American Literature

AMERICAN LITERATUREWe shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all our exploringWill be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time.T.S. Eliot --- Little GiddingLiterature represents the language of a people, their culture and their tradition. But the reading of literature is more important to us than just a historical or cultural activity. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. When we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays, we may also grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.American literature is a literature that has recorded the stories of a search. Early explorers searched for new lands and new wealth. The puritans searched for a place that would become the ideal community, one of which God would approve. Many Americans travelled across America simply because they were restless and were searching for new experiences and opportunities. These searches can be said to be the “pursuit of happiness” and Americ an literature is the story of that pursuit.Some of the early literature was concerned with life in the cities and on the frontier. It created heroes and characters that epitomised the adventurous, the brave and the strong individual. This literature could be said to have created a history for a country which, in European eyes, had very little history!As the country expanded westwards, some authors questioned some of the beliefs and lifestyle of the established east coast communities. For instance, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a book called ‘Nature’ that questioned whether or not humans needed religion to reach a higher state of spirituality. Henry Thoreau wrote about how important it was for individuals to think for themselves, and claimed that an individua l’s conscience is more important than the demands of society. These ideas caused much controversy and discussion.Other writers of this time were writing about human imagination and emotion, rather than intellect. These novels asked the reader to understand the nature of guilt, pride and emotional repression, and to find meaning in his/her life.After the Civil War (1861-1865) many Americans became discontent with the growing materialism of society, and some writers wrote about the harsher reality which was facing some Americans in their daily lives. For instance, they wrote of poor working conditions, unsympathetic reactions by the community to someone who has committed ‘sin’, and of people findingthemselves trapped in their environment and struggling to find happiness.There were also writers like Emily Dickinson who wrote poems such as this:If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain;If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain,Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,I shall not live in vain.The first half of the 20th century saw the emergence of writersc alled “Imagists” whose poems focused on strong, concrete images. An example of this style was T.S.Eliot’s poem called the ‘The Waste Land’. This poem created images for the reader to interpret. Another such writer was E. E. Cumming, who threw away the rules of punctuation, spelling and even changed the way words were placed on the page.In the 1920’s in New York there emerged of a lively, powerful form of African-American music called jazz, and at the same time African-American writers began writing about the black community and their lives. Their writings used the rhythms drawn from their African and slavery. They told the American people not only about the injustices that society inflicted upon blacks, but also about the rich cultural life of the “the new negro” who was proud of his/her racial identity. Two African-American writers of this period were Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen.Mother To Son by Langston HughesWell, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So, boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps.'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now—For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.Post World War 2 authors started to write about American society in ways that questioned the direction in which society was going. After a short period of conservatism (1940’s and 1950’s), Americans saw a significant change in their culture and lifestyle. It was the period of African-American activism/protest, the feminist movement, the sexual revolution, the peace movement, and, it was a time when many alternative lifestyles were being experimented with. Politically, the world was in the midst of the Cold War between the USA with its political allies and the USSR and communism in general.People who immigrated to America were often said to be pursuing “The American Dream”. The term “The American Dream” represented an ideal. Simply stated, it meant that in America a person could achieve anything if he/she really wanted it enough. In recent history some people started doubting the possibility of this ideal: it seemed that the ideal could not be possible while society was the way that it was. Some people wanted to change society, and said that “The Dream” should be not be so much about economic success but more about personal fulfillment and the development of a just and caring society. People wanted to feel that they had a purpose in society, where they were needed, where they could fulfill their potential and where they could develop as an individual. It can be seen that some writers expressed a sense of hopelessness about achieving “The Dream” in their books and poetry.Richard Coryby Edwin Arlington RobinsonWhenever Richard Cory went downtown,We people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored, and imperially slim.And he was always quietly arrayed,And he was always human when he talked;But still he fluttered pulses when he said, “Good morning,” and he glittered when he walked. And he was rich -- yes, richer than a king,And admirably schooled in every grace:In fine, we thought that he was everythingTo make us wish that we were in his place.So on we worked, and waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread, And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,Went home and put a bullet through his head.Books, such as the following, also reflected this era:‘Catch 22’ (Joseph Heller) portrayed war as an absurd exercise for madmen. (1961)‘Death of a Salesman’ (Arthur Miller) is a play about the com mon man pressured by society. He tries to provide for his family but ultimately he fails to achieve what he thinks (and what society thinks) he should achieve. His unfulfilled dreams lead to a tragic ending.‘Native Son’ (Richard Wright) is a novel which has a black hero, whose character has been heavily impacted upon by a violent and cruel society. (1940)‘Catcher in the Rye’ (J.D.Salinger) is a book which portrays, through the eyes of a teenage boy, the hypocrisies of the adult world. The boy feels a sense of hopelessness about his world.Toni Morrison’s poems portrayed strong black women in society, and the struggles of growing up being black in America during the 1960’s and 1970’s.‘America’ (Allen Ginsberg) is a poem of anger and rage. It expresses the feelings of the Beat writers about the state of American culture in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Th e poem rages against the traditional American values of that time.‘The Kitchen God’s Wife’ by Amy Tan (1991) is a novel about her mother, who was born in China but who later, with her American husband, moved to America. The novel shows how the author sees her mother as a slight embarrassment, because of her traditional Chinese behaviour. Her mother tells her the story of her life in China. At the end of the story the young women comes to see her mother in an entirely different way. The love for her mother is still there, but her respect for her is now immense. Amy Tan was born in America and lives with her family.Extra PoemsWhat Fifty Said by Robert Frost (1925) When I was young my teachers were the old.I gave up fire for form till I was cold.I suffered like a metal being cast.I went to school to age to learn the past.Now when I am old my teachers are the young. What can't be molded must be cracked and sprung.I strain at lessons fit to start a suture.I got to school to youth to learn the future.Hey, that's no way to say goodbye by Leonard CohenI loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but now it's come to distances and both of us must try,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time, walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,your eyes are soft with sorrow,Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.So long, Marianne by Leonard CohenCome over to the window, my little darling,I'd like to try to read your palm.I used to think I was some kind of Gypsy boy before I let you take me home.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we beganto laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again.Well you know that I love to live with you,but you make me forget so very much.I forget to pray for the angelsand then the angels forget to pray for us.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...We met when we were almost youngdeep in the green lilac park.You held on to me like I was a crucifix,as we went kneeling through the dark.Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...Your letters they all say that you're beside me now. Then why do I feel alone?I'm standing on a ledge and your fine spider web is fastening my ankle to a stone.Now so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...For now I need your hidden love.I'm cold as a new razor blade.You left when I told you I was curious,I never said that I was brave.Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...Oh, you are really such a pretty one.I see you've gone and changed your name again. And just when I climbed this whole mountainside, to wash my eyelids in the rain!Oh so long, Marianne, it's time that we began ...It Ain’t Me Babe by Bob DylanGo 'way from my window,Leave at your own chosen speed.I'm not the one you want, babe,I'm not the one you need.You say you're lookin' for someone Never weak but always strong,To protect you an' defend you Whether you are right or wrong, Someone to open each and every door, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.Go lightly from the ledge, babe,Go lightly on the ground.I'm not the one you want, babe,I will only let you down.You say you're looking' for someone Who will promise never to part, Someone to close his eyes for you, Someone to close his heart, Someone who will die for you an' more, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.Go melt back into the night, babe, Everything inside is made of stone. There's nothing in here movingAn' anyway I'm not alone.You say you're looking for someone Who'll pick you up each time you fall, To gather flowers constantlyAn' to come each time you call,A lover for your life an' nothing more, But it ain't me, babe,No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.The Times They Are A-Changing by Bob Dylan Come gather 'round peopleWherever you roamAnd admit that the watersAround you have grownAnd accept it that soonYou'll be drenched to the bone.If your time to youIs worth savin'Then you better start swimmin'Or you'll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin'.Come writers and criticsWho prophesize with your penAnd keep your eyes wideThe chance won't come againAnd don't speak too soonFor the wheel's still in spinAnd there's no tellin' whoThat it's namin'.For the loser nowWill be later to winFor the times they are a-changin'.Come senators, congressmenPlease heed the callDon't stand in the doorwayDon't block up the hallFor he that gets hurtWill be he who has stalled There's a battle outsideAnd it is ragin'.It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers and fathers Throughout the landAnd don't criticizeWhat you can't understandYour sons and your daughters Are beyond your command Your old road isRapidly agin'.Please get out of the new oneIf you can't lend your handFor the times they are a-changin'. The line it is drawnThe curse it is castThe slow one nowWill later be fastAs the present nowWill later be pastThe order isRapidly fadin'.And the first one nowWill later be lastFor the times they are a-changin'.Suzanne by Leonard CohenSuzanne takes you down to her place near the river You can hear the boats go byYou can spend the night beside herAnd you know that she's half crazyBut that's why you want to be thereAnd she feeds you tea and orangesThat come all the way fromChinaAnd just when you mean to tell herThat you have no love to give herThen she gets you on her wavelengthAnd she lets the river answerThat you've always been her loverAnd you want to travel with herAnd you want to travel blindAnd you know that she will trust youFor you've touched her perfect body with your mind.And Jesus was a sailorWhen he walked upon the waterAnd he spent a long time watchingFrom his lonely wooden towerAnd when he knew for certainOnly drowning men could see himHe said "All men will be sailors thenUntil the sea shall free them"But he himself was brokenLong before the sky would openForsaken, almost humanHe sank beneath your wisdom like a stoneAnd you want to travel with himAnd you want to travel blindAnd you think maybe you'll trust himFor he's touched your perfect body with his mind. Now Suzanne takes your handAnd she leads you to the riverShe is wearing rags and feathersFrom Salvation Army countersAnd the sun pours down like honeyOn our lady of the harbourAnd she shows you where to lookAmong the garbage and the flowersThere are heroes in the seaweedThere are children in the morningThey are leaning out for loveAnd they will lean that way foreverWhile Suzanne holds the mirrorAnd you want to travel with herAnd you want to travel blindAnd you know that you can trust herFor she's touched your perfect body with her mind.。

American Puritanism清教主义: Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the puritans. The Puritans were originally members of a division of the protestant church who wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They accepted the doctrines of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. American literature in the 17th century mostly consisted of Puritan literature. Puritanism had an enduring influence on American literature. It had become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, so much a part of national cultural atmosphere, rather than a set of tenets. Transcendentalism 超验主义: Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century. Transcendentalists spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society. It placed emphasis on spirit, or the Over soul, as the most important thing in the world. It stressed the importance of individual and offered a fresh perception nature ad symbolic of the spirit of God. Prominent transcendentalists included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thorough. American Naturalism自然主义: American naturalism was a new and harsher realism. The naturalists attempt to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by environment and heredity. It emphasized that the world was amoral, the men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity and environment, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death. The pessimism and deterministic ideas naturalism pervaded the works of such American writers as Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser.American Naturalism(美国自然主义文学)：The American naturalists accepted the more negative interpretation of Darwin’s evolutionary theory and used it to account for the behavior of those characters in literary works who were regarded as more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes, their habits conditioned by social and economic naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic. It is no more than a gloomy philosophical approach to reality, or to human >Dreiser is a leading figure of his school.The Gilded Age镀金时代: the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coinedby Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their 1873 book, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Gilded Age is most famous for the creation of a modern industrial economy. The end of the Gilded Age coincided with the Panic of 1893, a deep depression. The depression lasted until 1897 and marked a major political realignment in the election of 1896. After that came the Progressive Era.The Lost Generation: The Lost Generation is a group of expatriate American writers residing primarily in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s. The group was given its name by the American writer Gertrude Stein, who used “a lost generation” to refer to expatriate Americans bitter about their World War I experiences and disillusioned with American society. Hemingway later used the phrase as an epigraph for his novel The Sun Also Rises. It consisted of many influential American writers, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Carlos Williams and Archibald MacLeish.The Lost Generation(迷惘的一代）：The lost generation is a term first used by Stein to describe the post-war I generation of American writers:men and women haunted by a sense of betrayal and emptiness brought about by the destructiveness of the >full of youthful idealism, these individuals sought the meaning of life, drank excessively, had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to >the three best-known representatives of lost generation are Fitzgerald, Hemingway and John dos Passos.Tragedy: in general, a literary work in which the protagonist meets an unhappy or disastrous end. Unlike comedy, tragedy depicts the actions of a central character who is usually dignified or heroic. Through a series of events, this tragic hero is brought t o a final downfall. The causes of the tragic hero’s downfall vary. In traditional dramas, the cause can be fate, a flaw in character or an error in judgment. In modern dramas, where the tragic hero is often an ordinary individual, the causes range from moral or psychological weakness to the evils of society.Catch-22第22条军规: Catch-22 is a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. Resulting from its specific use in the book, the phrase "Catch-22" is common idiomatic usage meaning "a no-win situation" or "a double bind" of any type. The term was originally from Joseph Heller’s anti novel Catch-22.Beat Generation垮掉的一代: group of American writers of the 1950s whose writing expressed profound dissatisfaction with contemporary American society and endorsed an alternative set of values. The term sometimes is used to refer to those whoembraced the ideas of these writers. The Beat Generation's best-known figures were writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.The Beat Generation(垮掉的一代):The members of The Beat Generation were new bohemian libertines. Who engaged in a spontaneous, sometimes messy, > The Beat writers produced a body of written work controversial both for its advocacy of non-conformity and for its non-conforming > the major beat writings are Allen Ginsberg’s became the manifesto of The Beat Generation.Psychological Realism心理现实主义: it is the realistic writing that probes deeply into the complexities of characters’ thoughts and motivations. It places more than the usual amount of emphasis on interior characterization and on the motives, and internal action which springs from and develops external action. In Psychological Realism, character and characterization are more than usually important. Henry James is considered a great master of psychological realism.Free Verse自由诗体: free verse is poetry that has an irregular rhythm and line length and that attempts to avoid any predetermined verse structure, instead, it uses the cadences of natural speech. While it alternates stressed and unstressed syllables as stricter verse form do, free verse dose so in a looser way. Walt Whitman’s poetry is an example of free verse.Confessional Poetry自白诗:it is a type of modern poetry in which poets speak with openness and frankness about their own lives, such as in poems about illness, sexuality and despondence. Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath and Allen Ginsberg and Theodore Roethke are the most important American poets.Imagism意象派: The 1920s saw a vigorous literary activity in America. In poetry there appeared a strong reaction against Victorian poetry. Imagists placed primary reliance on the use of precise, sharp images as a means of poetic expression and stressed precision in the choice of words, freedom in the choice of subject matter and form, and the use of colloquial language. Most of the imagist poets wrote in free verse, using such devices as assonance and alliteration rather than formal metrical schemes to give structure to their movement which had these as its aims is known in literary history as Imagism. Its prime mover was Ezra Pound. Imagism(意象主义)：Imagism came into being in Britain and around 1910 as a reaction to the traditional English poetry to express the sense of fragmentation and >the imagists, with Ezra Pound leading the way, hold that the most effective means to express these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant >imagism ischaracterized by the following three poetic principles: treatment of subject matter; of expression;C. as regards rhythm ,to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of metronome. 4> pound’s In a Station of the Metro is a well-known inagist poem.Black Humor: the use of morbid and the absurd for darkly comic purposes in modern fiction and drama. The term refers as much to the tone of anger and bitterness as it does to the grotesque and morbid situations, which often deal with suffering, anxiety, and death. Black humor is a substantial element in the Anti-novel and the Theatre of Absurd. Joseph Heller's Catch-22 is an almost archetypal example. Irony: a contrast or an incongruity between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is expected to happen and what actually happens in drama and literature. There are types of irony: verbal irony, dramatic irony and irony of situation. Irony of situation typically takes the form of a discrepancy between appearance and reality, or between what a character expects and what actually happens. Both verbal and irony of situation share the suggestion of a concealed truth conflicting with surface appearances.Allusion: A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.Satire讽刺: A kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weaknesses and wrongdoings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general. The aim of satirists is to set a moral standard for society, and they attempt to persuade the reader to see their point of view through the force of laughter.Symbol: A symbol is a sign which suggests more than its literal meaning. In other words, a symbol is both literal and figurative. A symbol is a way of telling a story and a way of conveying meaning. The best symbols are those that are believable in the lives of the characters and also convincing as they convey a meaning beyond the literal level of the story. If the symbol is obscure or ambiguous, then the very obscurity and the ambiguity may also be part of the meaning of the story. Symbolism: Symbolism is the writing technique of using symbols. It’s a literary movement that arose in France in the last half of the 19th century and that greatly influenced many English writers, particularly poets, of the 20th century. It enables poets to compress a very complex idea or set of ideas into one image or even one word. It’s one of the most powerful devices that poets employ in creation.Stream of consciousness(意识流)(or interior monologue);In literary criticism, Stream of consciousnes s denotes a literary technique which seeks to describe an individual’s point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character’s thought processes. Stream of consciousness writing is strongly associated with the modernist movement. Its introduction in the literary context, transferred from psychology, is attributed to May Sinclair. Stream of consciousness writing is usually regarded as a special form of interior monologue and is characterized by associative leaps in syntax and punctuation that can m ake the prose difficult to follow,tracing as they do a character’s fragmentary thoughts and sensory writers to employ this technique in the english language include James Joyce and William Faulkner.American realism ：（美国现实主义）Realism was a reaction against Romanticism and paved the way to Modernism; 2).During this period a new generation of writers, dissatisfied with the Romantic ideas in the older generation, came up with a new inspiration. This new attitude was characterized by a great interest in the realities of life. It aimed at the interpretation of the realities of any aspect of life, free from subjective prejudice, idealism, or romantic color. Instead of thinking about the mysteries of life and death and heroic individualism, people’s attention was n ow directed to the interesting features of everyday existence, to what was brutal or sordid, and to the open portayal of class struggle;3) so writers began to describe the integrity of human characters reacting under various circumstances and picture the pioneers of the far west, the new immigrants and the struggles of the working class; 4) Mark Twain Howells and Henry James are three leading figures of the American Realism.Local Colorism(乡土文学)：Generally speaking, the writings of local colorists are concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region or province. The characteristic setting is the isolated small town. 2) Local colorists were consciously nostalgic historians of a vanishing way of life, recorders of a present that faded before their eyes. Yet for all their sentimentality, they dedicated themselves to minutely accurate descriptions of the life of their regions, they worked from personal experience to record the facts of a local environment and suggested that the native life was shaped by the curious conditions of the local. 3) major local colorists is Mark Twain.A J azz age(爵士时代):The Jazz Age describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years between world war I and world war II. 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 Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.Highlighting what some describe as the decadence and hedonism, as well as the growth of individu alism. Fitzgerald is largely credited with coining the term” Jazz Age”. Feminism(女权主义): Feminisim incorporates both a doctrine of equal rights for women and an ideology of social transformation aiming to create a world for women beyond simple social >in ge neral, feminism is ideology of women’s liberation based on the belief that women suffer injustice because of their sex. Under this broad umbrella various feminisms offer differing analyses of the causes, or agents, of female > definitions of feminism by feminists tend to be shaped by their training, ideology or race. So, for example, Marxist and socialist feminists stress the interaction within feminism of class with gender and focus on social distinctions between men and women. Black feminists argue much more for an integrated analysis which can unlock the multiple systems of oppression. Hemingway Code Hero(海明威式英雄): Hemingway Code Hero ,also called code hero, is one who, wounded but strong more sentitive, enjoys the pleasures of life( sex, alcohol, sport) in face of ruin and death, and maintains, through some notion of a code, an ideal of > barnes in the sun also Rises, henry in a Farewell to arms and santiago in the old man and the sea are typical of Hemingway Code HeroImpressionism(印象主义):Impressionism is a style of painting that gives the impression made by the subject on the artist without much attention to details. Writers accepted the same conviction that the personal attitudes and moods of the writer were legitimate elements in depicting character or setting or >briefly, it is a style of literature characterized by the creation of general impressions and moods rather that realistic mood.Modernism(现代主义)：Modernism is comprehensive but vague term for a movement , which begin in the late 19th century and which has had a wide influence internationally during much of the 20th > modernism takes the irrational philosophy and the theory of psycho-analysis as its theoretical > the term pertains to all the creative arts. Especially poetry, fiction, drama, painting,music and > in england from early in the 20th century and during the 1920s and 1930s, in America from shortly before the first world war and on during the inter-war period, modernist tendencies were at their most active and >as far as literature is concerned, Modernism reveals a breaking away from established rules, traditions and ways of looking at man’s position and function in the universe and many experiments in form and is particularly concerned with language and how to use it and with writing itself.the gilded age: Plains Indians were pushed in a series of Indian wars onto restrictedperiod also witnessed the creation of a modern industrial economy. A national transportation and communication network was created, the corporation became the dominant form of business organization, and a managerial revolution transformed business operations. By the beginning of the twentieth century, per capita income and industrial production in the United States exceeded that of any other country except Britain. Long hours and hazardous working conditions, led many workers to attempt to form labor unions despite strong opposition from industrialists and the era of intense political partisanship, the Gilded Age was also an era of reform. The Civil Service Act sought to curb government corruption by requiring applicants for certain governmental jobs to take a competitive examination. The Interstate Commerce Act sought to end discrimination by railroads against small shippers and the Sherman Antitrust Act outlawed business monopolies. These years also saw the rise of the Populist crusade. Burdened by heavy debts and falling farm prices, many farmers joined the Populist party, which called for an increase in the amount of money in circulation, government assistance to help farmers repay loans, tariff reductions, and a graduated income Twain called the late nineteenth century the "Gilded Age." By this, he meant that the period was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. In the popular view, the late nineteenth century was a period of greed and guile: of rapacious Robber Barons, unscrupulous speculators, and corporate buccaneers, of shady business practices, scandal-plagued politics, and vulgar display. It is easy to caricature the Gilded Age as an era of corruption, conspicuous consumption, and unfettered capitalism. But it is more useful to think of this as modern America’s formative period, when an agrarian society of small producers was transformed into an urban society dominated by industrial corporations.Regionalism(地区主义)：In literature, regionalism or local color fiction refers to fiction or poetry that focuses on specific features –including characters, dialects, customs, history, and topography – of a particular region. Since the region may be a recreation or reflection of the author's own, there is often nostalgia and sentimentality in the the terms regionalism and local color are sometimes used interchangeably, regionalism generally has broader connotations. Whereas local color is often applied to a specific literary mode that flourished in the late 19th century, regionalism implies a recognition from the colonial period to the present of differences among specific areas of the country. Additionally, regionalism refers to an intellectual movement encompassing regional consciousness beginning in the 1930s. Even though there isevidence of regional awareness in early southern writing—William Byrd's History of the Dividing Line, for example, points out southern characteristics—not until well into the 19th century did regional considerations begin to overshadow national ones. In the South the regional concern became more and more evident in essays and fiction exploring and often defending the southern way of life. John Pendleton Kennedy's fictional sketches in Swallow Barn, for example, examined southern plantation life at length.multiple points of view（多视角）：Multiple Point of View: It is one of the literary techniques William Faulkner used, which shows within the same story how the characters reacted differently to the same person or the same situation. The use of this technique gave the story a circular form wherein one event was the center, with various points of view radiating from it. The multiple points of view technique makes the reader recognize the difficulty of arriving at a true judgment.Confessional poetry ：Confessional poetry emphasizes the intimate, and sometimes unflattering, information about details of the poet's personal life, such as in poems about illness, sexuality, and despondence. The confessionalist label was applied to a number of poets of the 1950s and 1960s. John Berryman, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roethke, Anne Sexton, and William De Witt Snodgrass have all been called 'Confessional Poets'. As fresh and different as the work of these poets appeared at the time, it is also true that several poets prominent in the canon of Western literature, perhaps most notably Sextus Propertius and Petrarch, could easily share the label of "confessional" with the confessional poets of the fifties and sixties. Ecocriticism：Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation. Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminal works, both published in the mid-1990s: The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, and The Environmental Imagination, by Lawrence the United States, Ecocriticism is often associated with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), which hosts biennial meetings for scholars who deal with environmental matters in literature. ASLE has an official journal—Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE)—in which much of the most current American scholarship in the rapidly evolving field of ecocriticism can be is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including "green (cultural) studies", "ecopoetics", and "environmental literarycriticism".Dramatic Conflict：At least not the special kind of conflict that drives plays, the gas that fuels the dramatic engine. Arguments in real life are usually circular -- nobody gets anywhere, except a little steam's been blown off. And they're boring for everyone except the folks doing the Conflict draws from a much deeper vein, rooted in the Subtext of your central characters. It's driven by fundamentally opposing is a necessary element of fictional literature. It is defined as the problem in any piece of literature and is often classified according to the nature of the protagonist or antagonist。

美国文学部分(American Literature)一．独立革命前后的文学（The Literature Around the Revolution of Independence）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．殖民地时期的文学的特点2)．主要的作家、其概况及其代表作品2．独立革命前后时期的主要作家本杰明·富兰克林Benjamin Franklin本杰明·富兰克林，散文家、科学家、社会活动家，曾参与起草“独立宣言”。

《穷查理历书》Poor Richard’s Almanack《致富之道》The Way to Wealth《自传》The Autobiography托马斯·潘恩Thomas Paine托马斯·潘恩，散文家、政治家、报刊撰稿人。

《税务员问题》The Case of the Officers of Excise《常识》Common Sense《美国危机》American Crisis《人的权利》Rights of Man《专制体制的崩溃》Downfall of Despotism《理性时代》The Age of Reason菲利普·弗伦诺Philip Freneau菲利普·弗伦诺，著名的“革命诗人”。

《蒸蒸日上的美洲》“The Rising Glory of America”《英国囚船》“The British Prison Ship”《纪念美国勇士》同类诗中最佳“To the Memory of the Brave Americans”《野生的金银花》“The Wild Honeysuckle”《印第安人殡葬地》“The Indian Burying Ground”二．美国浪漫主义文学（American Romanticism）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景2)．主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画和语言风格3)．清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家华盛顿·欧文Washington Irving华盛顿·欧文，美国著名小说家，被称为“美国文学之父”.《瑞普·凡·温可尔》Rip Van Winkle《纽约外史》A History of New York《见闻札记》The Sketch Book《睡谷的传说》The Legend of Sleepy Hollow詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀James Fenimore Cooper詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀开创了以《皮裹腿故事集》为代表的边疆传奇小说，其中最为重要的一部是《最后的莫西干人》。

CivilwarThe Civil War was fought in 10,000 places, from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma, Tennessee, to St. Albans, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida coast. More than 3 million Americans fought in it, and over 600,000 men, 2 percent of the population, died in it.American homes became headquarters, American churches and schoolhouses sheltered the dying, and huge foraging armies swept across American farms and burned American towns. Americans slaughtered one another wholesale, right here in America in their own cornfields and peach orchards, along familiar roads and by waters with old American names.In two days at Shiloh, on the banks of the Tennessee River, more American men fell than in all the previous American wars bined. At Cold Harbor, some 7,000 Americans fell in twenty minutes. Men who had never strayed twenty miles from their own front doors now found themselves soldiers in great armies, fighting epic battles hundreds of miles from home. They knew they were making history, and it was the greatest adventure of their lives.The Civil War has been given many names: the War Between the States, the War against Northern Aggression, the Second American Revolution, the Lost Cause, the War of the Rebellion, the Brothers’ War, the Late Unpleasantness. Walt Whitman called it the War of Attempted Secession. Confederate General Joseph Johnston called it the War against the States. By whatever name, it was unquestionably the most important event in the life of the nation. It saw the end of slavery and the downfall of a southern planter aristocracy. It was the watershed of a new political and economic order, and the beginning of big industry, big business, big government. It was the first modern war and, forAmericans, the costliest, yielding the most American causalities and the greatest domestic suffering, spiritually and physically. It was the most horrible, necessary, intimate, acrimonious, mean-spirited, and heroic conflict the nation has ever known.Inevitably, we grasp the war through such hyperbole. In so doing, we tend to blur the fact that real people lived through it and were changed by the event. One hundred eighty-five thousand black Americans fought to free their people. Fishermen and storekeepers from Deer Isle, Maine, served bravely and died miserably in strange places like Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Fredericksburg, Virginia. There was scarcely a family in the South that did not lose a son or brother or father.As with any civil strife, the war was marked by excruciating ironies. Robert E. Lee became a legend in the Confederate army only after turning down an offer to mand the entire Union force. Four of Lincoln’s own brothers-in-law fought on the Confederate side, and one was killed. The little town of Winchester, Virginia, changed hands seventy-two times during the war, and the state of Missouri sent thirty-nine regiments to fight in the siege of Vicksburg: seventeen to the Confederacy and twenty-two to the Union.Between 1861 and 1865, Americans made war on each other and killed each other in great numbers — if only to bee the kind of country that could no longer conceive of how that was possible. What began as a bitter dispute over Union and States' Rights, ended as a struggle over the meaning of freedom in America. At Gettysburg in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said perhaps more than he knew. The war was about a "new birth of freedom."。

American Literature听力答案I.Choose the best answer for each blank or question.（50%）1.was usually regarded as the first American writer.A.William BradfordB.Anne BradstreetC.Emily DickinsonD.Captain John Smith2.Hard work，thrift，piety and sobriety were the values that dominated much of the early American writing.A.RomanticismB.PuritanC.EnlightenmentD.Realist3.The 18th-century American Enlightenment was a movement marked by an emphasis on A.rationality rather than tradition B.belief in human perfection through education C.opposition to old colonial order and religious obscurantism（主义）D.all of above4 Which of the following is not a writer of American literature of reason and revolution？A.Benjamin FranklinB.Thomas PaineC.Washington IrvingD.Thomas Jefferson5.Which is of the following works is not written by Thomas Paine？mon SenseB.The American CrisisC.The Rights of ManD.The Autobiography was regarded as Father of the American short stories.A.James Fenimore CooperB.Thomas PaineC.Washington IrvingD.William Bradford7.was regarded as the first American novelist.A.James Fenimore CooperB.Edger Allan PoeC.Washington IrvingD.Nathaniel Hawthorne8. The general characteristics of American Romanticism are following except A. the celebration of natural beauty and the simple life B. stress on reason rather than emotionC. interest in the picturesque past and remote placesD. individualism and historical romance is a literary and philosophical movement which flourished in New England from the 1830s to 1860s, asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the empirical and scientific and is knowable through intuition.A. PuritanismB. TranscendentalismC. RomanticismD. Symbolism10. The Transcendentalist group includes two of the most significant American writers, Ralph Waldo Emerson and A. Henry David Thoreau B. Washington Irving C. Nathaniel Hawthorne D. Walt Whitman11. Which of the following is not a principle of Transcendentalism?A. The importance of a direct relationship with GodB. An individual is the spiritual center of the universeC. The need to pursue unity with natureD. The use of scientific reason as the basis for truth12. What term do Transcendentalists use to describe the unity that exists between man, nature, and God?A. NirvanaB. OversoulC. OnenessD. Intuition13. In 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson made a speech entitled at Harvard, which was praised by Oliver Wendell Holmes as "Our intellectual Declaration of Independence."A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. Divinity School AddressD. The American Scholar14. A book1came out of Thoreau's two-year experiment at Walden Pond.A. WaldenB. Self-RelianceC. Civil DisobedienceD. English Traits15. Which of the following works is not written by Nathaniel Hawthorne?A. The House of the Seven GablesB. White JacketC. The Marble FaunD. The Scarlet Letter16. In The Scarlet Letter, what does Pearl best represent throughout the novel?A. The living embodiment of Hester's sinB. A young innocent childC. The unifying force that will bring Hester and Dimmesdale together at the endD. A form of punishment for Hester17. As time goes by, Hester's scarlet letter eventually comes to stand for A. Admirable B. Alone C. Able D. Adultery18. Who is the greatest sinner in The Scarlet Letter?A. Roger ChillingworthB. Hester PrynneC.Arthur DimmesdaleD.Pearl19.can be broadly defined as"the faithful representation of reality"or"verisimilitude（逼真）".It includes the period of time from the Civil War to the turn of the century.A.American RealismB.American TranscendentalismC.American SentimentalismD.American Romanticism20.Who is not a writer of American Realism？A.William Dean HowellsB.Mark TwainC.Henry JamesD.Herman Melville21.is poetry that has no fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme.A.Free verseB.Blank verseC.BalladD.Lyric22.The poetry in Leaves of Grass clearly demonstrates Whitman's faith in A.capitalismB.federalism C.democracyD.socialism23.Whitman believed that poetry should be A.spoken，not writtenB.read，not spokenC.created，not quotedD.personal，not public24.The themes of Leaves of Grass are A.celebration of the freedom and dignity of individual B.death as a process of life C.universal brotherhood of man D.all of above25.Which of the following statements about Emily Dickinson is not true？A.In most of her life she had an isolated life，not leaving her house and seeing close friends.B.She knew such famous writers as Shakespeare and Bronte sisters.C.The American Civil War affected her thinking and writing a lot.D.She took no interest in having her poems published.26. Which of the following is not true to the characteristics of Emily Dickinson's poetry?A. Her poems are innovative.B. Her poems are highly compact.C. Her poems are very long.D. Her poems are highly subjective.27. In the line "We slowly drove —He knew no haste /And I had put away /My labor and my leisure too, /For His Civility -", the word "civility"means A. ability B. politeness C. kindnessD. pleasure28. Mark Twain is regarded as one of the forerunners of American literature.A. romanticismB. naturalismC. realismD. modernism29. Which of the following is not true?A. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is considered one of the best books about an American boy's life in the eighteen hundreds.B. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is largely based on the author's personal memories ofgrowing up in Hannibal in the 1840s.C. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is written in the third person point of view.D. The setting of the novel, St. Petersburg, is a town where the author grew up.30. In 1935, Ernest Hemingway wrote: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called A. Innocent AbroadB. Huckleberry FinnC. The Gilded AgeD. Life on the Mississippi31. Writers of the first postwar era self-consciously acknowledged that they were a A. Modern Generation B. Beat GenerationC. Lost GenerationD. Last Generation32. Which of the following works is not written by F. Scott Fitzgerald?A. Tender is the NightB. This Side of ParadiseC. The Last TycoonD. The Waste Land33. Which university did F. Scott Fitzgerald enter but drop before graduation?A. Yale UniversityB. Harvard UniversityC. Boston UniversityD. Princeton University34. The term is often applied to the 1920's.A. Blue Age B Jazz Age C. Roaring Age D. Gilded Age35. Which of these details is true about Gatsby's past?A. He fought in the warB. He's the son of wealthy people from the MidwestC. He received a degree from OxfordD. All of above36. Which of the following is not symbolized by the green light in The Great Gatsby?A. moneyB. the American DreamC. natureD. optimism37. The road between West Egg and East egg is A. A "valley of ashes"B. A literary illusion to the mythological River Styx ()C. A literary illusion to the Waste Land by T.S. EliotD. All of these38. Why is Nick Carraway the perfect choice to narrate the novel?A. Because he is not a character in the story he tells.B. Because he can narrate not only what he sees but also what he doesn't see.C. Because he is tolerant, open-minded, quiet, and a good listener, as a result, others tend to talk to him and tell him their secrets.D. Because he regards Gatsby as a great man.39. In 1950was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for the year 1949.A. William FaulknerB. Ernest HemingwayC. John Steinbeck C. Henry James40.Who coined the expression"lost generation"?A.Gertrude SteinB.Ernest HemingwayC.Ezra PoundD.T.S.Eliot41.n1954 won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for hispowerful,style-forming mastery of the art of modern narration".A.Ernest HemingwayB.William FaulknerC.F.Scott FitzgeraldD.Henry James 42.The code of Hemingway heroes may be summed up in his phrase A.dignity in despair B.truth in simplicity C.rebels against tradition D.grace under pressure 43.Who said the following:"the dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one eighth of it being above water"?A.William FaulknerB.Ernest HemingwayC.John SteinbeckC.Henry James 44.Which war serves as the background for A Farwell to Arms?A.Spanish civil warB.World War IC.World WarⅡD.Mexican-American War 45.What dose rain symbolize in A Farewell to Arms?A.LoveB.DeathC.WarD.Hope 46.What is not depicted in A Farewell to Arms?A.war and loveB.illness and injuryC.death and disillusionmentitary glory and heroism47.Which of the following works is not written by William Faulkner?A.The Sound and the FuryB.Light in AugustC.The Grape of WrathD.As I Lay Dying 48.Most of Faulkner's major works are set in animaginary place called A.Oxford B.Mississippi C.Yoknapatawpha CountyD.New Albany49. Emily Dickinson's poetry covers a wide range of themes. Which of the following is not the theme of her poetry?A. love and natureB. success and failureC. mortality and immortalityD. war and peace 50. Mark Twain is famous for his writing style.A. humorousB. romanticC. pessimisticD. freeI. Choose the best answer for each blank or question. (50%)1. D2. B3. D4. C5. D6. C7.A8. B9. B 10. A11.D 12. B 13. D 14. A 15. B 16. A 17.C 18. A 19. A20. D21. A 22. C 23. A 24. D 25. C 26. C 27. B 28.C 29. D30. B31.C 32. D33. D 34. B 35. A 36. C 37.D 38. C39. A40. A41. A42. D 43.B 44. B 45. B 46. D 47.C 48. C 49.D 50. A。

一、选择填空1. William Faulkner is the author of Sound and Fury.2．Robert Frost is a famous poet.3. The Old Man and the Sea is one of the great works by Earnest Hemingway.4．The great transcendental work by Henry David Thoreau is Walden.5．I Have a Dream is addressed by Martin Luther King.6．Eugene O’Neil is an American playwright.7. Grass is a poem written by Walt Whitman.8．Moby Dick is the most important work by Herman Melville.9. O. Henry earned his fame mainly for his short stories.10. Sister Carrie is a masterpiece of naturalistic work.11. The Road Not Taken is a poem written by Robert Frost.12. “God help them that help themselves” is found in Franklin’s work.13. T. S. Eliot’s most famous long poem is The Waste Land.14. The black man Jim is a character in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.15. The Grapes of Wrath is the masterpiece of John Steinbeck.16. The literary spokesman of the Jazz is often thought to be Scott Fitzgerald.17. Emerson was the most important person of the transcendental club.18. Eugene O’Neil has won the Pulitzer Prize four times and one Nobel Prize.19. Gertrude Stein initiated the name of the Lost Generation.20. On the Road is the representative work of the Beat Generation.二、判断1．Hawthorne was a symbolic writer in some sense. （√）2．Mark Twain was the father of American language. （√）3．American literature is the oldest of all the national literitures. （×）4．O. Henry paid little attention to plot in writing. （×）5．Eugene O’Neil is an American poet.（×）6．Daisy Miller is a great work by Mark Twain. （×）7. Putting the stress on traditional values is a typical feature of modernism. （×）8. Chinese poetry and philosophy have exerted great influence over Ezra Pound. （√）9．Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about human psychology. （×）10. According to Henry James,the aim of the novel is to reflect life reality. （√）11．To Hawthorne sin will get punished,one way or another. （√）12．Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about human psychology. （×）13．Hawthorne only touched upon the problem of love in The Scarlet Letter. （×）14．Allan Poe advocated "pure" poetry. （√）15．Scarlet Letter is a great work by Mark Twain. （×）16. Mark Twain depicted the adventurous spirit of American people. （√）17. Grass is a poem written by Carl Sandburg. （×）三、选择连线1. The Sound and the Fury Wiliam Faulkner2. The American Scholar Ralph Waldo Emerson3. Walden Henry David Thoreau4. The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne5. Moby Dick Herman Melville6. Leaves of Grass Walt Whitman7. The Gilded Age Mark Twain8. The Call of the Wild Jack London9. Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser10. The Waste Land T—S—Eliot11. The Old Man and Sea Hemingway12. Nature Emerson13. The Poems of Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson14. The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald四、名词解释1.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.2．Imagism: A literary movement that began in London and later spread to the US at the beginning of the 20th century. It underwent three major phases in its development, and T. E. Hulme, Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell lead the movement respectively. It advocated “the use of one dominant image”. According to Ezra Pound, an image is “that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time” and the three principles that he established were: a. Direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective or objective; b. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation; c. As regarding rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome.3.American Romanticism：Romanticism was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. It wasa movement of conscious rebellion against being too objective. The romantic spirit was one of subjectivity of inward feelings that o ne 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.4．Local Colorism As a literary trend, local colorism made its presence felt in the late 1860s to early 70s and lost its momentum at the end of the 19th century. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local characters of their religions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous little world with qualities that tells it apart from the world outside. The representative works of local colorism include Bret Hart's "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and H. B. Stowe's Oldtown Folks.五、简答题1.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.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.2. Why are naturalists inevitably pessimistic in their view?A. They accept the negative implication of Darwin’s theory of evolution, and believe that society is a"jungle" where survival struggles go on.B. They believe that man’s instinct, the environment and other social and economic forces play anoverwhelming role and man’s fate is "determined" by such forces beyond his control.。