The Significance of American Literature
AmericanLiterature教材教学稿件
文学批评与理论
01
及其在美国文学批评中的应用
。
读者反应批评
探讨读者反应批评理论，及其 对文学批评的影响。
后殖民主义批评
分析后殖民主义批评理论如何 审视美国文学中的种族、文化
与帝国主义。
女性主义批评
探讨女性主义批评理论如何关 注女性在文学作品中的形象与
02 American Literature简 介
早期美国文学
早期美国文学
主要反映殖民地时期和独 立战争时期的美国社会和 文化背景。
代表作家
华盛顿·欧文、纳撒尼尔·霍 桑等。
作品特点
描绘美国自然风光、人文 景观以及殖民地居民和独 立战争英雄的故事。
19世纪美国文学
19世纪美国文学
反映工业革命和西部开拓时期的美国 社会变革。
将更加关注学生的个性化需求，针对不同学生的需求和兴 趣，提供更加定制化的教学服务，以帮助学生更好地发展 自己的学术兴趣和专长。
THANKS FOR WATCHING
感谢您的观看
代表作家
作品特点
现实主义、浪漫主义和自然主义等多 种风格并存，关注社会问题、道德和 人性的探讨。
马克·吐温、亨利·詹姆斯、斯蒂芬·克 莱恩等。
20世纪美国文学
20世纪美国文学
反映两次世界大战、民权运动和 科技发展的影响。
代表作家
厄内斯特·海明威、约翰·斯坦贝克 、理查德·耶茨等。
作品特点
多元化和创新性，涵盖现实主义、 魔幻现实主义、垮掉的一代等多种 流派，关注个体和社会的关系。
05 课程评估与反馈
课堂表现与作业评价
课堂参与度
教师需观察学生在课堂上的表现， 包括提问、讨论、回答问题等， 以评估学生对课程内容的理解和
Exercise3AmericanRealism[修改版]
![Exercise3AmericanRealism[修改版]](https://img.taocdn.com/s3/m/f66cbaf3e87101f69f319518.png)
第一篇：Exercise 3 American RealismExercise 3American RealismI. Multiple choice:1. The Age of Realism in the literary history of the United States refers to the period from ________ to_________.A. 1861....1914B. 1763....1918C. 1865....1914D. 1865. (1918)2. Stylistically, Henry James’fiction is characterized by _______________.A. highly refined languageB. ordinary American speechC. short, clear sentencesD. abundance of local images3. ________ is described by Mark Twain as a boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience.A. Tom SawyerB. Huckleberry FinnC. JimD. Tony4. The setting of __________ is America, where some Europeans, who are actually expatriated Americans, learns with difficult to adapt themselves to the American life.A. MiddlemarchB. The EuropeansC. Daisy MillerD. The Portrait of a Lady5. Mark Twain wrote most of his literary works with a _____________ language.A. grandB. pompousC. simpleD. vernacular6. Henry James experimented with many different themes in his literary career, the most influential one being _______________.A. nothingnessB. disillusionmentC. international themeD. relationship between men and women7. The book from which “all modern American literature comes”refers to _________________.A. the Great GatsbyB. the sun Also risesC. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. Moby-Dick8. Mark Twain stood on the side of China in its struggle against foreign invasions. His ___________ and__________ are two notable examples of his vigorous attacks on the imperialist behaviour of the United Statesand other foreign countries in China.A. the Treaty with ChinaB. To the Person Sitting in DarknessC. Disgraceful Persecution of a BoyD. Goldsmith’s Friend Abroad AgainII. Identification of fragment:“We dasn’t stop again at any town, for days and days; kept right along down the river. We was down south in the warm weather, now, and a mighty long ways from home. We began to come to trees with Spanish moss on them, hanging down from the limbs like long gray beards. It was the first I ever see it growing, and it made the woods look solemn and dismal.”Questions:A. Identify the author and the work.B. Whom does the word “we”refer to?C. What is the name of the river mentioned in the passage?III. Give brief answers:1. Who are the three dominant figures of the American Realistic Period and what are theirliterary differences?2. In American literature what is the significance of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”by MarkTwain?Suggested answers:I. 1.C2.A3.B4.B5.D6.C7.C8.A.BII. A. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnB. The word “we”refers to Huck and Jim.C. the Mississippi riverIII.1. The three dominant figures of the period were William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and Henry James. Though the three prominent writers all worked for realism, they had different understanding of the “truth”. While Mark Twain and Howells seem to have paid more attention to the “life”of the Americans, Henry Jameshas apparently laid a greater emphasis on the “inner world”of man. He is a realist of the inner life. Though Twain and Howells both share the same concern in presenting the truth of the American society, they have each of them different emphasis. Howells focuses his discussion on the rising middle class and the way they live, while Twain deals with his own region and people of the lower class of society at the forefront of his stories. James writes mostly of the upper reaches of American society.2. First of all, the novel is written in a language that is simple, direct and lucid and faithful to the colloquial speech. This unpretentious style of colloquialism is best described as “vernacular”. Speaking in vernacular,wild and uneducated Huck, running away from civilization for his freedom, is vividly brought to life.The book is also significant for the shape given to it by the course of the raft’s journey down the Mississippi as Huck and Jim seek their different kinds of freedom. Twain, who knew the river intimately, uses it her both realistically and symbolically.Another great contribution of the book is the profound portrait of Huckleberry Finn. The novel begins with adescription of how Widow Douglas attempts to civilize Huck and ends with him deciding not to let it happen again at the hands of Aunt Sally. The climax arises with Huck’s inner struggle on the Mississippi, when Huck is polarized by two opposing forces between his heart and his head, between his affection for Jim and the laws of the society against those who help slaves escape. Huck’s final decision –to follow his own good-hearted moral impulse rather than conventional village morality –amounts to a vindication of what Twain called “the damned human race,”damned for its comfortable hypocrisies, its thoroughgoing dishonesties, and its pervasive crulties. With the eventual victory of his moral conscience over his social awareness, Huck grows.Huckleberry Finn marks the climax of Twain’s literary creativity. It is what Hemingway once describes asthe one book from which “all modern American literature comes.”第二篇：American Realism总结American RealismAmerican realism was an early 20th century idea in art, music and literature that showed through these different types of work, reflections of the time period. Also, American Realism age is the Gilded Age, an age of excess and extremes, of decline and progress, of poverty and dazzling wealth, of gloom and buoyant hope. Although Americans continued to read the works of Irving, Cooper, Hawthorne, and Poe, the great age of American romanticism had ended. By the 1870s the New England Renaissance had waned. Realism appeared in the United States in the literature of local color, an amalgam of romantic plots and realistic descriptions of things was immediately observable. Naturalism is a new and harsher realism, appearing at the end of the 19 century. Because of perception of society’s disorders, writers try to present characters of low social and economic classes who were dominated by their environment and heredity. The naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that their lives were controlled by heredity and the environment; the religious “truths”were illusory, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death.William Dean Howells, the arbiter of 19th century literary realism in America, defines realism: nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material with an objective point of view. Howells` emphasis hasalways been on ethics. He stresses the need for sympathy and moral integrity, and the need for different social classes to harmoniously adapt to their environment and to another.Henry James is the founder of psychological realism. The literary career of him is generally divided into three periods, in the first periods, James took great interest in international theme; exemplify the mature and formidable style of a third literary period, which critics have come to praise as “The Major Phase”. In his critical commentaries, he made major contributions to the art of fiction itself, helping to transform the novel from its alliance with journalism and romantic story-telling into an art from of penetrating analysis of individuals confronting society, chronicles of the psychological perceptions that James himself defined as the highest from of experience.Mark Twain is essentially an affirmative writer though his first novel, The Gilded Age, is considered as a failure, but his masterwork Adventures of Huckleberry Finn turns out to be a huge success. His works are characterized by the local colorist——the detailed presentation in prose fiction of the setting, dialect, customs, dress and ways of thinking and feeling which are distinctive of a particular region. Without Mark Twain, American literature would be less delightful. After him, the American literature is no longer as the same before.Theodore Dreiser, his first novel “Sister Carrie”, which traces the material rise of Carrie Meeber and the tragic decline of G. W. Hurst wood is successful work. And his “An American Tragedy”，the identification of potency with money is at the heart of Dreiser’s greatest and most successful novel.第三篇：Unit 6 American RealismUnit 6 American Realism: William Dean Howells, Henry James and Mark TwainAmerican Realism: 1865-1914Historical BackgroundTwo phases: the phase of an expanding continental nation from 1865 till 1890s; and the so-called “progressive period”from 1890s till 1914.The Civil War: destroyed the innocence prevalent earlier in the 19th century;(Chang, 158: led many to question the assumptions shared by the Transcendentalists --- natural goodness, the optimistic view of nature and man, benevolent God.)The US changed from a nation of distinct regions into a nation dominated byNorthern industrialization, business and finance.Industrialism, mechanization, movement away from farm, metropolitan, lust forwealth and power“The Gilded Age”the age of wealth and poverty, of progress and decline, and theage of gaudy excesses.The closing frontierThe closing frontier: the development of railroads: mobile, Western settlement,settlement in the Great Plains and mountainous regions, awareness of regional characteristics; disillusionment and frustration, suffering and unhappinessThe Progressive EraFrom the 1890s on, there was a great deal of enthusiasm for various social andeconomic reforms, hence the term “the progressive era.”Most of the writers who wrote with seriousness and conviction were social critics.By the 1870s New England Renaissance had waned. (Hawthorne and Thoreau dead;Emerson, Longfellow and other New England celebrities old and feeble; Melville ceased to publish. Dickinson not brought to light yet. Only Whitman remained active.)The Age of Romanticism and Transcendentalism was by and large over.Parameters of Realism童明，143：Parameters of Realism: “American realism may be measured by the followingparameters”:1. Realism reacts against Romanticism’s emphasis on intuition, imagination, adreamy (or innocent) sense of wonder, idealism, faith in nature, and general optimistic belief in the goodness of things.2. Realists claim that they seek truth that is verifiable by experience and havepractical consequences; they do not seek abstract truth.3. Realism is embedded in a mimetic theory of art. “Mimesis”means “imitation.”Realists believe that literature imitates reality. …realists are attentive to such details as dialect, customs, and experiences that are commonplace and “real.”4. Realists try to describe a small portion of the knowable world in order to maintain“objectivity.”5. Local color and regional writings constituted the early phase of realism.Naturalism is another variation of realism in that it emphasizes a biological orsocioeconomic determinism.William Dean Howells (1837-1920)for several decades, the “dean”of his country’s literature.In a way the father of American Realism; born in a small town in Ohio; mostlyschooled himself from his father’s book-shelves; the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic Monthly , used the journal to spread realism;The writer should reveal the good in life as more real than the evil (emphasizesmorality; “this smiling continent,”“smiling aspects); realism is a form of democracy and is peculiarly suitable as an American method.A Modern Instance (1882)The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885)William Dean Howells: An American realist author and literary critic. "The Dean of American Letters"Henry James (1843-1916)Born into a wealthy cultured family of New York City;great influence from his father and brotherFather, Henry James, Sr.: an unorthodox theologian, one of the best-knownintellectuals in mid-nineteenth-century America;brother, William James, philosopher and psychologistPsychological realismLiterary criticism: “The Art of Fiction”Novels:His writing career can be divided into three distinctive periods:A. 1865-1882: The American (1877), Daisy Miller (1879), The Portrait of a Lady (1881);the “international theme”: American innocence in face of European sophistication B. 1882-1895: tales of subtle studies of inter-personal relationships; plays: TheBostonians (1886)C. 1895-1915:1895-1900: novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, a revival of his earlier theme of innocence in a corrupted world; The Turn of the Screw (1898); What Maisie Knew (1897);1900-1904: trilogy, three great novels, The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903), his most "perfect" work of art, The Golden Bowl (1904);1904-1915: some American impressions and some autobiographical matter.The International ThemeThe first and the third stages write about the “international theme”: innocentAmerican confronting the sophisticated European culture; the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence and the moral and psychological complications arising therefrom. For the American it was a process of progression from inexperience to experience, from innocence to knowledge and maturity.Local ColorismRealism and local colorism developed almost at the same time and were intertwined.Realism is at the heart of local colorism.Theoretical orientation:realism tries to capture the truth of life and portray life and people as they see it, esp.ordinary people;local colorism emphasizes the characteristics of their own region, deeply rooted inAmerica, in local soil and culture. For the first time, the rich variety of American life and American people are fully presented in literary works.Local colorism is mostly concerned with the characteristics of people and life of theirown regions. As a result, local colorists in different regions together presented a most colorful and comprehensive picture of America and American life, best presented not only the history of the country but the development of the nation and its culture.Hamlin Garland defined local colorism as “having such quality of texture andbackground that it could not have been written in any other place or by anyone else than a native”;“texture”refers to the elements which characterize a local culture, elements such asspeech, customs and mores peculiar to one particular place;“background”covers physical setting and those distinctive qualities of landscapewhich condition human thought and behavior.The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous littleworld with qualities that tell it apart from the world outside.More than any type of literary works, local colorist literature is typically Americanand has the least influence from the European tradition. Rooted in legends, folk tales and dialect of that particular region.Local colorism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and earlyseventies. Bret Harte, “The Luck of Roaring Camp”(1868): a significant development in the brief history of local color fiction.Almost every part of America has its regional writers. C.f. 常耀信，181－182.Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sarah Orne Jewett, New England; Bret Harte, (considered by many the founder of the local color school), the far West mining camps; George Washington Cable, Kate Chopin, the deep South (the Creole culture)Last decade of the 19th century, three major groups:1, Western (meaning mid-West: Indiana, Illinois, Ohio) writers;2, New Englanders;3, the Southern writers.童明，145：Regional and local color writings may be considered the early stage ofliterary realism. They were instances of realism insofar as they depicted contemporary life, used the speech of the common people and avoided, in general, fantastic plotlines.Mark Twain (1835-1910)Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, grew upin the small town of Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River.Mark Twain’s contribution to the development of realism and to American literatureas a whole was partly through his theories of localism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style.One of the pioneers in stories that captured the “local color”of the West;Twain’s style, based on vigorous, realistic, colloquial American speech, gaveAmerican writers a new appreciation of their national voice. Twain was the first major author to come from the interior of the country, and he captured its distinctive, humorous slang and iconoclasm.1865, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”1873, The Gilded Age, gave its name to the America of the post-bellum period whichit attempts to satirize.1876, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: innocence1883, Life on the Mississippi1884, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , a sequel to Tom Sawyer, a finer book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)a success from its first publication and has always been regarded as one of thegreatest books of Western literature and Western civilization.Ernest Hemingway: “All modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twaincalled Huckleberry Finn.”Episodic structure; two runaways; escape, quest for freedom; racism; feud;swindlers; inner struggle; wilderness and civilizationMark Twain in his lecture notes proposes that "a sound heart is a surer guide thanan ill-trained conscience", and goes on to describe the novel as "...a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat".Essentially an affirmative writer, humanistic; but toward the latter part of his life,increasingly violent in his censure of man and his society; in his later works, change from an optimist and humorist to an almost despairing determinist; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1924), The Mysterious Stranger (1916): bitter attacks on the human race.American realism: Local colorism and Mark twainMark Twain made colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in theliterary history of the country: a significant contributionSherwood Anderson: the first writer after Twain to take the vernacular as a seriousway of presenting reality; Hemingway’s mentor in the colloquial styleErnest Hemingway: the direct descendant of Mark Twain; his masculine prose, withits infinite power of suggestion and connotation, is the continuation of and improvement upon Twain’s style.In writers such as Stephen Crane, Sherwood Anderson, Sinclair Lewis, Faulkner, orHemingway, a style that flows with the easy grace of colloquial speech and gets its directness and simplicity by leaving out subordinate words and clauses, the language of Mark TwainT. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, E. E. Cummings, William Carlos Williams, J. D. Salinger,etc.第四篇：US 3 American DreamTheAmerican Dream USIIITextbook Unit 9TermsGettysburg Address segregationRosa ParksMalcolm X“glass ceiling”The Great DepressionBrown v. Board of EducationMartin Luther King, Jr. civil disobedienceDiscussion Questions1. What rights does the Declaration of Independence guarantee? Who does it guarantee them to?Does it guarantee happiness?What is the problem with the promises and guarantees of the Declaration of Independence?2. Why was a civil war fought in America? What are the causes and effects of the war?3. What is a social movement? Which groups of people started socialmovements in the 1960s? What were their goals? Why did these movements occur in the 1960s?4. What is the goal of civil disobedience, or non-violent resistance? Who practiced this philosophy during the Civil Rights Movement? Was it successful? Who disagrees with this philosophy and why?5. What challenges do women face in modern times in both America and China?第五篇：passage translation exercises (翻译3)Passage translation exercises 1 1. 农历八月十五是中国的传统节日——中秋节。
英美文学欣赏(第二版)课件 American Literature Unit 2 American
英美文学欣赏（第二版）
作品欣赏
大学专业英语系列教材
《潮水涨，潮水落》全诗分为三节。第一节 描绘了黄昏时分的海滨，海鸟鸣叫，游人 归去，潮涨潮落的画面；第二节写夜晚时 的海滩，潮水拍岸；第三节描写清晨，马 嘶人叫，游人又来到海滩，潮水依然涨落 的情景。
辑。他熟悉劳苦大众的生活，热爱社会 下层的 普通劳动者。1854 年末，他开 始专事创作，《草叶集》（Leaves of Grass）于 1855 年 7 月问世，只包含 12 首诗。美国南北战争期间，他作为男护 士照顾伤病员，一直在 军队医院工作到
1873 年。后因身体原因，停止工作，与 其兄弟一起生活，继续写作。终身未娶。
那么，让我们起来干吧， 对任何命运要敢于担戴； 不断地进取，不断地追求， 要善于劳动，善于等待。
[1]朗费罗著,杨德豫译. 朗费罗诗选[M]. 桂林: 广西师范大学出版社, 2009.
英美文学欣赏（第二版）
大学专业英语系列教材
诗人抱着积极入世的态度，赞美生命，否定人生如梦这一古老的 哀叹，认为不朽的精 神才是人生崇高的境界。这就需要积极的行动，
人生是真切的！人生是实在的！ 它的归宿决不是荒坟；
“你本是尘土，必归于尘土”， 这是指躯壳，不是指灵魂
英美文学欣赏（第二版）
大学专业英语系列教材
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day.
英美文化概况作业
英美文化概况作业1、what are the differences in political system between the UKand the USA?Ex:课件2、what is the role of the Monarch in the UK?Ex:课件女王3、how do you comment on the British education system?Ex:与中国教育进行对比阐述。
课本。
4、what do you think of the open University in British？Ex:英国教育起源招生宗旨培养目标5、how do you comment on the American ?ex:最后一天讲的，找一个点进行对比。
6、how does novel develop in British literature?Ex: 书本上，稍微动脑筋课件上总结7、what is the significance of American Puritanism inAmerican literature?Ex:美国文学倾教思想如何在教育中体现的？可以以霍森的小说为例解释、8、why is that theatrical creations have been on integral part ofenglish的 culture for centuries?Ex:课本上。
课件里没有9、summarize the history development of british music?Ex:课本目录。
10、what innovations have the 20th century artist in the United States made in the field of arts?Ex:课本上的。
11、do the Americans share the same weddings traditions withthe British people?Ex、课本上的。
1.American_Literature
American LiteratureLiteratureWhat is literature?•Literature has been the high skills of writing with imagination since the 19th century.•T ypes of literature:FictionPoetryDramaEssayMajor Literary SchoolsI. Classicism and neoclassicism•Advocation of rationalism(Reason should be above everything else.)Samuel Johnson, Alexander PopeII. Romanticism•Opposition to neoclassicism•Emphasis on emotion, imagination and intuition.William Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron…III. Realism•Focus on common lives of the average people•And unromantic observation of human experiences.Dickens, Bronte, Austen…IV. Modernism•Synonym of revolution against traditional art.•Emphasis on instinct and subconsciousness.The Spirit of American Literature★(the thread throughout American literature)★Individualism★•Personal ability•Hard work leads to success.Compared with the spirit of Chinese literatureConfucianism•ModerateT o attack human pride, avoid extremes and keep human desires within appropriate reason and order.Introduction•American literature may be the youngest national literatures in the world. Its real history, if calculating from the end of the revolutionary war, is only about 200 years or more. Within such a short period, American literature swiftly developed, began to receive international recognition, and has had a great effect upon world literature.•I. Literature of the Colonial Period (1607—1776)★•II. Literature of Reason and Revolution (1776--1820)★•III. Romanticism (1820--1860)★•IV. Rise of Realism (1860--1914)★•V. Modern Period (1914--)★1.Literature of the Colonial Period殖民统治时期文学(1607-1776)From my years young in days of youth,God did make known to me His T ruth,And call’d me from my native placeFor to enjoy the Means of Grace.In wilderness He did me guide,William Bradford•God teaches me and guides me to a right wayI. Historical Background•Settlement★The result of religious motives and mercantile motives•Puritanism★•Puritan thoughts: ★predestination (God decides everything before things occur) ★Original sin (Human beings were born to be evil.)★Puritan values:Hard work, thrift, and piety.•Individualism and American DreamII. Features of Literature•The first American literature was neither American nor real literature. ★•T ypes of WritingDiary, history, journal, letter, narrative…•It was the work mainly of immigrants from England.★•It was not in the form of poetry, essay or fiction, but the mixture of travel accounts and religious writings.★III. Writers•John Smith★•As the first Amercan writer★He is a British soldier of fortune,and strictly speakly speaking,was not litirature at all.A Ture Relation Of Such Occurences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia was a long report recording what he saw and heard in the New World, which he sent back to England and was printed in 1608 whitout his knowledge.•Anne Bradstreet and Edward T aylor★(English immigrants)•The work of the two writers rose to the level of real poetry.★2.The Age of Reason and Revolution理性与革命时期文学(1776--1820)I. Historical Background•The Age of Revolution•The Age of ReasonThe Age of Revolution★American Revolution of Independence (1776--1783)★•Britain’s suppression on America in economy and politics•Revolt against BritainThe Age of Reason★Enlightenment•Intellectual movement in Europe (1660’s—1780’s)★•Humanism: the equality and freedom among men(to stimulate Americans to strive for the establishment of their independent and democratic nation)•Rationalism: reason and orderII. Features of Literature•Utilitarian tendency(Nothing is good or beautiful but in the measure that is useful.)•Clear, concise and powerful expression•Essay as a prominent partIII. Writers and WorksEssayists•Thomas Paine: Common Sense★(to make Americans see the necessity to have an independent nation of their own)•Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of Independence★(to inspire his contemporaries)•Benjamin Franklin本杰明.富兰克林: Autobiography★Poor Richard’s Alman ac★Poet•Philip Freneau飞利浦.费瑞诺: To the Memory of the Brave Americans★The Wild Honeysuckle★Benjamin Franklin本杰明.富兰克林(1706 – 1790)Identity•He’s a writer.•He’s a scientist.•He’s a businessman.•He’s a politician.•He’s an inventor.•He’s the most v ersatile and enligh-tened man of his generation•Born on Milk Street in Boston, Massachusetts from a very large family.•At the age of 12, apprenticed to be a newspaper printer in Boston.•In 1729, already owned his own printing shop and published the ne wspaper Pennsylvania Gazette《宾夕法尼亚报》.•In 1732, offered his Poor Richard’s Almanac《格言历书》.★•From 1771 to 1790, wrote his Autobiography《自传》.★•Being one of those who drafted articles leading to the Declaration of Independence. •Served to draft the constitution, which was finally adopted in 1789.Literary term•Autobiography:- A written account of one’s own life.- Autobiographical writing as a literary genre.•It is significant: (1) it is a classic of its kind in American literature; (2) it indicates the fact that Franklin was the spokesman of American enlightenment. •Franklin embodied the transition from Puritan piety, and idealism to the more secular and utilitarian values of the American enlighten-ment.Significance of Franklin’s Autobiography•Franklin’s autobiograph y remains one of the classics of its kind. It shows Franklin as a man of versatile energy and new ideas, a man who represented American.enlightenment and the fulfillment of American dream.It is a humorous and fascinating record of an old man’s reflection s on his rise from a poor boy to a rich and famous personage through self-examination, self-reliance, and self improvementPhilip Freneau飞利浦.费瑞诺(1752—1832)I. LifePoet of the American Revolution★•Involvement in the War, and brutal treatment by British in 1780•Political satires•Patriotic revolutionary versesFather of American Poetry★•Return to nature after political position•Love of rural life•Beauty and perfection of natureRomantic Attitudes★(浪漫主义先驱)II.Features of poemsClassification of two categories•Poems on American RevolutionHatred toward the British colonistsResentment toward slavery•Poems of natural beautySubject matter: American landscape and imagesT o avoid imitation of English poetsIII. Works•To the Memory of the Brave Americans《纪念英勇的美国人》★•The Wild Honey Suckle《野金银花》★3.American Romanticism美国浪漫主义时期文学(1820-1860)(From the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the civil war)★Feature of American Romanticism was both imitative and indepandent.★Imitative:English and European Romanticists★Independent:Emersn and Whitman★Romanticism →romantic →romance•Romanticremote from the real life•Romancestory about the adventure and love of knights•Romanticismthe revival of romancePrecondition of Romanticism•IntellectuallyReaction against enlightenment•PoliticallyInspired by French revolution•SociallyGuided by progressive causes•EmotionallyEmphasis on the value of individual•focus on the individual’s expression of emotion and imagination―All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings‖• a heightened interest in natureAmerican RomanticismThe First Renaissance of American LiteratureI. BackgroundDevelopment of politics, economy and culture•Expansion of the W est•Rise of industrialism•Transmission of literature•Progressive and developing societyRomantic movement in European countriesEsp. in BritainII. Features of American Romanticism•American puritanism as a cultural heritage•American romanticism was both imitative and independent•It presented a new experience;the exotic landscape, the frontier life and the westward expansionSection I Early Romanticismi. W. Irving华盛顿.欧文★Popularize romanticism in American•The Sketch Book《见闻札记》（the first work to win financial success on both sides of the Atlantic）★•Legend of Sleepy Hollow《睡谷传说》★•Rip V an Winkle《瑞凡.凡.温克尔》★ii. J.F. Cooper库伯•Leatherstocking Tales《皮袜子故事集》(the American national experience of adventure into the W est)★•The spy《间谍》★iii. W.C. Bryant布莱恩特•To A Waterfowl《致水鸟》★Section II. Summit of Romanticism—American TranscendentalismI. Appearance: Nature by Emerson in 1836★II. Focus on intuition and oversoul:nature—the symbol of spiriti. R. W. Emerson爱默生★•Nature《论自然》★ii. H. D. Thoreau梭罗★•Walden《瓦尔登湖》★•Civil Disobedience《论公民之不服从》★Section III. Late Romanticismi. N. Hawthorne霍桑★•The Scarlet Letter《红字》★ii. H. Melville赫尔曼.梅尔维尔★•Moby Dick《白鲸》★•Typee《泰比》★iii. E. A. Poe库泊★•Annabel Lee《安娜贝尔.李》★iv. H. W. Longfellow★• A Psalm of Life, Song of Hiawatha★v. W. Whitman★•The Leaves of Grass《草叶集》vi. E. Dickinson★Edgar Allan Poe 爱伦.坡•Famous American poet, short-story writer and critic★•Father of modern short story★•Father of detective story and story of horror ★I. Life (1809—1849)•Death of his parents•Break with his foster father(gambling and drinking)•Work as an editor•Marriage to his cousin•Poverty, little reputation in his life timeLife S tory•Born in Boston in 1809, Poe was orphaned at the age of two.•Poe was adopted by John Allan.•Poe ran away from home, due to his gambling and drinking debts.•Poe had to make a living by writing or editing some magazines•Poe married his 13-year old cousin. Her early death may have inspired his writing.•Poe died in poverty and with little reputation.•An artist with literary genius, indulging himself in a bohemian life style.II.Position in Literary History•The most controversial figure in the history of American literature•The unique importance of Poe as a great writer of fiction, a poet of first rank, and a critic of insight•The position among the greatest writers of the world.Writing Features•Poe’s writing style is traditional.•Poe is not easy to read, just because of his ability to make good use of implications.•The object of poetry is pleasure, not truth.III. WorksPoetry•The Raven《乌鸦》★•To Helen《致海伦》★•Annabel Lee《安拉贝尔.丽》★The poem is a mourning song for the death of his wife.Poe did not use her real name, nor did he use the real background.★Short Story•The Fall of the House of Usher《厄舍房屋倒塌记》★Nathaniel Hhawthorne霍桑(1804-1864)I. LifeThree important things in his life:•Puritan family background•Study in Bowdoin College•Publication of The Scarlet LetterLife S tory•Hawthorne was born in Salem Massachusetts. (His ancestors were men of prominence in the Puritan theocracy of seventeenth-century New England. ) •His relatives financed his education at Bowdoin College.•Among his classmates were many of the important literary and political figures of the day.•The Scarlet Letter represents the height of Hawthorne's literary geniusII. WorksFours novels:The Scarlet Letter (his masterpiece)《红字》★The House of the Seven Gables《七个尖角阁的房子》★The Blithedale Romance: experience of transcendentalists experiment. 《福谷传奇》★The Marble Faun: evil educates. 《大理石雕像》★Two collections of short stories:Twice-Told Tales 《故事重述》★Mosses form an Old Manse 《古宅青苔》★Features of his worksSetting Puritan New EnglandThemes Evil & sinIdea Dark view toward human beingsT echnique symbolismHawthorne as a Literary Artist•First professional writer•Hawthorne displayed a love for allegory and symbol.•His writing is representative of 19th century.The Scarlet Letter•Hester sin★•Chillingworth(Hester’s husband) evil★•Dimmesda le(Hester’s lover) sin★•Pearl(Hester and Dimmesdale’s child)★•What does A in The Scarlet Letter symbolize?★Adultlery--------Ability-----------Angel★Walt Whitman华特.惠特曼1. Representative work:Leaves of Grass — first genuine epic poem★2. Free verse — the poetic style he devised★3. InfluenceContemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence.Free V ersea poem without regular rhymes and metersO Captain! My Captain!Emily Dickinson 艾米丽.迪金森1. Liferecluse—to separate herself from the world at the age of 23single in her lifeunhappy love affairdeath of her teacher, lover, father before her2. Themes: based on her own experiences, joys and sorrows(1) nature – kind and cruel (300 poems)★(2) love – suffering and frustration caused by love （120 poems)★Alter? When the hills doFalter? When the sunQuestion if his gloryBe the perfect one.……I will of you! (729)(3) death (About one third of the total collection of her poems deal with death.)★— desire for death★— moment of death★— death and immortality★MY life closed twice before its close;It yet remains to seeIf Immortality unveilA third event to me,So huge, so hopeless to conceive,As these that twice befell.Parting is all we know of heaven,And all we need of hell. (1732)3. Style(1) poems without titles.★(2) severe economy of expression.★(3) capital letters, dash – emphasis.★(4) short poems, mainly two stanzas.★She is one of the most innovative poets of 19th-century American literature.Because I Could Not Stop for Death4.Realism现实主义时期(1860--1914)The rise of realism and the decline of romanticismI. Historical Background•Civil War (1861--1865)★•Capitalism—freedom and democracyDevelopment of society before 1880Financial crisis—unrest society after 1880II. Features of LiteratureTwo literary streams★•Realism (1860--1880)★T ruthful description of lifeObjective rather than idealizedT one: hopeful and optimistic★•Naturalism (1880--1914)★Theory of Darwinism: survival of the fittestFocus on environment and humanT one: hopeless and gloomy★III. Writers and Works•Three giants: M. T wain, H. James and W. D. Howells★Writers of realism•W.D.Howells:The Rise of Silas Lapham★•Mrs. Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin★•Mark Twain: the true father of American literature★representation of local colour★The Adventures of Tom Sawyer(1883)★The Adventures of Huckle Finn(1884)★•O. Henry: founder of American short story★The Cop and the Anthem★•Henry James: psychological novels★The Art of fiction★Writers of Naturalism•Jack London: The Sea Wolf★The Call of the Wild★•Stephen Crane:The Red Badge Courage(his most successful work)★•Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie★An American Tragedy(the most successful one)★5.The Modern Period现代主义时期(1914-- )Literature during WWI and WWII (1914--1945)★•Section I: Literature in the 1920’sI. IntroductionA flowering period of American literatureThe Second Renaissance of American literature★II. Background★1. The first world war:★•Economically: great wealth, economic boom, highly-consuming society •Spiritually: fragmentation2. Freud’s theory (psychology)★3. Emigration (to Asia)★•the influence of Japanese and Chinese culture and literatureIII. Literary Schools★1. Imagism (poets)★•Representatives: E. Pound, T. S. Eliot,R. Frost2. Lost Generation (novelists)★• E. Hemingway, F. Scott. Fitzgerald3. Southern Literature★•W. FaulknerSection II: Literature in the 1930’sI. Background•Great Depression (1929)II. The Main Stream•Left-oriented•J. SteinbeckImagism•Image 意象意―意识，abstract ideas象―世间物象，concrete objectseg:圆月―思家之情longing for home•Imagismto use concrete objects to express abstract ideas •Symbolism•Symbol ― imageto compress a very complex idea into an imageeg: rose, springlove, life•(Both writers and readers know what the symbol represents.)eg: A in Scarlet Letteradultery, ability, angel•(Symbols created by writers to convey particular meanings.) Three Principles of ImagismI. Direct treatment of objectsII. Free verseIII. Economy of expressionsImages in Chinese and western literature•Strong will : pine, plum,oak•Love :peach blossom rosePurity: lotus lily•In Chinese the sound of bell, 梅、兰、竹、菊•In English paradise, snake, west wind, nightingale, daffodil E. Pound 庞德•He spearheaded the new school of poetry: Imagist Movement★•Imagism’s founder★I. Life•to emigrate to Asian and study Japanese literatureII. Works•Cantos (a collection of poems)In a Station of the Metro★T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965) 艾略特I. Life―A royalist in politics, a classicist in literature, and an Anglo-Catholic in religion‖• a royalist: the change of his nationalityAmerican to English• a classicist: poetic theory, the use of allusion•an Anglo-Catholic: religious conversion to ChristianityII. Works1. Poems•The Waste Land《荒原》including 5 parts, has been called the first masterpiece of modernism in English★•Four Quartets《四个四重奏》(he found the way out and believed only God couldsave people)★2. Critical Essays•The Sacred Wood《圣林》(New Criticism)★3. Plays•Images in his worksthe waste land, water, firestory of king Fish, rain and river, burning and purifying ―death and rebirth Robert Frost 弗洛斯特Lost GenerationThe Lost Generation:The Lost Generation is a term used to describe a group of American intellectuals, poets, artists and writers fled to France in the post WWI years to reject the values of American materialism and to seek the bohemian lifestyle in Paris.His Poems1)After Apple-Picking《摘罢苹果》★2)Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 《雪夜林边驻足》★3)The Road Not Taken 《没有选择的路》★F. Scott Fitzgerald 菲茨杰拉德(1890 - 1940)His masterpiece：The Great Gatsby《伟大的盖茨比》★Ernest Hemingway (1899 -1961)I. Biography:⏹Born in Illinois, the son of a country doctor, Hemingway worked as a reporter in 1917.⏹During World War I, he served as a driver for the American Red Cross in Italy.⏹During the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway served as a correspondent.⏹He fought in World War II and then settled in Cuba in 1945.In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (The Old Man and the Sea).⏹In 1961, depressed, and ill with cancer, he shot himself.Literary achievementsNovels:The Sun Also Rises (1926) With the publication of it, he was recognized as the spokesman of the ―lost generation‖ .★A Farewell to Arms (1929) tells of a tragic wartime love affair between an ambulance driver and an English nurse. ★For Whom the Bell Tolls(1940) in detailing an incident in the war, argues for human brotherhood. ★The Old Man and the Sea(1952) celebrates the courage of an aged Cuban fisherman, Santiago. ★Story collections:In Our Time (1925) 《在我们的时代》Men without Women(1927)《没有女人的男人》Winner Take Nothing (1933) 《胜者无所得》The Lost GenerationThe Lost Generation:The Lost Generation is a term used to describe a group of American intellectuals, poets, artists and writers fled to France in the post WWI years to reject the values of American materialism and to seek the bohemian lifestyle in Paris. without a meaningful future to fall on, they were lost in disillusionment.Main Character:Santiago: The hero of the story. He is an old Cuban fisherman who is a perfectionist when it comes to fishing. Despite his precise methods, he has no luck at sea. Santiago wants to be unique: a greater and stranger person than his peers out at sea. He is alone, except for the company of Manolin. He is determined to catch one big fish.Writing S tyle:Hemingway’s fiction usually focuses on people living essential, dangerous lives—soldiers, fishermen, athletes, bullfighters—who meet the pain and difficulty of their existence with courage.His celebrated literary style is direct, terse, and often monotonous, yet particularly suited to his elemental subject matter.His language is characterized by features including: economy of expression, short sentences and paragraphs, vigorous and positive language, and deliberate avoidance of gorgeous adjectives, and etc.⏹Hemingway’s Iceberg TheoryEugene O’Neill 尤金.奥尼尔( 1888 – 1953)⏹―American Shakespeare‖⏹Born in a Broadway hotel in New Y ork City, a son of a famous and popular actor.⏹He came in close contact with the outcasts of society and tasted the bitterness of life.⏹In 1920 his first full-length play, Beyond the Horizon, was professionally produced on Broadway and won the Pulitzer Prize.⏹His major work Long Day’s Journey into Night 《长夜慢慢路迢迢》(1956).⏹Four Pulitzer Prizes (1920, 1922, 1928, 1957) and the Nobel Prize in 1936 show his achievement and influence at home and abroad.Joseph Heller (1923 – 1999)⏹New Y ork author who served in the air force in World War II.⏹Received an A. B. from New Y ork University, an M.A. from Columbia, studied at Oxford, and taught briefly before writing Catch-22 (1961) 《第二十二条军规》.What is Catch-22?If the men are really crazy, then they will want to fly the missions, regardless of whether or not they want to be killed. If they do not want to fly the missions, then they are sane and must fly them.。
American Literature超验主义
He is thus removed from the march of time, idealized as a
“primordial” 原始的 figure whose vision isolates him from the political and social struggles of his age. But Emerson was never simply a distant patriarchal家长的 figure sheltered from the material problems of his age. He constructed his “optative” 希求的exuberance茂盛 ，健康 despite the early deaths of his father, two of his brothers, his beloved young wife, and his first son, and despite his own serious bouts 较量with lung disease and eye strain视 觉[眼睛]疲劳. He was a child both of privilege and penury 贫困, of family position and dependence. At Harvard, which he attended on scholarship, Emerson struggled with the academic curriculum and with his expected future as either a teacher or minister. But he also conducted a more satisfying private education of reading and journal writing that would prepare him to be a writer, an American scholar, and poet
marktwain课后习题答案
marktwain课后习题答案Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens, was a renowned American author and humorist. His works, including "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," are considered classics of American literature. With his wit and keen observation of human nature, Twain captivated readers of all ages. In this article, we will delve into some of the key questions and answers related to Mark Twain's works, providing a deeper understanding of his literary genius.1. What is the significance of the Mississippi River in Mark Twain's novels?The Mississippi River holds great significance in Mark Twain's novels, serving as a symbol of freedom and escape. In "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," the river represents a world beyond the constraints of society, where Tom and Huck can be their true selves. Similarly, in "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," the river becomes a pathway to freedom for Huck as he escapes from an oppressive society and embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Twain uses the river as a metaphor for the pursuit of independence and the search for one's own moral compass.2. How does Mark Twain satirize society in his works?Mark Twain was a master of satire, using humor and irony to critique various aspects of society. In "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," he satirizes the rigid social structure of the time, highlighting the hypocrisy and absurdity of adult rules and expectations through Tom's mischievous adventures. In "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Twain satirizes the institution of slavery and racism prevalentin the American South, exposing the ignorance and cruelty of society through Huck's encounters with different characters. Twain's satire serves as a powerful tool to challenge societal norms and provoke critical thinking.3. How does Mark Twain explore the theme of morality in his works?Morality is a recurring theme in Mark Twain's works, particularly in "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Through Huck's moral dilemmas and his evolving conscience, Twain examines the complex nature of right and wrong. Huck's decision to help Jim, a runaway slave, despite society's expectations, showcases Twain's belief in the innate goodness of individuals and the importance of following one's own moral compass. Twain challenges readers to question societal norms and consider the true meaning of morality, highlighting the flaws and contradictions inherent in established systems of ethics.4. How does Mark Twain use humor in his writing?Humor is a defining characteristic of Mark Twain's writing. His witty remarks, clever wordplay, and satirical observations add a layer of entertainment to his stories while also serving a deeper purpose. Twain's humor often exposes the follies and absurdities of society, making readers laugh while prompting them to reflect on the underlying issues. Through his humorous style, Twain effectively engages readers, drawing them into his narratives and making his social commentary more accessible and impactful.5. What is the enduring appeal of Mark Twain's works?The enduring appeal of Mark Twain's works lies in his timeless themes, relatablecharacters, and engaging storytelling. Twain's exploration of freedom, morality, and societal norms resonates with readers across generations. His vivid descriptions and authentic dialogue bring his characters to life, making them feel like old friends. Moreover, Twain's ability to seamlessly blend humor and social commentary creates a unique reading experience that continues to captivate audiences. Whether it is the mischievous adventures of Tom Sawyer or the transformative journey of Huckleberry Finn, Twain's works remain relevant and impactful, reminding us of the power of literature to challenge, entertain, and inspire.In conclusion, Mark Twain's literary genius shines through his insightful observations, satirical critique, and humorous storytelling. His works continue to captivate readers, offering a window into the complexities of human nature and society. By exploring the significance of the Mississippi River, Twain's use of satire, his exploration of morality, and his unique humor, we gain a deeper understanding of his enduring appeal. Mark Twain's legacy as one of America's greatest authors lives on, inspiring generations of readers to question, reflect, and appreciate the power of literature.。
关于美国名著的英语作文
关于美国名著的英语作文Title: The Enduring Influence of American Literary Classics。
Introduction。
American literature boasts a rich tapestry of classic works that have shaped not only the literary landscape of the United States but also left a profound impact on global literature. From the transcendentalist musings of Emerson and Thoreau to the stark realism of Steinbeck and the postmodern experimentation of Pynchon, American literary classics continue to captivate readers and inspire writers across generations. In this essay, we delve into the enduring influence of some of these timeless works.The Transcendentalist Movement: Emerson and Thoreau。
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, prominent figures of the transcendentalist movement in the 19thcentury, penned works that espoused the inherent goodness of humanity and the interconnectedness of nature and the human spirit. Emerson's essays, such as "Self-Reliance" and "Nature," advocate for individualism and the importance of trusting one's intuition. Thoreau's "Walden," a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings, continues to resonate with readers seeking a deeper connection to the natural world and a simpler way of life. Their ideas have influenced subsequent generations of writers and thinkers, inspiring movements such as environmentalism and self-help literature.The Realist Tradition: Twain and Chopin。
Brief Introduction to American Literature
11. Mark Twain 12. Henry James 13. William Dean Howells
3. Literary Naturalism
14. Stephen Crane 15. Jack London
4. Women Writing on the Woman Question
16. Kate Chopin
1. The literature of the New World 2. The literature of Colonial America: 1620-1775 3. Literature and the American Revolution: 1776-1815
1. Benjamin Franklin B. American Romanticism: 1815-1860 (3)
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5. African American Literature and Modernism
25. Zora Neale Hurston 26. Richard Wright E. American Literature Diversified: from 1945 to the 21st Century (6)
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D. American Modernism: 1914-1945 (4)
1. Modernism in the American Soil 2. The Evolution of Modernism 3. Modern American Poetry
C. How to Read American Literature?
The Significance of American Revelution
The Significance of American Revelution When it comes to the topic of American revelution opinions ofen vary from person to person and it has long being a controversial issue ever since the event itself happened.The most poprlar views are comepletely two poles of the earth.One is that American revelution is actually not a revelution at all for it does not change the colonial society of America but replace a faraway government with a local one. The other ,however, speaks highly of the revelution and put more emphasis on its huge influence on history. Personally, I give my vote to the latter opinion. Firstly, the war ended the long-term government of England and avoid most dicputes and conflicts between conloists and local people, at least making it possible for the people to persue their ideal life as they like. What’s more ,I think the most influencial achievement of the war should be the birth of The Declaration of Independence. Since then, the destiny of those immigrants and the world history has been changed .As the decelaration emphasized, the most basic of humans’natural , or God-give rights was property, a concept which combines life, liberty, material posessions.And all these come to the finial right—freedom. Even today, in morden society , when asked which aspect of their country are they most proud of, the answer will be freedom. And I believe, it is by relying on the free atmosphere they creat that America can develop so fast within 100 years and become number one in the world.For most people, what is really confusing and fascinating is the fact that the revelution itself doesn’t have a basic theory or a so called doctrism that others have in common. It seems incredible that a revelution like this should have played such an important role in the advancement of human beings and the civilization of the world. But if you think twice, it is not difficult to find the secret. All revelutions in history aim to give people a better life or at least the slogan is that, and ofen the result is opposite. Then we have a look at the most simple demond in the decelaration to find that it focuses on every individual person. It is not because the title “the united states of America” but because in this society a man is a firstly man with the rights to live,to feel free and to persue his happiness that America is America . That’s enough for America, and maybe the whole world.。
The Significance of American Literature
The Significance of American Literature & Emerson's TranscentendalismI.The significance of American Literature (especially the difference from English literature)A.The development of North American Literature reversed the history of every other national literature.(Instead of beginning with folk tales and songs, it began with abstractions and proceeded from philosophy to fiction.)B. The protestant work ethic-A belief that work itself is good in addition to what it achieves;- Time saved by efficiency of good fortune should not be spent in leisure but in doing further work;-Idleness is immoral and likely to lead to worse sin.C.Two kinds of writings in pre-Revolutionary colonies1.Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc, des igned to inform people ―at home‖ what life was like in the new world, and to induce immigration.2.Theoretical discussions of religious questions, political writings.Thomas Paine’s C ommon SenseThomas Jefferson’s D eclaration of IndependenceD. Individualism(A philosophy that differentiated the culture and literature of the U.S. from that of Europe.)Dictionary definition: a belief in the importance of the individu al and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence.BackgroundOlder Catholic religion: placed great emphasis on man’s duty to fill well the position in which God had placed him, however humble it might be, trusting he would be rewarded with an exalted station in heaven.Newer Protestant Religion:man’s duty is to make the utmost practical use of the talents and opportunities with which God had provided him.―Everywhere in the world poverty is inconvenient, but only in the United States, is it a lso a disgrace.‖ – Mark TwainIndividualism colored the work of all the great nineteenth century American writers: Franklin: self-reliant individualismTranscendentalists: self-reliant idealismPoe: RomanticismHawthorne: Psychological AnalysesMelville: Metaphysical probingsThree m ajor strains of individualism in American literature: pragmatic, romantic, and transcendental individualism.Washington Irving—often referred to as the first American man of letters, not really American in either approach or major subject matter. He might be the first author born on the continent to make a living by his pen, or to establish a reputation as an essayist and short story writer. Yet he was only in the narrowest technical sense part of the new world. He lived more than half his adult life abroad, dealt with more English and Spanish than American material, and was quite unaffected bythe distinctive ideas and attitudes developing in his young nation. —Rubinstein, P8II.Pragmatic individualismRepresentative: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)An outstanding tradesman, citizen, scientist, statesman, and political revolutionary.1.Franklin’s life experience-10th of 15th children, in a soap maker’s family- left school before 11- at 12, apprenticed to an older brother, a printer in Boston.-Meanwhile wrote several articles for the newspaper- At 17, ran away to Philadelphia.-Set up a printing press-42, retired with a comfortable annual income of 500 pounds-planned to devote the rest of his life to such scientific experiments as the famous one with a kite which helped determine the nature of lightning and electricity.- involved in volunteer social activities (the founding of the American Philosophical Society, planning the University of Pennsylvania and organizing the first free hospital in the colonies)-became active in the national and even international political affairs.-1776, appointed the first American Ambassador to France, successfully negotiated the treaty of 1778 which secured French assistance for the former colonies in their war against England.-1785, a key member in the Constitutional Convention which consolidated the thirteen former colonies into the United States.2.His major literary contributionsFranklin’s uncompleted autobiography, written at intervals during the years from 1771 to 1790. -The first real post-revolutionary American writing, the first real autobiography in English.-Portrays the picture of an active, self-reliant, confident, curious and reasonable individual who took completely for granted the great value of both useful productivity and personal prosperity.P oor Richard’s AlmanacModeled on the sort of farmer’s annual calendar widely sold at the time. ??????These annuals included dates of the full moon, notes of local high and low tides, suggestions as to the best time for planting various crops, predictions about the weather in the coming year, and occasional advertisements by local manufacturers or merchants. Franklin interspersed this material, year after year, with hundreds of proverbs, most of which he wrote or adapted, and bits of advice about business, marriage, manners, study and child rearing.All of these were expressed in short, pithy sentences, often rhymed for easier memorization.Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.He that would thrive must ask his wife.A penny saved is a penny earned.A small leak will sink a great ship.He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing.The emphasis on commercial success in these many other proverbs explains why Franklin has come down in American history as the perfect reprehensive of the now so much discredited American Dream of ―rags to riches‖, and why he is so often scorned by the idealistic youn g people who know him only as Poor Richard.―Declaration of Independence‖ (worked with Thomas Jefferson who framed it)III.Romantic IndividualismRepresentative: James Fenimore Cooper—an important landmark in the literary history of the U.S. Cooper is not a skillful writer. His dialogue is wooden and inconsistent, his Indians are hopelessly unreal, his descriptions are often longwinded and pretentious, his plot depends heavily on improbable accidents and absurd mistakes.In The Pioneer, he unconsciously formulated a, or perhaps the central American myth—the image of an independent, self-reliant, solitary man, the quintessence of individualism, in the untouched, unimaginable huge, virgin forest.IV.Transcendental IndividualismRepresentatives: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Emerson: consciously formulated the philosophy of transcendental individualism- born in Boston, son, grandson, great grandson, and great-grandson of ministers.- 1821, several years after his graduation, taught school- 1825, returned to take a degree in theology.- 1829, ordained as junior pastor Boston’s prestigious Second Unitarian Church. / married.- shortly after his wife’s death, he left the ministry becau se of his growing disagreement with the church doctrine.?Inherited $1000 a year from his young wife, bought a home settled down in a wooded farm village, 20 miles from Concord.- 1835, remarried- 1836, ―Nature‖ was published anonymously- ―The American Scholar‖—―the 2nd American Declaration of Independence‖, a declaration of cultural independence for the United States.- 1847- 1848, his talks in lecture halls in New England, the Middle Atlantic States, England, and later the Midwest, were extremely popular.- 1860s- 1870s, a series of ten volumes—―Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks‖Emerson’s transcendentalism:God exists everywhere in nature (nature is the expression of the omnipresent spirit)Each individual soul is part of the oversoul (nature is a symbol or material expression of the divinity of man.)Through one’s intuition or imagination every individu al can and should have direct contact with universal reality.→Man should therefore rely on his intuition to learn the truth.―…the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.‖—from ―Self-Reliance‖Emerson’s two sources of transcendentalism:Emerson’s idealistic view of the world—all men were basically divine.19th century Americans and liberal Europeans generally believed: ―the new world is a new beginning of mankind; every individual should rise to their full potenti al.‖Two other themes running through Emerson’s work:The world should be experienced freshly through each man’s direct contact with nature and his own soul.The importance of learning through physical activity in the everyday world.(These ideas were more fully developed by Thoreau and Whitman.)。
《美国文学》题库及答案
《美国文学》题库及答案I.Multiple Choice1. American literature is only more than ____ years old.A. 500B.400C. 200D.1002. The Puritan values did no include______.A. wastefulnessB. thriftC. pietyD. hard work3. The 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment.______was the dominant spirit.A. HumanismB. RationalismC. RomanticismD. Realism4. Franklin was the epitome of the______.A. American EnlightenmentB. Sugar ActC. Charlist movementD. Romanticism5. _____was the most leading spirit of the Transcendentalism.A. FranklinB. HawthorneC. PaineD. Emerson6. “Moby Dick was written by_____A. Mark TwainB. ThoreauC. MelvilleD. Whitman7. “The Scarlet Letter” is characterized by its______.A. symbolismB. rationalismC. PlatonismD. classicism8. “Huckleberry Finn is the masterpiece of________.A. Henry JamesB. Jack LondonC. Mark TwainD. Stephen Crane9. Choose the novel written by Henry JamesA. The Golden BowlB. The Portrait of a LadyC. Sister CarrieD. Daisy Miller10. Early in the 20th century, _____ published works that would change the nature of American poetry.A. Ezra PoundB. T.S. EliotC. Robert FrostD. both A and B11._____ is the founder of “Imagist” movement.A. Ezra PoundB. HemingwayC. Robert FrostD. Steinbeck12. Mark Twain’s works are characterized by_____A. NaturalismB. TranscendentalismC. Local ColorismD. Imagism13. ________ is said to be the father of American poetryA. T.S. EliotB. E.D. RobinsonC. Philip FreneauD. Dreiser14. Hawthorne is regarded as a _______.A. naturalistB. classicistC. realistD. romanticist15. ______ represents the most leading spirit of American Transcendentalism.A. EmersonB. FranklinC. Mark TwainD. Whitman16.“The Art of Fiction” was written by_____A. LongfellowB. Henry JamesC. FitzgeraldD. Faulkner17. Imagination plays the most important part in________.A. realismB. romanticismC. naturalismD. classicism18. ______ is considered to be the masterpiece of John Steinbeck.A. Mending WallB. Dry SeptemberC. A Farewell to ArmsD. The Grapes of Wrath19. Uncle Tom in the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a(n)______A. Negro slaveB. salesmanC. industrialistD. officer20. Mark Twain’s works are characterized by______A. NaturalismB. TranscendentalismC. Local ColorismD. Imagism21. “The Great Gatsby” is the masterpiece of_____A. WhitmanB. FitzgeraldC. DickinsonD. Hemingway22. The United States of America was founded in______.A. 1776B. 1876C. 1789D.168923. The ancestors of American Indians were______A. AsiansB. AfricansC. EuropeansD. Australians24. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was written by______.A. H.B. Stowe B. John SteinbeckC. HawthorneD. Mark Twain25. ______ does not belong to the lost generation.A. DreiserB. T.S. EliotC. FaulknerD. Hemingway26. ______ was well known for his story “Rip Van Winkle.”A. BryantB. Washington IrvingC. Allan PoeD. Philip Freneau27. “Farewell to Arms” is the master pieced produced by______A. FaulknerB. DreiserC. HemingwayD. Longfellow28. It was ______ who wrote the formal declaration of independence.A. Thomas JeffersonB. Benjamin FranklinC. WashingtonD. Washington Irving29. _____has been exerting a great and enduring influence upon world literature, especially that of France and European symbolism.A. FranklinB. BradstreetC. Edgar Allan PoeD. Philip Freneau30. The masterpiece of Hawthorne is _________.A. The Scarlet LetterB. Sister CarrieC. Richard CoryD. A Psalm of Life31. Engene O’Neill is a _______.A. novelistB. poetC. puritanD. dramatist32.Hemingway’s style of writing is characterized by______.A. high-sounding wordsB. simple dictionC. complicated sentencesD. mix metaphor33. T.S. Eliot is not only a poet but also a ______.A. criticB. statesmanC. churchmanD. novelists34. “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” was written by_____.A. T.S. EliotB. O’NeillC. Stephen CraneD. Saul Bellow35. “The Grape of Wrath” is one of the remarkable novels of_____.A. the Civil WarB. DepressionC. SuppressionD. Aggression36. Theodore Dreiser showed the_____ tendency in his novels.A. PuritanismB. classicismC. romanticismD. naturalism37. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading figure of________.A. TranscendentalismB. RomanticismC. RationalismD. Naturalism38. “The Sound and the Fury” was the masterpiece of ______A. Robert Lee FrostB. T.S. EliotC. FaulknerD. Steinbeck39. Emily Dickinson is an American________.A. dramatistB. novelistC. female poetD. male poet40. “Th Emily Dickinson is an American ark Twain’s______A. materialismB. classicismC. socialismD. colorism41. “The Portrait of a Lady” is one of best novels of_________.A. Henry JamesB. John SteinbeckC. William FaulknerD. Walt Whitman42. What Whitman is famous for his_________.A. “Leaves of Grass”B. “Mending Wall”C. “Richard Cory”D. “The Burial of the Dead”43. “Catch-22” is the masterpiece of______A. Saul BellowB. Joseph HellerC. DreiserD. Fitzgerald44. The English settlement in America began in_________A.1507B.1607C.1707D.180745. The first World War broke out in______.A.1614B.1714C.1814D.191446. The jazz age refers to the decade ofA.1950’sB.1980’sC.1920’sD.1820’s47. Franklin was a _____.A. PuritanB. romanticistC. classicistD. imagist48. “Rip Van Winkle” was written by_______.A. FreneauB. Allan PoeC. Washington IrvingD. Thomas Jefferson49.“The Scarlet Letter” is the masterpiece of______.A. HawthorneB. EmersonC. BradstreetD. Allan Poe50.It was______who wrote “The Age of Reason”A. WashingtonB. JeffersonC. Benjamin FranklinD. Thomas Paine51.“Song of Myself” is a ______written by Whitman.A. novelB. poemC. dramaD. essay52.Tom in Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a _____.A. Negro slaveB. American IndianC. School masterD. industrialist53. Mark Twain belongs to the literary school of_____.A. transcendentalismB. realismC. romanticismD. naturalism54._______is a famous American female poet.A. Allan PoeB. FreneauC. Emily DickinsonD. Robinson55. “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” is the masterpiece of_____.A. Mark TwainB. Henry JamesC. Stephen CraneD. Robert Lee Frost56. It was____ who wrote the poem “The Road Not Taken.”A. WhitmanB. FreneauC. Robert Lee FrostD. T.S.EliotⅡ Define the literary terms briefly in English1. American Transcendentalism2. Romanticism3. The Puritans4. Realism5. Enlightenment6. Transcendentalism7. EnlightenmentIII Explain the following quotations in your own words.1. Success is counted sweetest By those who ne’er succeed.2. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference.3. Let us, then, be up and doing, With heart for any fate;Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.4. And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked.5. Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!_____6. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need.7. But still he fluttered pulses when he said,“Good morning”, and he glittered when he walked.8. something there is that doesn’t love a wall,He says again, “Good fences make good neighbors.”9. Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat10. But to act, that each tomorrow Find us farther than today11. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. Ⅳ Answer the following questions in English1. Why is American literature important for you?2. What is the theme of “The Waste Land”?3. Whose novel (or which novel) do you enjoy most?Why?4. What is the style of Hemingway’s novel?5. What is the significance of American literature?6. Do you like American literature? Why?7. What is the real theme in “Sister Carrie”?8. What is the central subject and primary significance of Hawthorne’s major works?9. Which American writer do you like best? Why?10. What is the theme of “Catch-22”?11. What are the features of Emily Dickinson’s poems?12. Why should we learn American literature?13. Which poem do you enjoy most? Why?《美国文学》作业参考答案I.Multiple Choice1.C2.A3.B4.A5.D6.C7.A8.C9.B 10.D11.A 12.C 13.C 14.D 15.A 16.B 17.B 18.D 19.A 20.C21.B 22.C 23.A 24.D 25.A 26.B 27.C 28.A 29.C 30.A31.D 32.B 33.A 34.B 35.B 36.D 37.A 38.C 39.C 40.D41.A 42.A 43.B 44.B 45.D 46.C 47.A 48.B 49. A 50.D51.B 52.A 53.B 54.C 55. A 56. CII.Define the literary terms briefly in English1.American transcendentalism was a philosophical dissent from Unitarianism. Transcendentalists rejected the materialistic psychology in favor of the idealism of Kant who asserted that intuition could surpass reason as a guide to the truth. To transcendentalists, spirit is inherent and pervading and is the only reality in the universe in which nature stood as a symbol of Spirit. Transcendentalismemphasized the divinity of man, the significance and right of the individual, and the possibility of the self-perfection of the individual.2. Romanticism is characterized by the pursuit of freedom, emphasis of individualism, a reliance upon the good of nature and “natural” man, and an abiding faith in the boundless resources of the human spirit and imagination.3.The Puritans were members of the church of England who at first wished to reform or “Purify its doctrines. They kept in common with all advocates o f strict Christian orthodox, insisting on man’s original sin and depravity.4. Realism is a literary school. The American realist William Dean Howells refered to the method of realistic literary creation as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material. The realists tended to be highly selective in their choice of material, focusing upon what seemed real to their largely middle-class readers.5. Enlightenment in America was a progressive “intellectual movement which contributed to free the Americans from the limitation of Puritanism which had been prevailing in American society, and stimulate them to strive for the establishment of their independent and democratic nation. The enlighteners were confident in the proqress by education and appealed to Reason.6．American transcendentalism was a political dissent from Unitarianism. Transcendentalists rejected the materialistic psychology in favour of the idealism of kant who asserted that intuition could surpass reason as a guide to the truth. To transcendentalists, spirit is inherent and pervading and is the only reality in the universe in which nature stood as a symbol of Spirit. Transcendentalists emphasized the divinity of man, the significance and right of the individual, and the possibility of the self-perfection of the individual.7. Enlightenment in America was a progressive intellectual movement which contributed to free the Americans fromthe limitations of Purtanism which had been prevailing in American society, and stimulate them to strive for their independent and democratic nation. The enlighteners were confident in the proqress of education and appealed to reason.III Explain the following quotations in your own words.1. Those who have never succeeded before will enjoy the sweetness o success most.2. In my life and literary creation, I did not follow others’ footsteps (or footprints). SometimesI chose a different way. That was the reason why I was unique and different from them both in life and poetic writing.3. Let us rise up and take actionTo meet any challenge in our life.We should learn to work and to be patientAnd persevere in pursuing our goalTill we reap the fruit of achievement one after another.4. He always dressed himself properly and elegantly And he showed his kindness and considerateness when talked with others.5. Don’t tell me in sad voice that life is nothing but an meaningless and empty dream.6. Only when you feel thirstiest and bitterest, can you really understand and enjoy the holy sweet drink.7. He stirred the pulses of the persons he was greeting with “Good morning”. While he was walking, his manners appeared to be so brilliant and attractive that he drow much public attention.8. Wall, as a barrier for communication or mutual understanding, is not good at all. Sometimes, it is necessary to remove the wall.Wall, as a boundary or limitation or border, is needed sometimes, so that good relations can be kept among different strata of people, or different countries.Wall is a paradox, which is both good and bad in haman life9.The honeysuckle qrows so agreeably and beautifully.However the beautiful flower hid its beauty in the quiet and lonely place.10.We had better take action every day, not remain idle and inactive so that we can make progress each day.11.I have a lot of obligations and duties to fulfill, so there is still a long way for me to go beforeI can relax or leave this world.Ⅳ Answer the following questions in English1. Key points:① the significance of American literature in the world literature ② the manifestation of American life and culture ③the requirement of improving English2. The theme of the poem is modern spiritual barrenness, the despair and depression that followed the first world war, the sterility and turbulence of the modern world, and the decline and breakdown of Western culture.3. The answer depends on individual student’s inclination.4. His style of writing is characterized by short and terse sentences, simple diction filled with emotion, vivid colloquialisms, and particularly the simplicity of his laconic statements.5. Key points: ① its place in the world literature② the manifestation of American life and culture③ the requirement of professional knowledge and skills as English majon.6. The answer is flexible. It de pends on an individual Student’s inclination.7. The real theme in Sister Carrie is the purposelessness of life. While looking at individuals with warm, human sympathy, he also sees the disorder and cruelty of life in general.8. The central subject of Haw thorne’s major works was the human soul. His exploration of the soul resulted from his skeptical attitude toward the social reality that was characterized by a rapid change in almost all aspects of social life, and from his ambition to probe into the nature of man. The primary significance of his major works dwells in the interect and the consistend vitality of his criticism of life.9. The answer is flexible, depending on students’ inclination, logic and language skills.10. Its real theme is to expose the dehumanization of all contemporary institutions, the absurd and corrupt bureancracy and the alienation of individuals existing in a systemized chaotic condition, such as war.punctuation and capitalization. Her mode of expression is characterized by clear-cut and delicately original imagery, precise diction, and fragmentary and enigmatic metrical pattern.12. Key points: ①the significance of American literature in the world literature ② the manifestation of American life and culture ③ the requirement of improving English.13. The answer is flexible and depends on student’s inclination.。
英美文学选读美国2.The Realistic Period
●The Realistic Period1. What is local colorism in American literature?A. Mark Twain, Sarah Orne Jewett and Joseph Kirkland are the representative of local colorists whose writings are concerned with the life of a small, well defined region or province. The characteristic setting is the isolated small town.B. These local colorists, especially Mark Twain, preferred to present social life through portraits of the local characters of his regions, including people living in that area, the landscape, and other peculiarities like the customs, dialects, costumes and so on.C. This particular concern about the local character of a region came about as "local colorism", a unique variation of American literary realism.2. The literary school of naturalism was quite popular in the late 19th century. What are the major characteristics of naturalism?A. Strongly influenced by social Darwinism, naturalism emphasizes t和determining power of the crushing forces of environment and heredity.B. Being devoid of the freedom of choice and incapable of shaping their own destinies, men and women are helpless and insignificant in a cold and indifferent world.C. The naturalistic writers reported truthfully and objectively, with a passion for scientific accuracy and overwhelming accumulation of factual detail.3. What are the similarities and differences between the three literary giants, Howells, Mark Twain, Henry James, in terms of their literary orientation?A. They are the three dominant figures of the Realistic Period. Together they brought to fulfillment native trends in the realistic portrayal of the landscape and social surfaces, brought to perfection the vernacular style, and explored and exploited literary possibilities of the interior life.B. Together in short, they set the example and charted the future course for the subject, themes, techniques and styles of fiction we still call modern.C. Howells focused his discussion on the rising middle class .and the way they lived. Mark Twain preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories. While Henry James had apparently laid a greater emphasis on the "inner world" of man.4. Why are naturalists inevitably pessimistic in their view?A. Naturalism was greatly influenced by Darwin's evolutionary theory and French literature.B. Naturalists accepted the more negative implications of Darwin’s theory and use it to count for the behavior of those characters in literary works who were conceived as more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes, their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.C. Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author's tone in writing becomesless serious and less sympathetic but moreironic and more pessimistic.◆Mark Twain(The Celebrated JumpingFrog of Calaveras County//InnocentsAbroad//The Gilded Age)1. Mark Twain and Henry James are tworepresentatives of the realistic writers inAmerican literature. How is Twain'srealism different from James’s realism?A. Mark Twain's realism is tainted withlocal color, preferring, to have his ownregion and people at the forefront of hisstories.B. James's realism is concerned with the"inner world" of man.C. James's realism is also concerned withthe international theme.D. Twain's language is simple andcolloquial.E. Twain employs humor in h is writingF. James's language is elaborate and refinedwith lengthy psychological analyses.2. What is the language style of MarkTwain?A. Use of vernacular made colloquialspeech an accepted, respected literarymedium in literary history.B. Words: colloquial, concrete and direct ineffect;C. Sentence structures: simple, evenungrammaticalD. Local colorism: his characters areconfined to a particular region and to aparticular historical moment; speak with astrong accent; different characters fromdifferent background talk differently.3. In American literature what is thesignificance of Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn by Mark Twain?The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and,especially, its sequence Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn proved themselves to bethe milestone in American literature, andthus firmly established Twain's position inthe literary world.The childhood of Tom Sawyer and HuckFinn in the Mississippi is a record of avanished way of life in the pre-Civil WarMississippi valley and it has movedmillions of people of different ages andconditions all over the world.Huckleberry Finn marks the climax ofTwain's literary creativity. Hemingwayonce described the novel the one bookforms which “a modern American literaturecomes".4. Briefly discuss Mark Twain's art offiction in terms of the setting, thelanguage and the characters, etc. , basedon his novel Adventures of HuckleberryFinn.A. Mark Twain uses the Mississippi valleyas his fictional kingdom, writing about thelandscape and people, the customs and thedialects of one particular region, and istherefore known as a local colorist.B. He creates life-like characters, especiallythe conventional Huckleberry Finn, whoruns away from civilization and standsopposite to conventional morality.C. He uses a simple, direct vernacularlanguage, totally different from anyprevious literary language. It is the kind ofcolloquial language belonging to the lowerclass, the living local American English.D. He has created a special humor tosatirize social injustices and the decayedconvention.5. Summarize the story of Mark Twain'sAdventures of Huckleberry Finn inabout 100 words and comment on thetheme of the novel.Huck escapes from a lonely cabin where hehas been punished by his father. He meetsJim, a run-away slave, and they start downthe river on a raft. After several adventures,the raft is hit and they are separated. Huckis saved and later he discover Jim. They setout again, giving refuge to a gang of frauds.Then he finds that Jim has been sold by the“King”. He and Tom try to rescue Jim. Inthe rescue, Tom is shot and Jim isrecaptures. Later, Tom reveals that therescue is necessary only because he wantsthe adventure. At last Huck is safe becausehis father dies. The theme of the novel is toexpose the pre-Civil War American society.It presents a sample of the small townworld of America and a survey of the socialworld from the bank of the river that runsthrough the heart of the country.◆Henry James(Daisy Miller//TheAmerican)1. What is the most famous theme inHenry James's fiction? And what is hisfavourite approach in characterization,which makes him different from MarkTwain and W. D. Howells as realists?Give two titles of his works in which thistheme and this approach are employed.(l) His most famous theme is internationaltheme.(2) Psychological approach.(3) The Portrait of A Lady; Daisy Miller.2. Daisy Miller brought Henry Jamesinternational fame for the first time.What’s the character of Daisy Miller, theprotagonist?A. the American Girl in Europe, embodyingthe spirit of the New World.B. Innocence turns out to be an admiringbut a dangerous quality and her defiance ofsocial taboos in the Old World finallybrings her to a disaster.3. According to Henry James' viewpoint,what is the conflict between theAmerican personalities and Europeanpersonalities?James's admiration for European culture ledhim to a lifelong interest in the conflict ofthe American and European personalities.He saw that Europeans were often regardedas overrefined, degenerate, and artificial byAmericans, and that Americans wereconsidered naive, vulgar, and ignorant bymany Europeans. The misunderstandingcaused personality conflicts. The typicalAmerican in James’ nov el is fresh,enthusiastic, not perhaps as cultured as hemight be, but eager to learn, and basically“good" in spite of h is disregard of theoutworn conventions and social graces ofEurope. The European, on the other hand, ishighly cultivated, urban, sometimes boring,but always correct. He was, however,something unprincipled. The Americansoften appeared to stand for morality, theEuropeans for manners.4. Henry James is regarded as one of themost important writers in the Age ofRealism in America. Try to discuss hisliterary achievements.A. International themes: novels always setagainst larger international background,usually between Europe and America;B. Psychological realism: concerned withthe inner life of human being, generallyregarded as the founder of psychologicalrealism and of 20th century"stream-of-consciousness;C. Highly refined language: most expertstylist in his time;D. Narrative point of view: moving awayfrom authorial omniscience9 makingcharacters reveal themselvesE. Literary criticism: “The Art of Fiction",theme: aim of the novel is to present life;freedom of the artist to write aboutanything that concerns him.5. Henry James is generally regarded asthe forerunner of the 20th century"stream-of-consciousness" novels andthe founder of psychological realism.Based on his work Daisy Miller, brieflydiscuss why he achieved this glory.A. James's fame generally rests upon hisnovels and stories with the internationaltheme.B. Henry James's literary criticism is anindispensable part of his contribution toliterature. It is both concerned with formand devoted to human values.C. James's emphasis on psychology and onthe human consciousness proves to be a bigbreakthrough in novel writing and has greatinfluence on the coming generations.D. Henry James is not only one of the mostimportant realists of the period before theFirst World War, but also the most expertstylist of his time.6. The publication of Daisy Millerbrought Henry James international famefor the first time. Try to discuss thecharacter of Daisy Miller and the themeof the novel.Daisy MillerA. A cultural type who embodies the spiritof the New World.B. Innocence--- the keynote of hercharacter; defiance of social taboo in theOld World which brings her to a disaster inthe clash between two different cultures.Theme of the novel: one of James's earlyworks dealing with the international theme----to set a novel against a largerinternational background, usually betweenEurope and America, and centered on theconfrontation of the two different cultureseach with its peculiar value, systems.◆Emily Dickinson(Because I could not stop for Death----//Iheard a Fly buzz—When I died---//Thisis my Letter to the World//I Like to see itlap the Miles---)Emily Dickinson is now recognized notonly as a great poetess on her own rightbut as a poetess of considerable influenceupon American poetry of the presentcentury. What are the qualities of herpoems?A. Dickinson’s poems are usually based onher own experiences, her sorrows and joys.B. Love is another subject Dickinson dwelt on.C. Many poems Dickinson 'wrote are about nature, in which her general skepticism about the relationship between man and nature is well-expressedD. Dickinson's poetry is unique and unconventional in its own way. Her poems have no titles, hence are always quoted by their first lines.Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death-------"What figure of speech is used in Line l and Line 4? Personification.What do "the School”,"the Fields of Gazing Grain" and "th eSetting Sun”represent?They represent three stages of life: "the School"-youth; "the Fields of Gazing"----ma ture period; “the Setting Sun"-end of life.◆Theodore Dreiser(Sister Carrie//American Tragedy)1. Theodore Dreiser is a celebrated American novelist in the realistic period. What does he discuss in his novel? Give examples to prove your viewpoint. Dreiser set himself to project the American values for what he had found them to be materialistic to the core. Living in such a society with such a value system, the human individual is obsessed with a never-ending, yet meaningless search for satisfaction of his desires. One of the desires is for money which was a motivating purpose of life in the United States in the late 19th century.For example, in Sister Carrie, there is not one character whose status is not determined economically. Sex is another human desire that Dreiser explored to considerable lengths in his novels to reveal the dark side of human nature. In Sister Carrie, Carrie climbs up the social ladder by means of her sexual appeal. Like all naturalists he was restrained from finding a solution to the social problems that appeared in his novels and accordingly almost all his works have tragic endings.2. What is Dreiser’s style?A. For lack of concision, his writings appear more inclusive and less selective, and the readers are sometimes burdened with massive detailed descriptions of characters and events.B. The time sequence is clear and the plot is straightforward, his sentence structure is awkward, inept and occasionally flatly wrong in word selection and meaning, and mixed and disorganized in voice and tone.C. He broke away from the genteel tradition of literature and dramatized the life in a very realistic way.3. Even then he stood there, hidden wholly in that kindness which is night, while the uprising fumes filled the room. When the odor reached his nostrils , he quit his attitude and fumbled for the bed."What's the use?" he said, weakly, as he stretched himself to rest.The above is quoted from Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie. Brieflytell the situation that leads to the suicideand interpret Hurstwood's final words"What's the use"?A. Sister Carrie has made a great success.As her fame arises, she deserts her formerlover Hurstwood In a cold winter;Hurstwood makes a last attempt to seekhelp from Carrie, but has failed, so indesperation, he decides to kill himself byturning on the gas.B. By making that comment, Hurstwoodseems to have realized that it is useless tocontinue to fight against fate. His fate isnot controlled by his own efforts but bysome social forces too strong for him toresist, so he decides to give up.11. “ln your rocking-chair, by yourwindow dreaming, shall you long, alone.In your rocking-chair, by your window,shall you dream such happiness as youmay never feel. “(from TheodoreDreiser's Sister Carrie)What idea can you draw from the“rocking-chair"?A. The rocking-chair is a symbol standingfor fate. It is like a cradle that makes onefeel peaceful.B. It is also like a tide that ever goes onwith life, the destiny of which is uncertain.1.We dasn't stop again at any town fordays and days; kept right along down theriver. We was down south in the warmweather now, and a mighty long ways fromhome. We begun to come to trees withSpanish moss on them, hanging downfrom the limbs like long, gray beards. Itwas the first I ever see it growing, and itmade the woods look solemn and dismal.So now the frauds reckoned they was outof danger, and they begun to work thevillages again.答：Mark Twain's Adventures ofHuckleberry Finn, “we” refers to Jim andHuck, The features of the language of thisnovel:Vernacular language.2.This is my letter to the world/that neverwrote to me/the simple News that naturetold /with tender Majesty答：Emily Dickinson, “the world ”meansthe human world. The author thinks Natureis more friendly than the human world. Shecould communicate with nature easily.Nature usually reveals the truth of life,i.ethe simple new.3.“The eyes around-had wrung themdry-/and breaths were gathering firm/Forthat last Onset-when the King/bewitnessed-in the Room-”答：EmilyDickinson ,I heard a Fly buzz-when I died.The theme is description of the moment ofdeath. The first line means the relatives andfriends had cried and cried that there wereno tears any more.4.With Blue-uncertain stumblingBuzz-/Between the light-and me -/Andthen the Windows failed-and then/I couldnot see to see-答：Emily Dickinson ,I hearda Fly buzz-when I died.windows stand foreyes,for they are considered as the windowsof human soul.What idea does the quoted passage express?The last ting the dying person saw was thefly and its buzz.when the eyes failed,thehuman soul was closed and the person died.The speakers could not see any of theafterlife or God or angels she expected tosee.5.I like to see it lap the Miles-/And lickthe V alleys up-/And stop to feed itelf atTanks/-And then-prodigious step”答：Emily Dickinson. I like to see it lap theMiles. It refers to a train.here it is comparedto a part of nature. This poem express idea:the author’s suspicion of the relationshipbetween man and nature6.To fit it’s Ribs/And crawlbetween/Complaining all the while/Inhorrid-hooting stanza-/then chase itselfdown Hill-答：Emily Dickinson, this poemis an interesting study of how Dickinsonmakes the train part of nature byanimalizing it. The poet is getting the soundof the train into the poem.7.We slowly drove-He knew no haste,AndI had put away My labor and my leisuretoo, For His Civility- we passed the Schoolwhere Children strove At Recess-in theRing-We passed the Fields of GazingGrain-We passed the Setting Sun-答：Emily Dickinson Because I could not stopfor Death-, Figure of speech:Personification. They represent three stagesof life: the school-youth; the Fields ofGazing-mature period the SettingSun-end of life.。
SAT美国文学精华HIGHLIGHTS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
环球北美考试院●SAT美国文学HIGHLIGHTS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE 美国文学精华国家萌芽期National Beginnings美国早期的文学既非美国人所著也非真正的文学，这些著作不属于美国的原因就是因为它们都是从英国流传进来的。
且这些文学著作也并非我们所知的诗歌、散文或小说形式，反而比较倾向旅游记事及宗教著作的有趣混合文体。
最早期的殖民地旅游记事是记述美国首批移民者其冒险尝试与阻挠挫败的英勇纪录。
威廉•布莱福特(William Bradford)的《普利茅斯垦殖记》(History of Plimmoth Plantation)详细记载着五月花号(Mayflower)的航行以及于1620年登陆美国后的第一个冬天。
就这样，他们抵达到一个良好的港湾，安全地登陆了。
他们跪下，感谢上帝保佑他们顺利渡过了海洋，不再遭受危险和苦难，重新让他们站在坚实的土地上，这才是属于他们的环境。
…然而我还是忍不住要说，这些可怜人们的目前处境令我震惊。
我想如果读者亲眼目睹我所经历的，也会有同样的感受。
虽然已经历经重重磨难，渡过了茫茫海洋，… 但是现在既没有朋友来迎接他们，也没有小酒馆来款待或为他们洗去一路风尘；没有房子，更没有小镇，不但无法栖息，也没有任何援助。
假如美国荒野未敞开心胸诚心欢迎殖民者的到来，美国的丰富天然资源永无从见天日之时。
约翰•史密斯上尉(Captain John Smith)在1616年的《新英格兰记》(Description of New England)里表示「渔夫无法在一天内用有钓钩和钓线的鱼杆钓到100、200或300只鳕鱼，则他必定是技术拙劣的渔夫。
」弗朗西斯•希金森(Francis Higginson)在他的《新英格兰的殖民地》(New England's Plantation)中声明「吸一口新英格兰的空气比喝老英格兰的强劲香酒更为惬意。
」希金森(Higginson)补充说明：此外，我其中一个小孩之前因为得到国王病(king’s evil)而导致他双手与双脚疼痛发炎，但是自从他到这里以后就比之前的状况好很多了，且有希望能在短时间内迅速恢复，当然与呼吸到这里有益于身心健康的空气也有关。
论杰克·伦敦作品中的自然主义元素
内容摘要作为一种文学思潮自然主义在美国文学史上起过重要的作用根据自然主义理论人的行为是由环境遗传和机遇决定的自然主义承接了现实主义的写作特色同时又有所发展它又为文学现代主义做了铺垫作为伟大的美国作家杰克伦敦(Jack London,1876-1916)享有很高的国际声誉他的很多作品在国内外都广受欢迎在我国许多读者对伦敦的作品尤其是两部动物小说野性的呼唤1903和白牙1906都很熟悉到目前为止我国对于伦敦作品的研究大多是对其内容主题及写作方法的简单介绍和评议但伦敦不应该被看作是仅仅擅长于动物小说的作家要更好地了解伦敦我们有必要从更多的角度对其生平及作品进行研究从而给他一个更为客观公正的评价同时更好地认识他在美国乃至世界文学史上的地位作为伦敦著名的两部动物小说野性的呼唤和白牙为许多读者及批评家所喜爱这两个发生在荒原上的故事毫无疑问体现了丰富的自然主义元素而作为伦敦的代表作马丁伊登(1909)已经被很多评论家和读者所研读与评论并曾鼓舞了无数人努力奋斗以在学习或事业上取得成功但就我收集到的资料来看迄今为止还少有人从自然主义角度对其进行研究尽管并非所有伦敦的作品都表现自然主义但这几部主要作品还是体现了明显的自然主义倾向本文是对伦敦的几部主要作品如两部动物小说与其自传性作品马丁伊登中的自然主义元素的一次尝试性的研究意图通过分析这些元素来揭示自然主义的作品中遗传环境时机等是如何控制这些作品中人物的行动思想和命运的实际上伦敦唯一的一部海洋小说海狼1904也体现了自然主义倾向鉴于本论文的长度在此从略了我希望这份论文的研究结果能证明我们把伦敦看作是美国自然主义小说家的代表之一是完全有理的这将有助于我们全面正确地认识这位作家关键词自然主义美国自然主义自然主义小说杰克伦敦AbstractAs a literary trend, naturalism has played an important part in American literature. According to naturalistic theory, human beings are controlled by environment, heredity and chance. Naturalism has carried on and developed the writing features of realism, and at the same time it has helped lay the foundation of literary modernism. As a great American writer, Jack London (1876-1916) is well-known through the world and many of his works are very popular both at home and abroad. Many Chinese readers are familiar with London’s works especially his two animal novels The Call of the Wild (1903)and White Fang (1906). But up to now, the studies on London’s works are mainly introductory of t he contents, themes and writing skills. London should not be taken as a writer who is only good at depicting dogs and wolves. To know more about London, we must study his life and his works from more perspectives and then we can give him a comparatively e quitable and objective comment and recognize his proper status in the literary history of America and the world.The Call of the Wild and White Fang are loved by many readers and critics. As the stories take place in the wilderness, they obviously contain naturalistic elements in the narration. London’s masterpiece, Martin Eden (1909), has also been read and studied by many critics and common readers. It is a book which has encouraged many people to work hard to succeed in their study and their career. But as for the materials and comments I have collected about it, few have approached it from the naturalistic point of view. However, from these main works of London’s we can clearly see the naturalistic elements although not all his works show the naturalistic tendency.The present thesis is a tentative study of the naturalistic elements in London’s main works as mentioned above. It aims to analyze the naturalistic elements in these novels to illuminate how environment, heredity, and chance determine a person’s fate as London sees it. Actually, London’s only sea novel The Sea Wolf (1904) also demonstrates a naturalistic tendency. But due to the length of this thesis, I’d like to discuss it in another paper. From the result of my study, I hope we can have a better understanding of Jack London as one of the representatives of American naturalism.Key words: Naturalism; American naturalism; naturalistic novel; Jack LondonIntroductionLiterary criticism of Jack London has proliferated since the 1970s. Some critics appraise his works and some appraise his person; some analyze his works as realistic and some as naturalistic; some criticize him as a proletarian writer while the others praise him highly for this. London is a paradoxical figure and this is one of the many reasons why he and his works have been and are still been studied throughout the world besides his rich and colorful description, vivid characterization and accurate psychoanalysis of the characters in his works, especially of animals.Jack London has been in the forefront of the move toward naturalistic fiction and realism in America. He has been deeply influenced by Darwin’s ideas of constant struggle in nature and “the survival of the fittest”. His social fiction gives him credence as a spokesman for the working class because of his strong sympathy for the poor. As a folk hero, London has achieved a popularity which, along with Mark Twain, may make him a permanent figure in American mythology. London is also extremely popular abroad, especially in Europe and the former Soviet Union. London's reputation as a solid craftsman—especially of short stories—has now been established firmly, even among literary critics as more and more critics find London's works a subject worthy of discussion. London’s works are very popular in China and they have been praised and read by many Chinese people up to the present. Besides the vivid characterization and rich and colorful description in his works, his fame in China is also linked with his status as the spokesman of the working class and his sympathies towards the downtrodden in such works as The Iron Heel (1907) and The People of the Abyss (1903).Since the 1970s, more and more studies on London and his works have appeared and this gives us a great chance to read him, understand him and study him. Although there are many studies on London and his works in China, the studies are mainly introductory and commentarial without academic depth. There is only one page about London in the book A Survey of American Literature which is taken as a textbook for English majors in some universities and appointed as a reference book to those who pursue post-graduate studies in English language and literature. I especially feel unsatisfied because there are few systematic and detailed studies from the naturalistic perspective, because most critics and writers in China take London as a realisticnovelist. This gives us the opportunity to study his works from the naturalistic point of view, but at the same time it also makes it difficult to do so. In this thesis, I will attempt a detailed and systematic study of his main works from the naturalistic point of view.In general, naturalism is the literary movement that provides the best context for Jack London. The theme of naturalistic novels is often the escape from the civil society. A stock naturalistic device involves taking an “over-civilized” man from the normal society into a primitive environment where he must live by muscle and wit. London uses this device in The Sea-Wolf, The Call of the Wild and White Fang, although the hero in the two animal novels is a dog or a wolf.This thesis consists of three chapters: Chapter one is a general view of naturalism and American naturalism including two sections. Section one contains two parts. One is a brief introduction of the term “naturalism” and its social and philosophical backgrounds, and the other deals with the relation between naturalism and realism because these two trends have many similarities as well as differences. Some critics treat naturalism as one kind of realism or of an extremity of realism and some treat naturalism and realism as two separate literary trends. Section two is about naturalism in American literature which also consists of two parts. Part one is about the three traits of American naturalist writers and part two deals with difference between American naturalism and European naturalism. Chapter two is an introduction of London’s life and analysis of his two animal novels The Call of the Wild and White Fang. From this introduction we can know how London’s life experience provides him with a great deal of materials for writing and how this experience affects his character, his mind and hence his works. This can help to prove the theme of the naturalistic novels that environment plays an important part in controlling one’s behavior and thoughts. London is a prolific writer who has written about 50 novels and more than 150 stories, but those which show the naturalistic tendency are only his main works as the animal novels The Call of the Wild and White Fang, his autobiographical novel Martin Eden and also his sea novel The Sea Wolf. Section one of this chapter is a brief introduction of London’s life and section two is the analysis of the controlling power of environment in these two novels, while section three is about the significance of the two novels. Chapter three is a detailed analysis of the naturalistic elements in Martin Eden. The first three parts of this chapter are about the controlling power of environment, the controlling power of heredity and thecontrolling power of chance in this novel, while the last part is about the significance of this novel. By this analysis, we can see how environment, heredity and chance affect and control the thoughts, behavior and speech of the characters, especially Martin and Ruth. The last part of this thesis is the conclusion which discusses London’s contribution to literature and his status in the world now.Chapter 1A General View of Naturalism and American Naturalism1.1 Naturalism1.1.1 NaturalismIt seems that many can answer the question what naturalism is but few can give the term a precise definition acceptable to all. Webster’s Dictionary gives a concise definition:A made of thought (religious, moral or philosophical) glorifying nature and excludingsupernatural and spiritual elements/ close adherence to nature in art or literature, esp. (inliterature) the technique, chiefly associated with Zola, used to present a naturalisticphilosophy, esp. by emphasizing the effect of heredity and environment on humannature and action (p667).And in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, we find a comparatively more detailed definition:Naturalism, late 19th- and early 20th- century aesthetic movement, inspired byadaptation of the principles and methods of natural science, especially the Darwinianview of nature, to literature and art. In literature it extended the tradition of Realism,aiming at an even more faithful, unselective representation of reality, a veritable “sliceof life”, presented without moral judgment. Naturalism differed from Realism in itsassumption of scientific determinism, which led naturalistic authors to emphasizeman’s accidental, physiological nature rather than his moral or rational equalities.Individual characters were seen as helpless products of heredity and environment,motivated by strong instinctual drives from within, and harassed by social andeconomic pressures from without. As such, they had little will or responsibility for theirfates, and the prognosis for their “cases” was pessimistic at the outset (p559).In the 19th century, the industrial revolution spread over the entire face of Western Europe and North America. In 1859, Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published and his theory of evolution was on everyone’s lips. The scientific discoveries gave people of that age a new way of viewing and understanding themselves. Darwin’s evolutionary theory gave naturalism its theoretical basis. Donald Pizer points out that Darwin’s evolutionary theory is the comparatively mostimportant theory to naturalism. “Darwin’s On the Origin of Species would prove more important for naturalism, though it came out as early as 1859” (Pizer, 2000:27).But before Darwin’s ideas were available in a literary form, they were first transformed by Emile Zola (1840-1902), the French writer and theorist, in his Le Roman experimental (1880). As it is, Zola is universally labeled as the founder of literary naturalism. In his early literary theory, Zola put great emphasis on trueness. He repeatedly said that trueness was the precondition of literary creation. “Trueness is the foremost important thing” and “All artists must study and present the true nature” (Liu Mingjiu, 1989:13-14). Zola beli eved that the nove list should function like a scientist, observing nature and social data, rejecting absolute standards of morality and free will, and depicting nature and human experience as a deterministic and mechanistic process. All reality could be explained by a biological understanding of matter subject to natural laws. Besides his emphasis on “trueness”, Z ola advocated the original creation of writers and this is another important trait of early naturalistic theory. Zola also called for the method of ob serving and analyzing the society from the biological and hereditary points of view. In his eyes, controlled by heredity and environment, man was the product of his temperament in a social context.So naturalism describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity to its study of human beings. For naturalists, since human beings are, in Zola’s phrase, “human beasts”, characters can be studied through their relationships to their surroundings. Through this objective study of human beings, naturalistic writers believe that the laws behind the forces which control one’s behavior may be studied and understood. Naturalistic writers thus use a scientific method to write their novels by studying human beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the characters’ lives are governed by forces of heredity and environment. Although they use the techniques of accumulating detail advocated and practiced by the realists, the naturalists thus have a specific object in mind when they choose the aspect of reality that they wish to convey.Naturalism is closely related to determinism because it depicts characters who are driven not by personal will or moral principles but by natural forces that they do not fully understand or control. Human beings are living in a natural environment like animals. They can react toward the exterior and interior forces but they are helpless before these forces (Lin Xianghua, 1989:528). In contrast to other views of human experience, the naturalistic view makes no moral judgments on the lives of thecharacters. Their lives, often bleak or defeating, are determined by social, environmental, instinctive, and hereditary forces. “People in naturalistic works don’t act by their reason and thought. Their behavior is determined by their instincts, biological and hereditary elements” (Jiang Chengyong, 2002:193). Naturalism is in part a reaction by writers against the nineteenth century Romantic view of man as master of his own fate.1.1.2 Relation between naturalism and realismWhen discussing naturalism, we have to mention realism because these two literary trends have many similarities as well as differences. “Almost without exception critics have been in the habit of grouping the two terms together or at least of writing about both, irrespective of whether their work was supposed to be about Realism or about Naturalism” (Furst, 1971:5-6).Some critics take naturalism as an extension or continuation of realism with the addition of pessimistic determinism because naturalism has developed from realism and they have some similarities. “Both naturalism and realism emphasize the importance of writing about reality and truth and this is their most important similarity. The similarity of realism and naturalism is that both of them have a basic belief that the essence of art is the imitation and objective reproduction of reality (opposite to the imaginative, idealized and subjective method of romanticism)” (Xie Dongbing, 1999:1). While some take naturalism and realism as two separate literary trends. However, naturalism is a movement considered to be beyond realism. Pizer points out that “More specifically, though naturalism could have arisen only after absorbing the insights of realism, it insisted on subjects, attitudes, and techniques that bewildered and often offended its forerunners” (Pizer, 2000:21). Both movements try to portray real-life, but naturalism is based more on scientific studies. Realism is a manner and method of composition by which the author describes normal, average life, in an accurate, truthful way and it puts its emphasis on typical setting and typical characters. While naturalism is a manner and method of composition by which the author portrays “life as it is” without the writers’ personal feelings and comments.In his Responsibilities of the Novelist (1903), Norris points out that the real rival of naturalism is not romanticism but realism. Here he takes naturalism and realism as two completely opposite literary trends. Therefore naturalism is regarded as quitedifferent from realism. Mentioning the relation between naturalism and realism, Jiang Chengyong says “From the angle of understanding human beings, it is obvious that naturalism derived from realism, but what is more important is that it has its own development and enrichment” (Jiang Chengyong, 2002:9). In naturalism, the subject matter deals with those unpleasant experiences which reduce characters to “degrading” and “animalizing” behavior in their struggle to survive. These characters are mostly from the lower class and the environment is the commonplace. Realism usually depicts people who are living a happy life. It offers an optimistic picture of reality and although characters in such works will also have some trouble and difficulty, they will finally succeed and reach their goal. In contrast to a realist, a naturalist believes that a character is fundamentally an animal without free will. In naturalism, characters do not have free will; external and internal forces control their behavior. Both naturalism and realism emphasize the importance of reality but one reality is different from the other. In naturalism, reality is objective and scientific while in realism, this reality is subjective and typical. Naturalism aims to depict every detail of the reality to show life as it is, and this description is objective without any sentiment of the writers. Realism chooses the typical person and event to describe while neglecting some details for the convenience and aim of description.1.2 Naturalism in American literature1.2.1 American naturalism and its difference from European naturalismBesides Darwin, Spencer and Zola have influenced American naturalism literature.Spencerian philosophy pervaded in the late nineteenth-century America and his works became a bestseller second only to The Bible. His theory of Social Darwinism was very popular in temporal America at that time. Crane, Dreiser and London all earnestly read his First Principles and Synthetic Philosophy and they got the conclusion that “human beings are only some atoms and cosmic dust” (Zhang Hezhen, 42). Their former philosophical opinions fell apart and some naturalistic points of view took their place.In terms of literary theory and writing skill, Zola is the most influential figure on American naturalism. In the American literary field of that time, one would beseverely attacked as soon as he mentioned Zola, but he still had many readers and potential influence. Many writers, including the so-called American “founder of realist literature” Howells, all tried to get Zola’s works to read.Through the course of the 19th century America progressed from an agricultural economy to an industrialized nation and in the-post-civil war America, industry developed rather rapidly. Along with the industrialization came the rise of the towns, rapid increase of population in the city, the appearance of the numerous slums and the spread of crimes. The whole America was facing the threat of a series of problems such as unemployment and poverty. In the last ten years of the nineteenth century, the wide gap between the rich and the poor was amazingly great and this sharp contrast could be seen in every big city. The severe reality broke the “American dream” which was often boasted in the press so most people felt disillusioned and desperate. “The collapse of this predominantly agrarian myth brought Americans up against harsh realities with a very sharp shock” (Furst, 1971:34). In this term, the rise of naturalism in American literature is an inevitable result.Literature is the reflection of society. At the end of the nineteenth century the American literary field was disappointing because at that time the elegant European tradition pervaded in the field. That was h ypocritical tradition whic h aimed t o beautify the reality to meet the need of the bourgeois and upper c lass. It was evasive in disclosing the crime and philistinism in the society and it went farthe r and farther from the reality. This was the so-called realism at that time. Some sensitive correspondents such as Dreiser, Norris and London who often lived with the lower class felt this tradition disgusting when they saw the bleak side of the real life. They were eager to write what they saw and heard to tell the truth they knew. The actual need forced them to explore a literary method which could best express the reality, and these young writers took the task. They bravely disclosed the conflict with the biting style of writing and raised some social problems of importance. “That is why among the serious writers, not a few regarded naturalism superior to realism” (Zhang Hezhen, 43). In conclusion, in the time of abrupt change and severe comparison, the American life called on these young writers to describe the reality and to show the bleak sides of American society. From the above analysis, we can see clearly that the American naturalistic literature of the late nineteenth century developed from a realistic basis but was rather different from the former “elegant tradition”. Thenaissance of American naturalistic literature indicated the end of a time and also foretold the new turn of American literature.According to Furst and Skrine, although greatly influenced by European naturalism, American naturalism has its own characteristics. American naturalism grew in direct response to the native social and economic problems. Often the struggles of the poor with the capitalists are the theme of naturalist writing as, for instances, in the novels of Dreiser or the short stories of Stephen Crane. “In this way American Naturalism owes much to local factors than to outside influences, and it is worth recalling the so-called ‘local colour’ tendencies of the 1870s and 1880s which carried on into Naturalism, though with certain shifts of emphasis” (Furst, 1971:34). Another difference of American naturalism from European naturalism is that American naturalism was much less of a movement and there were no clear groups united by common aims and manifestos. Furst thought that this was its advantage because “Thus American Naturalism, extending from the mid-1880s well into the twentieth century, had a far longer life-span than its European counterparts which strangled themselves with their own theories” (ibid.36).1.2.2 Three traits of American naturalist writersAccording to Zhang Hezhen, American naturalists mainly have three traits in writing.(1) American naturalists usually take human beings as victims, first as the victims of heredity, that is, biological force, and they try to explain human beings and the society by natural laws especially biological laws (Zhang Hezhen, 44).For the naturalists, heredity refers to human’s instinct which is a kind of strong desire and impulse inherited from the ancestors such as hunger, fear and sexuality. These desires and impulses are the animal instincts which drive animals. One theme of the American naturalists is the description of the animal instincts of human beings. In their stories, human beings are only animals that when they meet with danger or pressure they will show their most original crude animal nature. The most appropriate representative of this theme is Frank Norris’ McTeague. Another novel expressing this theme is Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage. The author shows the biological force controlling the protagonist Fleming by describing his horror when he is in the battles.(2) American naturalists usually take human beings as the victims of environment.Almost all naturalists believe environment is a powerful force which is unmeasurable, mysterious and inevitable. Human beings in this environment are no more than some “cosmic dust”. Or as what Frank Norris describes in Octopus, are just some ephemeras which will be forgotten soon. To them, human life is a meaningless dream. These naturalists believe the mysterious and inevitable force of the environment is the result of society and economy. Crane’s Maggie, Girl of the Street is an outstanding example of this theme. The world in which Maggie finds herself is indifferent to people’s suffering and misery. In this novel, Crane does not care about the fate of such girls as Maggie. His aim is to show the naturalistic theme that human beings are the victims of environment by describing the power of this force.(3) American naturalists usually take human beings as the victims of fate or chance.Romantics believe nature is beneficent and virtuous. The relationship between nature and human beings is harmonious. Human beings are the masters of the world and they can control their fate and do whatever they like and want. Romanticists usually beautify nature and in their works, nature is the fascinating paradise. Naturalists regard nature as neither beneficent nor vicious. It is absolutely indifferent to human beings. Human beings can never make their own choice. They can not control but accept the arrangement of the mysterious fate. Mentioning Henry Adams, Frank Norris, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser as young writers, E. Ronald Martin points out th at they are keenly aware of the in difference of the universe. “In their works we get the first clear intimations of how depressing, amoral, and absurd the universe can appear to man in such nontraditional, nonanthropomorphic conceptual frameworks; they give us our first strong taste of naturalistic alienation” (Martin, 1981:xiv-xv).Crane’s fictional world is a naturalistic one in which man is deprived of free will and expects no help from others whatever. “It is a world in which ‘God is cold’ as is adumbrated vividly in some of his poems” (Zhang Hezhen, 45). “A Man Said to the Universe” is revealing enough: “A man said to the universe:/ ‘Sir, I exist!’ /‘However,’ replied the universe, / ‘The fact has not created in me/ A sense of obligation’” (Stephen Crane, 1895).The greatest achievement of American naturalism is t he exploration and innovation of the subject matter. Naturalists are conc erned about the suffering and misery of the lower class and they gre atly enlarge the sco pe of the subject matter in American novels. American naturalists make great efforts in exploring the writing skill. They emphasize the importance of being honest to describe the reality and they especially a ttach i mportance to details. Many naturalists were b orn in the poor so they are rather familiar with the life of the lower class and they show sympathy towards their sufferings and misery. “Actually, some naturalistic works describe the writers’ own experiences or the experiences of one of the family members so the description is authentic and trustful” (ibid.46). For example, Crane’s early works which describe the misery of the farmers are ba sed on his own miserable experience of youth and his impression of Boston slums; London’s Martin Eden is a description of his own experience; Crane’s Open Boat is the recall of his miserable experience of a boat wreck. That is why most American naturalistic works are so authentic and appealing.Chapter 2Jack London’s Life and Analysis of His Two Animal Novels2.1 LifeJohn Griffith London (1876-1916) was born in San Francisco of an unmarried mother Flora Wellman. Flora had been stricken by typhus in her girlhood, and afterwards she was unstable if not unbalanced. His father may have been William Chaney, a journalist, lawyer, and major figure in the development of American astrology. Chaney was very strong and had the experience of sailing for many years. He spent much time in writing and reading. Here we can see the influence of heredity on London. He also had a strong build and he loved reading very much. A thirst for knowledge snatched young London and he read every book he could get. London was very ambitious that when reading Ouida’s Signa, a story of an Italian peasant’s rise to glory as a musician, he had the thought that he could also reach his goal by working hard. London inherited the paradoxical characteristics from his mother while he inherited his adventurous nature from his father. He got great interest in adventure and he took any chance to sail and do some risky things. “In all the exciting and dangerous things, what Jack was mostly interested in was his desire to prove that he was the greatest wandering prince” (Chu Lüyuan, 1999: 50).London grew up in poverty and worked at various hard laboring jobs. Realizing that he could never become great by doing odd jobs and determined to prepare himself for better than common labor, he attended Oakland High School at age nineteen. There he got known of Mabel, sister of one of his classmates. Mabel became the prototype of Ruth in London’s masterpiece Martin Eden (1909). Always a prolific reader, London consciously chose to become a writer to escape from the horrific prospects of life as a factory worker. He studied other writers and began to submit stories, jokes, and poems to various publications, mostly without success. He also read many philosophical books and his philosophical thoughts were greatly influenced by the four great teachers of him: Darwin, Spencer, Marx and Nietzsche (ibid.99). Londo n believed in Da rwin’s evolutionary theory of “survival of the fittest” and also Nietzsche’s supermanism. These theories were presented in many of his novels.。
(完整版)吴伟仁美国文学第一册学习指南填空题集合
1.Early in the seventeenth century, the English settlements Virginia andMassachusettsbegan the main stream of what we recognize as theAmerican national history.2.The earliest settlers in America includeDutch, Swedes, Germans,French,Spaniards, Italiansand Portuguese.3.The first permanent English settlement in North America was establishedat Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.4.Captain John Smith’sreports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, havebeen described as the first distinctly American literature to be written in English. 5.There was a little of the religious ferment ans zeal that inspired such a tideof literature to flow Puritan New England.6.The Puritans had come to New English for the sake ofreligious freedom,while Virginia had been planted mainly as acommercial venture.7.Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the Puritan values that dominated muchof the earliest American writing, including the sermons, books, and letters of such noted Puritan clergymen as John Cotton and Cotton Mather.8.William Bradford , first governor of Plymouth, and John Winthrop, who held thesame post at Boston, were superior to even the remarkable qualities thatdistinguished many of their associations. Each has left a priceless gift: the former, The History of Plymouth plantation, the latter, the History of New England.9.The best way to learn more of the colonial Puritan mind is to meet twoimportant figures, John Cotton and Roger Williams.10.Most Puritan verse was directly plodding, but the work of two writers,Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, rose to the level of real poetry.1.Who were the earliest settlers? Where were they then? Who was themost influential group?2.What were the first American writings?3.Could you give a description of American Puritans?1.As we have seen,theology dominated the Puritan phase of American writing.Politics was the next great subject to command the attention of the best minds. 2.Freedom was won as much by the fiery rhetoric of Thomas Paine’sCommonSenseand the eloquence of theDeclaration of Independenceas by theweapons of Washington or Lafayette.3.The British government hampered colonial economy by requiring Americansto ship raw materials abroad and to importfinished goods at prices higher than the lost of making them in this country.4.American Enlightenment dealt a decisive blow upon the puritan traditionsand brought to life secular education and literature.5.The secular ideals of American Enlightenment were exemplified in the lifeand career of Benjamin Franklin, who instructed his countrymen as aprinter,not a priest.6.In 1783, the year the United States achieved its independence,Noah Websterdeclared, “America must be as independent in literature as she is in politics, as famous for the arts as for arms”.7.Born in Boston in 1706, Benjamin Franklin went to Philadelphia as a youngman and began his career as printera.8.From 1732 to 1758, Franklin wrote and published his famousPoorRichard’s Almanac, an annual collection of proverbs.9.Thomas Painewas the “Great Commoner of Mankind”, son of a nominalQuaker of Thetford, England.10.On January 10,1776, Paine’s famous pamphletsCommon Senseappeared.11.Philip Freneau is perhaps the most outstanding writer of the post-Revolutionary period.12.Freneau wasneoclassicalby training and taste yet romantic in essential spirit.13.For a few years, writing with sporadic fluency, Freneau earned hisliving variously as farmer, journalist and sea captain.14.As a poet, Freneau heralded American literary independence, his closeobservation of nature distinguished his treatment of indigenous wild lifeand other native American subjects.15.Freneau has been called the“Father of American Poetry”, and it i ultimatelyin a historical estimate that Freneau is important.1.What is your impression upon the person of Benjamin Franklin?2.What belief does the Autobiography stand for？3.What is Thomas Paine’s Common Sense about?4.What does Freneau’s poem The Wild Hony Suckle indicate?5.Say something about the style of the Autobiography1.In 1828 the election of the frontier hero Andrew Jackson as the seventhPresident of the United States had brought an effective end to the“Virginia Dynasty ”of American President.2.The United States had been a republic of sma l andlords, without sharpcontrasts of wealth.3. Through the first half of the century the pursuit of simplicity, utility andperfection remained an American characteristic.4.In 1837 the first college-level institution for women Mount HolyokeFemale Seminary, opened inMassachusettsto serve the“muslin sex”.5.Washington Irving’Sketch Bookbecame the first work by an American writerto win financial success on both sides of the Atlantic.6.The attitudes of America’s writers were sharped by theirNew World environmentand an array of ideas inherited from theromantic traditions of Europe.7.Romantic values were prominent in American politics, art and philosophyuntil the Civil War.8.As a moral philosophy, Transcendentalism was neitherlogical nor systematized.9.Romantic writers placed increasing value on thefree expression of emotionand displayed increasing attention to thepsychic states of their characters.10.In 1828 Noah Websterpublished An American Dictionary of theEnglish language.11.At mid-century a cultural reawakening brought a “flowering of New England ”.Led by Hawthorne, Emerson, and Thoreau and stirred by the teachings oftranscendentalism, writers of Boston and nearby towns and villages produceda New England literary renaissance.12.Washington Irving was the first great prose stylist of American romanticism, andhis familiar style was destined to outline the formal prose of suchcontemporaries as Scott and Cooper, and to provide a model for the prevailing prose narrative of the future.13.Washington Irving was the first greatbelletrist, writing always for pleasure,and to produce pleasure.14.The Spyby Cooper was a rousing tale about espionage against the Britishduring the Revolutionary War.15.Cooper launched two kinds of immensely popular storiesThe sea adventuretale and the frontier saga.16.Cooper’s enduring fame rests on his frontier stories, especially the fivenovels that comprise theLeatherstocking Tales.17.In their order of events, the novels in the Leatherstocking Tale areThe Deerslayer,The last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneersand The Prairie .18.The central figure in the novels, Natty Bumppo, goes by the various namesof Leatherstocking, Deerslayer, Pathfinder, and Hawkeye.19.In 1817, the stately poem called“Thanatopsis”by William Cullen Bryantintroduced the best poet to appear in America up to that time.20.Ralph Waldo Emersonwas responsible for bringing Transcendentalism toNew England.21.Emerson believed above all inindividualism, independence of mindand self-reliance.22.Two speechesThe American Scholar and The Divinity SchoolAddressby Emerson made him famous.23.Emerson’s truest disciple, the man who put into practice many of Emerson’theories, wasHenry David Thoreau.24.For Thoreau, as for Emerson,self-reliance and independence ofmindranked above all.25.The essayCivil Disobedience stated Thoreau’s belief that no man shouldviolate his conscience at the command of a government.26.The House of the Seven Gablesdeals with the effects of a curse, and though thetale itself is fiction, the germ of the story sprang from the auther’s family history. 27.The book Moby-Dick is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuitof a seemingly supernatural white whale.28.What baffled its early readers of Moby-Dick was the book’s wild extravagancesof mood and language, its effect of what the modern critic Van Wyck Brooks calls “a shreddedShakespeareanplay”.29.Irving had been notably successful in domesticating European subject matterwhile employing a British prose style: now Longfellow domesticated European meters as in his adoption of classical Greek meters to tell the story ofEvangeline Bellefontaine.30.The gentleness, sweetnessand purity for which his poetry was popular duringhis lifetime were the very quantities that caused the reaction against it afterLongfellow ’s death.1.What is Irving ’s style?2.What does Irving’s“Rip Van Winkle”reveal?3.Read Poe’s works, and tell what Poe’s theories for the short story and poetry are?4.Read “Raven”. And use it as an example to illustrate his poetic theories.5.What Transcendentalist views did Emerson state in his Nature?6.In your opinion, how should we read Walden?7.From Walden, we can know what Thoreau’s belief is？8.what is the theme of Moby-Dick?9.What is the significance of the character, Ahab, in the history ofAmerican literature?10.Say something about the symbolism in Moby-Dick.11.Give a brief analysis of Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter.12.Can you say something about the style of Walden？13.What is Hawthorn’s style？14.What is Transcendentalism?。
American Literature
American LiteratureChapter One the origin of American Literature and PuritanismThe concept of “American Literature”1)As beginning with 1492 or 16072)As originating from1776 when the united states got itsindependence3)As “mainstream” literatureColonial literature marking the beginning of American Literature1.general trends1)A period that record and created history2)Made exploration and adventure as its thematic concern3)Gave rich and deep spiritual pursuit2.major characteristics1)narration of the adventures of the colonialists crossing theAtlantic2)the depiction of the natural environment of North America3)examination of the cultural tradition of the colonial residentsAmerican Puritanism1.as a religious tenet1)they were God-chosen people coming to a blessed land to getthe last chance to save themselves2)rigidity and idealism coming from their wish to build their cityof God on earth3)the doctrine of predestination, original sin, total depravity andlimited atonement4)doctrinaire opportunist: an idealist plus a practicalist——reason2.as part of national culture1)a code of values2)a philosophy of life3)dominant factor in American life4)a state of mind——the impact of American literaturethe representative writers1.Anne Bradstreet—metaphysicalFour elements; the constitution and ages of man, the seasons of the year, the chief empires of the world2.Edward Taylor—meditativeSplendid and exotica images; concerning about how images could speak of God; saw religious significance in a simply daily incidents3.Roger Williams—religious liberty and spiritual freedom4.John Woolman—goodness and piety5.Philip Freneau—nationalismChapter Two Eighteenth Century AmericaContrasting ways of thinking and represented by Edwards andFranklin shaping the national life of America in the 18th century 1.the similarity: they share the 18th century, and determine theAmerican character as a racial fact; the rift of conception and the ideational collision quicken the pace of the Revolution2.the difference: Edwards represents the religious idealism, whileFranklin represents the level-headed common sense about the universe; the Great Wakening and the Thinking of Enlightenmentthe Great Wakening◆Concept: It is a series of religious revival that swept over theAmerican colonies about the middle of the 18th century. Itresulted in doctrinal changes and influenced social andpolitical thought. In New England it was started by therousing preaching of Jonathan Edwards.◆Background: 1) it was an evangelical movement meant toaddress and redress the new sins2)the European Enlightenment fostered the pursuit of deism andskepticism among the educated3)the newly gained property of puritan and Quaker merchants werealso luring them into the pursuit of materialist gains4)Many people seemed to be drifting away form the old path ofreligious piety and there appeared people for whom no religious faith was needed◆Calvinist belief and tenets: 1) man was, since the Fall,basically evil and enslaved by his sense of sin2)God was all and would in his mercy and love work for man’ssalvation3)Forman, all he could do was to worship the almighty andhope◆Jonathan Edwards: 1. as a religious worshiper: A. the lastgreat voice to reassert the Calvinist stance so as to bring people back to its hold; B. Revival of the “original New England’s way”of worshiping God. C. A mere intellectual comprehension of God is not enough; an individual must be emotionally moved to understand the presence of God.2. as a literary man: A. Highly figurative language: themanifestations of the divine in nature—God manifests himself in nature and man, being a part of God, is divine.Everything is an image or shadow of God. B. Appealing to the inner eyes and the transcendent vision—inward communication with God.Translation: 我感觉这样一股力量：灵魂急待洗礼和净化；躺在尘埃里，和耶稣单独相处，用神圣而纯洁的爱爱他，相信他，倚仗他，追随他；奉献所有，满心虔诚。
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The Significance of American Literature & Emerson's TranscentendalismI.The significance of American Literature (especially the difference from English literature)A.The development of North American Literature reversed the history of every other national literature.(Instead of beginning with folk tales and songs, it began with abstractions and proceeded from philosophy to fiction.)B. The protestant work ethic-A belief that work itself is good in addition to what it achieves;- Time saved by efficiency of good fortune should not be spent in leisure but in doing further work;-Idleness is immoral and likely to lead to worse sin.C.Two kinds of writings in pre-Revolutionary colonies1.Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc, des igned to inform people ―at home‖ what life was like in the new world, and to induce immigration.2.Theoretical discussions of religious questions, political writings.Thomas Paine’s C ommon SenseThomas Jefferson’s D eclaration of IndependenceD. Individualism(A philosophy that differentiated the culture and literature of the U.S. from that of Europe.)Dictionary definition: a belief in the importance of the individu al and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence.BackgroundOlder Catholic religion: placed great emphasis on man’s duty to fill well the position in which God had placed him, however humble it might be, trusting he would be rewarded with an exalted station in heaven.Newer Protestant Religion:man’s duty is to make the utmost practical use of the talents and opportunities with which God had provided him.―Everywhere in the world poverty is inconvenient, but only in the United States, is it a lso a disgrace.‖ – Mark TwainIndividualism colored the work of all the great nineteenth century American writers: Franklin: self-reliant individualismTranscendentalists: self-reliant idealismPoe: RomanticismHawthorne: Psychological AnalysesMelville: Metaphysical probingsThree m ajor strains of individualism in American literature: pragmatic, romantic, and transcendental individualism.Washington Irving—often referred to as the first American man of letters, not really American in either approach or major subject matter. He might be the first author born on the continent to make a living by his pen, or to establish a reputation as an essayist and short story writer. Yet he was only in the narrowest technical sense part of the new world. He lived more than half his adult life abroad, dealt with more English and Spanish than American material, and was quite unaffected bythe distinctive ideas and attitudes developing in his young nation. —Rubinstein, P8II.Pragmatic individualismRepresentative: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)An outstanding tradesman, citizen, scientist, statesman, and political revolutionary.1.Franklin’s life experience-10th of 15th children, in a soap maker’s family- left school before 11- at 12, apprenticed to an older brother, a printer in Boston.-Meanwhile wrote several articles for the newspaper- At 17, ran away to Philadelphia.-Set up a printing press-42, retired with a comfortable annual income of 500 pounds-planned to devote the rest of his life to such scientific experiments as the famous one with a kite which helped determine the nature of lightning and electricity.- involved in volunteer social activities (the founding of the American Philosophical Society, planning the University of Pennsylvania and organizing the first free hospital in the colonies)-became active in the national and even international political affairs.-1776, appointed the first American Ambassador to France, successfully negotiated the treaty of 1778 which secured French assistance for the former colonies in their war against England.-1785, a key member in the Constitutional Convention which consolidated the thirteen former colonies into the United States.2.His major literary contributionsFranklin’s uncompleted autobiography, written at intervals during the years from 1771 to 1790. -The first real post-revolutionary American writing, the first real autobiography in English.-Portrays the picture of an active, self-reliant, confident, curious and reasonable individual who took completely for granted the great value of both useful productivity and personal prosperity.P oor Richard’s AlmanacModeled on the sort of farmer’s annual calendar widely sold at the time. ??????These annuals included dates of the full moon, notes of local high and low tides, suggestions as to the best time for planting various crops, predictions about the weather in the coming year, and occasional advertisements by local manufacturers or merchants. Franklin interspersed this material, year after year, with hundreds of proverbs, most of which he wrote or adapted, and bits of advice about business, marriage, manners, study and child rearing.All of these were expressed in short, pithy sentences, often rhymed for easier memorization.Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.He that would thrive must ask his wife.A penny saved is a penny earned.A small leak will sink a great ship.He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing.The emphasis on commercial success in these many other proverbs explains why Franklin has come down in American history as the perfect reprehensive of the now so much discredited American Dream of ―rags to riches‖, and why he is so often scorned by the idealistic youn g people who know him only as Poor Richard.―Declaration of Independence‖ (worked with Thomas Jefferson who framed it)III.Romantic IndividualismRepresentative: James Fenimore Cooper—an important landmark in the literary history of the U.S. Cooper is not a skillful writer. His dialogue is wooden and inconsistent, his Indians are hopelessly unreal, his descriptions are often longwinded and pretentious, his plot depends heavily on improbable accidents and absurd mistakes.In The Pioneer, he unconsciously formulated a, or perhaps the central American myth—the image of an independent, self-reliant, solitary man, the quintessence of individualism, in the untouched, unimaginable huge, virgin forest.IV.Transcendental IndividualismRepresentatives: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Emerson: consciously formulated the philosophy of transcendental individualism- born in Boston, son, grandson, great grandson, and great-grandson of ministers.- 1821, several years after his graduation, taught school- 1825, returned to take a degree in theology.- 1829, ordained as junior pastor Boston’s prestigious Second Unitarian Church. / married.- shortly after his wife’s death, he left the ministry becau se of his growing disagreement with the church doctrine.?Inherited $1000 a year from his young wife, bought a home settled down in a wooded farm village, 20 miles from Concord.- 1835, remarried- 1836, ―Nature‖ was published anonymously- ―The American Scholar‖—―the 2nd American Declaration of Independence‖, a declaration of cultural independence for the United States.- 1847- 1848, his talks in lecture halls in New England, the Middle Atlantic States, England, and later the Midwest, were extremely popular.- 1860s- 1870s, a series of ten volumes—―Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks‖Emerson’s transcendentalism:God exists everywhere in nature (nature is the expression of the omnipresent spirit)Each individual soul is part of the oversoul (nature is a symbol or material expression of the divinity of man.)Through one’s intuition or imagination every individu al can and should have direct contact with universal reality.→Man should therefore rely on his intuition to learn the truth.―…the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.‖—from ―Self-Reliance‖Emerson’s two sources of transcendentalism:Emerson’s idealistic view of the world—all men were basically divine.19th century Americans and liberal Europeans generally believed: ―the new world is a new beginning of mankind; every individual should rise to their full potenti al.‖Two other themes running through Emerson’s work:The world should be experienced freshly through each man’s direct contact with nature and his own soul.The importance of learning through physical activity in the everyday world.(These ideas were more fully developed by Thoreau and Whitman.)。