美国文学笔记

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。

Chapter 1. The literature of colonial America (1590-1750)(1) Cultural background:<1> Early in 17th cen., most of the settlers in North America were the puritans who wanted to avoid the religious persecution of the Church of England and seek religious freedom in the new land.☆Puritans -- a ―would-be purifier‖, a radical sect of the Protestant reformers who wanted to purify the religious beliefs and practices of the Church of England, that is, restore simplicity to church services and restore the authority of the Bible to theology净化宗教观念，简化仪式Thus they suffered fierce persecution and attack from the Church of England. In orderto avoid such persecution, they fled to the American Continente.g. the Mayflower 1620 in PlymouthThe founding myth 美国的建国神话They regarded themselves as the chosen people and were sent to the America by Godin order to create a New world (a new Garden of Eden) in the America. By doing so,they can get the chance of salvation. (optimism/ idealism)in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America, they became more and more practical.They were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinate their whole way of life. The Puritans in New England practiced theocracy神权政治Their way of life were based on their somber religion and stressed hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety（节制）They opposed arts and pleasure. They suspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin. In people’s daily life, religious activities were a matter of first importance and all others should serve the religion.<4>Their practices and beliefs (American Puritanism)greatly influenced the literature of this period (e.g. practical matter-of-fact accounts of life in the new world; highly theoretical discussions of religious questions)(2) Major works and writers:<1> The first writings in American literature were the narratives and journals of the early colonial settlements, which helped to lure more Europeans, especially the Puritans to seek fortune or religious freedom in the new continent<2> John Smith wrote about the exploration in A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony《关于弗吉尼亚的真实描述》and became the first American Writer.<3> Poetry:Anne Bradstreet ’s The Tenth Muse Recently Sprung Up in America----the first poetess in AmericaChapter 2. The literature of Reason and Revolution (1750-1810)While theology dominated the writings of the colonial times, politics政治论辩permeated the writing of the Revolution period.<1>Background:{1} political backgroundIndustrial Revolution: spurred the economy in American colonies.Independence War: Around the war, many political writings were written to support and defendAmerican independence and democracy.{2} Cultural backgroundThe Enlightenment启蒙运动a literary movement which flourished in France & swept through the whole Western Europe in 18th century. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modem philosophical & artistic ideas. The enlighteners celebrated reason or rationality, equality & science &human beings’ability to perfect themselves and their society. What’s more, they believed that man is basically good and free by nature, endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.While in America the humanistic ideas of the movement dealt a heavy blow to Puritanism in advocating science, knowledge and the power and ability of man. It brought to life secular education and literature. The Enlightenment had also influenced the literature of that period(1) form a style of clarity and precision.(2) its secular ideals (the possibilities of human progress, man has the rights to pursue equality, liberty, and the happiness) are reflected in the writingsE.g. Franklin. (P16 )<2> Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)(1) Life achievement:He was born into a poor candle-maker’s family. He had very little education. He learned in school only for two years, but by self-improvement and self-reliance, he made a great fortune and did lots of contribution to the society.The secular ideals of the American Enlightenment were exemplified in his life and career. (2)Important works:Poor Richard’s Almanac穷查理历书:An annual collection of proverbs. Franklin’s pragmatism （实用主义, how to make fortune by efforts & sense of humor are fully demonstrated in this work.E.g. God help them that help themselves. No man was glorious, who was not laborious.The Autobiography自传:(1) It not only narr ates Franklin’s early life, but his life principles and philosophy.(2) sets autobiography as a literary genre in American literature.(3) Through telling a success story of self-reliance, the book celebrates, in fact, the fulfillment ofthe American dream which inspired generations of Americans.Recording his story form rags to riches by self-reliance and self-improvement (for example, Franklin’s 13 virtues), the book demonstrated F’s belief that the new world of America was a land of opportunities where people can gain success through hard work and wise management (American Dream--- one important theme in American literature)He was the first positive representation of the values of the American Dream.<3> Philip FreneauHe anticipated the American literary independence, so he is widely acclaimed as“Father of American Poetry”美国诗歌之父(P44)(2)Writing style:Subject: treat the indigenous本土的wild life and other native American subjects(e.g. The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地The Wild Honeysuckle 野忍冬花) Diction: natural, simple and concrete(3) The Wild Honey Suckle 野忍冬花[1]By celebrating the beauty of the frail forest flower{1}the poet expresses his keen awareness of the liveliness and transience of nature, thus showing his deep love for natural beauty, which was the characteristic of romantic poets.{2} And also his own understanding about mortality/ death ( life and death are inevitable law of nature. )[2]The tone of the poem is both sentimental and optimistic. First, he showed his pity and sorrow, for extending the fate of the flower to the fate of all the creatures in the nature, including our human beings. However, at the end of the poem, F was sensible enough to realize the truth underlying the nature, ie. Death and life are inevitable law, therefore, we need accept the death peacefully and bravely.Chapter 3 American Romanticism (1810-1860 civil war)<1> Time Range: (the 1st half of 19th century)From the end of the 18th century (after the War for Independence) through the outbreak of the Civil War.<2> Literary characteristics of this period : (p 57)American literature in this period was not a servant of religious and politics. Novels,short stories, and poems replaced the sermons and manifestos as American’s principalliterary forms. In a word, the literature at this age flourished and developed its ownnative features & gained literary independence in the real sense.II. Pre-Romanticism1. Washington Irving 欧文(1783--1859)<1> the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame.<2> The Sketch Book《见闻札记》became the first work by an American writer to win financial and critical success on both sides of the Atlantic。

1. What dominated the writings of the revolution ?Joel Barlow Hasty PuddingBartram’s TravelsBenjamin Franklin Poor Richard’s Almanack The Autobiography Thomas Paine The American Crisis The Federalist Common SenseThomas Jefferson Note on the State of VirginiaThe Declaration of IndependencePhilip Freneau The Wild Honey-SuckleThe Indian Burying GroundTo a Gaty-Did2. What’s the reason for Franklin’s success?Why do people regard Franklin as one who best exemplifies the American Enlightenment? Franklin is the only good American author before the Revolutionary War.1) He wrote and worked for American independence hardly and had made so many great efforts to America that he has been called "The First American." a world-renowned scientist, diplomat, philosopher, and writer. He perfected the smooth, clear, short sentences of the Puritan plain style.2)His contribution to AmericanA. Found the Junto, a club for informal discussion of scientific, economic and political ideas.⏹B. Established America’s first circulating library, founded thecollege — University of Pennsylvania.⏹C. first applied the terms “positive” and “negative” toelectrical charges.⏹D. As a representative of the Colonies, he tried in vain tocounsel the British toward policies that would let America grow and flourish in association with England. He conducted the difficult negotiations with France that brought financial and military support for America in the war.⏹E. As an author he had power of expression, simplicity, a subtlehumor, sarcastic.3. Why is Freneau considered as “Father of American Poetry ”?Philip Freneau is perhaps the most outstanding writer of the post-revolutionary period. He is a poet and also a political journalist in the transitional age of the revolution. He was neoclassical by training and taste yet romantic in essential spirit. He was also at once a satirist and a sentimentalist, a humanitarian but also a bitter polemicist.His major themes are death, nature, transition, and the human innature. All of these themes become important in 19th century writing.4. What’s the author’s attitude toward death?we consider death as soul’s eternal sleep, just as the poem saying “the posture, that we give the dead, points out the soul’s eternal sleep.”Death is not the end., it “can only mean that life is spent, and not the old ideas gone”.Each person’s existence will have different evidences to prove it, whether this or that. Once appeared in the earth, people’s thinking, activities or even words were existed. They won’t disappear forever.。

美国文学笔记整理完整版1607-1776北美殖民时期Colonial Settlements约翰·史密斯美国文学史上第一个作家John Smith A Ture Relation of Virginia《关于费吉尼亚的真实叙述》（美国文学第一本书）乔纳森·爱德华兹清教徒主义作家（Puritanism）Jonathan Edwards1776-1783独立革命时期Revolution of Independence （启蒙运动）本杰明·富兰克林Poor Richard’s Almana c穷查理历书；Benjamin Franklin The Way to Wealth致富之道；1706-1790 The Autobiography自传(记录作者从穷到成功的经历，“美国梦”反映，体现启蒙倡导的理性主义和有序、教育的观点)托马斯·潘恩美国独立之父the father of American revolutionThomas Paine Common Sense常识（独立战争宣传册revolutionary pamphlets）1737-1809American Crisis美国危机（鼓励人民抵抗英军，共16小册）Rights of Man人的权利（支持法国革命）The Age of Reason理性时代（基督给他名誉带来的影响）菲利普·弗伦诺独立诗人a poet of the American Revolution，美国诗歌之父Philip Freneau The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲1752-1832 The British Prison Ship英国囚船The Wild Honey suckle野生的金银花The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地To the Memory of the Brave Americans纪念美国勇士--同类诗中最佳托马斯·杰斐逊独立宣言Declaration of IndependenceThomas Jefferson18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阿尔罕伯拉詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀frontier novel边疆传奇小说sea novelJames Fenimore Cooper The Spy间谍（独立战争间谍对抗英国）1789-1851 The Pilot领航者（sea novel）Leatherstocking Tales皮袜子五步曲（frontier novel）The Pioneer拓荒者（the first true romance of the frontier in American literatureThe Last of Mohicans最后的莫希干人（主角：Natty Bumppo纳蒂班波）The Prairie大草原The Pathfinder探路者The Deerslayer杀鹿者2. 超验主义New England Transcendentalism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;1803-1882 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 verse亨利·大卫·梭罗Walden瓦尔登湖Henry David Thoreau A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers在康科德河和梅里麦克河上的一周1817-1862 Civil Disobedience论公民之不服从纳撒尼尔·霍桑subject: human soul first great American writer of fiction 象征主义大师Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter红字1804-1864 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 Typee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 the end ofromanticism）(共和圣经Democratic Bible美国史诗American Epic)1819-1892 Song of Myself自我之歌Democratic Vistas民主的前景埃米莉·迪金森她的诗大量破折号dash,主题love, nature, death, immortality; 语言plain, brevity, directEmily Dickinson This is My Letter to the World这是我给世界的一封信1830-1886I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died我死时听到一只苍蝇叫Because I could not Stop for Death因为我不能等待死神I’m Nobody. Who Are You?我是无名小卒。

美文学美国部分——浪漫主义时期Part two: American LiteratureChapter 1 The Romantic Period浪漫主义时期1. From the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of he Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Le aves of Grass. It is also called “the American Renaissance”.浪漫主义时期开始于十八世纪末，到内战爆发为止，华盛顿.欧文出版的《见闻札记》标志着美国文学的开端，惠特曼的《草叶集》是浪漫主义时期文学的压卷之作。

（也可称为“美国德文艺复兴”）2. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.对逃离社会，回归自然的渴求成为美国文学的一个永恒的话题。

3. The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values.美国清教作为一种文化遗产，对美国人的道德观念产生了很大的影响。

4.Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of original sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers. 在霍桑，麦尔维尔以及其他一些小作家的作品种加尔文主义的原罪思想和罪恶的神秘性都得到了充分的表现。

美国文学笔记整理完整版1607-1776北美殖民时期Colonial Settlements约翰·史密斯美国文学史上第一个作家John Smith A Ture Relation of Virginia《关于费吉尼亚的真实叙述》（美国文学第一本书）乔纳森·爱德华兹清教徒主义作家（Puritanism ）Jonathan Edwards1776-1783独立革命时期Revolution of Independence（启蒙运动）本杰明·富兰克林Poor Richard ’s Almana c 穷查理历书；Benjamin Franklin The Way to Wealth致富之道；1706-1790The Autobiography自传(记录作者从穷到成功的经历，“美国梦”反映，体现启蒙倡导的理性主义和有序、教育的观点 )托马斯·潘恩美国独立之父the father of American revolutionThomas Paine Common Sense常识（独立战争宣传册revolutionary pamphlets ）1737-1809American Crisis美国危机（鼓励人民抵抗英军，共16小册）Rights of Man人的权利（支持法国革命）The Age of Reason理性时代（基督给他名誉带来的影响）菲利普·弗伦诺独立诗人 a poet of the American Revolution，美国诗歌之父Philip Freneau The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲1752-1832The British Prison Ship英国囚船The Wild Honey suckle野生的金银花The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地To the Memory of the Brave Americans纪念美国勇士--同类诗中最佳托马斯·杰斐逊独立宣言 Declaration of IndependenceThomas Jefferson18 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，humor1783-1859The 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 阿尔罕伯拉詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀frontier novel边疆传奇小说sea novelJames Fenimore Cooper The Spy间谍（独立战争间谍对抗英国）1789-1851The Pilot领航者（sea novel）Leatherstocking Tales皮袜子五步曲（frontier novel ）The Pioneer 拓荒者（ the first true romance of the frontier in American literatureThe Last of Mohicans 最后的莫希干人（主角： Natty Bumppo纳蒂班波）The Prairie大草原The Pathfinder探路者The Deerslayer杀鹿者2.超验主义New England Transcendentalism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;1803-1882Self-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 verse亨利·大卫·梭罗Walden 瓦尔登湖Henry David Thoreau A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers在康科德河和梅里麦克河上的一周1817-1862Civil Disobedience论公民之不服从纳撒尼尔·霍桑subject: human soul first great Americanwriter of fiction象征主义大师Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter红字1804-1864Twice-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 proseepic 史诗）1819-1891Typee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 poetryand the end of romanticism）(共和圣经 Democratic Bible美国史诗American Epic)1819-1892Song of Myself自我之歌Democratic Vistas民主的前景埃米莉·迪金森她的诗大量破折号dash, 主题love, nature, death, immortality;语言 plain, brevity, directEmily Dickinson This is My Letter to the World这是我给世界的一封信1830-1886I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died我死时听到一只苍蝇叫Because I could not Stop for Death因为我不能等待死神I ’ m Nobody. Who Are You? 我是无名小卒。

美国文学笔记整理完整版1607-1776北美殖民时期Colonial Settlements约翰·史密斯美国文学史上第一个作家John Smith A Ture Relation of Virginia《关于费吉尼亚的真实叙述》（美国文学第一本书）乔纳森·爱德华兹清教徒主义作家（Puritanism）Jonathan Edwards1776-1783独立革命时期Revolution of Independence （启蒙运动）本杰明·富兰克林Poor Richard’s Almanac穷查理历书；Benjamin Franklin The Way to Wealth致富之道；1706-1790 The Autobiography自传(记录作者从穷到成功的经历，“美国梦”反映，体现启蒙倡导的理性主义和有序、教育的观点)托马斯·潘恩美国独立之父the father of American revolutionThomas Paine Common Sense常识（独立战争宣传册revolutionary pamphlets）1737-1809American Crisis美国危机（鼓励人民抵抗英军，共16小册）Rights of Man人的权利（支持法国革命）The Age of Reason理性时代（基督给他名誉带来的影响）菲利普·弗伦诺独立诗人a poet of the American Revolution，美国诗歌之父Philip Freneau The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲1752-1832 The British Prison Ship英国囚船The Wild Honey suckle野生的金银花The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地To the Memory of the Brave Americans纪念美国勇士--同类诗中最佳托马斯·杰斐逊独立宣言Declaration of IndependenceThomas Jefferson18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阿尔罕伯拉詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀frontier novel边疆传奇小说sea novelJames Fenimore Cooper The Spy间谍（独立战争间谍对抗英国）1789-1851 The Pilot领航者（sea novel）Leatherstocking Tales皮袜子五步曲（frontier novel）The Pioneer拓荒者（the first true romance of the frontier in American literatureThe Last of Mohicans最后的莫希干人（主角：Natty Bumppo 纳蒂班波）The Prairie大草原The Pathfinder探路者The Deerslayer杀鹿者2. 超验主义New England Transcendentalism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manifesto Ralf Waldo Emerson The American Scholar论美国学者;1803-1882 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 verse亨利·大卫·梭罗Walden瓦尔登湖Henry David Thoreau A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers在康科德河和梅里麦克河上的一周1817-1862 Civil Disobedience论公民之不服从纳撒尼尔·霍桑subject: human soul first great American writer of fiction 象征主义大师Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter红字1804-1864 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 Typee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 the endof romanticism）(共和圣经Democratic Bible美国史诗American Epic)1819-1892 Song of Myself自我之歌Democratic Vistas民主的前景埃米莉·迪金森她的诗大量破折号dash,主题love, nature, death, immortality; 语言plain, brevity, directEmily Dickinson This is My Letter to the World这是我给世界的一封信1830-1886I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died我死时听到一只苍蝇叫Because I could not Stop for Death因为我不能等待死神I’m Nobody. Who Are You?我是无名小卒。

Chapter 1-2 American Puritanism•Restored to the “purity”•John Calvin, French theologian•Predestination•Original sin & total depravity•Limited atonement (salvation of a few)•As chosen people, they enjoy His blessings.The change of American character•Tougher life in the West•More practical and preoccupied with profits•“A doctrinaire opportunist”空论机会主义：a movement of people, following the same religion, same reverence forthe same God, and striving toward the goal of societal perfection (thus, "idealism").•OptimismThe literary scene•The Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden•Perfect order & courage & confident hope•Style：Diaries, histories, journals, letters, commonplace books, travel books, personal literature •Content: Serving God or colonial expansion or both•Form: English literary traditionsCalvinism 加尔文主义•Man was evil since the Fall and enslaved by sin.•God was all and would love work for man’s salvation.•All man could do was to worship the Almighty and hope.•The “Great Awakening” (1730s-40s) is religious revivals.Jonathan EdwardsThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin•Content: a man rising to wealth and fame from poverty and obscurity, America’s 1st self-made man•A Puritan document: self-examination, self-improvement & self-analysis•God help those who help themselves and every calling is a service to God•13 virtues as Protestant principles: temperance节制, silence, order, resolution决心, frugality节俭, industry勤奋, sincerity, moderation适度, cleanliness, tranquility安静, chastity贞节and humility谦逊Autobiography•Spokesman for the new order of 18th-century enlightenment: man is good and free with rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness•America was a land of opportunities. A success story of self-reliance is fulfillment of the American dream. •Foible小缺点: man is capable of becoming better, and corruptive institutions might be improved. Autobiography•Language: Puritan simplicity, directness and concision•Techniques: the plainness of its style, the homeliness of imagery, the simplicity of diction措辞, syntax句法and expression•American dream & Franklin’s sense of optimismHector St. John de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer•He also saw the illusory nature of American dream.•The existence of slavery, avarice贪婪, violence, famine饥荒and disease and all other forms of evil •Disillusionment幻灭感and despair gains the upper hand in his major works.Chapter 3 American Romanticism•A rising America: political, economic and cultural independence•Democracy and political equality•Industrialism, immigration, the westward pioneers•An economic boom, optimism & hopeAmerican Romanticism•Foreign influences: The Romantic movement in England and Europe•American works are modeled on English and European works.•An amalgam 合金with indigenous 本土American elementsNewness of American Romanticism•American moral value: Puritanism•Individualism•Political independence & equality•The American dream of climbing the social ladders•Building a new Garden of Eden for manImitative Romanticism•Theme: ignore American life but cast a nostalgic 怀旧glance across European life•Technique: traditional meters韵律and stanza forms•Language: British styleIrving’s works•A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (1809) was written by his penname, Diedrich Knickerbocker.•The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819) won international fame for Irving.•The History of the Life and V oyages of Christopher Columbus (1828)•A Chronicle编年史of the Conquest of Granada (1829) The Alhambra (1832)•Life of Goldsmith Life of Washington•“Rip Van Winkle” “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”Irving’s contribution•International fame: imaginative short stories of American independent literature•American imagination and tradition•It marked the beginning of American Romanticism.•Various style and genreIrving’s style•His purpose of writing: to amuse & entertain, avoid moralizing•Arrangement: develop his stories in a rich atmosphere, but with the slimness 薄弱of plot •Characters: vivid & true characters•Style: humor•Language: finished精致的& musical English“Rip Van Winkle”•Origin: German source•Character: a good-natured, hen-pecked man•Content: He sleeps for 20 years and finds everything changing.•Historic setting: from the War of Independence to the Union•Theme: Irving argument of revolution, its upset of the natural order, his refusal of a modern America“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”•Content: a triangular love story•Folklore: an headless horseman throws his head at his rival in love•Characters: an educated, shrewd, effete衰弱的, bad-natured schoolteacher vs. a rough, vigorous, good-natured farmer for a daughter of a rich farmer•Theme: the good humor and nature of country peopleCooper’s works•The Spy (1821) is about American Revolution.•The “Leatherstocking Tales”: Natty Bump po•The Deerslayer is about early adventures with the hostile Hurons休伦族(Indians of North America) when Nattyis 23.•The Last of the Mohicans is about an adventure of the French and Indian Wars in the Lake George county at the age of 40.Cooper’s works•The Pathfinder is about continuing the same border warfare in the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario安大略湖country at 40.•The Pioneers is that Natty,70, appears as a seasoned scout侦察员with his Indian friends as the eastern forestfrontier begins to disappear.•The Prairie大草原is about setting in the new frontier where the Leatherstocking dies at the age of 90. Comments on Cooper’s works•He created a myth about the formative period.•Content: the process of American frontier westward.•Theme: the ambivalence—2 forces on the western frontier, the conflicts between the principles of social order andlaw and the idea of nature and freedom in the wilderness•Cooper’s characters become stereotypes固定模式of American culture: tragically noble Indians, the loyal slave, lawless Natty Bumppo.•Cooper romanticized the frontier as a place of wild adventure.•His works taught hard-fought liberty could be sustained if the best qualities of frontiersmen were brought into the mainstream of society.Chapter 4 Features of New England Transcendentalism•1. Spirit or the Oversoul 超灵, the most important thing•2. the importance of the individual—self-culture, self-improvement, the institute will become better as the individual will become better•3. nature as the symbol of the Spirit or GodNew England Transcendentalism•In 1836, Nature impacted on the intellectual life.•Nature pushed American Romanticism to a new phrase, New England Transcendentalism—the summit.•It means idealism against the materialistic-oriented life style.•The Dial 《日冕》made their voice heard.Emerson’s work•Nature is the soul of New England Transcendentalism•“The American Scholar” is regarded as America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence.•“The Poet”•He asserted America’s identity in its formative period.•Nature is a lyrical expression of harmony Emerson felt between himself and nature.•Using your heart to feel the beauty of nature•Choose what you need. Don’t be greedy.•Share our happiness with nature•Major theme: Unity of God, man, and nature•Accessibility 可以得到of universal understanding•Reason and understanding•Matter物质and spiritEmerson’s style•Emphasis on ideas, symbols, and imaginative words•Symbolism•Form is important when fused well with content.Emerson’s limitation•He embodied a new nation’s desire an d struggle to assert its own identity in its formative period.•His cheerful optimism•Force makes the best better and worst good.•Bad is sometimes a better.•Misery and suffering is superficial.•Man can become perfect by self-improvement.Thoreau’s works•“Civil Disobedience” advocates passive resistance to unjust laws of society, which influences Gandhi and Martin Luther King.•A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River records his voyage on the river.•Walden describes his life on Walden and illustrates the pantheistic 泛神论quality of nature.Comments on Walden•Emerson creates the theory of Transcendentalism; Thoreau put it into practice with his own experience.•It is on self-culture and human perfectibility.•He was critical of modern civilization and materialistic life. Modern life has dehumanized man.•Simple life and spiritual richness are real wealth.Chapter 5 Hawthorne’s works•Twice-Told Tales (1837)•Mosses from an Old Manse (1846)•The House of the Seven Gables(1851) is that evil will come out of evil though it may take many generations to happen.•The Blithedale Romance (1852) “Happy Valley”《福谷传奇》•The Marble Faun (1860)Comments on Hawthorne’s works•The “black” vision•The Calvinist doctrine of “original sin” and total depravity•Aloofness远离from Emersonian Transcendental optimism•The decline of his family’s fortunes had to do with the sins o f his ancestors.•One source of evil is overweening自负的intellect.•His negative attitude towards science•Romance is the predestined注定form of American narrative.The Scarlet Letter (1850)•Content:•Adultery between Hester Prynne, a wife of an English scholar and Dimmesdale, a clergyman—a baby as a sin is born.•Her husband Chillingworth finds the adulterer奸夫out and tortures him.•Dimmesdale withers and dies after confessing his sin publicly and is forgiven by God.•Chillingworth dies painfully without God’s fo rgivingness.The Scarlet Letter (1850)•Characters:•Hester is an Oriental东方人的type and her drive is sexual.•Dimmesdale banishes放逐himself from society. He undergoes the tragic disintegration瓦解. He confesses his sin publicly and his soul is saved.•Chillingworth commits the unpardonable sin: the violation of the human heart.The Scarlet Letter (1850)•Theme:•Puritan severity苛刻toward sex and matrimony婚姻and its tendency to suppress love.•American Puritan moralism: the moral, emotional, and psychological effect of the sin.•It doesn’t praise Hester’s sin, but the moral growth of the woman when sinned against.The Scarlet Letter (1850)•Techniques:•Complex psychologies, interior monologues•Ambiguity, the meaning of “A”, different views of the conclusion•Supernatural elements•Symbolism--Hester’s moral development•Adultery/ Able /Angel/Adamic亚当的: original sinMelville’s works•Typee (1846)•Omoo (1847)•Mardi (1849)•Redburn (1849) is an account of his voyage to England.•White Jacket (1850) is his life on a US man-of-man.•Moby Dick (1851)•Pierre (1852)•The Confidence Man (1857) Billy BuddComments on Moby Dick•An encyclopedia百科全书of everything•A Shakespearean tragedy•A man fights against forces in an indifferent universe.•His bleak view of the meaningless world•His negative view of Transcendentalism•The loss of faith and the sense of futility无用and meaninglessnessMoby Dick (1851)•Content:•Ahab, the captain with one leg, fights against Moby Dick, a whale.•On a previous voyage, it sheared off割his leg.•This time, Ahab determines to kill Moby Dick. It pulls the ship to her doom.•Everybody dies, except Ishmael, the teller.Moby Dick (1851)•Theme:•The loss of faith and the sense of futility and meaninglessness•Alienation between man and man, man and society, man and nature•Negative reflection upon TranscendentalismMoby Dick (1851)•1. Symbolism•The Pequod, the ship—the ship of the American soul•Moby Dick, the white whale, is a symbol of evil, goodness, nature. It represents death and corruption as well aspurity, innocence and youth.•2. Paradox and ambiguity: positive and negative meanings of symbols of Moby DickChapter 6 Whitman & Dickinson•Theme: individualism, Americanness, “American Renaissance”•Technique: breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter 抑扬格五音步; exhibiting a freedom inform—“free verse”•As pioneers pointing to the Imagists意象派诗人Emerson’s influence on Whitman•They write on the organic principle.•Art: on the basic of nature•Aim: the poet’s work grows out of nature and derives its form from withinLeaves of Grass (1855)•Content: His experience on the Mississippi furnished material and spirit for his epic.•He responds to the expansion of America.•Theme: He extols equality, democracy, dignity, the self-reliant spirit and the joy of the common man. •Traits: It broke with the convention. He wrote “free verse” with new diction and meter.•He brought its sexuality, exotic, and vulgar language to it.Leaves of Grass•Doubtful attitude toward optimism in his later years:•Failure of democracy•Social and moral corruption•Immoral materialistic development•Individualism without brotherhoodConclusion: It shows Whitman was a transitional witness from Romanticism to Realism.Content of Dickinson’s works•Her poetry concerns death, immorality, love and nature.•She sees nature as both benevolent and cruel.•She emphasizes free will and responsibility.•She attacks materialism and commercialism.•She holds beauty, truth and goodness.Comments on Dickinson’s works•Theme: She reaffirms her individuality.•Calvinism Predestination and pessimism colors her work.•Technique: an economy of expression, its brevity, directness, plainest words•Her tone is tragic.•She became the precursor先驱of the Imagist意像派诗movement.Chapter 7 Poe’s works“MS. Found in a Bottle”(1833)《瓶中手稿》The Narrative of Arthur Gordon PymTales of the Grotesque and Arabesque《怪异故事集》“The M urders in the Rue Morgue”《莫尔格街凶杀案》Poem The Raven (1844)《乌鸦》“The Fall of the House of Usher”Content:In a decaying house live a brother and sister.The sister—physical decayThe brother—psychological decayHe may have committed incest with his sister and buries her alive in a coffin.She crawls out of the coffin and dies in his arms. Then, he dies too.The visitor escapes from the house, and the house falls into the water.“The Fall of the House of Usher”Theme: The universe is empty. Every mind is half mad and going to be mad.Techniques:Tone—melancholyStyle—suspenseThe first sentence sets the tone. The last sentence gives finality to the story.Comments on Poe’s worksHe remained controversial争议in American literature and was enjoyed in Europe.He was imaginative and creative.Theme of his works: disintegration of the self in a meaningless worldContent: He studies the unconscious and subconscious normal existence.Style: traditional, rational, and ordinaryHis idea of beauty influenced French symbolists and “art for art’s sake”.Chapter 8 Social setting of realism⏹Industrialized North vs. agrarian South⏹The factory defeated the farm and US headed toward capitalism.⏹Industrialization and mechanization produced extremes of wealth and poverty.⏹The frontier was closing.Influences from the setting⏹The Civil War led to suspicion or even negation to Transcendentalism, natural goodness, optimism, benevolent God.⏹Self-reliance became abnormal into admiration for money and power.⏹With the closing frontier, a reexamination of life began. People doubted American dream, the romantic view of man.⏹Disillusionment幻灭感and frustration prevailed.⏹“Golden Age” turned out to be “Gilded Age”.Howells’s ideas on Realism⏹“Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.”⏹Realism is not photographic pictures of externals but includes a central concern with motives and psychological conflicts.⏹He condemns sentimentality and self-sacrifice, and avoids improper love.⏹Authors should minimize plot and artificial sense.Howells’s ideas on Realism⏹Events grows naturally out of characters and conditions.⏹Realism came in the latter half of the 19th century against Romanticism and sentimentalism. 感伤主义以过分的伤感情绪为标志的思想或表达⏹Common feeling of commonplace people⏹It shows a civilization's progress, but not an individual’s.⏹It shouldn’t depict events subjectively, but objectively with scientific description.The Rise of Silas Lapham⏹Content:⏹Silas Lapham is a self-made man to be a millionaire in the paint business.⏹He spends a lot of money to build a house.⏹He refuses to cheat and goes bankruptcy.⏹His house is burned down, but his moral rises.The Rise of Silas Lapham⏹Theme:⏹Ethics: He stresses sympathy and moral integrity.⏹He is against competitive economic individualism.⏹Laissez-faire放任主义competition rapes man.⏹His moral rise begins with his financial fall.The Rise of Silas Lapham⏹Techniques:⏹Symbolism: The house is a symbol of Silas’s success and his aspiration for the polite society.⏹The love subplot is interesting.⏹Smiling aspects was used in an ironic sense.⏹It avoids pessimistic defeatism.⏹It has psychological depth3 periods of James’s creative life⏹1st period (1865-82)⏹“international theme”: American innocence in face of European sophistication⏹The American⏹Daisy Miller⏹The Portrait of a Lady⏹2nd period (1882-95) subtle studies of inter-personal relationships⏹His plays became failure and he returned to novels.⏹3rd period “international theme”⏹1895-1900 writes novellas with childhood and adolescence⏹The Turn of the Screw⏹What Maisie Knew⏹The Ambassadors⏹The Wings of the Dove⏹The Golden BowlJames’s contribution to literary criticism—“The Art of Fiction”⏹His criticism is concerned with form and devoted to human values.⏹Art without life is a poor affair.⏹The aim of the novel is to represent life.⏹Reality is the supreme virtue of a novel.⏹“Point of view”Content of The Ambassadors (1903)⏹Lambert Strether agrees to take on a mission for his wealthy fiancee: to go to Paris and rescue her son Chad Newsome from a presumably wicked woman.⏹Chad introduces Marie, a divorced woman, and her daughter to Strether. Strether is confused as to whether Chad is more attracted to the mother or the daughter.⏹Strether loves Paris and stops Chad from returning to America. Chad's mother enlists new "ambassadors" to bring back Chad.More content⏹Chad's sister Sarah Pocock demands Chad immediately return to the family business in America.⏹Strether realizes the pair's romantic involvement. He counsels Chad not to leave Marie. But Strether finds he is no longer comfortable in Europe.Theme⏹Strether becomes aware of differences between American and Parisian concepts of graceful life.⏹He emphasizes the inner awareness and inward movements in face of external, but not environment.⏹Strether learns to evaluate every situation on its merits, without any prejudices. The final lesson of his European experience is not to trust preconceived notions but rather to rely on his own observation and judgment.Techniques⏹James is the first modern psychological analyst.⏹He made use of modern stream-of-consciousness.⏹The point-of-view is quite limited only from Strether’s view.Chapter 9 Local colorism⏹The social and intellectual climate provided a setting.⏹The Westward movement couldn’t solidify itself into a whole culture. L ower-class poor farmers formed their own culture different from the aristocratic East.⏹The frontier humorists prepared the literary ground.Local colorism⏹It appears in the late 1860s and early 1870s.⏹Bret Harte’s “The Luck of Roaring Camp”《咆哮营的幸运儿》in 1868 marked the beginning of local color fiction.⏹Local colorists present and interpret the local character of their regions.⏹Local colorism belongs to Realism.Mark Twain’s main works⏹The Gilded Age (1873)⏹The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)⏹The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(1884)⏹Life on the Mississippi(1883)⏹A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)⏹The Man That Corrupted Hadlebury(1900)⏹The Mysterious Stranger (1916)⏹Autobiography (1924)Differences between realistsTheme:⏹Upper cl ass: Henry James, “International fame”⏹Middle class: William Dean Howells⏹Lower class: Mark TwainTechnique:⏹Henry James— imaginative treatment of reality or psychological realism⏹William Dean Howells— genteel realism⏹Mark Twain— localism and his colloquial styleThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)⏹Setting: before the Civil War⏹Time and place: around 1850 and Mississippi Valley⏹Characters: Jim, an ignorant uneducated Black slave & Huckleberry Finn, a little uneducated 13-year-old white boy ⏹The main p remise is the young boy’s belief in the right thing to do even though the majority of society believes it was wrong.⏹Content:⏹Jim escapes from slavery with the help of Huck.⏹They float down the Mississippi to find a safety for Jim.⏹Huck’s virtues come fr om his good heart and his sense of humanity.⏹Theme: Humanism triumphs⏹Technique: colloquial styleChapter 10 American Naturalism⏹Man was not free in a cold, indifferent and Godless world.⏹Life became a struggle for survival.⏹Darwinian concepts of evolution became the standards of moral reference.⏹Authors produced an attitude of gloom and despair.American Naturalists⏹They destroyed gentility of Realism and wrote about the helplessness and hopelessness of man in a cold world.⏹They painted the life of the lowest class.⏹They could not the deterministic命运注定论attitude of the complete helplessness.Crane’s main works: poem⏹Poems: The Black Riders (1895)⏹He was a pioneer in modern poetry.⏹His poetry is brief, quotable with unrhymed, unorthodox 非正统conciseness简明and imagery.⏹He and Dickinson are recognized as 2 precursors前辈of Imagist poetry.The Red Badge of Courage (1895)⏹Content:⏹A boy-soldier escapes from the war and comes back for the fight.⏹Theme: the animal man in a cold world⏹He studies man’s primitive emoti ons and the truth of life.⏹War and heroism are lies and meaningless.⏹Man is dominated by forces.The Octopus (1901)⏹Content:⏹Railroad dominates output of agriculture.⏹The rise of railroad freight makes farmers bankrupt. Poor farmers commit crimes to make themselves survive and are put into prison sooner or later.⏹Theme:⏹Social and economic forces ruin the lives of powerless people.⏹His determinist view is apparent.Dreiser’s main works⏹Sister Carrie (1900)⏹Jennie Gerhardt (1911)⏹Trilogy三部曲: The Financier (1912) The Titan《泰坦神》(1914) The Stoic (1947)⏹The Genius (1915)⏹An American Tragedy (1925)⏹The Bulwark (1946)Content of Sister Carrie (1900)⏹Carrie, a country girl, comes to Chicago to look for a better life. She works in a shoe factory and loses her job because of her sickness.⏹She becomes a mistress of a salesman and then a mistress of a married manager, Hurstwood.⏹They elope to NY. Hurstwood falls and she rises as an actress.Sister Carrie (1900)⏹Carrie’s 3 different worlds:⏹Carrie’s sister’s working-class life in Chicago⏹Her life with a salesman in Chicago⏹Her life with Hurstwood in NY⏹Hurstwood’s tragedy:⏹He falls to return to atavistic隔代遗传unreason无理性.⏹As an impotent modern man, he is unfit to survive and commits suicide.Sister Carrie (1900)⏹Theme:⏹Nothing can overcome her biological desire.⏹The world is cold and indifferent to her.⏹As a mechanism driven by desire, she moves from one man to another.⏹She has no free will, but is controlled by social forces.⏹Techniques:⏹Deficient and dull characterization⏹The journalistic method of narration⏹Too detailed and formless descriptionDreiser’s view on naturalism⏹Social Darwinism⏹Man is animal driven by greed and lust for the fittest.⏹Man is a machine reacting to chemic compulsions.难以抗拒冲动⏹Human tragedy comes from conflict between human needs and social manipulation.⏹Man has no free will to be controlled by social forces.⏹Everything is determined by internal chemistry and social pressure.Chapter 11 Changes on thought of 1920s⏹Old moral codes broke down.⏹Excitement made way for disillusionment.幻灭感⏹Darwin’s evolution made people lose their faith.⏹Modern science intensified the loss of faith.⏹People found themselves living in a spiritual wasteland.精神荒原⏹The universe was purposeless and God was not beneficent.仁慈People were helpless.Imagism意像派⏹Imagism belongs to the sense of fragmentation破碎and dislocation 混乱of modern spirit.⏹T. E. Hulme, 1st Imagist, suggests that modern art deal with expression and communication of momentary瞬间phases.⏹He has the claim to have been the original Imagist poet and to have formulated构想出with clarity the manifesto.宣言3 phases of Imagism⏹1st phase: (1908-09)⏹It began in London.⏹T. E. Hulme founded a Poets’ Club.⏹More talk, less writing.⏹2nd phase: (1912-14)⏹Ezra Pound established Imagist manifesto.⏹3rd phase: (1914-17)⏹Amy Lowell pushed the movement into “Amygism”.Imagist manifesto in 1912⏹Direct treatment of things⏹Words only for presentation⏹Musical phrases, free verse⏹Purposes:⏹Its presentation is hard and clear.⏹Imagism makes the reader see physical things.⏹The best effect is visual and concrete.Cantos (1915)⏹It contains 117 poems.⏹It is about social history, cultures and languages.⏹He imposes order and meaning upon a meaningless world.⏹He sees Chinese history and Confucius孔子counteract抵消Western gloom and confusion.⏹A chaotic inhuman and non-spiritual world needs saving.Chapter 12 T. S. Eliot’s poetry▪Traits:▪Visual imagery▪Flexible tone▪Expressive rhythm▪Poems：▪The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1911)▪《普鲁弗洛克爱情诗》▪The Waste Land (1921)《荒原》▪Ash Wednesday (1930)《圣灰星期三》▪Four Quartets (1943)《四个四重奏》The Waste Land (1921)▪Content:▪The Fisher King sins against God and is punished to be impotent性无能sexually.▪His disability makes his land infertile荒芜.▪To restore the fertile land, he dispatches people for the Holy Cup.▪Or he keeps impotent forever.The Waste Land (1921)▪Theme:▪It shows futility and fragmentation of modern life and modern society.▪It reveals the spiritual crisis of postwar Europe and is the manifesto of the “Lost Generation”.▪Modern poets experience chaos and dislocation and search order and meaning.The Waste Land (1921)▪Techniques:▪Many images and symbols seem disconnected.▪Quotations and allusions暗示are hard to read.▪He combined past literatures and cultures with his own personal and private agonies痛苦.Chapter 14 Fitzgerald’s main works►Novels:►The Side of Paradise (1920)《尘世乐园》shows his sense of failure with his academic performance and the frustration of his dreams at Princeton.►The Beautiful and Damned (1922)《美丽与毁灭》►The Great Gatsby(1925) 《大亨小传》►Tender is the Night (1934) 《夜未央》Content of The Great Gatsby (1925)►Gatsby rises from a poor youth by bootlegging 卖私酒.►He falls in love with Daisy but is too poor to marry her. She marries Tom, a rich man.►To gain his lo st love, he holds parties to allure them to come. But he can’t find his ideal love back.►Daisy kills Tom’s mistress in Gatsby’s car by accident and they shift the blame on Gatsby.►He is shot by the mistress’s husband but they escape from any punishment.Theme of The Great Gatsby (1925)►It is the whole process of the American experience.。

美国文学史笔记Part 1. Colonial AmericaAnne Bradstreet Upon the burning of our house; To my dear and loving husband; The flesh and the spirit; Contemplations 沉思Edward Taylor Huswifery; Upon a Spider Catching a FlyThomas Paine托马斯·潘恩1737-1809The Case of the Officers of Excise税务员问题；Common Sense常识；American Crisis美国危机；Rights of Man人的权利：Downfall of Despotism专制体制的崩溃；The Age of Reason理性时代Philip Freneau菲利普·弗伦诺1752-1832The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲；The British Prison Ship英国囚船；To the Memory of the Brave Americans纪念美国勇士-----同类诗中最佳；The Wild Honey Suckle野生的金银花；The Indian Burying Ground 印第安人殡葬地Jonathan Edwards The Freedom of the Will ; The Great Doctrine of Original Sin defended The Nature of True VirtueBenjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1706-1790A Modest Inquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Money;Poor Richard’s Almanack穷查理历书；The Way to Wealth致富之道；The Autobiography自传Part 2. American RomanticismWashington Irving 华盛顿·欧文1783-1859A 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James Fenimore Cooper詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀1789-1851The Spy间谍;The Pilot领航者;The Littlepage Manuscripts利特佩奇的手稿;Leatherstocking Tales皮裹腿故事集:The Pioneer拓荒者；The Last of Mohicans最后的莫希干人;The Prairie大草原;The Pathfinder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:Nature论自然-----新英格兰超验主义者的宣言书;The American Scholar论美国学者;Divinity;The Oversoul论超灵;Self-reliance论自立;The Transcendentalist 超验主义者;Representative Men代表人物;English Traits英国人的特征;School Address神学院演说Concord Hymn康考德颂;The Rhodo杜鹃花;The Humble Bee野蜂;Days日子-首开自由诗之先河Henry David Threau 亨利·大卫·梭罗1817-1862Walden,or Life in the Woods华腾湖或林中生活;Resistance to Civil Government/Civil Disobedience抵制公民政府;A Week on the Concord and Merrimack RiversHenry Wadsworth Longfellow亨利·沃兹沃思·朗The Song of Hiawatha海华沙之歌----美国人写的第一部印第安人史诗;Voices of the Night夜吟;Ballads and Other Poens民谣及其他诗;Belfry of Bruges and Other Poems布鲁费罗1807-1882茨的钟楼及其他诗;Tales of a Wayside Inn路边客栈的故事---诗集：An April Day四月的一天/A Psalm of Life人生礼物/Paul Revere’s Ride保罗·里维尔的夜奔;Evangeline伊凡吉琳;The Courtship of Miles Standish迈尔斯·斯坦迪什的求婚----叙事长诗；Poems on Slavery奴役篇---反蓄奴组诗Nathaniel Hawthorne纳撒尼尔·霍桑1804-1864Twice-told Tales尽人皆知的故事;Mosses from an Old Manse 古屋青苔:Young Goodman Brown年轻的古德曼·布朗;The Scarlet Letter红字;The House of the Seven Gables有七个尖角阁的房子--------心理若们罗曼史;The Blithedale Romance 福谷传奇;The Marble Faun玉石雕像Herman Melville赫尔曼·梅尔维尔1819-1891Moby Dick/The White Whale莫比·迪克/白鲸；Typee泰比;Omoo奥穆;Mardi玛地;Redburn雷得本;White Jacket 白外衣;Pierre皮尔埃;Piazza广场故事;Billy Budd比利·巴德Walt Whitman沃尔特·惠特曼1819-1892Leaves of Grass草叶集:Song of the Broad-Axe阔斧之歌;I hear America Singing我听见美洲在歌唱;When Lilacs Lost in the Dooryard Bloom’d小院丁香花开时;Democratic Vistas 民主的前景;The Tramp and Strike Question流浪汉和罢工问题;Song of Myself自我之歌Emily Dickinson埃米莉·迪金森1830-1886The Poems of Emily Dichenson埃米莉·迪金森诗集-----“Tell all the truth and tell it slant”迂回曲折的，玄学的Edgar Allan Poe埃德加·爱伦·坡1809-1849（以诗为诗；永为世人共赏的伟大抒情诗人-----叶芝）Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque怪诞奇异故事集;Tales 故事集;The Fall of the House of Usher厄舍古屋的倒塌;Ligeia莱琪儿;Annabel Lee安娜贝尔·李-----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Tamerlane and Other Poems帖木儿和其他诗;AlAraaf,Tamerlane and Minor Poems艾尔·阿拉夫，帖木儿和其他诗;The Raven and Other Poems乌鸦及其他诗:The Raven乌鸦;The City in the Sea海城;Israfel 伊斯拉菲尔;To Hellen致海伦Harriet Beecher Stowe哈丽特·比彻·斯托1811-1896Uncle Tom’s Cabin汤姆叔叔的小屋;A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp德雷德阴暗大沼地的故事片;The Minister’s Wooing牧师的求婚;The Pearl of Orr’s Island奥尔岛的珍珠;Oldtown Folks老城的人们Part 4. The age of RealismWilliam Dean Howells 威廉·狄恩·豪威尔斯1837-1920The Rise of Silas Lapham赛拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹;A Modern Instance现代婚姻; A Hazard of Now Fortunes时来运转;A Traveller from Altruia从利他国来的旅客;Through the Eye of the Needle透过针眼----乌托邦小说;Criticism and Fiction;Novel-Writing and Novel-Reading小说创作与小说阅读23、Henry James享利·詹姆斯1843-1916小说：Daisy Miller苔瑟·米乐；The Portrait of a Lady 贵妇人画像；The Bostonians波士顿人；The Real Thing and Other Tales真货色及其他故事；The Wings of the Dove 鸽翼；The Ambassadors大使；The Golden Bowl金碗评论集：French Poets and Novelists法国诗人和小说家;Hawthorne霍桑;Partial Portraits不完全的画像;Notes and Reviews札记与评论;Art of Fiction and Other Essays小说艺术Part 5. Local ColorismMark Twain马克·吐温（Samuel Longhorne Clemens）---美国文学的一大里程碑The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County加拉维拉县有名的跳蛙;The Innoc ent’s Abroad傻瓜出国记;The Gilded Age镀金时代;The Adventures of Tom Sawyer汤姆·索耶历险记;The Prince and the Pauper王子与贫儿;The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn哈克贝利·费恩历险记;A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court亚瑟王宫中的美国佬;The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson傻瓜威尔逊;Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc冉·达克;The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg败坏哈德莱堡的人How to Tell a Story怎样讲故事---对美国早期幽默文学的总结Part 6. American NaturalismStephen Crane斯蒂芬·克莱恩1871-1900Magic:A Girl of the Streets街头女郎梅姬（美国文学史上首次站在同情立场上描写受辱妇女的悲惨命运）；The Red Badge of Courage红色英勇勋章；The Open Boat小划子;The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky新娘来到黄天镇Frank Norris弗兰克·诺里斯1870-1902Moran of the Lady Letty茱蒂夫人号上的莫兰（romantic）;Mc-Teague麦克提格（naturalistic）;The Epic of the Wheat(realistic)小麦诗史(The Octopus章鱼,The Pit小麦交易所);A Deal in Wheat and Other Stories of the Old and New West小麦交易所及其他新老西部故事Theodore Dreiser西奥多·德莱塞1871-1945Sister Carrie嘉莉姐妹;Jennie Gerhardt珍妮姑娘;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）;Nigger Jeff黑人杰弗Edwin Arlington Robinson鲁宾逊1869-1935Captain Craig克雷格上尉---诗体小说；The Town Down the River河上的城镇;The Man Against the Sky衬托着天空的人;Avon’s Harvest沃冯的收成;Collected Poems诗集40、Jack London杰克·伦敦1876-1916The Son of the Wolf狼之子,The Call of the Wild野性的呼唤;The Sea-wolf海狼;White Fang白獠牙;The People of the Abyss深渊中的人们;The Iron Heel铁蹄;Marti Eden马丁·伊登;How I become a Socialist我怎样成为社会党人;The War of the Classes阶级之间的战争;What Life Means to Me生命对我意味着什么;Revolution革命;Love of Life热爱生命;The Mexican墨西哥人;Under the Deck Awings在甲板的天蓬下Upton Sinclair厄普顿·辛克莱尔1878-1968Spring and Harvest春天与收获;The Jungle屠场（揭发黑幕运动的代表作家）;King Coal煤炭大王;Oil石油;Boston波士顿;Dragon’s Teeth龙齿Part 7. The 1920sImagism Ezra Pound艾兹拉·庞德1885-1972The Spirit of Romance罗曼司精神;The Anthology Des Imagistes意像派诗选;Cathay华夏（英译中国诗）;Literary Essays文学论;Hugh Swlwyn Maube rley;A Few Don’ts by Imagiste意像派戒条;Personage面具;Polite Essays文雅集;The Cantos of Ezra Pound庞德诗章（109首及8首未完成稿）Thomas Stearns Eliot托马斯·艾略特1888-1965Prufrock and Other Observations普罗夫洛克（荒原意识）;The Waste Land荒原(The Burial of the Dead死者的葬礼;A Game of Chess弈棋;The Fire Sermon火诫;Death by Water水边之死;What the Thunder Said雷电之言);名诗：Ash Wednesday圣灰星期三;Four Quarters四个四重奏诗剧：Murder in the Cathedral大教堂谋杀案;Family Reunion 大团圆;Cocktail Party鸡尾酒会Wallace Stevens华莱士·史蒂文斯1879-1955Harmonium风琴;The Man With the Blue Guitar弹蓝吉他的人;Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction关于最高虚构的札记(Peter Quince at the Clavier彼得·昆斯弹风琴;Sunday Morning礼拜天早晨);The Auroras of Autumn秋天的晨曦;Collected Poems诗集William Carlos Williams威廉·卡罗斯·威廉斯1883-1963收入Des Imagistes意像派（意像派的第一部诗选）诗集：Sour Grapes;Spring and All春;The Desert Music;The Journey of Love爱的历程;Collected Poems;Complete Poems;Collected Later Poems;Pictures from Brueghel布留盖尔的肖像;Paterson佩特森（5卷长诗）;Asphodal,That Green Flower常青花日光兰（长诗）名诗：Red Wheelbarrow红色手推车;The Widow’s Lament in Spring寡妇的春怨;The Dead Baby;The Sparrow ,to My Father麻雀—致父亲;Proletarian Portrait无产阶级画像（from An Early Martyr先驱）;The Great American Novels伟大的美国小说;In the American Grain美国性格;Autobiography自传Robert Frest罗伯特·弗罗斯特1874-1963A Boy’s Wish少年心愿；North of Boston波士顿之北(Mending Wall修墙,After Apple-picking摘苹果之后);Mountain Interval山间（成熟阶段）(The Road Not taken 没有选择的道路);West-running Brook西流的溪涧;A Further Range又一片牧场;A Witness Tree一株作证的树Carl Sandburg卡尔·桑德堡1878-1967Always the Young Stranger永远是陌生的年轻人s;In Reckless Ecstasy肆无忌惮的狂热;The Prairie Years草原的年代一、二;The War Years战争的年代（林肯传记）;The American Songbag美国歌袋;The People,Yes人民，好;Honey and Salt蜜与盐;Corn-huskers辗米机（Fog雾）;Smoke and Steel烟与钢E Cumings肯明斯1894-1962Tulips anddd Chimneys郁金香与烟囱;The Enormous Room 大房间;XLI Poems诗41首;Viva万岁;No， Thanks不，谢谢;Collected Poems诗集;Eimi爱米（访苏游记）F Scott Fitzgerald弗朗西斯·菲茨杰拉德1896-1940(迷惘的一代)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;The Last Tycoon最后的巨头短篇小说：Flappers and Philosophers姑娘们和哲学家们;Tales of the Jazz爵士时代的故事;Taps at Reveille早晨的起床号→The Ice Palace冰宫;May Days五一节;The Diamond as Big as the Ritz像里茨饭店那样大的钻石;Winter Dreams冬天的梦;The Rich Boy富家子弟;Babylon Revisted 重访巴比伦敦The Crack-up崩溃（自传体文集）Ernest Hemingway 欧内斯特·海明威1899-1961（“迷惘的一代”的代表人物）In Our Time在我们的年代里;The Torrents of Spring春潮;The Sun Also Rises太阳照样升起;Farewell to Arms永别了，武器;For Whom the Bell Tolls丧钟为谁而鸣短篇小说：Men Without Women没有女人的男人;The Winners Take Notheing胜者无所获;The Fifth Column and First Forty-nine Stories第五纵队与首次发表的四十九个短篇政论：To Have and Have Not贫与富回忆录：A Moveable Feast到处逍遥William Faulkner威廉·福克纳1897-1962The Marble Faun云石林神（诗集）;Soldiers’ Pay兵饷（小说）短篇小说：Dry September干燥的九月;The Sound and the Fury愤怒与喧嚣;As I lay dying当我垂死的时候;Light in August八月之光;Absalom,Absolam押沙龙，押沙龙（家世小说）Sherwood Anderson 舍伍德·安德森1876-1941Windy McPherson’s Son饶舌的麦克斐逊的儿子;Marching Men前进中的人们;Mid-American Chants美国中部之歌;Winesburg,Ohio/The Book of the Grotesque俄亥俄州的温斯堡/畸人志;Poor White穷苦的白人;Many Marriages多种婚姻;Dark Laughter阴沉的笑声The Triumph of the Egg and Other Stories鸡蛋的胜利和其他故事;Death in the Woods and Other Stories林中之死及其他故事;I Want to Know Why我想知道为什么Sinclair Lewis辛克莱·刘易斯1885-1951(美国第Dur Mr Wrenn我们的雷恩先生;The Job求职;The Main Street大先进;Babbitt巴比特;Arrowsmith艾罗史密斯;Elmer Gantry艾尔默·甘特里;Dodsworth多兹沃斯;It can’t Happen一个获诺贝尔奖)Here事情不会发生在这里;Kingsblood Royal王孙梦Villa Sibert Cather 维拉·凯塞1873-1947O,Pioneers啊，先驱们;My Antonia我的安东尼亚;The Professor’s House教授之家;Death Comes for the Archibishop 大主教之死Thomas Wolfe托马斯·沃尔夫1900-1938Look Homeward,Angel天使，望乡→（续）Of Time and the River时间与河流;The Web and the Rock蛛网与岩石;You Can’t Go Home Again有家归不得;The Hills Beyond远山（未完成）短篇小说：From Death to Morning从死亡到早晨Part 8. The 1930sJohn Dos Passos帕索斯1896-1970The Three Soldiers;Manhattan Transfer;U.S.A(TheForty-second Parallel;1919;The Big Money);District of Columbia哥伦比亚大区(The Adventures of a Young Man一个年轻人的冒险;Number One第一号;The Grand Design伟大的计划);Orient Express东方特别快车（游记）John Steinbeck约翰·斯坦贝克1902-1966Cup of Gold金杯;Tortilla Flat煎饼房;In Dubious Battle胜负未定;Of Mice and Men鼠和人;The Grapes of Wrath愤怒的葡萄;The Moon is Down月亮下去了;Cannery Row罐头厂街;The Pearl珍珠短篇小说：The Red Pony小红马(The Gift,The Great Mountains大山;The Promise许诺,The Leader of the People 人们的领袖)Part 9. Black American LiteratureFrederick Douglass 弗莱德里克·道格拉斯1817-1895Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave 弗莱德里克·道格拉斯，一个美国黑人的自述/My Bondage and My Freedom我的枷锁与我的自由/The life and Time of Frederick Douglass弗莱德里克·道格拉斯的生平与时代Booker T. WashingtonWilliam E·B Dubois威廉·艾伯·杜波依斯1868-1963Souls of Black Folk黑人的灵魂(Of Booker T Washington and Others);The Suppression of the African Slave Trade into the USA制止非洲奴隶贸易进入美国;The Philadephia Negro;John Brown;The Black Flame黑色的火焰（三部曲）James Langston Hughes詹姆斯·兰斯顿·休斯1902-1969Mulatto混血儿（剧本）;The Weary Blues疲倦的歌声;Dear Lovely Death亲爱的死神;Shakespear in Harlem哈莱姆的莎士比亚;I Wonder as I Wander我漂泊我思考;The Best of Simple辛普尔精选Ralph Ellison拉尔夫·埃利林1914-长篇小说：Invisible Man看不见的人散文集：Shadow and Act影子与行动;Going to the Territory 步入文学界James Baldwin詹姆斯·鲍德温1924-1987散文集：Note of a Native Son土生子的笔记;Nobody Knows My Name;Fire Next Time下一次烈火;No Name in the Street 他的名字被遗忘;The Devil Finds Work魔鬼找到工作小说：Go Tell it on the Mountain向苍天呼吁;Giovanni’sRoom乔万尼的房间;Another Country另一个国度;Tell MeHow Long the Train’s Been Gone告诉我火车已开多久;IfBeale Street Could Talk假如比尔能说话;Just Above MyHead就在我头上短篇小说集：Going to Meet the Man去见这个人剧本：The Amen Corner阿门角;Blues for Mister Charley为查理先生唱布鲁斯/黑人怨;One Day When I was Lost有一天当我迷失的时候/迷路前后Gwendolyn BrooksPart 10. American DramaEugene Oneil尤金·奥尼尔1888-1953独幕剧：Bound East to Cardiff东航卡迪夫;The Long Voyage Home归途迢迢;The Moon of the Carribbeans加勒比人之月多幕剧：Beyond the Horizon天边外（其成名作）;Anna Christie安娜·克里斯蒂;The Emperor Jones琼斯皇;The Hairy Ape毛猿;All the God’s Children Got Wings上帝的儿女都有翅膀The Great God Brown大神布朗;The Strange Interlude奇异的插曲;Mourning Becomes Electr素娥怨/悲悼a;The Iceman Cometh送冰的人来了;The Long Days Journey Into Night进入黑夜的漫长旅程/日长路远夜常深沉Clifford OdetsJ D Salinger杰罗姆·大卫·塞林格1919-短篇小说：The Young Folks年轻人短篇小说集：Nine Stories故事九篇中篇小说：Franny弗兰尼;Zooey卓埃;Raise High the Roof Beam,Carpenters木匠们，把屋梁升高;Seymour:An Introduction西摩其人长篇小说：The Cather in the Rye麦田守望者Tennessee William 田纳西·威廉斯1911-1983American Blues美国的布鲁斯;Battle of Angels天使的战斗;The Glass Menagerie玻璃动物园;The Streetcar Named Desire欲望号街车;Cat on a Hot Tin Roof热铁皮屋顶上的猫;The Night of The Iguana鬣蜥之夜;Summer and Smoke夏与烟;The Rose Tattoo玫瑰纹;Sweet Bird of Yout可爱的青春鸟Arthur Miller阿瑟·米勒1915-Situation Normal情况正常;The Man Who Had All the Luck 吉星高照的人;All My Sons都是我的儿子;The Death of a Salesman推销员;The Crucible严峻的考验/萨姆勒的女巫;A View from the Bridge桥头眺望;A Memory of Two Mondays 两个星期一的回忆;After the Fall堕落之后;Incident at Vichy 维希事件;The Price代价;The Creation of the World and Other Business创世及其他;The Archbishop’s Ceiling大主教的天花板;The American Clock美国时钟Edward Albee爱德华·阿尔比1928-The Zoo Story动物园的故事;The Death of Bessie Smith贝西·史密斯之死;The Sandbox沙箱;The American Dream美国梦;Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?谁害怕弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫;Tiny Alice小爱丽丝;A Delicate Balance脆弱的羊群;Seascape海景;The Lady from Dubuque来自杜布克的女人;The Man With Three Arms在臂人Part 11. The Post-War Scene: The Novel . PoetrySaul Bellow索尔·贝娄1915-长篇小说：Dangling Man晃来晃去/挂起来的人;The Victim 受害者;The Adventure of Augie March奥基·马奇历险记;Henderson the Rain King雨王汉德逊;Herzog赫索格;Mr Summlar’s Planet塞姆勒先生的行星;Humboldt’s Gift洪堡的礼物中篇小说：Seize the Day且乐今朝Norman Mailer诺曼·米勒1923- (垮掉的一代；文学恐怖主义者/亡命之徒)裸者与死者；Barbary Shore巴巴里海滨;The Deer Park廘苑;An American Dream一场美国梦;The White Negro白色黑人;Advertisement for Myself为自己做广告;Why Are We in Vietnam?我们为什么要去越南;The Executioner’s Song刽子手之歌;The Armies of the Night夜色幕下的大军(History as a Novel/The Novel as History)—非虚构小说;New Journalism 新新闻报道Joseph Heller约瑟夫·海勒1923-长篇小说：Catch-22第二十二条军规;Something Happened 出了毛病;As Good as Gold像高尔德一样好剧本：We Bombed in New Haven我们轰炸纽黑文;Catch-22;Clevinger’s Trial克莱文杰受审（据Catch-22第八章）John Barth约翰·巴思1930-长篇小说：The Floating Opera漂浮的歌剧;The End of the Road穷途末路;The Sot-weed Factor烟草代理商;Letters书信集;Giles Goat-boy山羊孩子贾尔斯;Lost in the Funhouse迷失在开心馆里（Title题目）;Chimera客迈拉；Sabbatical 学院的轮休假;The Friday Book:Essays and Other Nonfictions星期五的书：论文及其他非小说Thomas Pynchon托马斯·品钦1937- (后现代主义)Geography of a Horse Dreamer马塞梦测者的地理;Angel City天使城;The Tooth of Crime罪恶的牙齿;Family家庭(Curse of the Starving Class饥饿阶级的诅咒;Buried Child被埋葬的孩子;True West真正的西部);Fool for Love情痴;A Lie of the Mind心灵的谎言;Paris/Texas德州的巴黎。