide them in their writing. It stresses truthful treatment of material. It is anti-romantic, anti-sentimental, and without abstract interest in nature, death, etc. Mark Twain laughed at people who were caught up in the world of illusions, who were not mature enough to see real situations. This is one example of the truthful treatment of material.4. American RomanticismRomanticism was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. It was a movement of conscious rebellion against being too objective. The romantic spirit was one of subjectivity of inward feelings that one could trust one’s subjective responses. Romantics placed a high premium upon the creative function of imagination, and saw art as a formulation of intuitive and imaginative perceptions that tend to speak a nobler truth than that of fact.5. Multiple points of view The employment of several narrators or narrative points of views to tell a story, thus making the structure of the book somewhat radioactive. For example, The Sound and the Fury uses four different narrative voices to piece together the story and thus challenges the reader by presenting a fragmented plot told from multiple points of view.Answer briefly4. Please give a brief analysis of the major features of American romanticism.5. Give a brief analysis of the differences between the three realists：William D. Howells，Mark Twain and Henry James7. Whitman has made radical Changes in the form of poetry by Choosing free verse ashis medium of expression．What are the characteristics of Whitman's free verse?9. What are the major features of New England Transcendentalism?10. What are the similarities and differences between Whitman and Dickinson’s poetry?11. What are th e writing features of Mark Twain’s literary creation?12. Who is the first American poet to write free verse? What is his masterpiece? What are the symbolic meanings of the title of this work?Topic Discussion1. What makes Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn more than a child’s adventure story? Briefly discuss the question from THREE of the followingaspects: the setting, the language, the character(s), the theme and the style.2. Take Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as an example to illustratethe statement that Mark Twain was a unique writer in American literature．6. O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is wonThe port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;But O heart! heart! heart!Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.1) Who is the writer of this poem?2) Who is “Captain” the poet compares to, and what do the “fearful trip” and the “prize” respectively refer to?3) What are major rhetorical devices used in this stanza?2. Take examples to analyze the style and theme of Mark Twain.9. Reality reflected in realistic writings （现实主义的简要背景，现实主义文学的特点，举例说明）Realism came as a reaction against ‘the lie’ of romanticism and sentimentalism. The battle between ‘idealists’ and ‘realists’ provided the major issue of American literary history after the Civil war (1861-1865). Literature began to pay less attention to general ideas and more to the immediate facts of life. As a way of writing, realism has been applied in almost every literature throughout history. But as a literary movement, realism is a period concept and it refers to the approach of realist fiction occurred at the latter part of the 19th century.In part, the rise of realism came as a protest against the falseness and sentimentality seen in romantic literature. The realists were determined to create a new kind of literature that was completely and totally realistic.Major Features1Realism is the theory of writing in which familiar aspects of contemporary life and everyday scenes are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner.This is the theory that authors try to use in their writing. It stresses truthful treatment of material. It is anti-romantic, anti-sentimental, and without abstract interest in nature, death, etc.2In realist fiction characters from all social levels are examined in depth. The realist writers hold on to characters and keep examining how these people relateto each other.3Open ending is also a good example of the truthful treatment of material.4Realism focuses on commonness of the lives of the common people who are customarily ignored by the arts. Realists are interested in commonplace, the everyday, the average, the trivial, and the representative.5Realism emphasizes objectivity and offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience. The realist writers are detached observers of life. They are like scientists, making an investigation.Realism presents moral visions. The author has a purpose for presenting an objective account of real life in order to express his moral sense. Realists are ethical writers, interested in the problems of the individual conscience in conflict with social institutions. Many of their works show the American businessman in the conflict over whether he should accept a bribe, give a bribe, participate in unfair business practices, etc. Generally, these writers show how the individual conscience wins when he opposes social conventions and social practices and they are always interested in focusing on the dilemma. This indicates their disbelief in romantic individualism.6. The influence of Transcendentalism（定义1分，社会意义1分，文学意义2分，代表人物1分）Transcendentalism can be best understood as a late and localized manifestation of romantic movement in literature and philosophy. The triumph of intuition over five senses, the elevation of the individual over society, the critical attitude toward formalized religion, the rejection of any kind of restraint or bondage to custom, the new and thrilling delight in nature --- all these were characteristics of transcendentalism.As formulated by Emerson, transcendentalism became a loud and clear call to action, urging young people to cast off their enslavement to the past, to follow God within, and to live every moment of life with great effort, to regard nature as the great objective lesson proving God’s presence everywhere in His creation.Transcendentalism was also an ethical and moral guide to life for a young nation of America. It preached the positive life and appealed to the best side of human nature. Therefore, it stressed the tolerance of difference in religious opinion and the free control of its own affairs by each congregation, and called to throw off shackles of custom and tradition, and to go forward to the development of a new and distinctly American culture.Transcendentalism is important to American literature at least for two reasons:1)It is represented by two major writers of the country, Emerson and Thoreau. Theybecame movers and shakers whose writings have had more and more impact with the passage of time.A new group of writers under the influence of Emerson and Thoreau began to apply transcendental ideas in their works. Hawthorne, Melville, Lowell, Dickinson, and Whitman were all exponents of transcendentalism in one way or another. They createdone of the most prolific periods in the history of American literature.Topic Discussion:50. Mark Twain presented the 19th century America in his own unique way. Discuss Twain’s art of fiction: the setting, the language, and the characters, etc., based on his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Answers:A. Mark Twain uses the Mississippi alley as his fictional kingdom, writing about the landscape and people, the customs and the dialects of one particular region, and is therefore known as a local colorist.B. He creates life-like characters, especially the unconventional Huckleberry Finn, who runs away from civilization and stands opposite to conventional village morality.C. He uses a simple, direct vernacular language, totally different from any precious literary language. It is the kind of colloquial belonging to the lower class, the living local American English.D. He has created a special humor to satirize and the decayed convention.III. Terms (10 points, 2.5 points for each)1. Puritanism2. Blank Verse3. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow4. Moby DickIV. Comment. (30 points, 15 points for each)1. Comment on Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography.2. What are the artistic achievements of Edgar Allan Poe?3. Comment on Hawthorne’s "black" vision of life and human beings and its influence on his works.4. Comment on Whitman’s poetic style and language.5. What are the features of literature in Colonial America?6. What philosophical meaning is implied in Philip Freneau’s “The Wild Honey Suckle”?I. True or false questions: ( 20points, 1point for each)Directions: Decide whether the following statements are true or false and write A for true ones and B for false ones on your answer sheet.( ) 1.The Calvinist doctrine of "original sin" exerted great influence up Hawthorne.( ) 2.To Hawthorne, sin will get punished,one way or another.( ) 3.Emily Dickinson didn't like using capital letters where small ones are needed.( ) 4.Walt Whitman used parallelism and refrain in his poems.( ) 5.Walt Whitman was regarded as the Zenith in American romantic poetry.( ) 6.Dickinson was original. She never imitated others.( )7.Allan Poe was regarded as the forerunner of American Imagism.( ) 8.Allan Poe defined poetry as the rhythmical creation of beauty.( ) 9.O.Henry seldom wrote about poor people.( )10.According to Poe, art serves for pleasure.The chief aim of poetry is beauty, namely, to produce a feeling of beauty in the reader.( )11.According to Dickinson,death means immortality.( )12.According to Henry James,the aim of the novel is to reflect life reality.( )13.James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society,and Howells concerned himself chiefly with middle class life,whereas Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society.( )14.Allan Poe advocated "pure" poetry.( )15.Mark Twain's contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of localism in American fiction, and partly through his themes.( )16.Henry James adopted a new point of view in one of his novels.( )17.Henry James discovered the trick of making his characters reveal themselves with minimal intervention of the author.( )18.N.Hawthorne was a symbolic writer in some sense.( )19.Whitman's poetry suggests rather than tells.( )20. President Lincoln praised Anne Bradstreet as “the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”Identification (16 points, 2point for each)Directions: Write the names of the novels or poems according to the given passage. ( ) 1. The carriage held but just OurselvesAnd Immortality( ) 3. " I will go home with you," said Mr. Dimmesdale ( ) 4. My Captain doesn't answer, his lips are pale and still.My father doesn't feel my arm, he has no pulse and will.( ) 5. Helen, thy beauty is to meLike those Nicean barks of yore( ) 6. I Loaf and invite my soulI Lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.( ) 7. But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and frail beauty to the prisoner as he went in...( ) 8. Were I with theeWild Nights should be Our luxury!Appreciation (10points)Directions: In this part of the test, there are two excerpts. Each of the excerpts is followed by several questions. Read the excerpts and answer the questions on the Answer Sheet.Part AI went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it, whether it is of the devil or of God.Questions:1. This passage is taken from a famous work entitled _________ . (1 points )2. The author of the work is____________ . (1 points )3. List by yourself at least five reasons that the author gives for going to live in the woods. (4 points )Part BIt was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden there lived whom you may know.By the name of Annabel Lee; —And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.Questions:1. The stanza is taken from the poem________________?(1 points )2. The author of the poem is____________ . (1 points )3. What is the most obvious rhetorical device the author uses for effect? (2 points )11。

天津城建大学结课作业美国文学Never Give Up学生姓名闫金龙学号1309010203 班级13英语2班成绩Never Give UpThe old man and the sea was created by Ernest Miller Hemingway. He (July 21, 1899 – July2,1961) was an American writer and journalist. His fiction usually focuses on people’s living essential, dangerous lives, soldiers, fishermen, athletes, bullfighters.The old man and the sea tells the story of the frail elderly fisherman Santiago within 84 days did not catch a fish, but he never gave up. To his overjoy, he finally caught a big marlin. Unexpectedly, the little boat was dragged to the deep sea by the big fish, the old man spent two days and two nights to get it. However , he finally found marlin only remaining a huge empty skeleton.Theme was expressed through the image of the lion naturally. The author quotes the image of the lion five times throughout the narrative process. The image of the lion is inseparable with the old man’ image fighting against fish. In the novel of The old man and the sea ,the lion can be understood as a symbol of the old man, the old man is a sea lion. The old man did not catch fish for eighty-four days, but he did not yield to the heart and complain about the cruelty of life and the unfairness of fate, nor did he beg for mercy or compassion. He possessed the lion's ambition, strength and courage. As confessed in the opening “his eyes just like sea water’s color, revealing a very cheerful and invincible rays of light.”I have learned that the essence of a tough guy is that he dares to face up to failure and challenge life, rather than succumbing to fate or shirking the duty and responsibility. Facing of the enemies, the old man dared to strive for success with enough perseverance and patience. His fascinating charm showed vividly with the competition of marlin and sharks. Although Santiago is an ordinary fishing man, his spirit is the most valuable, his typical “tough guy” image will be reserved forever by the world people. The spirit also show vividly in the novel of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a literary masterpieces, written in 1876 by the famous author Mark Twain. Mark Twain (pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens,1835-1910), was an American writer, journalist and humorist, who won a worldwide audience for his stories of the youthful adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.This book describes the nineteenth century, the Mississippi river in a small town people's lives, it can be said at the time the united states is a microcosm of social life. small characters tom sawyer and his junior partner and seriously childish words and deeds can give me a deep insight. they hate priests pack of lies and do not like boring school of education and decently adults. They are smart, lively, kind and courageous, especially in some major events happened when, in a battle between justice and evil.When crisis comes, they will not hesitate to come forward.I think Tom Sawyer is a brave boy. he always gives his friends courage in danger and he tries his best to help other people. Although Tom is a very naughty boy, he often irritates aunt Polly. He also is a good boy. He always can make other people happy.People always grow, besides height, body has grown stronger, and people’s thoughts are long. Your view on the world is different, sensible, and no longer childish. But people are getting better. Don't like the adventures of the ruthless villains , and his quest do bad, people see people hate. But at last he still Las Toman, got a starved to death in the cave.Tom sawyer and the old man have one thing very much in common. No matter what they meet, they never forget pursuit of the dream. Ever if they are in worst circumstances, they also never easily yield to the difficulties and shrink. On the contrary, they are insisting on their dreams as usual. Finally, they are both achieving their dream.They have set up a good example to me and I learn a lot from them. I understand that no matter when and where, no matter how much difficulties, not being intimidated by the difficulties and bravely facing the difficulties and overcoming difficulties. At the same time, always maintaining a positive, calm and optimistic attitude to face challenges and bad luck. As long as we make them, we are bound to benefit a lot.Life is only once, people existing the tragic and absurd world. At the same time,it is they that make the world be full of rich colors. If we experienced a wide range of difficulties, we would be able to understand the meaning and value of life, we should be very happy.。