美国文学1(复习资料)

美国文学史及选读复习笔记（1-2册）History And Anthology of American Literature (V olumeⅠⅡ)美国文学史及选读1、2PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖民主义时期的文学1. 17世纪早期English and European explorers开始登陆美洲。

在他们之前100多年Caribbean Islands, Mexico and other Parts of South America已被the Spanish占领。

2. 17th早期English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts(弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞)开始了美国历史3. 美国最早殖民者(earliest settlers)included Dutch ,Swedes ,Germans ,French ,Spaniards ,Italians and Portuguese (荷兰人，瑞典人，德国人，法国人，西班牙人，意大利人及葡萄牙人等)。

4. 美国早期文学主要为the narratives and journals of these settlements采用in diaries and in journals(日记和日志)，他们写关于the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil.5. 第一批美国永久居民：the first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown,Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)。

6. 船长约翰?史密斯Captain John Smith他的作品(reports of exploration)17th 早期出版，被认为是美国第一部真正意义上的文学作品in the early 1600s,have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English.他讲述了filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, character and events,吸引了朝圣者和清教徒前往lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.7. 美国第一位作家：1608年Captain John Smith写了封信《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”.8. 他的第二本书1612年《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country”.9. 他一共出版了八本书，其中有关于新英格兰的历史及描述。

美国文学复习整理一、殖民主义时期的文学（colonial settlements)＆理性和革命时期文学（revolutionary period）（文艺复兴时期)1.清教主义的shaping influence2.代表人物“T he Tenth Muse”第一位移民诗人2. Philip Freneau 菲利普·佛瑞诺有宗教隐喻，关注本土地貌、人文.写印第安人故事。

美国诗歌之父 father of American poetry代表作《野金银花》The Wild Honey Suckle3。

Thomas Jefferson 托马斯·杰弗逊起草了独立宣言 The Declaration of Independence 17764.Thomas Paine 托马斯·佩因拥护独立宣言代表作：《常识》Common Sense《理性时代》The Age of Reason5.Jonathan Edwards乔纳森·埃德沃兹大觉醒运动的代表人物 the Great Awakening6.Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林代表作：《自传》The Autobiography《穷理查德历书》Poor Richard's Almanac美国梦的代表二．浪漫主义时期的文学(American Romanticism）早期浪漫主义（Early Romantic Period）1.背景：1> 时间：18世纪末到内战爆发前夕（1861）2> 条件：○1国家的快速发展，大量移民和工业化发展错误!小说的发展，期刊杂志（periodical)出现错误!受英国文学的影响2.浪漫主义的基本特征1>Stressing emotion rather than reason2>Stressing freedom and individuality3>Idealism rather than materialism4>Writing about nature, medieval legends（中世纪传说）and with supernaturalelements。

美国文学期末复习资料（作家作品）——美国文学1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1）"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴2）“The Way to Wealth”致富之道“The Autobiography”自传18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传2、Washington Irving华盛顿.欧文 the first great belletrist 第一个纯文学作家，the first great prose stylist of American romanticism. 美国第一位浪漫主义散文文体作家“Sketch Book”《见闻札记》, the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature.现代文学史上第一部短篇小说和美国第一部伟大的青少年文学读物。

“Legends of the Conquest of Spain”《西班牙征服记》A History of New York 纽约的历史-----美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；The Sketch Book见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说-----使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家；Bracebridge Hall布雷斯布里奇田庄；Talks of Travellers旅客谈；The Alhambra 阿尔罕伯拉3.James Fenimore Cooper 詹姆斯.芬尼莫.库珀“Leatherstocking Tales”《皮袜子故事集》，包括“The Deerslayer”《杀鹿者》、“The Last of the Mohicans”《最后的莫希干人》、“The Pathfinder”《探路人》、“The Pioneers”《拓荒者》、“The Prairie”《大草原》, regard as “the nearest approach yet to an American epic.” 被认为是迄今为止美国最接近史诗的作品。

附：作者及作品（第一、二册）一、殖民主义时期The Literature of Colonial America1．船长约翰•史密斯Captain John Smith 《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country”《弗吉尼亚通史》“General History of Virginia”2．威廉•布拉德福德William Bradford 《普利茅斯开发历史》“The History of Plymouth Plantation”3．约翰•温思罗普John Winthrop《新英格兰历史》“The History of New England”4．罗杰•威廉姆斯Roger Williams《开启美国语言的钥匙》”A Key into the Language of America”或叫《美洲新英格兰部分土著居民语言指南》Or “ A Help to the Language of the Natives in That Part of America Called New England ”5．安妮•布莱德斯特Anne Bradstreet 《在美洲诞生的第十个谬斯》”The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America”二、理性和革命时期文学The Literature of Reason and Revolution1。

本杰明•富兰克林Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)※《自传》“The Autobiography ”《穷人理查德的年鉴》“Poor Richard’s Almanac”2。

’ ’“ ” th 美国文学复习提纲第一部分 连线题（1*10=10）1. Thomas Jefferson2. Walt Whitman3. Mark Twain4. Robert Frost5. Ezra Pound6. Carl Sandburg7. Saul Bellow8. Ernest Hemingway 9. John Steinbeck 10. Jack London 11. Sinclair Lewis12. Flannery O ’ Connor 13. O. Henry14. Jerome David Salinger 15. William FalknerThe Declaration of Independence O ’ Captain, My Captain Jumping Frog Mending WallIn a Station of the Metro ChicagoThe Adventure of Augie March Men without Women The Grape of Wrath The Call of the Wild BabbitA Good Man Is Hard to Find The Last LeafThe Catcher in the Rye The Sound and the Fury第二部分 单项选择 (1.5*20=30) 1. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. Her poems made such a stir in England that shebecame known as the________ who appeared in America.A. Tenth MuseB. Ninth MuseC. Best MuseD. First Muse2. In American literature, the 18 century was the age of the Enlightenment. ________was the dominant spirit.A. HumanismB. RationalismC. RevolutionD. Evolution3. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic?A. The American CrisisB. The Federalist’s’’’s ’C.Declaration of IndependenceD.The Age of Reason4.At the Reason and Revolution Period,Americans were influenced by the Europeanmovement called the________.A.Chartist MovementB.Romanticist MovementC.Enlightenment MovementD.Modernist Movement5.Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond,lost in spiritualcommunication with________.A.natureB.transcendentalist ideasC.human beingsD.celestial beings6.________tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a puritancommunity are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways.A.Twice-Told TalesB.The Scarlet LetterC.The House of the Seven GablesD.The Marble Faun7.Washington Irving social conservation and literary for the past is revealed,to someextent,in his famous story,________.A.The Legend of Sleepy Hollow C.The Custom-houseB.Rip Van Winkle D.The Birthmark8.The convention of the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature inAmerican literature is particularly evident in________.A.Coopers Leatherstocking Tales C.Whitmans Leaves of GrassB.Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter D.Irvings Rip Van Winkle, “ .’ 9. As a philosophical and literary movement, ________ flourished in New England from1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism10.EdgarAllanPoemainlywrites__________.A. poemsB. literary critic theoriesC. short storiesD. dramas11. In Hawthorne ’s The Scarlet Letter A ” may stand for ________.A. AdulteryB. AngelC. AmiableD. All the above12. The period before the American Civil War is generally referred to as ________A. the Naturalist PeriodC. the Romantic PeriodB. the Modern PeriodD. the Realistic Period13. In the following works, which signs the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leatherstocking TalesD. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn14. The main theme of Emily Dickinson is the following except ________.A. war and peaceB. love and marriageC. life and deathD. religion15. Emily Dickinson poetic idiom is noted for the following except ________.A. brevityB. directnessC. plainest wordsD. obscure16. The publication of ________ established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesmanof New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over-Soul’“ ” “a ” “ ”’s “of 17. The Age of Realism in the literary history of the United States refers to the periodfrom ________ to ________.A. 1861 (1914)B. 1863...1918 C. 1865...1914 D. 1865 (1918)18. ________ is considered to be Theodore Dreisergreatest work.A. An American TragedyB. Sister CarrieC. The FinancierD. The Titan19. ________ is a novella about a young American girl who getskilled by the winter inRome, and it brought Henry James international fame for the first time.A. The AmericanC. Daisy MillerB. The EuropeansD. The Portrait of a Lady20. ________ is described by Mark twain as a boy with sound heart and a deformedconscience.A. Tom SawyerB. Huckleberry FinnC. JimD. Tony21. Mark Twain wrote most of his literary works with a ________ language.A. grandB. pompousC. simpleD. vernacular22. The book from whichall modern American literature comesrefers to ________.A. The Great GatsbyB. The Sun Also RisesC. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. Moby-Dick23. In which of the following works Hemingway presents his philosophy about life anddeath through the depiction of the bull-fight as a kind of microcosmic tragedy?A. Death in the AfternoonC. To Have and Have NotB. The Snows of KilimanjaroD. The Green Hills of Africa24. ________ is Hemingway first true novel in which he depicts a vivid portrait The”. ”.“ ” ’’Lost GenerationA. The Sun Also RisesC. In Our TimeB. A Farewell to ArmsD. For Whom the Bell Tolls25. Robert Frost combined traditional verse forms —the sonnet, rhyming couplets,blank verse —with a clear American local speech rhythm, the speech of ________farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax.A. SouthernB. WesternC. New HampshireD. New England26. ________, one of the most important poets in his time, is a leading spokesman of the“Imagist MovementA. J. D. SalingerB. Ezra PoundC. Richard WrightD. Ralph Ellison27. “Tender Is the Night ” is a ________ by Fitzgerald.A. short storyB. novellaC. poemD. novel28. ________ is said to be historical novel b y Faulkner.A. Go Down, MosesB. Light in AugustC. The Sound and the FuryD. Absalom29. ________ stems from the ambiguity of the speakerchoice between safety and theunknown.A. Mending the wallB Home BurialC. The Road not TakenD. Stopping by Woods on a SnowyEvening30. Hemingways writing style, together with his theme and the hero, is greatly andpermanently influenced by his experiences ________.’ ’ ” ’ ” ” ’s ” A. in his childhoodB. in the warC. in AmericaD. in Africa31. The following writers were awarded Nobel Prize for literature except ________.A. William FaulknerC. John SteinbeckB. F. Scott FitzgeraldD. Ernest Hemingway32. ________ is not considered to be one of the masters in the field of American fiction inthe modernistic period.A. F. Scott FitzgeraldC. Arthur MillerB. Ernest HemingwayD. William Faulkner33. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both …” Inthe above two lines of Robert Frost ’s “The Road not Taken ”, the poet, byimplication, was referring to ________.A. ones course of lifeC. a middle-age crisisB. a marriage decisionD. a travel experience34. Most of the writers in the modern period were able to probe into the inner world ofhuman reality on the base of ________.A. William James “stream of consciousnessB. Carl Jungs “collective unconsciousand “archetypal symbolC. Sigmund Freud “interpretation of dreamsD. All of the above35. Writers of the second postwar era self-consciously acknowledged that they were____________.A. a Lost GenerationB. a Beat Generation“So”’s , ’s “ is C. a Jazz GenerationD. none of the above36. In 1862, President Lincoln exclaimed: you are the little woman who wrote thebook that started this great war!The book refers to ________.A. Uncle Tom CabinB. BelovedC. Pride and PrejudiceD. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn37. In Leaves of Grass _______ is all that concerned Whitman.A. individualismC. democracyB. freedomD. all the above38. It is not surprising to find in _______ f iction a world of jungle, wherekill or to bekilled ” was the law.A. Mark TwainB. Emily DickinsonC. Theodore DreiserD. Henry James39. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of William Faulkner?A. He is master of stream-of-consciousness narrative.B. His writing is often complex and difficult to understand.C. He often depicts slum life in New York and Chicago.D. He represents a new group of Southern writers40. The setting of the novel The Scarlet Letter in ________.A. England during World War IB. Paris during the French RevolutionC. Puritan AmericaD. America after the Revolutionary War第三部分判断对错(1*15=15’)(T)1.The Calvinist doctrine of“original sin”exerted great influence upon Hawthorne.(T)2.To Hawthorne sin will get punished,one way or another.(T)3.Roger Chillingworth,the scholar,the embodiment of pure intellect, committed the“Unpardonable Sin”.(F)4.Emily Dickinson didn’t like using capital letters where small ones are needed. (T)5.Walt Whitman used parallelism and refrain in his poems.(T)6.Walt Whitman was regarded as the Zenith in American romantic poetry. (T)7.Dickinson was original.She never imitates others.(T)8.Allan Poe defined poetry as the rhythmical creation of beauty.(F)9.O.Henry seldom wrote about poor people.(T)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.(T)11.According to Dickinson,death means immortality.(F)12.According to Poe,truth is beauty,beauty truth.(T)13.According to Henry James,the aim of the novel is to reflect life reality. (T)14.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.(F)15.American writers,especially novelists were rather experimental after the World Wars.(T)16.O.Henry’s short stories are famous for their surprising endings.(T)17.Allen Ginsberg was the representative of the Beat Generation.(T)18.Allan Poe exerted great influence upon many southern American writers, especially William Faulkner.(F)19.Emily Dickinson was regarded as the forerunner of symbolism.(F)20.Mark Twain never touched upon the problem of slavery system in his novels.(F)21.Allan Poe was regarded as the forerunner of American Imagism.(T)22.Mark Twain was the father of American language.(T)23.Allan Poe advocated“pure”poetry.(F)24.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.(T)25.Toni Morrison is one of the most famous contemporary women writers. (T)26.O.Henry was the pen name of William Sidney Porter.(T)27.Thomas Jefferson was the major writer of The Declaration of Independence (T)28.Henry James discovered the trick of making his characters reveal themselves with minimal intervention of the author.(T)29.N.Hawthorne was a symbolic writer in some sense.(T)30.Whitman’s poetry suggests rather than tells.第四部分术语解释(4*5=20’)1.TranscendentalismTranscendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the middle1800’s,which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition,the Oversoul, and nature.Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore,self-reliant.2.NaturalismNaturalism,a more deliberate kind of realism,usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment.As a literary movement,naturalism was initiated in France and it came to be led by Zola,who claimed at“scientific”status for his studies of impoverished characters miserably subjected to hunger,sexual obsession,and hereditary defects.3.American DreamThe American Dream is the faith held by many people in the United States of America that through hard work,courage and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself,usually through financial prosperity.These were values held by many early European settlers,and have been passed on to subsequent generations.4.The Lost Generation. The term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group ofAmerican Literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period which saw theend of WWI to the beginning of the Great Depression. Significant membersincluded Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson,T.S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein herself. Hemingway likely popularized the term,quoting Stein ( “You are all a lost generation ”) as epigraph to his novel The SunAlso Rises More generally, the term is being used for the young adults of Europeand America during WWI. They were “lost ” because after the war many of themwere disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to move into settledlife.5. ModernismModern writing is marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional formsand techniques of expression; it believes that we create the world in the act ofperceiving it. Modernism implies historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, ofloss, and of despair. It elevates the individual and his inner being over social manand prefers the unconscious to the self-conscious.6. PuritanismThe principles and practices of puritans were popularly known as Puritanism.Puritanism accepted the doctrines of Calvinism: the sovereignty of God; thesupreme authority of the Bible; the irresistibility of God ’s will for man in ever actof life from cradle to grave. These doctrines led the Puritans to examine theirsouls to find whether they were of the elect and to search the Bible to determine, God ’s will.7. Hemingway Heroes (Code Hero)“Hemingway Heroes ” refer to some protagonists in Hemingway ’s works. Such ahero usually is an average man of decidedly masculine tastes, sensitive andintelligent. And usually he is a man of action and of a few words. He is such anindividualist, alone even when with other people, somewhat an outsider, keepingemotions under control, stoic and self-disciplined in a dreadful place where onecan not get happiness.8. Jazz Age“The Jazz Age ” describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years betweenWWI and WWII, particularly in North America; with the rise of the GreatDepression, the values of this age saw much decline. Perhaps the mostrepresentative literary work of the age is American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald ’s TheGreat Gatsby a highlighting what some describe as the decadence andhedonism, as well as the growth of individualism.第五部分 选读分析 25’Text1.From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of itsinhabitants, who are descendants from[he original Dutch settlers, thissequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and itsrustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboringcountry.Drowsy and dreamy influence seems to hang over the land，and to pervade the very atmosphere.Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor,during the early days of the settlement;others,that an old Indian chief,the prophet or wizard of his tribe,held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson.Questions:(1)Who is the writer of this short story from which the passage is taken?(2)What is the title of this short story?(3)Give a definition of“short story”.Answer:(1)Washington Irving(2)The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(3)A short story is a brief prose fiction,usually one that can be read in a single sitting.It generally contains the six major elements of fiction—characterization, setting,theme,plot,point of view and style.Text2.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler,long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other,as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh,I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood,and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference. Questions:(1)Please examine the poetic form(rhyme and meter)(2’)(2)Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads.Which one does the speaker take?(3’)(3)How do you understand the word“sigh”?(4’)(4)What might the two roads stand for in the speaker’s mind?(2’)(5)What is the theme of this poem?(2’)Answer:(1)It is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymed abaab.(2)Similarities:both of the roads are beautiful;Differences:one is quiet and grassy,less-traveled,the other is trodden by many people and flatHe took the less-traveled road.(3)The word“sigh”is a tricky word.Because sigh can be interpreted into nostalgic relief or regret.If it is the relief sigh,then the difference means the speaker feels glad with the road he took.If it is the regret sigh,then the difference would not be good,and the speaker would be signing in regret. Hence,sigh is ambiguous here for the speaker is not showing whether his choice is right or wrong.(4)The real road,the life road and the road in career.(5)Choices is inevitable but you never know what you choice will mean until you have lived it.This is also the theme of the poem.Text3.Tell me not,in mournful numbers,Life is but an empty dream!For the soul is dead that slumbers,And things are not what they seem.Life is real-life is earnest-And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art,to dust returnest,Was not spoken of the soul.Questions:(1).Who is the writer of the lines?(2).What is the title of the whole poem from which the two stanzas are taken?(3).Summarize the poet’s advice for living.Answers:(1).Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(2).A Psalm of Life(3).His optimism which has characterized much of his poetry,also endeared many critics to him.He seemed to have persevered despite tragedy.This poem is the cry of his heart,“rallying from depression”,ready to affirm life,to regroup from losses,to push on despite momentary defeat.Text4.Because I could not stop for Death—He kindly stopped for me—The Carriage held but just Ourselves—And Immortality.We slowly drove—He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility—We passed the School,where Children strove At Recess—in the Ring—We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—We passed the Setting Sun—Or rather—He passed Us—The Dews drew quivering and Chill—For only Gossamer,my Gown—My Tippet—only Tulle—We paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground—The Roof was scarcely visible—The Cornice—in the Ground—Since then—’tis Centuries—and yetFeels shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses’HeadsWere toward Eternity—Questions:(1)Who wrote this poem?In the poem,what is he/she watching and recording? (3%)(2)What is death compared to in the poem?(2%)(3)What does the poet think of eternity?(2%)(4)What is the attitude of the poet towards death?(2%)Answer:(1)Emily Dickinson.She is watching and recording her own funeral.(2)Death is compared to a polite gentleman or polite wooer.(3)The speaker is not quite sure whether there will be eternity after death since she just surmises that“the Horses’Heads were toward Eternity—”.(4)She treats death light-heartedly for she believes that death is a necessary step towards eternity or immortality.。

美国文学期末复习选择题Unit 21) To Montresor, the fatal weakness of Fortunato is his _______ for his connoisseurship in wine.A) knowledgeB) arroganceC) faithD) seeming ignorance2) Montresor wants to take revenge on Fortunato during the carnival because _______ .A) almost all the people would habitually celebrate the festival, excessively drinking and dancing in delight and giving less attention to other activities beyond celebration.B) Fortunato would be too busy as a wine connoisseur during the festival so that he might not see through the tricky plan of Montresor to put an end to his life.C) he would work together with Fortunato during the festival so as to have chance to kill him.D) he chooses the time at random instead of a deliberate scheme.3) In the story Amontillado is known as the good wine whose _______ , as Montresor deceptively claims, has strong appeal to Fortunato.A) taste and smellB) reputation and tasteC) reputation and quantityD) recommendations by Italian virtuosos4) Who is Luchresi ?A) a boy in the barB) a arrogant neighborC) a wine connoisseurD) a Sherry producer5) As Montresor and Fortunato walk further into the catacomb, the latter keeps coughing becauseA) the nitre hanging like moss upon the vaults increases to strongly provoke him.B) he pretends so in order to encourage himself.C) he takes "Nemo me impune lacessit".D) the nitre distills the rheum of intoxication.6) Before taking his last breath, Fortunato still seems unable to perceive the intention of Montresor, mistaking what Montresor does to him as " a very good joke, indeed —an excellent jest". Why does he react so slowly?A) Fortunato has drunk too much to see his coming death.B) Poe intends to use Fortunato's slow comprehension as a foil to the blackness of Montresor 's well-planned revenge.C) Fortunato wants to get Montresor's mercy by fooling him this way so that he may free himself from the threshold of death.D) It is only Montresor's illusion because Fortunato has been dead when the former builds up the eleven tiers of the stone wall.7) Where does the story take place?A) It is only a psychological experience without the setting in reality.B) Poe never intends to give any information about the setting.C) It couldn't be identified.D) Italy as the setting of the story is only hinted in such as the names of characters and those of wines.8) Montresor and Fortunato mean "wealth " and "treasure" in the Italian language, symbolically mirroring _______ .A) their identical parentageB) something hidden as their mutual weaknessC) their mutual love of goldD) their mutual mania for material possession9) As it is suggestive of the Italian culture where the story is set, the word Palazzo means _______ .A) a fancy restaurant serving good winesB) a large, splendid residence or building such as a palace or museum for public activitiesC) a dreamy place as paradiseD) a place as storage of wine10) The story end with a Latin quotation "In pace requiescat", by which Poe hints that _______ .A) Montresor thinks he will die soonB) Montresor seems to be sorry for the death of FortunatoC) Montresor's hatred for Fortunato is still so strong that he couldn't get it over even when he murdered the latter half a century agoD) Montresor eventually regrets for what has done to Fortunato and implores God to give peace to the latter参考答案BACCA BDBBCUnit 41) The story is set in Boston because this town as one of the largest communities of European immigrants of the time could stand in many ways for ________.A) the Puritan culture;B) the Continental culture;C) the typical culture of the native Indians;D) the trend of immigration.2) Generally speaking, the Puritan culture is characterized by ________.A) its moral rigor and its hostility to social pleasures and indulgences.B) a stress on education and simplicity of life.C) a stress on human creation and free will.D) its concern for the afterlife of man.3) Antinomian refers to a person who believes ________.A) that all the laws are harmful to human freedom.B) that Puritanism is the key to all social problems.C) that the Gospel frees Christians from required obedience to any law, whether scriptural, civil, or moral, and that salvation is attained solely through faith and the gift of divine grace.D) that moral power is the strongest and most useful for man’s self-perfection and social development.4) Why do people call Hester Prynne “Madam Hester”or “Mistress Prynne”, respectively?A) It reflects their habitual use of the English language.B) It makes no difference.C) It hints their social status.D) It shows their different attitudes toward her.5) Why doesn’t Hawthorne explicitly tell his audience the weaver of the scarlet letter upon the bosom of Hester Prynne, though its image he presents is “so fantastically embroidered and illuminated”?A) It means that no one knows the identity of the weaver.B) It means that he wants to increase the suspension of the story.C) He is reluctant to tell it because the weaver is the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, who is seemingly free from the scandal at the moment.D) He just hints that Hester Prynne is the weaver of the meaningful letter by way of the positive comment of a spectator on her skills at needlework, because he seems to think that such an indirect narrative helps mirror how much she has tried to reclaim herself without the public knowledge.6) The grim beadle loudly orders Hester Prynne to show her scarlet letter to all the spectators in the market place, as he desires to ________.A) make all the spectators know the power he has in the community.B) fulfill his duty there.C) humiliate her as an adulterous woman.D) gratify the demand of the spectators.7) As it is compared to “the guillotine among the terrorists of France”, the scaffold, in the front of which Hester Prynne and her daughter are humiliated, symbolizes ________.A) the severity of the social punishment on her.B) the long history of humiliating the convict in the market place.C) her courage in face of dilemma.D) the on-going influence of the European law in America.8) Whom does “the image of Divine Maternity”refer to?A) Hester Prynne.B) Blessed Virgin Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ.C) Hester Prynne’s mother living in England.D) The mother of a papist.9) It is by associating the figure of Hester Prynne to “the image of Divine Maternity”that Hawthorne intends to show that ________.A) He is sympathetic with Hester Prynne.B) he looks down on the cowardice of Dimmesdale.C) Hester Prynne’s visage resembles that of the Virgin Mary.D) as Virgin Mary is sinless, so is Hester Prynne.10) Standing on the scaffold and looking downwards at the assembly, Hester Prynne suddenly clutches her daughter so fiercely to her breast that it sends forth a cry, because she wants to ________.A) distract herself from the dreadful gaze of the assembly.B) assure herself that her daughter is still with her.C) wake herself up from somewhat incontroable illusion about her early life.D) wake up her daughter.参考答案AACDD CABDCUnit 51) There are many biblical allusions in Moby Dick such as characters’ names, which often have symbolic meaning. The narrator Ishmael as an example in point was the son of Abraham and cast out after the birth of Isaac, and as the Old Testament tells, he is traditionally considered to be the forebear of the Arabs. Ishmael may be symbolically seen as ________.A) an outsider when an event takes place.B) a marginalized participant when an event takes place.C) a witness with holy mission.D) a marginalized participant/survivor in a disastrous event.2) Why does Melville name the White Whale Moby Dick and call him so in the story instead of the whale or the white whale?A) He seems to personify the evil and mysterious whale representing all that is mysteriously powerful and antagonistic to mankind.B) It is common in the West to give a creature a human name.C) He names it so for the convenience of his narration.D) He happens to do it without any connotation.3) Moby Dick gives a comprehensive and detailed account of whale fishing such as location, ship, skills, and various kinds of facilities because ________.A) whale fishing was already a developed industry in the nineteenth century, with which Melville was familiar.B) Melville was fond of whale fishing and he had such experiences.C) Melville thinks it necessary to give a realistic picture of whale fishing when narrating the story of Moby Dick.D) Melville wants to appeal to his urban readers by presenting something beyond their everyday experiences.4) Why does Captain Ahab make his mind to hunt for Moby Dick despite of the opposition ofmany whale men as well as the risk of the fatal destruction on his crew?A) He never takes the advice of others.B) His crew want him to make that decision.C) He doesn’t think his pursuit is risky.D) It shows their different attitudes toward her.5) What does the Leviathan imply in the story?A) It implies all perils in nature.B) It is a monstrous sea creature mentioned in the Old Testament and thus its name is mentioned in the story to imply the fatally destructive nature of the White Whale.C) It implies that the Leviathan is less aggressive than the whale.D) It stands for the inexplicable power of all creatures such as the White Whale.6) As the name of the Captain in the Pequod, Ahab is said to come from the Bible. If so, who is Ahab in the Bible?A) He was a heroic captain who was good at sea adventures.B) He was a prophet of the Egyptian.C) He was a Pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel, who was killed by Jehu, an Israeli king proverbially known for his swift chariot driving.D) He was a blind poet known for his songs of celebrating agricultural harvests.7) What does Ahab imply as the name of the Captain in the Pequod?A) It seems to imply that the captain is destined to die for his sailors.B) It seems to imply that the captain is a kingly conqueror of all his enemies.C) It seems to imply that the fate of the captain is predetermined as there is something fatally defective in his nature.D) It seems to imply that this tragic captain embodies Melville’s view on the fate of mankind.8) To make Moby Dick an interestingly convincing story, Melville is good at ________.A) picturing the whale fishery with deliberate exaggeration.B) telling all the episodes in the omniscient third person.C) characterizing his characters with exoticism.D) narrating with factual details that are combined with exoticism and biblical allusions.9) In addition to his sympathy for the catastrophic death of Ahab, Ishmael gives a vivid account of the whole story of the Captain mainly because ________.A) he was fond of the whale fishery.B) he wanted to give more people access to sharing such interesting experiences.C) he shared the feud of the decedent as stated in the first paragraph of the selected reading.D) he was keen to explore how the tragedy of Ahab took place.10) In comparison with other equally successful novels by Melville’s contemporaries, Moby Dick is unique in that its author wrote it ________.A) by resorting to the encyclopedia about the whale fishing in America.B) chiefly out of his own encyclopedic experiences in sea instead of sheer imagination.C) out of sheer imagination as his contemporary readers were morbidly interested in sea adventures.D) to turn the attention of the reading public from focusing on the social vanity to the unfathomable recesses of human mind.参考答案DAADB CCDCBUnit 131. Katherine Anne Porter wrote many short stories but only _______ novel.A) oneB) twoC) threeD) four2. Why is the story titled "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"?A) Granny Weatherall rejects George, her husband-to-be.B) John rejects Granny Weatherall by not appearing at the wedding.C) George rejects Granny Weatherall by not appearing at the wedding.D) Granny is first rejected by her lover and then later by God.3. The jilting took place ______years ago.A) 20B) 40C) 60D) 354. Granny Weatherall rebukes Cornelia and Doctor Harry because ______.A) she wants to sleep.B) she hates them.C) she doesn't think there is any wrong with her.D) She thinks they should mind their own business.5. What is it that Granny Weatherall doesn't like to be reminded of?A) It is that she should go through the letters in the attic.B) It is that she is old and weak.C) It is that she should look for HapsyD) It is that she has to take care of the children, the land and the house.6. What is it that Granny Weatherall can never forget?A) It is that she was jilted by her lover George 60 years ago.B) It is that her husband John died when he was still quite young.C) It is that Cornelia always keeps things secret in a public way.D) It is that her children no longer ask her for advice.7. The "fog" rising over the valley is a symbol to indicate______.A) Granny Weatherall is in her right mindB) Granny Weatherall can still see a lot through the fogC) Granny Weatherall's mind is so confused that she can no longer tell the present from the pastD) The beauty of the scenary8. Who does Granny Weatherall want to see most as she is dying?A) CorneliaB) GeorgeC) JohnD) Hapsy9. Who "cursed like a sailor's parrot and said 'I'll kill him for you.'"?A) GeorgeB) JohnC) Doctor HarryD) Father Connolly10. On what occasion does Granny Weatherall have to face a priest all by herself?A) It is at the wedding from which George runs away.B) It is when she is dyingC) It is when she has to put up post holes.D) It is when Hapsy comes to see her.参考答案ADCCB ACDBAUnit 141. Fitzgerald's first novel ___________ was an immediate success.A) The Great GatsbyB) This Side of ParadiseC) Tales of the Jazz Age2. Fitzgerald fell in love with Zelda Sayre while serving in the military _________.A) and married her immediately afterwardsB) but they never got marriedC) but they broke their engagement only to be joined in matrimony later after his first novel had been published.3. The Fitzgeralds lived _______.A) extravagantlyB) a moderate lifeC) in frugality4. The Great Gatsby was published when Fitzgerald was living in _______.A) New YorkB) EuropeC) Africa5. On the day of Gatsby's funeral, ___________ came to pay last respects to him.A) many of his friendsB) quite a few of his friendsC) few of his friends6. When Wolfsheim exclaimed, "I made him," referring to Gatsby, he meant that ________.A) without him, Gatsby could not have gotten where he was before his ill-fated deathB) he made Gatsby a good manC) he made business deals with Gatsby7. Gatsby's father _______.A) was tremendously proud of his son in spite of his grief over his son's deathB) really understood his sonC) knew what his son's business was8. The man with owl-eyed glasses at the funeral called Gatsby "the poor son-of-a-bitch," because______.A) he detested GatsbyB) he thought Gatsby was a son-of-a-bitchC) he felt sorry for Gatsby9. Nick described Gatsby's house as "huge incoherent failure of a house, meaning ________.A) the house would fall soonB) what the house symbolized failedC) the parties held in the house failed10. When Nick said, "the dazzling parties of Gatsby's were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter," he meant _______.A) he missed the partiesB) he was haunted by the memories of the partiesC) he had been to too many such parties11. Gatsby believed in the green light, thinking _________.A) it was beautifulB) he was very close to itC) he could reach it参考答案BCABC AACBBC简答题Unit21) Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress?2) What is the pretext Montresor uses to lure Fortunado to his wine cellar?3) What happens to Fortunado in the end?4) Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Mortresor and Fortunado as contrasts.参考答案1)It is Montresor. Fortunato has given Montresor thousands of injuries that he has to bear before he has this opportunity of taking revenge.2)He claims that he has just got a cask of Amontilado and stores it in the wine cellar before he may find a connoisseur to testify to its authenticity.3)The deceived Fortunado is killed because of his inability of getting out of the catacomb.4)Poe characterizes Mortresor and Fortunado as seemingly contrasting characters chiefly by presenting their identical habit in wine and their different manners towards each other, but actually he intends to show some similarly defective aspects in their nature. The similarity in their nature is also suggested by their names as synonyms in Italian: Mortresor means “fortune” while Fortunado “treasure”. Their defective nature is highlighted when the revenger Mortresor, who is fully prepared on psychological and operating levels, throws the hardly prepared but totally deceived wrong-doer Fortunado into the deep and damp catacomb and blocks up its entrance with huge rocks.Unit41) Why is the prison the setting of Chapter II?2) Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people toward her.3) What has happened to Hester? Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate? How does this tell us about her character?参考答案1)The prison is used as the setting of the story because the execution of Hester Prynne as an infamous culprit is expected to take place here and the sentence of a legal tribunal on her has but confirmed the verdict of public sentiment. In addition, the setting also suggests the tragic fate of the protagonist.2)Hester Prynne is a young and tall woman with dark and abundant hair that is so glossy that it may throws off the sunshine with a gleam. She has a beautiful face with the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. With a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale, she is ladylike with such character as characterized by a certain state and dignity, rather than by the delicate, evanescent, and indescribable grace. Besides, the attitudes of the people toward her are diverse, but mostly negative and unsympathetic largely from the conventional moral stand of the times.3)As a married woman, Hester falls in love with Dimmesdale, a reverend minister of the local community, and their love affair is discovered after she gives birth to a baby daughter. She makes the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate in the hope that the letter may embody her affirmative attitude toward the dilemma in her life, and that it may have the effect of a powerful spell to take her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclose her in a sphere by herself. This detail also mirrors her idea of love and moral value, which is explicitly different from the cowardice and hypocrisy of Dimmesdale.Unit5What are the stories Ishmael tells about Moby Dick?As one of the crew in the Pequod, Ishmael is the only sailor having survived the fatal shipwreck. Thus according to what he witnesses when following Ahab and the crew in search of Moby Dick, he relates how the white whale Moby Dick bites off one of Ahab’s legs and how the latter seeks his own revenge on the former.Why does Ahab react so violently against the while whale? Ishmael sUggests that Ahab is “crazy” and calls him “ a raving lunatic”. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?In their earlier contact Moby Dick bit off one of Ahab’s legs and thus the latter determined to kill the former with the help of his crew. Despite of the advice from his counterparts in other ships, Ahab couldn’t free himself from the idea of revenge. That is why Ishmael describes Ahab as madly obsessed with a search of Moby Dick. Ishmael’s attitude seems convincing because Melville intends to show in the romance that extreme elements in the human soul could be fatally destructive.What narrative features can you find in the selected chapter?Like the other parts of Moby Dick, this chapter is written in the first-person perspective and because the narrator Ishmael is said to have survived the Pequod shipwreck, so what the narrative "he" gives is a recollection of the process of Ahab and his crew’s hunting of Moby DickUnit13Does Granny Weatherall like Doctor Harry? Why or why not?Granny does not like Doctor Harry. First, she does not think she is ill and has to see the doctor. Second, she thinks the doctor treats her as if she were a child. He is not respectful to her.Granny intends to do a lot "tomorrow." What is the most important thing? Can she do it?The most important thing is to go through George's letters and John's letters and her letters to them both. She cannot do this because she is now sick and has to stay in bed.What advice does Granny give her family?She gives advice to Lydia about how to bring up children, to Jimmy about how to do business, even how to move the furniture to Cornelia.What happened 60 years ago? Who is George? How does Granny feel about him?She was jilted by George, the man she was to marry. He did not come to the wedding. Granny is psychologically much wounded by George's jilting. She tries very hard to forget the event and suppresses her grief. However, just before her death, the agony surfaces and she cannot forget him.Who is John? How does Granny feel about him?John is the man Granny marries eventually. They have several children during their marriage. Granny is thankful that John is sympathetic to her being jilted. She feels that, with John, there is nothing to worry about any more. But John dies when he is still rather young. She misses himfrom time to time, hoping to see him again in order to show him that she does not do badly without a husband.What is it that she would like to tell George?She, like any other woman, had a husband, fine children and a house. She is given back everything he takes away. However, the agony he causes her is 'unbelievable,' so great that she tries to think of it as that of having a baby.What is it that she would like to tell John?She has brought up their children, kept a good house and taken good care of the farm. She has changed, becoming tough by overcoming all the difficulties.Who does Granny want to see most before her death? Who is this person? Is Granny's wish realized?It is Hapsy. She is Granny's daughter and she dies in childbirth. In her semi-consciousness, Granny feels as if she had to go through many rooms to find Hapsy with her baby. She even hears Hapsy say “I thought you'd never come,” and “You haven't changed a bit!” Even at the time of death, she is concerned w ith the question “ What if I don't find her?”What is Granny's attitude towards death?She thinks that she is well prepared for death. Twenty years ago, she felt very old and finished. So she went around making farewell trips to her children. Later she made her will and came down with a long fever. Then she got over the idea of dying for a long time. However, she becomes surprised when the real time comes and thinks it is not time yet and that she cannot go. Eventually, she accepts death by blowing out the light herself.When does Granny realize that she is going to die?It is when she realizes that her children have come a long way and are there by her bed to say good-bye to her.What is the sign she looks forward to at the end of her life? Does it appear?It is the sign of Jesus in the form of a bridegroom coming to take her to Heaven. But it does not appear. So she is jilted again.Unit 141. Who was described as "madman" after Gatsby's death?2. How did Gatsby's father learn of his son's death?3. Did Nick reach Daisy by phone after Gatsby's death?4. Did Gatsby's friend Wolfsheim plan to attend his funeral?5. What did Gatsby's father proudly show to Nick?6. Where did Nick meet the man with owl-eyed glasses for the first time?7. Where did Gatsby, Nick, Daisy and Jordan come from?8. Was Jordan once attracted to Nick?9. How did Nick feel toward Jordan when he parted with her?10. Why did Nick think Tom was in a sense justified for doing what he had done?参考答案1)Wilson. 2)He saw the news in a newspaper.3)No, he didn't. 4)No, he didn't.5)Gatsby's Schedule he wrote down as a young boy. 6)In Gatsby's library.7)Middle West. 8)Yes, she was. 9)He had mixed feelings toward her. 10)He was one of those careless people who smashed up things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or their vast carelessness and let other people clean up the mess they had made.Unit151. Where is the Harris-versus-Snopes case tried?2. Why does Mr. Harris stop asking Sarty to be his witness?3. What causes Abner to walk with a limp?4. Why does Abner have the habit of making small fires?5. What does Abner teach Sarty that night?6. What does Sarty feel when he first saw De Spain's house?7. Why does De Spain's black servant refuse Abner's entrance into the house?8. Is Sarty willing to pay the amount of corn for De Spain's damaged rug?9. Does Sarty get the can of oil as his father has told him?10. Where does Sarty go and what for after he gets free of his mother's hold?参考答案1)In the store. 2)The boy will not tell the truth. 3)He was wounded in the heel on a stolen horse. 4)A habit he formed when hiding from people with his stolen horses. 5)He should stick to his own blood. 6)It stands for peace and dignity. 7)He has not wiped his feet. 8)No. He will hide it. 9)No. 10)To De Spain's house to warn De Spain.英译汉Unit2At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion if the great catacombs of Pads. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior crypt or recess, in depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, endeavored to pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination the feeble light did not enable us to see."Proceed," I said; "herein is the Amontillado. As for Luchresi — ""He is an ignoramus ", " interrupted my friend, as he stepped unsteadily forward, while Ifollowed immediately at his heels. In an instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock . Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess. "Pass your hand, " I said, "over the wall; you cannot help feeling the nitre. Indeed, it is very damp. Once more let me implore you to return. No? Then I must positively leave you. But I will first render you all thelittle attentions in my power.""The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment. "True," I replied; " the Amontillado."As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche.在墓穴的尽头，又出现了更狭窄的墓穴。

美国文学复习资料整理打印美国文学复习资料1.The literature of colonial American at the beginning of the seventeeth century.美国文学史的开始17世纪初2.The first American writer Captain John Smith第一个美国作家约翰。

史密斯船长3.early new England literature, puritan values---hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety.清教徒价值观——努力工作、节俭、虔诚和节制。

4.John Smith 约翰-史密斯；作品A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony. 真正的关系等值得注意的事件和事故所以来发生在弗吉尼亚殖民地第一种植。

A Map Of V irginia with a Description of the Country维吉尼亚州的地图描述5. William Bradford; ---------of Plymouth plantation威廉·布拉德福德;- - - - - - -普利茅斯种植园John Winthrop----------the history of new England约翰·温思罗普- - - - - - - - - - -新英格兰的历史6.Anne Dudley Bradstreet------the tenth muse lately sprung up in America安妮布莱德思特-------第十缪斯最近在美国兴起7.Edward T aylo r----the best of the puritan poets爱德华·泰勒——最好的清教徒诗人8.the war for independence lasted for eight years (1775-1783) 独立战争持续了八年(1775 -1783)9.Noah Webster declared;?? American must be as independent in literature as she is in politics,as famous for the arts as for arms. 。

美国⽂学-复习资料+答案1.The American Transcendentalists formed a club called _________ .the Transcendental Club2.______ was regarded as the first great prose stylist of American romanticism. WashingtonIrving3.At nineteen___________ published in his brother’s newspaper, his "Jonathan Oldstyle"satires of New York life.4.In Washington Irving’s work___________ appeared the first modern short stories and thefirst great American juvenile literature. The Sketch Book5.The first important American novelist was____________. James Fenimore Cooper6.James Fenimore Cooper’s novel ___________ was a rousing tale about espionage againstthe British during the Revolutionary War.The Spy7.The best of James Fenimore Cooper's sea romances was_____________.The Pilot8."To a Waterfowl" is perhaps the peak of_______________’s work; it has been called by aneminent English critic “the most perfect brief poem in the language.”William Cullen Bryant9.__________ was the first American to gain the stature of a major poet in the worldliterature.10.Edgar Allan Poe’s poem____________ is perhaps the best example of onomatopoeia in theEnglish language.The Bells11.Edgar Allan Poe's poem____________ was published in 1845 as the title poem of acollection. The Raven12.From Henry David Thoreau’s Concord jail experience, came his famous essay ______.Civil DisobedienceBy the 1830s Washington Irving was judged the nation' s greatest writer, a lofty position he later shared with James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant.In the early nineteenth century, the attitude of American writers was shaped by their New World environment and an array of ideas inherited from the romantic tradition of Europe.As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.The foundation of American national literature was laid by the early American romanticists.At mid-19th century, a cultural reawakening brought a "flowering of New England". Romantic writers in the 19th century placed increasing value on the free expression of emotion and displayed increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters.With a vast group of supporting characters, virtuous or villainous, James Fenimore Cooper made the America conscious of his past, and made the European conscious of America.No other American poet ever surpassed Edgar Allan Poe’s ability in the use of English as a medium of pure musical and rhythmic beauty.The Fall of the House of Usher is one of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories.Ralph Waldo Emerson was recognized as the leader of transcendentalist movement, but he never applied the term "Transcendentalist" to himself or to his beliefs and ideas.In 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson published his first book, Nature, which met with a mild reception.Ralph Waldo Emerson's prose style was sometimes as highly individual as his poetry.The harsh rhythms and striking images of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poetry appeal to many modern readers as artful techniques.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s writings belong to the milder aspects of the Romantic Movement.American romanticism was in a way derivative: American romantic writing was some of them modeled on English and European works.Ralph Waldo Emerson’s aesthetics brought about a revolution in American literature in general and in American poetry in particular.Henry David Thoreau was an active Transcendentalist. He was by no means an "escapist" or a recluse, but was intensely involved in the life of his day.The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century. It is an elaboration of a fact which the author took out of the life of the Puritan past.2. Transcendentalism took their ideas from___________ .A. the romantic literature in EuropeB. neo-PlatonismC. German idealistic philosophyD. the revelations of oriental mysticismABCD8. Transcendentalists recognized__________ as the "highest power of the soul.”A. intuition10. Transcendentalism appealed to those who disdained the harsh God of the Puritan ancestors, and it appealed to those who scorned the pale deity of New EnglandA. TranscendentalismB. HumanismC. NaturalismD. UnitarianismD13. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature, evident in _________ .A. James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking TalesB. Henry David Thoreau’s WaldenC. Mark Twain’s Huckleberry FinnD. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet LetterABC14. A preoccupation with the demonic and the mystery of evil marked the works of_________ , and a host of lesser writers.A. Nathaniel HawthorneB. Edgar Allan PoeC. Herman MelvilleD. Mark TwainABC16. In the nineteenth century America, Romantics often shared certain general characteristics. Choose such characteristics from the following.A. moral enthusiasmB. faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perceptionC. adoration for the natural worldD. presumption about the corrosive effect of human societyABCD17. Choose Washington Irving' s works from the following.A. The Sketch BookB. Bracebridge HallC. Tales of a TravellerD. A History of New YorkABCD18. In James Fenimore Cooper's novels, close after Natty Bumppo in romantic appeal , come the two noble red men. Choose them from the following.A. the Mohican Chief ChingachgookB. UncasC. Tom JonesD. Kubla KhanABIn 1817, the stately poem called Thanatopsis introduced the best poet___________ to appear in America up to that time.A. Edward TaylorB. Philip FreneauC. William Cullen BryantD. Edgar Allan PoeC To a Waterfowl Thanatopsis21. From the following, choose the poems written by Edgar Allan Poe.A. To HelenB. The RavenC. Annabel LeeD. The BellsABCD23. Edgar Allan Poe's first collection of short stories is___________ .D. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque24. From the following, choose the characteristics of Ralph Waldo Emerson's poetry.A. being highly individualB. harsh rhythmsC. lack of form and polishD. striking imagesABCD25. Which book is not written by Ralph Waldo Emerson?A. Representative MenB. English TraitsC. NatureD. The RhodoraD26. Which essay is not written by Ralph Waldo Emerson?A. Of StudiesB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Divinity School AddressA30. Nathaniel Hawthorne's ability to create vivid and symbolic images that embody great moral questions also appears strongly in his short stories. Choose his short stories from the following.A. Young Goodman BrownB. The Great Stone FaceC. The Ambitious Guest ABCDD. Ethan BrandE. The Pearl32. Herman Melville called his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne_____________ in American literature.A. the largest brain with the largest heart34. __________ was a romanticized account of Herman Melville's stay among the Polynesians. The success of the book soon made Melville well known as the " man who lived among cannibals". Typee37. In the early nineteenth century American moral values were essentially Puritan. Nothing has left a deeper imprint on the character of the people as a whole than did__________ .A. Puritanism"The universe is composed of Nature and the soul... Spirit is present everywhere". This is the voice of the book Nature written by Emerson, which pushed American Romanticism into a new phase, the phase of New England______ Transcendentalism43. Which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism?A. Nature45. _________ is an appalling fictional version of Nathaniel Hawthorne' s belief that "the wrong doing of one generation lives into the successive ones" and that evil will come out of evil though it may take many generations to happen.A. The Marble FaunB. The House of Seven GablesC. The Blithedale RomanceD. Young Goodman BrownBOnce upon a midnight dreary, while i pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—Only this, and nothing more. "Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.Eagerly I wished the morrow; —vainly I had tried to borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrow-sorrow for the lost.Edgar Allan PoeThe RavenDescribe the mood of this poem: A sense of melancholy over the death of a beloved beautiful young woman pervades the whole poem, the portrayal of a young man grieving for his lost Leno-re, his grief turned to madness under the steady one-word repetition of the talking bird. Work 3: Nuture1.As the leading New England Transcendentalist, Emerson effected a most articulatesynthesis of the Transcendentalist views. One major element of his philosophy if hisfirm belief in the transcendence of the "Oversoul". His emphasis on the spirit runsthrough virtually all his writings. " Philosophically considered," he states in Nature,which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism, "theuniverse is composed of Nature and the Soul. " He sees the world as phenomenal, and emphasizes the need for idealism, for idealism sees the world in God. "It beholds thewhole circle of persons and things, of actions and events, of country and religion, as one vast picture which God paints on the eternity for the contemplation of the soul. " Heregards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, andadvocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature. In thisconnection, Emerson' s emotional experiences are exemplary in more ways than one.Alone in the woods one day, for instance, he experienced a moment of "ecstasy" which he records thus in his Nature:2.Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinitespace, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.3.Now this is a moment of "conversion" when one feels completely merged with theoutside world, when one has completely sunk into nature and become one with it, and when the soul has gone beyond the physical limits of the body to share the omniscienceof the Oversoul. In a word, the soul has completely transcended the limits ofindividuality and beome part of the Oversoul. Emerson sees spirit pervadingeverywhere, not only in the soul of man, but behind nature, throughout nature. Theworld proceeds, as he observes, from the same source as the body of man. "TheUniversal Being" is in point of fact the Oversoul that he never stopped talking about for the rest of his life. Emerson' s doctrine of the Oversoul is graphically illustrated in such famous statements; "Each mind lives in the Grand mind," "There in one mind common to all individual men," and "Man is conscious of a universal soul within or behind his individual life. " In his opinion, man is made in the image of God and is just a little less than Him. This is as much as to say that the spiritual and immanent God is operative in the soul of man, and that man is divine. The divinity of man became, incidentally, a favorite subject in his lectures and essays.4.This naturally led to another, equally significant, Transcendentalist thesis, that theindividual, not the crowd, is the most important of all. If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself, and brings out the divine in himself, he can hop to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson means by the "infinitude of the privates man. " He tried to convince people that the possibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite. Men should and could be self-reliant. Each man should feel the world as his, and the world exists for him alone. He should determine his own existence. Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself. " Know then that the world exists for you " he says. "Build therefore your own world. " "Trust thy self!" and "Make thyself!" Trust your owndiscretion and the world is yours. Thus, as Henry Nash Smith ventures to suggest,"Emerson' s message was eventually (to use a telegraphic abbreviation) self-reliance. "Emerson' s eye was on man as he could be or could become; he was in the mainoptimistic about human perfectibility. The regeneration of the individual leads to the regeneration of society. Hence his famous remark, "I ask for the individuals, not the nation. " Emerson ' s self-reliance was an expression, on a very high level, of thebuoyant spirit of his time, the hope that man can become the best person he could hope to be. Emerson ' s Transcendentalism, with its emphasis on the democraticindividualism, may have provided an ideal explanation for the conduct and activities of an expanding capitalist society. His essays such as "Power", "Wealth", and "Napoleon"(in his The Representative Men) reveal his ambivalence toward aggressiveness andself-seeking.5.To Emerson's Transcendentalist eyes, the physical world was vitalistic and evolutionary.Nature was, to him as to his Puritan forebears, emblematic of God. It mediates between man and God, and its voice leads to higher truth. " Nature is the vehicle of thought,"and " particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts. " Thus Emerson' s world was one of multiple significance; everything bears a second sense and an ulterior sense. In a word, " Nature is the symbol of spirit." That is probably why he called his first philosophical work Nature rather ihan anything else. The sensual man, Emerson feels, conforms thoughts to things, and man' s power to connect his thought with its proper symbol depends upon the simplicity and purity of his character; "The lover of nature is he who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. " To him nature is a wholesome moral influence on man and his character. A natural implication of Emerson' s view on nature isthat the world around is symbolic. A lowing river indicates the ceaseless motion of the universe. The seasons correspond to the life span of man. The ant, the little drudge, with a small body and a mighty heart, is the sublime image of man himself.爱⼈者，⼈恒爱之；敬⼈者，⼈恒敬之；宽以济猛，猛以济宽，政是以和。

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。

美国文学笔记III. The Romantic period （浪漫主义时期）: （1800-1865）American Transcendentalism(美国超验主义）（1830s- Civil War）Summit of Romanticism/ American Renaissance1. Appearance1836, ―Nature‖ by Emerson2. Features of Transcendentalism(1). Spirit(思想）/Oversoul（超灵）(2). importance of individualism(3). nature – symbol of spirit/God；garment of the oversoul(4). focus in intuition (irrationalism and subconsciousness)IV. The American Realism 现实主义时期(1865-1918)1. Three Giants in Realistic PeriodWilliam Dean Howells –―Dean of American Realism‖Henry JamesMark Twain2. Comparison:Theme:Howells –middle classJames –upper classTwain –lower classTechnique:Howells –smiling/genteel realismJames –psychological realismTwain –local colourism and colloquialismMark Twain (1835-1910):1. Summary:American writer, short story writer/Humorist2. Major works:The Celebrated jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865)《卡拉维拉县弛名的跳蛙》Innocents Abroad (1869) 《傻子国外旅行记》The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) 《汤姆.索亚历险记》Life on the Mississippi (1883) 《密西西比河上》The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1886)《哈克贝里.费恩历险记》: All modern American literature comes from his masterpiece ―The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.‖——Ernest Hemingway3. Style:(1). colloquial language（口语）, vernacular (本土的）language, dialects(2). local colour(3). syntactic feature: sentences are simple, brief, and sometimes ungrammatical(4). humour(5). tall tales (highly exaggerated) （荒诞不经的故事）(6). social criticism (satire on the different ugly things in society)4. ContributionOne of Mark Twain’s significant contributions to American literature lies in the fact that he made colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of the country.Henry James (1843-1916)1. Summary:An American and British novelist, literary criticFounder of psychological realismFirst of the modern psychological novelistInitiator of the international theme: American innocence in face of European sophistication2. Major works:Daisy Miller （1878）《戴茜·米勒》The Portrait of a Lady (1881) 《贵妇的肖像》The Wings of the Dove (1902)《鸽翼》The Ambassadors (1903)《专使》The Golden Bowl (1904)《金碗》The Art of Fiction(1884)《小说的艺术》3. His Point of view(1). Psychological analysis, forefather of stream of consciousness(2).Psychological realism(3). Highly-refined language4. Style –“stylist”(1). Language: highly-refined, polished, insightful, and accurate(2).V ocabulary: large(3). Construction: complicated, intricateNaturalism（自然主义）1. Background:(1). Dar win’s theory: ―natural selection‖(2).Spenser’s idea: ―social Darwinism‖(3). French Naturalism: Zora2. Features(1). environment and heredity(2). scientific accuracy and a lot of details(3). general tone: ironic and pessimistic, hopelessness, despair, gloom, ugly side of the societySt ephen Crane (1881-1900)1. Summary:Novelist, poetPioneer in the naturalistic traditionPrecursors（先驱）of Imagist poetry2. Major Works:Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 《街头女郎麦姬》: the first naturalistic novel in AmericaThe Red Badge of Courage 《红色英勇勋章》The Open Boat《海上扁舟》V. AMERICAN MODERNISM (1918-1945)（美国现代主义）F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)1. Summary:Famous American novelist, short story writer, and essayistthe representative of the 1920sthe spokesman for the Jazz Ageone of the“lost generation”writers2. Major WorksThis Side of Paradise (1920) 《人间天堂》Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) 《爵士乐时代的故事》Tender Is the Night (1934) 《夜色温柔》The Great Gatsby (1925) 《了不起的盖茨比》:Narrative point of view – Nick CarrawayTheme: The decline of the American Dream3. His Point of view(1). He expressed what the young people believed in the 1920s, the so-called ―American Dream‖ is false innature.(2). He had always been critical of the rich and tried to show the integrating effects of money on theemotional make-up of his character. He found that wealth altered people’s characters, making them mean and distrusted. He thinks money brought only tragedy and remorse.(3). His novels follow a pattern: dream – lack of attraction – failure and despair.4. His ideas of “American Dream”It is false to most young people. Only those who were dishonest could become rich.William Faulkner (1897-1962)1. Sumary:An American novelist and poetInitiator of American Southern RenaissanceOne of the most influential modern novelists of 20th centuryNobel Prize winner for literature in 19492. Major Works:The Sound and the Fury 《喧哗与骚动》As I Lay Dying 《在我弥留之际》Light in August 《八月之光》Absalom, Absalom 《押沙龙，押沙龙！》Go Down, Moses 《去吧，摩西》Barn Burning 《烧牲口棚》Yoknapatawpha County（约克纳帕塔法县）:--- A fictional county in northern Mississippi, the setting for most of William Faulkner’s novels and short stories, and patterned upon Faulkner’s actual home in Lafayette County, Mississippi.3. Major Themes of his Works(1). history and race(2). Deterioration(3). Conflicts between generations, classes, races, man and environment(4). Horror, violence and the abnormal4. Faulkner's narrative technique(1).Withdrawal of the author as a controlling narrator(2). Dislocation of the narrative time: The most characteristic way of structuring his stories is to fragment thechronological time.(3). the modern stream-of-consciousness（意识流）technique and the interior monologue（内心独白）：(4). Multiple points of view（多重视角）(5). symbolism and mythological and biblical（圣经的）allusionsErnest Hemingway (1899—1961)1. Summary:Novelist and short-story writerOne of the great American writers of the 20th centuryThe Spokesman of the ―Lost Generation‖Nobel Prize winner for literature in 19542. Major worksThe Sun Also Rises 《太阳照常升起》A Farewell to Arms《永别了，武器》For Whom the Bell Tolls 《丧钟为谁而鸣》/ 《战地钟声》The Old Man and the Sea 《老人与海》A Clean, Well-lighted Place 《一个干净，明亮的地方》3. Major Themes(1).The ―Nada‖(虚无) Concept(2).Grace under pressure(压力下的优雅）―Man is not made for defeats. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.‖------The Old Man and the Sea(3). Code Hero（准则英雄/ 硬汉）a. The Hemingway hero is not a thinker; he is a man of action.b.―Grace under pressure is their motto.c.The Hemingway code heroes are best remembered for their indestructible(不可毁灭的）spirit.4. Artistic features(1) .The iceberg（冰山）techniqueThe dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.(2). Language stylea. simple and naturalb.direct, clear and freshc. lean and economicald.simple, conversational, common found, fundamental wordse. simple sentencesf. Iceberg principle: understatement, implied thingsg.SymbolismEzra Pound (1885—1972)1. Summary:A leading spokesman of the ―Imagist Movement‖(意象主义运动）One of the most influential American poets and critic2. Major works:Cathay:《华夏集》《神州集》《中国诗章》Hugh Selwyn Mauberley《休·赛尔温·毛伯利》Cantos /《诗章》3. Imagism (1909-1917)(1) .Background:Imagism was influenced by French symbolism, ancient Chinese poetry and Japaneseliterature ―haiku‖(2). Defintion : The imagists, with Ezra Pound leading the way, hold that the most effective means to expressthe these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image.(3): Manifesto of Imagism:•Direct treatment•Economy of expression•New rhythmIn a station of the Metro《在一个地铁站》: a quintessential（典型的）imagist textRobert Frost（1847-1963）1. Summary:the most popular American poetWon Pulitzer Prize four timesReceived honorary degrees from forty-four colleges and universitiesRead ― The Gift Outright‖ at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 19612. Famous Poems:F ire and Ice《火与冰》The Road Not Taken 《未选择的路》Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 《雪夜伫立林边有感》Mending Wall《补墙》After Apple-Picking《摘罢苹果》3. Frost’s writing featureHis combination of the traditional verse pattern and a colloquial distinctive language (New England Speech)Eugene O’Neil (1888-1953)1. Summary:America's greatest playwrightWon the Pulitzer Prize four timesWon Nobel Prize in 1936Founder of the American drama2. Major WorksBeyond the Horizon (1920) 《天边外》The Emperor Jones(1920) 《琼斯皇帝》The Hairy Ape (1922)《毛猿》Desire under the Elms (1924) 《榆树下的欲望》美国文学笔记整理完整版18世纪末-19世纪中后浪漫主义时期Romanticism1. 早期浪漫主义华盛顿·欧文美国文学之父father of American Literature(为美国文学第一次赢得世界声誉)Washington Irving 以笔记小说和历史传厅闻名，humor1783-1859 The Sketch Book见闻札记（标志浪漫主义开始）A History of New York纽约史---美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；----The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说---成为美国第1个获国际声誉作家-----Rip Van Winkle里普·万·温克尔(李伯大梦)The Alhambra阿尔罕伯拉2.超验主义New England Transcendentalism埃德加·爱伦·坡侦探小说之父Father of western detective stories and psychoanalytic criticism精神批Edgar Allan Poe 评，首开近代侦探小说先河，又是法国象征主义运动的源头1809-1849 Novelist小说家, poet, critic批评家good at writing Gothic(哥特式）and detective fictionPoetryThe Raven《乌鸦》To Helen《献给海伦》Short storiesHorror ( suspense, terror, Insanity, death，Revenge and rebirth）The Fall of the House of Usher《厄舍古屋的倒塌》The Masque of the Red Death 《红色死亡的化妆舞会》The Black Cat《黑猫》The Cask of Amontillado《一桶白葡萄酒》Ligeia《丽姬娅》Detective /ratiocinative(推理的）(originator)The Purloined Letter 《窃信案》The Muder in the Rue Morgue 《莫格街谋杀案》The Mystery of Marie Rog《玛丽.罗热疑案》The Gold Bug 《金甲虫》拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生Nature论自然-----新英格兰超验主义者的宣言书manifestoRalf Waldo Emerson The American Scholar论美国学者;American essayist,lecturer, poetThe Founder of Transcendentalism1803-1882 Self-reliance论自立The Transcendentalist超验主义者Representative Men代表人物School Address神学院演说Days日子-首开自由诗之先河free verseRalph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher, essayist, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism个人主义.纳撒尼尔·霍桑subject: human soul first great American writer of fiction 虚构Nathaniel Hawthorne 象征主义大师American novelist and short story writer1804-1864 The Scarlet Letter红字Twice-told Tales尽人皆知的故事Mosses from an Old Manse古屋青苔The House of the Seven Gables有七个尖角阁的房子The Marble Faun玉石雕像The Blithedale Romance福谷传奇Young Goodman Brown年轻的布朗The Birthmark胎记His point of view : Hawthorne is influenced by Puritanism（清教主义）deeply.(1). Evil is at the core of human life 邪恶是人类生活的中心(2).whenever there is sin 罪恶, there is punishment 惩罚. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation 代代相传(3). Evil educates. 邪恶的教育(4). He has disgust in science科学. One source of evil is overweening (自负的) (too proud of oneself) intellect . His intellectual characters聪明的特征are villains反派角色, dreadful可怕的and cold-blooded冷血的赫尔曼·迈尔维尔擅长航海奇遇和异域风情Herman Melville Moby Dick/The White Whale白鲸（first American prose epic史诗）1819-1891 Main characters: Ishmael(以实玛利）: the narrator 叙述者Ahab（埃哈伯）: the protagonist 主要人物Moby DickTypee泰比Omoo奥穆Mardi玛地White Jacket白外衣Pierre皮尔埃; Billy Budd比利·巴德沃尔特·惠特曼Father of free verse自由诗之父Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass草叶集（the birth of truly American poetry and the1819-1892 end of romanticism）共和圣经Democratic Bible 美国史诗American EpicAmerican poet, essayist散文家, journalist新闻工作者, and humanist人道主义学家The father of free verse（自由诗）Song of Myself自我之歌Democratic Vistas 民主的前景One’s Self I Sing 《我歌唱一个人的自己》O Captain! My Captain! 《噢，我的船长！我的船长！》3.Writing themes (almost everything):equality of things and beings 平等的事情和人divinity 神学of everythingImmanence（无所不在）of GodDemocracy 民主evolution of cosmos（宇宙的演化）multiplicity 多样性of natureself-reliant spirit 自力更生的精神death, beauty of deathexpansion of America 美国的扩张brotherhood 手足情谊and social solidarity（社会团结）(unity of nations in the world世界统一的国家) pursuit 追求of love and happiness4.S tyle: “free verse（自由诗）: the verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern固定的韵律模式, the verse without a fixed beat 固定的节拍or regular rhyme scheme规律的格律.(1).Parallelism（排比）(2).phonetic recurrence（同字起句法）（the repetition重复of words or phrases at the beginning of the line, inthe middle or at the end)(3).the use of a certain pronoun ―I‖ (the first person narrator)(4).strong tendency to use oral English使用英语口语的强烈倾向(5).the habit of using snapshots 生活小照(6).a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure语法结构(7).use of conventional image 传统的想象(8).vocabulary – powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong(9). sentences – catalogue目录technique: long list of names, long poem lines5. Significance of Leaves of GrassLeaves of Gras s, either in content or in form, is an epoch-making work in American literature:无论是在内容还是在形式上,是一个划时代的作品在美国文学→Its democratic content marked the shift from Romanticism to Realism. 其民主内容标志着从浪漫主义到现实主义的转变→Its free-verse form broke from old poetic conventions to open a new way for American poetry.其生发的形式从旧的诗意的约定了打开新的思路对美国诗歌。

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。

美国文学史复习1（colonialism)第一部分殖民主义时期的文学一、时期综述1、清教徒采用的文学体裁：a、narratives 日记b、journals 游记2、清教徒在美国的写作内容：1）their voyage to the new land2) Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops3) About dealing with Indians4) Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit3、清教徒的思想：1）puritan want to make up pure their religious beliefs and practices 净化信仰和行为方式2) Wish to restore simplicity to church and the authority of the Bible to the theology. 重建教堂，提供简单服务，建立神圣地位3）look upon themselves as chosen people, and it follow logically that anyone who challenged their way of life is opposing God's will and is not to be accepted. 认为自己是上帝选民，对他们的生活有异议就是反对上帝4）puritan opposition to pleasure and the arts sometimes has been exaggerated. 反对对快乐和艺术的追求到了十分荒唐的地步5）religious teaching tended to emphasize the image of a wrathful God.强调上帝严厉的一面，忽视上帝仁慈的一面。

1/What are major features of Hemingway’s writing style?(1)he may be classified to the school of Naturalism——scientific observation of life, withoutidealism.(2)Iceberg theory of writing: lean/economical style:(3)Colloquial style: influences by Mark Twain(4)Symbolism/ stream of consciousness(5)Theme: grace under pressure; war and its effect upon people(6)Code hero: Henry Jack Barn, Satiago(7)Simple sentence, nature, direct, fresh, clear【His sentences are short and simple; language is vigorous and positive in colloquial style; gorgeous adjectives are avoided; words are concrete, specific and more commonly found, casual and conversational. Apparently natural as his style seems to be, his style is deliberate and polished. Its simplicity can be disastrously deceptive, as it is highly suggestive and connotative and capable of offering layers of undercurrent of meaning. Iceberg theory: one eighth is above the water; all of the rest is underneat h the water. Hemingway’s strength lies in his short sentences and very specific details in his restraint and understatement. In his opinion, a writer has got to catch “the whiteness of the bone”, to catch the one specific thing and bring it to life and mak e it vivid for the readers and leave everything else out.】2/discuss Faulkner’s theme, style and point of view.point of viewHe generally shows a grim picture of human society where violence and cruelty are frequently included, but his later works showed more optimism. His intention was to show the evil, harsh events in contrast to such eternal virtues as love, honour, pity, compassion, self-sacrifice, and thereby expose the faults of society. He felt that it was a writer’s duty to remind his readers constantly of true values and virtues.themes(1) history and raceHe explains the present by examining the past, by telling the stories of several generations of family to show how history changes life. He was interested in the relationship between blacks and whites, especially concerned about the problems of the people who were of the mixed race of black and white, unacceptable to both races.(2) Deterioration(3) Conflicts between generations, classes, races, man and environment(4) Horror, violence and the abnormalStyle / features of his works(1) complex plot(2) he used the device of stream of consciousness(3) he used multiple point of view and a circular form instead of a linear structure.(4) The violation of chronology in the narrative structure is matched by a violation of everyday language habits in Faulkner’s prose style.(5) courtroom rhetoric: formal language(6) He stressed authorial transcendence to avoid authorial intrusion in narration and characterization(7) “anti-hero”: weak, fable, vulne rable (true people in modern society)(8)His prose varies from colloquial, regional, to formal diction and cadences(声调)of American speech.(9) “despair” and “doom” are the frequent motifs in a world of racial exploitation and violence, civil wars, macabre murders, suicides, labor pains, etc.(10 ) F aulkner not only provided the reader with more than external events and details, he also probed the inner lives of those who are living in the South and trying to cope with the problems of a society in decline and transition.He has a group of women writers following him, including O’Connor and Eudora Welty3/what’s the difference between Henry James’ realism and Mark T wain’s realism? Although James and Twain both worked for realism, there were obvious differences between them. In thematic terms, James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, whereas Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society. Technically, James pursued the Psychological realism, but Mark Twain's contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of Local Colorism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style.Henry James believed that reality lies in the impressions made by life on the spectator, and not in any facts of which the spectator is unaware, such realism is therefore merely the obligation that the artist assumes to represent life as he sees it, which may not be the same life as it "really" is. James shifted the ground of realistic art from the outer to the inner world.Mark Twain preferred to represent social life through portraits of local places which he knew best. He drew heavily from his own rich fund of knowledge of people and places. He confined himself to the life with which he was familiar. By quoting from his own experience, Mark Twain managed to transform into art the freedom and humor, in short, the finest elements of western culture.4/in connection with American Romanticism, how do you understand the “newness” of the American as a nation?There is an amount of truth in describing the Americans as some-what different from Europeans. Their ideals of individualism and political equality, and their dream that America was to be a new Garden of Eden for man were distinctly American plan. The ideals may have been mere talk, and the dream may have been in the process of evaporation or even may have been just the figment of imagination, but their very existence in any form in the minds of the people did probably produce a feeling of "newness", a feeling strong enough to inspire the romantic imagination and channel it into a different vein of writing. Hence the sense of mission with which some American romanticists undertook to represent their people in the New World. Anyone who tries to appreciate American literature in general and American romantic writing in particular in English and European terms will have to be content if they fail to find any thing "great" there.5/is there symbolism in the book Moby Dick?A) It is a mixture of fantasy and realism based on the South Pacific whaling industry. It might be read as initiation story about Ishmael, the outcast, finding himeslf in a real world of hard work and danger and an unreal world of speculation and mystery.B) It is a fabulos dramatization of Ahab’s obsessed dermination to revenge himself in the pursuit of one particular whale who previously destoryed his boat and humiliated him by ripping off one of his legs. The book has so often been interpreted in so many ways, allegorically and symolically.C) Melville is a master of allegory and symbolism. Instead of putting the battle between Ahab and the big whale into simple statesment, he used symbols, that is , obejects or persons who represent something else. Differnet people on board the ship are representations of different ideas and different social and ethnic groups, facts become symbols and incidents acquire universal meanings; the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becoems a search for truth. The while whale, Moby Dick, symbolizes nature for Melville, for it is complex, unfathomable, malignant, and beautiful as well.D) For the character Ahab,however, the whale only represents evil. Moby Dick is like a wall, hiding some unknown, mysterious things behind. Moby Dick is a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe, and the voyage of the mind will forever remain a search, not a discovery, of the truth. The whole story turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man’s deep realityy and psychology.6/Analyze the mother daughter relationship in The Joy Luck Club.Universally caused by generational conflicts, is here intensified by cultural difference. In Tan’s novels, the mothers have immigrated from China to the United States for the express purpose of providing their daughters with greater opportunities. To their surprise and dismay, the daughters have grown up American and thus foreign and incomprehensible. Through storytelling, each of the four mothers and daughters and daughters attempts to make herself comprehensible to her other half.7 Why do we say Hawthorne is a master of symbolism? Give at least two examples of symbols from The Scarlet Letter34. Hawthorne is a master of symbolism, which he took from the Puritan tradition and bequeathed to American literature in a revivified form. The symbol can be found everywhere in his writing, and his masterpiece provides the most conclusive proof. By using Pearl as a thematic symbol, Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. With the scarlet Letter A as the biggest symbol of all, Hawthorne proves himself to be one of the best symbolists. As a key to the whole novel, the letter A takes on different layers of symbolic meanings as the plot develops, but people come up with different interpretations and they do not know which one is definite. The scarlet letter A is ambiguous. And the ambiguity is one of the salient characteristics of Hawthorne’s art.8 Irving’s theme of conservatism as is revealed in "Rip Van Winkle"Irving’s soci a1 conservatism and literary preference for the past is revea1ed，to some extent，in his famous story "Rip Van Winkle." 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. (①. Before the war, there were peace and harmony, there come now the scramble of power between parties.②. What had been a disinterested talk about events and ocurrences of the time was now replaced by a passionate factional squabble. ③. The tempo of life quickened. Pre-war leisurely existence acquired a busy, bustling and disputatious tone. Instead of feeling happy for the country finally independent from the yoke of British Colonial rule, Rip was pleased with his new life chiefly because he had got his neck out of the yoke of matrimony. The story might be taken as an illustration of Irving’s argument that change and revolution upset the natural order of things and of the fact that Irving never seemed to accept a modern democratic America.9 Feature of the main character in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”.“A Rose for Emily” is Faulkner’s first story published in 1930. Set in the town of Jefferson, in Y oknapatawpha, the story focuses on Emily, an eccentric spinster who refused to accept the passage of time or the inevitable change and loss that accompanies it. As a descendent of the South aristocracy, Emily is typical of those in Faulkner’s Y oknapatawpha stories that are symbols of the old South but the prisoners of the past. The deformed personality and abnormality of Emily demonstrates Faulkner’s point of view that by alienating oneself from reality, a person is bound to be a tragedy. Emily is regarded as the symbol of the tradition and the old way of life. Thus, his death parallels with the decline of old South.10 Discuss the relationship betwee n the town’s people and Emily in “A Rose for Emily”.“A Rose for Emily” is narrated through one of the townspeople and he is representative of the town as a whole. We are told that Emily is regarded as “a duty and a care”. Emily is treated as a responsibility and almost as part of the town itself. The townsmen take an interest in her welfare but this concern is mixedwith feelings of frustration and irritation, for example when Emily refuses to pay an tax or when she becomes involved with Homer Barron. Th eir irritation is icreased further by Emily’s “imperviousness”(不为所动，不受影响p.195/198) towards them. The attitude of the townsmen towards her is thus ambivalent and this reflects ambivalence (or the Ambivalence of the author) towards their own local history, of which Emily is part.11 Characterization in The Scarlet LetterIn The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reveals the personality of Hester Prynne from the following aspects:by showing her actions: Hester shows her dignity even in despair; she offers her genuine help and sympathy to her neighbours and finally wins their love and admiration; she perseveres in her pursuit of love and happiness which can be seen in her deep concern for Arthor Dimmesdale, the clergyman, and in her proposal to escape to Europe together.by revealing a physical description of Hester: She is a beautiful and graceful woman with a profusion of dark hair.by revealing Hester’s monologue: When Hester discerns a change in Chillingworth from a scholar to a fiend, she blames herself for such a change, which reveals her repentance and mercy. by revealing what other characters think about her:Her genuine help and sympathy offered to her fellow villagers not only reestablishes her fellowship with them but wins their love and admiration. Even Roger Chillingworth is “unable to restrain a thrill of admiration” for “the majestic quality” Hester show even in despair.by contrasting her with other characters:All her life, Hester has been true, honest and courageous enough to show her worst to the world, while the much-admired clergyman couldn’t find the courage to do so until the end of his life.from multiple points of view: Different people respond to the scarlet letter in different ways. Some say that they see “A” on Dimmesdale’s breast, while others say that they see “A” appearing in the sky.To sum up, under Ha wthorne’s pen, Hester Prynne is a round character who undergoes a major change from being rebellious at the beginning of the novel to being submissive and repentant at the end.。

美国文学复习提纲第一部分连线题（1*10=10’）1. Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence2. Walt Whitman O’ Captain, My Captain3. Mark Twain Jumping Frog4. Robert Frost Mending Wall5. Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro6. Carl Sandburg Chicago7. Saul Bellow The Adventure of Augie March8. Ernest Hemingway Men without Women9. John Steinbeck The Grape of Wrath10. Jack London The Call of the Wild11. Sinclair Lewis Babbit12. Flannery O’ Conno r A Good Man Is Hard to Find13. O. Henry The Last Leaf14. Jerome David Salinger The Catcher in the Rye15. William Falkner The Sound and the Fury第二部分单项选择(1.5*20=30’)1. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. Her poems made such a stir in England that shebecame known as the “________” who appeared in America.A. Tenth MuseB. Ninth MuseC. Best MuseD. First Muse2. In American literature, the 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment. ________ wasthe dominant spirit.A. HumanismB. RationalismC. RevolutionD. Evolution3. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic?A. The American CrisisB. The FederalistC. Declaration of IndependenceD. The Age of Reason4. At the Reason and Revolution Period, Americans were influenced by the Europeanmovement called the ________.A. Chartist MovementB. Romanticist MovementC. Enlightenment MovementD. Modernist Movement5. Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communicationwith ________.A. natureB. transcendentalist ideasC. human beingsD. celestial beings6. ________tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a puritancommunity are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways.A. Twice-Told TalesB. The Scarlet LetterC. The House of the Seven GablesD. The Marble Faun7. Washington Irving’s social conservation and literary for the past is revealed, to someextent, in his famous story, ________.A. The Legend of Sleepy HollowB. Rip Van WinkleC. The Custom-houseD. The Birthmark8. The convention of the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature inAmerican literature is particularly evident in ________.A. Cooper’s Leatherstocking TalesB. Hawthorne’s The Scarlet LetterC. Whitman’s Leaves of GrassD. Irving’s Rip Van Winkle9. As a philosophical and literary movement, ________ flourished in New England from1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism10. Edgar Allan Poe mainly writes __________.A. poemsB. literary critic theoriesC. short storiesD. dramas11. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, “A” may stand for ________.A. AdulteryB. AngelC. AmiableD. All the above12. The period before the American Civil War is generally referred to as ________.A. the Naturalist PeriodB. the Modern PeriodC. the Romantic PeriodD. the Realistic Period13. In the following works, which signs the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leatherstocking TalesD. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn14. The main theme of Emily Dickinson is the following except ________.A. war and peaceB. love and marriageC. life and deathD. religion15. Emily Dickinson’s poetic idiom is noted for the following except ________.A. brevityB. directnessC. plainest wordsD. obscure16. The publication of ________ established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman ofNew England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over-Soul17. The Age of Realism in the literary history of the United States refers to the periodfrom ________ to ________.A. 1861...1914 B. 1863...1918 C. 1865...1914 D. 1865 (1918)18. ________ is considered to be Theodore Dreiser’s greatest work.A. An American TragedyB. Sister CarrieC. The FinancierD. The Titan19. ________ is a novella about a young American girl who gets “killed” by the winter inRome, and it brought Henry James international fame for the first time.A. The AmericanB. The EuropeansC. Daisy MillerD. The Portrait of a Lady20. ________ is described by Mark twain as a boy with “a sound heart and a deformedconscience”.A. T om SawyerB. Huckleberry FinnC. JimD. Tony21. Mark Twain wrote most of his literary works with a ________ language.A. grandB. pompousC. simpleD. vernacular22. The book from which “all modern American literature comes” refers to ________.A. The Great GatsbyB. The Sun Also RisesC. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. Moby-Dick23. In which of the following works Hemingway presents his philosophy about life anddeath through the depiction of the bull-fight as a kind of microcosmic tragedy?A. Death in the AfternoonB. The Snows of KilimanjaroC. To Have and Have NotD. The Green Hills of Africa24. ________ is Hemingway’s first true novel in which he depicts a vivid portrait of “TheLost Generation”.A. The Sun Also RisesB. A Farewell to ArmsC. In Our TimeD. For Whom the Bell Tolls25. Robert Frost combined traditional verse forms—the sonnet, rhyming couplets,blank verse—with a clear American local speech rhythm, the speech of ________ farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax.A. SouthernB. WesternC. New HampshireD. New England26. ________, one of the most important poets in his time, is a leading spokesman of the“Imagist Movement”.A. J. D. SalingerB. Ezra PoundC. Richard WrightD. Ralph Ellison27. “Tender Is the Night” is a ________ by Fitzgerald.A. short storyB. novellaC. poemD. novel28. ________ is said to be a “historical novel” by Faulkner.A. Go Down, MosesB. Light in AugustC. The Sound and the FuryD. Absalom29. ________ stems from the ambiguity of the speaker’s choice between safety and theunknown.A. Mending the wall B Home BurialC. The Road not TakenD. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening30. Hemingway’s writing style, together with his theme and the hero, is greatly andpermanently influenced by his experiences ________.A. in his childhoodB. in the warC. in AmericaD. in Africa31. The following writers were awarded Nobel Prize for literature except ________.A. William FaulknerB. F. Scott FitzgeraldC. John SteinbeckD. Ernest Hemingway32. ________ is not considered to be one of the masters in the field of American fiction inthe modernistic period.A. F. Scott FitzgeraldB. Ernest HemingwayC. Arthur MillerD. William Faulkner33. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both…” Inthe above two lines of Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken”, the poet, by implication, was referring to ________.A. one’s course of lifeB. a marriage decisionC. a middle-age crisisD. a travel experience34. Most of the writers in the modern period were able to probe into the inner world ofhuman reality on the base of ________.A. William James’ “stream of consciousness”B. Carl Jung’s “collective unconscious” and “archetypal symbol”C. Sigmund Freud’s “interpretation of dreams”D. All of the above35. Writers of the second postwar era self-consciously acknowledged that they were____________.A. a Lost GenerationB. a Beat GenerationC. a Jazz GenerationD. none of the above36. In 1862, President Lincoln exclaimed: “So you are the little woman who wrote thebook that started this great war!” The book refers to ________.A. Uncle Tom’s CabinB. BelovedC.Pride and PrejudiceD.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn37. In Leaves of Grass, _______ is all that concerned Whitman.A. individualismB. freedomC. democracyD. all the above38. It is not surprising to find in _______’s fiction a world of jungle, where “kill or to bekilled” was the law.A. Mark TwainB. Emily DickinsonC. Theodore DreiserD. Henry James39. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of William Faulkner?A. He is master of stream-of-consciousness narrative.B. His writing is often complex and difficult to understand.C. He often depicts slum life in New York and Chicago.D. He represents a new group of Southern writers40. The setting of the novel The Scarlet Letter is in ________.A. England during World War IB. Paris during the French RevolutionC. Puritan AmericaD. America after the Revolutionary War第三部分判断对错(1*15=15’)(T)1. The Calvinist doctrine of “original sin” exerted great influence upon Hawthorne. (T)2. To Hawthorne sin will get punished, one way or another.(T)3. Roger Chillingworth, the scholar, the embodiment of pure intellect, committed the “Unpardonable Sin”.(F)4. Emily Dickinson didn’t like using capital letters where small ones are needed. (T)5. Walt Whitman used parallelism and refrain in his poems.(T)6. Walt Whitman was regarded as the Zenith in American romantic poetry.(T)7. Dickinson was original. She never imitates others.(T)8. Allan Poe defined poetry as the rhythmical creation of beauty.(F)9. O. Henry seldom wrote about poor people.(T)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.(T)11. According to Dickinson, death means immortality.(F)12. According to Poe, truth is beauty, beauty truth.(T)13. According to Henry James, the aim of the novel is to reflect life reality.(T)14. James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, and Howellsconcerned himself chiefly with middle class life whereas Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society.(F)15. American writers, especially novelists were rather experimental after the World Wars.(T)16. O. Henry’s short stories are famous for their surprising endings.(T)17. Allen Ginsberg was the representative of the Beat Generation.(T)18. Allan Poe exerted great influence upon many southern American writers, especially William Faulkner.(F)19. Emily Dickinson was regarded as the forerunner of symbolism.(F)20. Mark Twain never touched upon the problem of slavery system in his novels. (F)21. Allan Poe was regarded as the forerunner of American Imagism.(T)22. Mark Twain was the father of American language.(T)23. Allan Poe advocated “pure” poetry.(F)24. 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.(T)25. Toni Morrison is one of the most famous contemporary women writers.(T)26. O. Henry was the pen name of William Sidney Porter.(T)27. Thomas Jefferson was the major writer of The Declaration of Independence (T)28. Henry James discovered the trick of making his characters reveal themselves with minimal intervention of the author.(T)29. N. Hawthorne was a symbolic writer in some sense.(T)30. Whitman’s poetry suggests rather than tells.第四部分术语解释(4*5=20’)1. TranscendentalismTranscendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the middle 1800’s, which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition, the Oversoul, and nature. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self-reliant.2. NaturalismNaturalism, a more deliberate kind of realism, usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. As a literary movement, naturalism was initiated in France and it came to be led by Zola, who claimed at “scientific” status for his studies of impoverished characters miserably subjected to hunger, sexual obsession, and hereditary defects.3. American DreamThe American Dream is the faith held by many people in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations.4. The Lost GenerationThe term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group ofAmerican Literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period which saw the end of WWI to the beginning of the Great Depression. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, T.S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein herself. Hemingway likely popularized the term, quoting Stein (“You are all a lost generation”) as epigraph to his novel The Sun Also Rises. More generally, the term is being used for the young adults of Europe and America during WWI. They were “lost” because after the war many of them were disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to move into settled life.5. ModernismModern writing is marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional forms and techniques of expression; it believes that we create the world in the act of perceiving it. Modernism implies historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, of loss, and of despair. It elevates the individual and his inner being over social man and prefers the unconscious to the self-conscious.6. PuritanismThe principles and practices of puritans were popularly known as Puritanism. Puritanism accepted the doctrines of Calvinism: the sovereignty of God; the supreme authority of the Bible; the irresistibility of God’s will for man in ever act of life from cradle to grave. These doctrines led the Puritans to examine their souls to find whether they were of the elect and to search the Bible to determine God’s will.7. Hemingway Heroes (Code Hero)“Hemingway Heroes” refer to some protagonists in Hemingway’s works. Such a hero usually is an average man of decidedly masculine tastes, sensitive and intelligent. And usually he is a man of action and of a few words. He is such an individualist, alone even when with other people, somewhat an outsider, keeping emotions under control, stoic and self-disciplined in a dreadful place where one can not get happiness.8. Jazz Age“The Jazz Age” describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years between WWI and WWII, particularly in North America; with the rise of the Great Depression, the values of this age saw much decline. Perhaps the most representative literary work of the age is American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a highlighting what some describe as the decadence and hedonism, as well as the growth of individualism.第五部分选读分析25’Text1.From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from[he original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. Drowsy and dreamy influence seems to hang over the land，and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of histribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson.Questions:(1) Who is the writer of this short story from which the passage is taken?(2) What is the title of this short story?(3) Give a definition of “short story”.Answer:(1) Washington Irving(2) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(3) A short story is a brief prose fiction, usually one that can be read in a single sitting. It generally contains the six major elements of fiction—characterization, setting, theme, plot, point of view and style.Text 2.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Questions:(1) Please examine the poetic form (rhyme and meter) (2’)(2) Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take? (3’)(3) How do you understand the word “sigh”? (4’)(4) What might the two roads stand for in the speaker’s mind? (2’)(5) What is the theme of this poem? (2’)Answer:(1) It is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymed abaab.(2) Similarities: both of the roads are beautiful;Differences: one is quiet and grassy, less-traveled, the other is trodden by many people and flatHe took the less-traveled road.(3) The word “sigh” is a tricky word. Because sigh can be interpreted into nostalgic relief or regret. If it is the relief sigh, then the difference means the speaker feels glad with the road he took. If it is the regret sigh, then the difference would not be good, and the speaker would be signing in regret. Hence, sigh is ambiguous here for the speaker is not showing whether his choice is right or wrong.(4) The real road, the life road and the road in career.(5) Choices is inevitable but you never know what you choice will mean until you have lived it. This is also the theme of the poem.Text 3.Tell me not, in mournful numbers,Life is but an empty dream!For the soul is dead that slumbers,And things are not what they seem.Life is real-life is earnest-And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art, to dust returnest,Was not spoken of the soul.Questions:(1). Who is the writer of the lines?(2). What is the title of the whole poem from which the two stanzas are taken?(3). Summarize the poet’s advice for living.Answers:(1). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(2). A Psalm of Life(3). His optimism which has characterized much of his poetry, also endeared many critics to him. He seemed to have persevered despite tragedy. This poem is the cry of his heart, “rallying from depression”, ready to affirm life, to regroup from losses, to push on despite momentary defeat.Text 4.Because I could not stop for Death —He kindly stopped for me —The Carriage held but just Ourselves —And Immortality.We slowly drove — He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility —We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess — in the Ring —We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain —We passed the Setting Sun —Or rather — He passed Us —The Dews drew quivering and Chill —For only Gossamer, my Gown —My Tippet — only Tulle —We paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground —The Roof was scarcely visible —The Cornice — in the Ground —Since then —’tis Centuries — and yetFeels shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses’ HeadsWere toward Eternity —Questions:(1) Who wrote this poem? In the poem, what is he/she watching and recording? (3%)(2) What is death compared to in the poem? (2%)(3) What does the poet think of eternity? (2%)(4) What is the attitude of the poet towards death? (2%)Answer:(1) Emily Dickinson. She is watching and recording her own funeral.(2) Death is compared to a polite gentleman or polite wooer.(3) The speaker is not quite sure whether there will be eternity after death since she just surmises that “the Horses’ Heads were toward Eternity —”.(4) She treats death light-heartedly for she believes that death is a necessary step towards eternity or immortality.。

美国文学复习题有答案
1. 谁是美国文学史上第一位重要的诗人？
答案：爱德华·泰勒（Edward Taylor）。

2. 19世纪美国文学中，哪位作家的作品以幽默和讽刺著称？
答案：马克·吐温（Mark Twain）。

3. 简述赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的《白鲸》中的主要冲突。

答案：《白鲸》中的主要冲突是船长亚哈对白鲸莫比·迪克的复仇。

4. 谁是“垮掉的一代”文学运动中最著名的诗人？
答案：艾伦·金斯伯格（Allen Ginsberg）。

5. 在菲茨杰拉德的《了不起的盖茨比》中，盖茨比的悲剧结局是什么？
答案：盖茨比被威尔逊误杀，因为他认为盖茨比是导致他妻子死亡
的罪魁祸首。

6. 描述艾米莉·狄金森的诗歌风格。

答案：艾米莉·狄金森的诗歌风格以简洁、使用短句和强烈个人情
感表达为特点。

7. 谁是20世纪美国文学中“南方文艺复兴”的代表人物？
答案：威廉·福克纳（William Faulkner）。

8. 在《杀死一只知更鸟》中，阿提克斯·芬奇律师为何受到小镇居民
的尊敬？
答案：阿提克斯·芬奇律师因坚持正义和平等，为一个被错误指控
的黑人辩护而受到尊敬。

9. 简述海明威的“冰山理论”。

答案：海明威的“冰山理论”是指在写作中只展示故事的表面部分，而将更深层的意义和情感留给读者去揣摩。

10. 在《愤怒的葡萄》中，约德一家的旅程象征着什么？
答案：约德一家的旅程象征着美国大萧条时期农民的苦难和对更
好生活的不懈追求。

美国文学简史复习资料精华版A Concise History of American LiteratureChapter 1 Colonial PeriodI.Jonathan Edwards1.life2.works(1)The Freedom of the Will(2)The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended(3)The Nature of True Virtue3.ideas – pioneer of transcendentalism(1)The spirit of revivalism(2)Regeneration of man(3)God’s presence(4)Puritan idealismII.Benjamin Franklin1.works(1)Poor Richard’s Almanac(2)Autobiography2.contribution(1)He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the AmericanPhilosophical Society.(2)He was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity inthis case) from heaven”.(3)Everything seems to meet in this one man –“Jack of all trades”.Herman Melville thus described him “master of each and mastered by none”.Chapter 2 American RomanticismSection 1 Early Romantic PeriodI.Washington Irving1.several names attached to Irving(1)first American writer(2)the messenger sent from the new world to the old world(3)father of American literature2.works(1) A History of New Y ork from the Beginning of the World to the End ofthe Dutch Dynasty(2)The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (He won a measure ofinternational recognition with the publication of this.)(3)The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus(4) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada(5)The Alhambra3.Literary career: two parts(1)1809~1832a.Subjects are either English or Europeanb.Conservative love for the antique(2)1832~1859: back to US4.style – beautiful(1)gentility, urbanity, pleasantness(2)avoiding moralizing – amusing and entertaining(3)enveloping stories in an atmosphere(4)vivid and true characters(5)humour – smiling while reading(6)musical languageII.James Fenimore Cooper1.works(1)Precaution (1820, his first novel, imitating Austen’s Pride andPrejudice)(2)The Spy (his second novel and great success)(3)Leatherstocking Tales (his masterpiece, a series of five novels)The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie2.point of viewthe theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natural rights vs. legal rights3.style(1)highly imaginative(2)good at inventing tales(3)good at landscape description(4)conservative(5)characterization wooden and lacking in probability(6)language and use of dialect not authentic4.literary achievementsHe created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of theAmerican settlers exploring and pushing the American frontierforever westward, then Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales effectivelyapproximates the American national experience of adventure intothe West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and hehelped to introduce western tradition to American literature. Section 2 Summit of Romanticism – American TranscendentalismI.Appearance1836, “Nature” by Emers onII.Features1.spirit/oversoul2.importance of individualism3.nature – symbol of spirit/Godgarment of the oversoul4.focus in intuition (irrationalism and subconsciousness)III.Influence1.It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and broughtabout the idea that human can be perfected by nature. It stressedreligious tolerance, called to throw off shackles of customs andtraditions and go forward to the development of a new and distinctlyAmerican culture.2.It advocated idealism that was great needed in a rapidly expandedeconomy where opportunity often became opportunism, and thedesire to “get on” obscured the moral necessity for rising to spiritualheight.3.It helped to create the first American renaissance – one of the mostprolific period in American literature.IV.Ralph Waldo Emerson1.works(1)Nature(2)Two essays: The American Scholar, The Poet2.point of view(1)One major element of his philosophy is his firm belief in thetranscendence of the “oversoul”.(2)He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moralinfluence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature.(3)If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out thedivine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson me ans by “the infinitude of man”.(4)Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making hisworld, and that he makes the world by making himself.3.aesthetic ideas(1)He is a complete man, an eternal man.(2)True poetry and true art should ennoble.(3)The poet should express his thought in symbols.(4)As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrateAmerica which was to him a lone poem in itself.4.his influenceV.Henry David Thoreau1.works(1) A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River(2)Walden(3) A Plea for John Brown (an essay)2.point of view(1)He did not like the way a materialistic America was developing andwas vehemently outspoken on the point.(2)He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system.(3)Like Emerson, but more than him, Thoreau saw nature as a genuinerestorative, healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being.(4)He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.(5)He was very critical of modern civilization.(6)“Simplicity…simplify!”(7)He was sorely disgusted with “the inundations of the dirty institutionsof men’s odd-fellow society”.(8)He has calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a newgeneration of men.Section 3 Late RomanticismI.Nathaniel Hawthorne1.works(1)Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from andOld Manse(2)The Scarlet Letter(3)The House of the Seven Gables(4)The Marble Faun2.point of view(1)Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne”(2)Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passedfrom generation to generation (causality).(3)He is of the opinion that evil educates.(4)He has disgust in science.3.aesthetic ideas(1)He took a great interest in history and antiquity. To him these furnishthe soil on which his mind grows to fruition.(2)He was convinced that romance was the predestined form ofAmerican narrative. To tell the truth and satirize and yet not to offend: That was what Hawthorne had in mind to achieve.4.style – typical romantic writer(1)the use of symbols(2)revelation of characters’ psychology(3)the use of supernatural mixed with the actual(4)his stories are parable (parable inform) – to teach a lesson(5)use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty –multiple point of viewII.Herman Melville1.works(1)Typee(2)Omio(3)Mardi(4)Redburn(5)White Jacket(6)Moby Dick(7)Pierre(8)Billy Budd2.point of view(1)He never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life: His is theattitude of “Everlasting Nay” (negative attitude towards life).(2)One of the major themes of his is alienation (far away from eachother).Other themes: loneliness, suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death), rejection and quest, confrontation ofinnocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19c idea ofprogress3.style(1)Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguitythrough employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.(2)He tends to write periodic chapters.(3)His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profuselycommented upon and praised.(4)His works are symbolic and metaphorical.(5)He includes many non-narrative chapters of factual background ordescription of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick)Romantic PoetsI.Walt Whitman1.work: Leaves of Grass (9 editions)(1)Song of Myself(2)There Was a Child Went Forth(3)Crossing Brooklyn Ferry(4)Democratic Vistas(5)Passage to India(6)Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking2.themes –“Catalogue of American and European thought”He had been influenced by many American and European thoughts: enlightenment, idealism, transcendentalism, science, evolution ideas, western frontier spirits, Jefferson’s individualism, Civil War Unionism, Orientalism.Major themes in his poems (almost everything):●equality of things and beings●divinity of everything●immanence of God●democracy●evolution of cosmos●multiplicity of nature●self-reliant spirit●death, beauty of death●expansion of America●brotherhood and social solidarity (unity of nations in the world)●pursuit of love and happiness3.style: “free verse”(1)no fixed rhyme or scheme(2)parallelism, a rhythm of thought(3)phonetic recurrence(4)the habit of using snapshots(5)the use of a certain pronoun “I”(6) a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure(7)use of conventional image(8)strong tendency to use oral English(9)vocabulary – powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins,some even wrong(10)sentences – catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem lines 4.influence(1)His best work has become part of the common property of Westernculture.(2)He took over Whitman’s vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacherand recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood.(3)He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history.(4)Contemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bearswitness to his great influence.II.Emily Dickenson1.works(1)My Life Closed Twice before Its Close(2)Because I Can’t Stop for Death(3)I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I died(4)Mine – by the Right of the White Election(5)Wild Nights – Wild Nights2.themes: based on her own experiences/joys/sorrows(1)religion – doubt and belief about religious subjects(2)death and immortality(3)love – suffering and frustration caused by love(4)physical aspect of desire(5)nature – kind and cruel(6)free will and human responsibility3.style(1)poems without titles(2)severe economy of expression(3)directness, brevity(4)musical device to create cadence (rhythm)(5)capital letters – emphasis(6)short poems, mainly two stanzas(7)rhetoric techniques: personification –make some of abstract ideasvividparison: Whitman vs. Dickinson1.Similarities:(1)Thematically, they both extolled, in their different ways, an emergentAmerica, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of “American Renaissance”.(2)Technically, they both added to the literary independence of the newnation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they were pioneers in American poetry.2.differences:(1)Whitman seems to keep his eye on society at large; Dickinsonexplores the inner life of the individual.(2)Whereas Whitman is “national” in his outlook, Dickinson is“regional”.(3)Dickinson has t he “catalogue technique” (direct, simple style) whichWhitman doesn’t have.Edgar Allen PoeI.Works1.short stories(1)ratiocinative storiesa.Ms Found in a Bottleb.The Murders in the Rue Morguec.The Purloined Letter(2)Revenge, death and rebirtha.The Fall of the House of Usherb.Ligeiac.The Masque of the Red Death(3)Literary theorya.The Philosophy of Compositionb.The Poetic Principlec.Review of Hawthorne’s Twice-told TalesII.Themes1.death –predominant theme in Poe’s writing“Poe is not interested in anything alive. Everything in Poe’s writings is dead.”2.disintegration (separation) of life3.horror4.negative thoughts of scienceIII.Aesthetic ideas1.The short stories should be of brevity, totality, single effect,compression and finality.2.The poems should be short, and the aim should be beauty, the tonemelancholy. Poems should not be of moralizing. He calls for pure poetry and stresses rhythm.IV.Style – traditional, but not easy to readV.Reputation: “the jingle man” (Emerson)VI.His influencesChapter 3 The Age of RealismI.Three Giants in Realistic Period1.William Dean Howells –“Dean of American Realism”(1)Worksa.The Rise of Silas Laphamb. A Chance Acquaintancec. A Modern Instance(2)Features of His Worksa.Optimistic toneb.Moral development/ethicscking of psychological depth2.Henry James(1)Literary career: three stagesa.1865~1882: international theme●The American●Daisy Miller●The Portrait of a Ladyb.1882~1895: inter-personal relationships and some plays●Daisy Miller (play)c.1895~1900: novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence,then back to international theme●The Turn of the Screw●When Maisie Knew●The Ambassadors●The Wings of the Dove●The Golden Bowl(2)Aesthetic ideasa.The aim of novel: represent lifemon, even ugly side of lifec.Social function of artd.Avoiding omniscient point of view(3)Point of viewa.Psychological analysis, forefather of stream of consciousnessb.Psychological realismc.Highly-refined language(4)Style –“stylist”nguage: highly-refined, polished, insightful, accurateb.Vocabulary: largec.Construction: complicated, intricate3.Mark Twain (see next section)Local Colorism1860s, 1870s~1890sI.Appearance1.uneven development in economy in America2.culture: flourishing of frontier literature, humourists3.magazines appeared to let writer publish their worksII.Mark Twain – Mississippi1.works(1)The Gilded Age(2)“the two advantages”(3)Life on the Mississippi(4) A Connecticut Y ankee in King Arthur’s Court(5)The Man That Corrupted Hardleybug2.style(1)colloquial language, vernacular language, dialects(2)local colour(3)syntactic feature: sentences are simple, brief, sometimesungrammatical(4)humour(5)tall tales (highly exaggerated)(6)social criticism (satire on the different ugly things in society)parison of the three “giants” of American Realism1.ThemeHowells – middle classJames – upper classTwain – lower class2.TechniqueHowells – smiling/genteel realismJames – psychological realismTwain – local colourism and colloquialismChapter 4 American NaturalismI.Theodore Dreiser1.works(1)Sister Carrie(2)The trilogy: Financier, The Titan, The Stoic(3)Jennie Gerhardt(4)American Tragedy(5)The Genius2.point of view(1)He embraced social Darwinism – survival of the fittest. He learned toregard man as merely an animal driven by greed and lust in a struggle for existence in which only the “fittest”, the most ruthless, survive.(2)Life is predatory, a “game” o f the lecherous and heartless, a junglestruggle in which man, being “a waif and an interloper in Nature”, a “wisp in the wind of social forces”, is a mere pawn in the general scheme of things, with no power whatever to assert his will.(3)No one is ethically free; everything is determined by a complex ofinternal chemisms and by the forces of social pressure.3.Sister Carrie(1)Plot(2)Analysis4.Style(1)Without good structure(2)Deficient characterization(3)Lack in imagination(4)Journalistic method(5)Techniques in painting。