美国文学英文介绍【顶级精品】
美国文学的介绍Introduction of the American Literature.
4) Robert Frost’s definition:
➢ performance in words
5) Modern definition:
➢ We can define literature as language artistically used to achieve identifiable literary qualities and to convey meaningful messages. Literature is characterized by beauty of expression and form and by universality intellectual and emotional appeal.
the most controversial & the most misunderstood
Edgar Allen Poe
.
Time:
The age of Realism
the Civil War
1861
the First World War
1914
concern for the common-place offer an objective view
3) It helps you explore the nature of human beings. It gives you spiritual and psychological relief.
.
4. How to define the American literature?
❖American literature mainly refers to literature produced in American English by the people living in the United States.
美国文学经典名著 英语作文
美国文学经典名著英语作文The American literary classics have been a source of inspiration and enlightenment for generations of readers around the world. These timeless works of art have not only entertained and captivated audiences but have also served as a mirror, reflecting the complexities of the human experience. From the haunting tales of Edgar Allan Poe to the sweeping epics of Herman Melville, the American literary canon is a testament to the enduring power of the written word.One of the most celebrated American literary classics is "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set in the segregated South during the Great Depression, explores themes of racial injustice, the loss of innocence, and the power of empathy. Through the eyes of the young protagonist, Scout Finch, readers are drawn into a world where the lines between good and evil are often blurred, and the pursuit of justice is fraught with challenges. The character of Atticus Finch, Scout's father and a principled lawyer, has become an enduring symbol of moral courage and integrity, inspiring readers to stand up for what is right in the face of adversity.Another quintessential American literary classic is "The Great Gatsby"by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This captivating novel, set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, delves into the themes of wealth, social class, and the pursuit of the American Dream. The enigmatic Jay Gatsby, with his lavish parties and mysterious past, serves as a metaphor for the excesses and disillusionment of the era. Through the lens of the narrator, Nick Carraway, readers are invited to witness the downfall of the American Dream and the tragic consequences of the relentless pursuit of material success.Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novels of all time. This epic tale of man's struggle against the forces of nature, symbolized by the white whale, Moby-Dick, is a profound exploration of the human condition. The novel's central character, Captain Ahab, is a complex and haunting figure, driven by an obsessive quest for vengeance that ultimately leads to his own downfall. Melville's masterful use of symbolism and his deep philosophical insights have made "Moby-Dick" a beloved classic, inspiring generations of readers to delve into the depths of the human experience.Another iconic American literary classic is "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger. This coming-of-age novel follows the journey of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, as he navigates the complexities of adolescence and the disillusionment of the adult world. Salinger's distinctive narrative voice and Holden's sardonic wit have made thisnovel a beloved touchstone for generations of readers, who have found solace and resonance in the character's struggles to find meaning and authenticity in a world that often seems indifferent and hypocritical.The works of Ernest Hemingway have also left an indelible mark on American literature. Novels like "The Sun Also Rises" and "The Old Man and the Sea" are celebrated for their spare, yet powerful, prose and their exploration of themes such as the human condition, the nature of masculinity, and the search for meaning in a world ravaged by war and conflict. Hemingway's characters, often grappling with the harsh realities of life, have become iconic representations of the resilience and determination of the human spirit.The American literary canon is further enriched by the works of authors such as Toni Morrison, whose novels "Beloved" and "Song of Solomon" have explored the complex legacies of slavery and the African-American experience. Maya Angelou's autobiographical works, such as "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," have given voice to the struggles and triumphs of African-American women, while the novels of John Steinbeck, including "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men," have shed light on the plight of the working class and the enduring human spirit in the face of adversity.These American literary classics, and many others, have not onlyentertained and enlightened readers but have also served as a powerful lens through which we can understand the complexities of the human experience. They have challenged us to confront our own biases and preconceptions, to grapple with the moral and ethical dilemmas that shape our world, and to find solace and inspiration in the timeless stories that have come to define the American literary tradition.As we continue to explore and engage with these masterpieces, we are reminded of the enduring power of the written word and the transformative impact that great literature can have on our lives. The American literary classics have not only stood the test of time but have also become an integral part of our cultural heritage, shaping the way we understand ourselves and the world around us.。
1 History of American Literature 美国文学史 英语简介
The Postwar Period (1945-)
Poetry: The New Criticism (T. S. Eliot and Bishop), The Confessional School (Robert Lowell), The Beat Generation (Allen Ginsberg), The Black Mountain Poets (Charles Olson) and New York Poets (Frank O’ Hara).
fathered modern American literature)
Henry James
(with his “international theme” and his psychological realism, now considered as one of the most literary figures coming out of the 19th century)
manifesto of American
Transcendentalism”; “The American Scholar”,
rightly regarded as American’s “Declaration of Intellectual Independence” )
The Romantic Period (19th C1865)
The Modern Period (19181945)
The 1920s Novel: F. Scott Fitzgerald Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner the Lost Generation Drama: Eugene O’ Neill (the great American Playwright,
美国文学爱伦坡英文介绍
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809. He was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the death,he is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction story. He was a l s o the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
made Poe famous as a poet
B:Short Stories
1 MS. Found in a Bottle (1833)
《瓶中手稿》
2 Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque (1839) 《荒诞奇异的故事 》
美国文学各时期
1.Early Colonial Literature. 1607-17002.The literature of Reason And Revolution(18th century) The 18th-century American Enlightenment was a movement marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than tradition, scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and representative government in place of monarchy. Enlightenment thinkers and writers were devoted to the ideals of justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man.3. American RomanticismFeatures:1)From the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of he Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. It is also called “the American Renaissance”.2)The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.3) The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values.4) Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of original sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers5)The most clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period is New England Transcendentalism6)It ranges from the comic fables of Washington Irving to the Gothic tales of Edgar Allen Poe, from the frontier adventures of James Fenimore Cooper to the narrative quests of Herman Melville, from the psychological romances of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the social realism of Rebecca Harding.4. The literature of Realism (1865-1918)1. This new attitude was characterized by a great interest in the realities of life.2.Interpreting sympathetically the “common feelings of commonplace people” was best suited as a technique to express the spirit of America.3.They introduced industrial workers and farmers , ambitious businessmen and vagrants流浪者, prostitutes妓女and unheroic胆怯的soldiers as major characters in fiction .4.They approached the harsh realities and pressures in the post Civil War society either by a comprehensive picture of modern life , or by a psychological exploration of man's subconsciousness .5.Artistically ,naturalistic writings are usually unpolished in language , lacking in academic skills and unwieldy in structure . Philosophically , the naturalists believe that the real and true is always partially hiddenfrom the eyes of the individual , or beyond this control . In a word , naturalism is evolved from realism when the author's tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic .5. The Modern Period of literature1.The idea of “seize the day” or “enjoy the present” was pervasive, as opposed to placing all hope in the future.2.the writer’s task was to develop techniques that could represent a break with the past. Thus, the defining formal characteristics of the modernistic works are discontinuity and fragmentation.3.A typical modern work will seem to begin arbitrarily, to advance without explanation, and to end without resolution.4.They usually “screen himself” and speak ind irectly through an impersonal and objective story, which is usually a myth or a piece of the earlier literature, or a “mask”, that is, a persona.On the Characteristics and Speciality of Literature in Each Stage美国文学各个时期特点文理学院11级英语二班陈佳雯02。
美国文学史简述五篇范文
美国文学史简述五篇范文第一篇：美国文学史简述A Short Summary of the History of American LiteratureIn American Literature, Colonial and Revolutionary period, American Romanticism, The Realistic Period and American Modernism are the four important periods.During 17C and 18C is the American colonial and Revolutionary Period.Puritanism is the main school of this period, which is the practices and belief of puritans.The American puritans accept the doctrine and practice of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God.But due to the grim struggle for living in the new continent, they become more and more practical.American Puritanism is so much a part of the national atmosphere rather than a set of tenets.Jonathan Edwards was one of the great writers of the Puritanism, his works include The Freedom of the Will, The Nature of True Virtue and so on.Philip Freneau is “a poet of the American Revol ution” and “the father of American Poetry”.The Rising Glory of American and The Wild Honey Suckle are his famous works.Puritanism gradually declined at the end of 18C.As a result of the impact of European Literary Romanticism, there rapidly came into being the rise of romanticism in American.The American romanticism flourished from 1815 to 1865, which advocated importance to individual dignity and value, and they shared some characteristics— moral enthusiasm, individuality and intuitive perception.Transcendentalism, which appeared after 1830, marked the maturity of American Romanticism and the first Renaissance in the American literary history.It laid emphasis onspirit, individual and nature.Washington Irving is a writer of this period, who has been called “the father of American Literature”.He wins the international fame for The Sketch Book, which marked the beginning of American Romanticism.Ralph Waldo Emerson is the New England Transcendentalist.Nature, his famous work, is regarded as the “manifesto of Am erican Transcendentalism”.American industrialization was one of the important factors of the development of American Realistic Literature, which was the beginning of what Mark Twain called “The Gilded Age” from 1865 to 1914.American Realism came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism.It turned from an emphasis on the faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived.It expresses the common place and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.A realistic writer is more objective than subjective, more descriptive than symbolic.Realists looked for truth in any place.William Dean Howells is the champion of realism.He writes about the rising middle class and the way they live.The Rise of Silas Lapham, his masterpiece, is a fine example of the American realism.Mark Twain is a great literary artist and social critic.He writes about the story of the low class and is famous for his colloquial style and localism.The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is his famous fiction, which has been regarded as one of the greatest books of western literature and western civilization.After the WWI, some young writers wondered pointlessly and restlessly, while at the same time the y were called the “Lost Generation”.Then, there came into being the modernism from 1914 to 1945, it is used to show the literary art possessing outstanding characteristics in conception, feeling, form and style after the WWI.It meanscutting off history and a sense of despair and loss.It refused to accept the traditional ideological influences.F.Scott Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s greatest writers.This Side of Paradise is his first novel, it became immensely popular for the simple reason that it caught the tone of the age.Ernest Hemingway is the famous writer of this period.He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea.A Farewell to Arms is his masterpiece in which the author deals with the war directly.This is what I want to say about the history of American literature.第二篇：美国文学史梗概美国文学史梗概一、殖民地时代和美国建国初期最早来自这片新大陆的欧洲移民主要是定居在新英格兰的清教徒和马萨诸塞的罗马天主教徒，二者虽然在教义上有很多不同之处，但他们都信奉加尔文主义：人生在世只是为了受苦受难，而他们唯一的希望是争做上帝的“选民”，死后进天国，相信“原罪”。
美国文学知识简介
1.殖民地时期的文学The first writings that we all American were narratives and journals of the earlier settlers.In 1608，Captain John Smith published his letter under the title A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony, making him the first American writer. His next book was A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country. William Bradford: The History of Plymouth PlantationJohn Winthrop: The History of New EnglandRoger Williams: A key into the language of America (A help to the language of the natives in that part of America called New England)2.The literature of Reason and Revolution理性和革命文学In 18 century, two great revolutions: American Revolution and the Enlightenment, producing a number of famous political and literary figure, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson.Works: are mainly history, diary, political essay and articles about religion.Puritanism:Deism自然神论：held that firstly only one God was worthworshipping; secondly man could keep making progress by making use of his own moral sense and of his own intelligence; thirdly, man should love truth and do good; fourthly, education and science were important means to create man’s happiness.1.Benjamin Franklin:(本杰明.富兰克林，1706-1790)works:Poor Richard’s Almanac and Autobiography;12岁成为printer的见习生，16岁成为报纸编辑，还参与了《独立宣言》起草Autobiography: his rags-to-riches became the prototypeof many American’s dream of success. The prototypecharacterized by self-culture自学, self-reliance自利,self-improvement自我提高,self-cultivation自我培养，faith in the progress of society and the ideal of future,practical and optimistic attitude toward life.2.Thomas Paine：16 pamphlets: American Crisis.3.Thomas Jefferson: draft The Declaration ofIndependence.4.Philip Freneau:(菲利普.佛论诺,美国诗歌之父)known as“Poet of American Revolution” and “father of AmericanPoetry”;works: the wild honey suckle《野生的忍冬》and to the memory of the brave Americans《纪念英勇的美国人》3.浪漫主义文学the literature of romanticismThe representatives of pre-romanticism: Washington Irving, James Fennimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant.布莱恩特The representatives of post-romanticism:novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whiteman; essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Romantics characteristics: 1.moral enthusiasm;2.faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception;3.a presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s societies a source of corruption.advocate individualism and encouraged people to fight for individual right and human happiness bravely. The romantic writers attached importance to individual dignity and value, and believed that human nature was good. The works of romanticism mostly reflected the fantastic and thrilling stories taking place long ago as an escape of the civilized society and were rich in mystic color.1.Transcendentalism超验主义：Appeared after1830(post-romanticism), marked the maturity of American romanticism and the 1st renaissance in the American literary history. It means to rise above or pass beyond the limits. It laid emphasis on spirit and individual and nature.2.Free verse自由诗体：has no regular rhythm or linelength and depends on natural speech rhythms and the counterpoint对照of stressed and unstressed syllables.3.作家：1；Washington Irving(华盛顿.欧文)：the author of the 1st American short stories and familiar essays and the 1st American author to achieve international distinction.Work: the sketch book《见闻札记》；the legend of sleep hollow《睡谷的传说》（immortal Rip Van Winkle）2; William Cullen Bryant(威廉.柯伦.布莱恩特,美国诗人)the 1st American lyric poet(主要以nature 为主题); To a Waterfowl《致水鸟》and The Yellow Violet《黄色的紫罗兰》；Poetic translation of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey 3；James Fennimore Cooper（詹姆士.费尼莫尔.库伯，美国小说家）：leather Stocking Tales《皮袜子故事集》；The last of the Mohican《最后的莫西干人》★4；Ralph Waldo Emerson(思想家、散文作家、诗人)：the head of Transcendental Movement; work: Nature 《论自然》Self-Reliance《论自利》★5；Walt Whiteman(沃尔特.惠特曼，诗人)the 1st American poet to use free verse in poetry; works: Leaves of Grass《草叶集》—praised as “Democratic Bible” and as American Epic.其中的《自我之歌》Song of Myself最出名★6；Nathaniel Hawthorne(纳撒尼尔.霍桑，小说家) the 1st great American writer of fiction; works：the Scarlet Letter《红字》—the 1st symbolic novel; The house of the Seven Gables《带有七个尖角阁的房子》；Young Goodman Brown《好年轻小伙布朗》主题多为：human soul★7；Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(亨利.沃兹沃思.浪费罗，诗人)：Evangeline《伊万杰琳》；song of Hiawatha《海华沙之歌》；A Psalm of Life《生命颂》（最有名）★8；Edgar Allan Poe(埃德加.爱伦.坡，诗人、小说家、批评家)：1st American professional writer and 1st writer of detective storyWorks： To Helen《致海伦》；最有名The Raven《乌鸦》与Annabel Lee《安娜贝丽.李》；最有名小说TheFall of the House of Usher《厄舍古厦的倒塌》★9；Harriet Beecher Stowe(哈里特.比彻.斯托，美国女作家)作品：Uncle Tom’s Cabin《汤姆叔叔的小屋》---president Lincoln praised her as “the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war”(1st well-known sociological novel in American literature)★10.Emily Dickinson（艾米丽.迪金森，美国女诗人）：Because I could Not Stop for Death《因为我不能等待死亡》and I’m nobody. Who are you?《我是无名小卒！你是谁？》★11.Henry David Thoreau(亨利.大卫.梭罗，美国作家、思想家)作品：Walden,or life in the Woods《瓦尔登湖，或林中生活》。
美国文学【英文精品】
Colonial Period (1620-1750)
Literature of the period dominated by the Puritans and their religious influence
emphasis is on faith in one’s daily life
a person’s fate is determined by God all are corrupt and need a Savior
theocracy--civil authority in Bible and church nature is revelation of God’s providence and power Puritan work ethic—belief in hard work and simple, no-frills living
Overview of American Literature
The history of American literature isry.
Native American Period (pre-1620)
Oral
Revolutionary Period (1750-1815)
Writers
focused on explaining and justifying the American Revolution After the Revolution, this period becomes known as Early Nationalism. Writers begin to ponder what it really means to be an American. After the War of 1812, which removed the last British troops from North America, there was an even greater focus on nationalism, patriotism, and American identity
美国文学 英文介绍 经典课件
Herman Melville
? Characters: The Captain Ahab, Ishmael, Moby Dick
An Introduction to British and American Culture
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
? The first version of Leaves of Grass was published in 1855.
An Introduction to British and American Culture
Mark Twain
? Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens
? The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County made him nationally famous.
An Introduction to British and American Culture
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
? Walden is a record of his reflections when he communicates ish and American Culture
Mark Twain
? The Adventures of Tom Sawyerwas an immediate success.
? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn became his masterwork.
The Lost Generation
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) ? His first novel is This Side of Paradise. ? His second novel is The Beautiful and Damned. ? His masterpiece is The Great Gatsby. ? Characters: Gatsby， Daisy, Tom Buchanan
美国文学简介 英文版
American Naturalism—pessimistic realism/ determinism
The last decade of 19th C
I. American Naturalism—pessimistic realism/ determinism
1. Background 1) The emergence of “Modern America” Industrialism and science and the new philosophy of
Representatives:
Stephen Crane斯蒂芬·克兰:Maggie: A Girl of the
Streets街头女郎玛琪—first A. naturalistic work/ The Red Badge of Courage红色英勇勋 章(war novel) ——A precursor of Imagist poetry——The Black Riders 黑衣骑士
T. S. Eliot—The Waste Land William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens,
Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Hart Crane
Novel in 1920s
F. Scott Fitzgerald— Roaring twenties Hemingway—Lost Generation William Faulkner—the Deep South
Nathaniel Hawthorne（霍桑）, Herman Melville （麦尔维尔）,
{William Cullen Bryant（布莱恩特）, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow（朗费罗）, James Russell Lowell（洛厄尔）}——New England Poets,
美国文学浪漫主义英文版
美国文学浪漫主义英文版American RomanticismRomantic Period is one of the most important periods in the history of American literature. When Americans were constructing their country, they also began to realize their differences from their European counterparts. They began to hope to see an entirely different literature model which expressed American cultures. Great writers of that period captured on their pages the enthusiasm and the optimism of that dream.Romanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual’s experience of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. The romantic period of American literature stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It was an age of westward expansion, of the increasing gravity of the slavery question, of an intensification of the spirit of embattled sectionalism in the South, and of a powerful impulse to reform in the North. In literature it was America’s first great creative period, a full floweri ng of the romantic impulse on American soil.1. The unique characteristics of American RomanticismAlthough greatly influenced by their English coun terparts, the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，(1) the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America's landscape with its virgin forests, meadows, groves, endless prairies, streams, and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. (2) The desire for an esca pe from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales, in Thoreau's Walden and，later, in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (3) With the growth of American national consciousness, American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. (4)Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. (5) Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers.2. Representative writers and their worksWashington Irving(1783-1859) was the first American storyteller to beinternationally recognized as a man of letters and the first great prose stylist of American romanticism, and his familiar style was destined to provide a model for the prevailing prose narrative of the future. His first book A History of New Y ork from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (1809), written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker, was a great success and won him wide popularity. He is best known for his The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent (1819-1820), especially in which two short stories Rip V an Winkle and TheLegend of Sleepy Hollow have become American classics. Later he wrote works of history and biographies, such as The History of Life and V oyages of Christobra Columbus (1828), A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada and The Alhambra (1832). After that, he spent the rest of his life living a life of leisure and comfort, and writing. The Life of Goldsmith (1840) and a five-volume Life of Washington (1855-1859). He died in 1859.James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) is respectfully remembered as a master of adventurous narrative and as the creator of an American hero-myth. According to a charming legend, Cooper’s first n ovel Precaution (1820) was a response to his wife’s challenge to improve on the current British society fiction, and the failure of this work turned him to historical novels. Later, The Spy, a tale of the Revolution he wrote, became a great success in America and Europe. In 1823, Cooper published The Pioneers (1823), which together with other 4 novels The Deer slayer (1841), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pathfinder (1840) and The Prairie (1827) became his well-known Leather-stocking Tales. Cooper went on to write over thirty novels, including exciting adventures of the sea like The Pilot. Cooper created the American historical novel using authentic American subject.In general, American Romanticism was a kind of imitation as well as innovation because it appeared under the Western Europe Romanticism and finally it created a unique style of fiction and poetry. American Romanticism embraced the individual and rebelled against the confinement of neoclassicism and religious tradition. American Romanticism created a new literary genre that continued to influence American writers.。
美国文学英文 整理版
Three themes: 1. the idea of myself 2.the identification of myself and others 3.the writer’s relationship with the elements of nature universe vitality of a new nation and vastness of land.4. Give an summary and analysis of Chapter 3 of the Great Gatsby.The Entire story takes place in one summer in 1922. The novel describes the life and death of Jay Gatsby, as seen through the eyes of a narrator who does not share the some point of view as the fashionable people around him. The narrator learns that Gatsby became rich by breaking the law. Gatsby pretends to be a well-educated war hero, which he is not, yet the narrator portrays him as being far more noble than the rich, cruel, stupid people among whom he and Gatsby live. Gatsby's character is purified by a deep, unselfish love for Daisy, a beaufitul, silly woman who, earlier, married a rich husband instead of Gatsby and moved into high society. Gatsby has never lost his love for her and in an era when divorce has become easy, he tried to win her back by becoming extravagantly rich himself. He does not succeed, and in the end he is killed almost by accident because of his determination to shield Daisy from disgrace. None of Gatsby's upper class friends come to his funeral. The narrator is so disgusted that he leaves New York and returns to his original home in the provinces.The Chapter 3, describes one of Gatsby's fabulous parties at his expensive, rented estate near New York; it is the first such party that the narrator has attended. There is a passage which begins with a description of the elaborate preparations, which he watches from the house next door, and continues with his observations as one of the guests. He evokes a vivid atmosphere of contradiction; the party is crowded yet empty of warmth or friendship, the charm and sweetness of youth is spoiled by triviality and tawdriness, the splended house and garden have been purchased not for enjoyment but for the purpose of making an impression.2.How to understand the image of Gatsby?1.A romantic dreamer: time can be fixed, the past can be repeated , youth beauty and love canbe recaptured.2.Symbol for the whole American expense: the corruption of his dream by youth and beauty as its goal is the corruption of American idealism.How to understand the image of daisy:1.“A beautiful little fool”:Beautiful enchanting hollow.2.” “A member of secret society ”:society of establish wealthThemes:1. The declines of the American dream in the 1920s 2.The hollowness of the upper class First- person, reason: contact with all the characters in the novel. He is intimate enough to weave all the characters skillfully into a unity in the novel. He is a reliable narrator.Function:1.leads compactness and unity to the novel since the reader is confined to what Nick can experience and hear.2.With hold the information and let it revealed gradually thus.2. Give an comment on Ezra Pound's In the Station of the Metro.The excellent image in this short poem is not a decration. It is central to the poem's meaning. In fact, it is the poem's meaning.The"Metro" is the underground railway of Paris. In this brief poem, Pound uses the fewest possible words to convey an accurate image, according to the principles of the "Imagists".He tries to render exactly his observation of human faces seen in an underground railway station. He sees the faces, turned variously toward light and darkness, like flower petals which are half absorbed by, half resisting, the wet, dark texture of a bough.The word "apparition", with its double meaning, binds the two aspects of the observation together:1)apparition meaning "appearance",in the sense of something which appears, or shows up; something which can be clearly observed.2)apparition meaning something which seems real but perhaps is not real; somthing ghostly which cannot be clearly observed.3. Give an comment on Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken.This poem is written in classic five-line stanza, with the rhyme scheme a-b-a-a-b and conversational rhythm. The peom seems to be about the poet, walking in the woods in autumn, choosing which road he should follow on his walk. In reality, it concerns the important decisions which one must make in life, when one must give up one desirable thing in order to possess another. Then, whatever the outcome, one must accept the consequences of one's choice for it is not possible to go back and have another chance to choose differently.In the poem, the poet hesitates for a long time, wondering which road to take, because they are both pretty. In the end, he follows the one which seems to have fewer travelers on it. Synbolically, he choose to follow an unusual, solitary life; perhaps he was speaking of his choice to become a poet rather than some commoner profession. But he always remembers the road which he might have taken, and which would have given him a different kind of life.3." Because I Could Not Stop for Death" The poem begins with a leisurely image. At first, the protagonist feels totally at ease and the usually frightening death is described as if a familiar friend, gentle and polite. Continuingly, the poem is developed upon a basic metaphor that life is a journey. It was truly rather old a comparison, but Dickinson enriched it with her creativity and imagination: "School, where Children strove" --childhood; "Fieldsof Gazing Grain"--maturity; and "Setting Sun"--old age. Then “the Dews drew quivering and chill-” makes the protagon ist feel terribly cold, which may mean that they are getting nearer and nearer to the tomb. But at last, his companions, Immortality and Death, finally desert him and leave him alone to go toward Eternity. So it seems that though death cheats him and at the same time deserts him, the experience of death itself is not painful. Emily Dickinson’s poems just explain this kind of essence of life, which then lead you to a world of imagination and thinking.威廉福克纳写作技巧：Faulkner was known for his experimental style with meticulous attention to diction and cadence. In contrast to the minimalist understatement of his contemporary Ernest Hemingway, Faulkner made frequent use of "stream of consciousness" in his writing, and wrote often highly emotional, subtle, cerebral, complex, and sometimes Gothic or grotesque stories of a wide variety of characters including former slaves or descendants of slaves, poor white, agrarian, or working-class Southerners, and Southern aristocrats.写作手法包括“意识流Stream of Consciousness”、“哥特手法Gothic approach”、“象征主义Symbolism”nonlinear chronological order shifting narrating voice 南方情结south complex 幽默手法Humorous .Although Faulkncr's story is always regarded as difficult to read for its overlapping circles and disordered chronologies. the orders and narrations of Faulkner's works are what people will experience in real life.T herefore, the same as the real life full of enigma and mystery, debates and discussions on Miss Emily's "confusing" story will never end.5. Romanticism (or the Romantic Era) was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution.[1] In part, it was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature.[2] It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact onB卷A rose for Emily献给艾米丽一朵玫瑰is one of Faulkner’s most widely read in the American . The setting of the story is the American South. The theme of the story is universal, transcending the boundaries of time and space. It’s a short story tells about love, death, honor, pride, change, and loss."Compassion and Forgiveness" is anther major theme that we can find in almost any Faulkner story. At first, it might not be apparent in this case. We almost have to be told that these sentiments are behind "A Rose for Emily" before we can see them. The story can seem downright cruel, the characters wholly unsympathetic, and the plot gross. When we begin to see the magnitude of the tragedy, and its impact on multiple generations, we understand the story is a call for understanding. The story seems to argue that forgiveness, compassion, and understanding can only come by facing the facts of the past and the present, which are tangled up together in an tight knot. Faulkner is both mercilessly subtle, and painfully blunt in this story, but we can feel the spirit of compassion rushing through.威廉福克纳写作技巧：写作手法包括“意识流Stream of Consciousness”、“哥特手法Gothic approach”、“象征主义Symbolism”nonlinear chronological order shifting narrating voice 南方情结south complex 幽默手法Humorous .Although Faulkncr's story is always regarded as difficult to read for its overlapping circles and disordered chronologies. the orders and narrations of Faulkner's works are what people will experience in real life.T herefore, the same as the real life full of enigma and mystery, debates and discussions on Miss Emily's "confusing" story will never end.4.What is the theme of Dickinson's poem?爱美丽迪金森Dickinson's poems are usually based on her own experiences,her sorrows and joys. They are short; many of them are based on a single image or symbol. Emily was an energetic and outgoing woman while attending the Academy and Seminary.But within her little lyrics Dickinson addresses those issues that concern the whole human beings, which include religion, death, immortality, love and nature3. Why do you think Emerson called his first philosophical work "Nature" rather than anything else?To Emerson's Transcendental eyes, the physical world was vitalistic and evolutionary. Nature was, to him as to his Puritan forebears, emblematic of God. It mediates between man and God, and its voice leads to higher truth. "Nature is the vehicle of thought", and "particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts". Thus Emerson's world was one of multiple significance; everything bears a second sense and an ulterior sense. In a word,"Nature is the symbol of spirit". That is probably why he called his first philosophical work Nature rather than anything else. The sensual man, Emerson feels, conforms thoughts to things, and man's power to connect his thought with its proper symbol depends upon the simplicity and purity of his character: " The lover of nature is he... who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood". To him nature is a whole-some moral influence on man and his character.Imagism意象主义was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery, and clear, sharp language. The Imagists rejected the sentiment and artifice typical of much Romantic and Victorian poetry. This was in contrastto their contemporaries, the Georgian poets, who were by and large content to work within that tradition. Group publication of work under the Imagist name appearing between 1914 and 1917 featured writing by many of the most significant figures in modernist poetry in English, as well as a number of other Modernist figures prominent in fields other than poetry.2.What's the difference between Henry James' realism and Mark Twain's realism?Although James and Twain both worked for realism, there were obvious differences between them. In thematic terms, James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, whereas Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society. Technically, James pursued the Psychological realism, but Mark Twain's contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of Local Colorism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style.Henry James believed that reality lies in the impressions made by life on the spectator, and not in any facts of which the spectator is unaware, such realism is therefore merely the obligation that the artist assumes to represent life as he sees it, which may not be the same life as it "really" is. James shifted the ground of realistic art from the outer to the inner world.Mark Twain preferred to replresent social life through portraits of local places which he knew best. He drew heavily from his own rich fund of knowledge of people and places. He confined himself to the life with which he was familiar. By quoting from his own experience, Mark Twain managed to transform into art the freedom and humor, in short, the finest elements of western culture.。
美国文学史（英文版）
美国文学史（英文版）FranklinAmerican puritanism3. American RomanticismRomanticism was a complex artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution.Elements of Romanticism1. Frontier: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic limitations.2. Optimism: greater than in Europe because of the presence of frontier.3. Experimentation: in science, in institutions.4. Mingling of races: immigrants in large numbers arrive to the US.5. Growth of industrialization: polarization of north and south; north becomes industrialized, south remains agriculturalRomantic Subject Matter1. The quest for beauty: non-didactic, “pure beauty”2. The use of the far-away and non-normal----antique and fanciful:a. In historical perspective: antiquarianism; antiquing or artificially aging; interest in the past.b. Characterization and mood: grotesque, Gothicism, sense of terror, fear; use of the odd and queer.3. Escapism----from American problems4. Interest in external nature: for itself, for beautya. Nature as source for the knowledge of primitive.b. Nature as refuge.c. Nature as revelation of God to the individual.Romantic Attitude1. Appeals to imagination; use of the “willing suspension of disbelief.”2. Stress on emotion rather than reason; optimism, geniality.3. Subjectivity: in form and meaning.Characteristics of Romanticism:a.Romanticism was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism.(subjectivity)b.For romantics, the feelings, intuitions and emotions were more importantthan reason and common sense.c.They emphasized individualism, placing the individual against the group,against authority.d.The affirmed the inner life of the self, and wanted to be free to develop andexpress his own inner thoughts.e.Typical literary forms of romanticism include ballad, lyric, sentimental comedy,problem novel, historical novel , gothic romance, metrical romance, sonnet.Representatives:•New England Poets: William Cullen Bryant; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow;•Writers: James Fenimaore Cooper, Washington Irving4. Washington Irving (1783-1859)Information about his life:1, Born in New York City.Drew the inspiration for his first publication, Salmagundi(杂录), became the focal point for a group of New York writers in the early nineteenth century, called the Knickerbocker school（纽约派）2, In 1832, he traveled west, gathering material for “A Tour on the Prairies”.3, From 1842 to 1846 he served as American minister to Spain. In his final years he continued to produce books and revised and published his complete works. He finished the five-volume Life of Washington shortly before his death. Masterpieces:“The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Grayon”, “Bracebridge Hall”, “Tales of a Traveller”, “The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus ”Washington Irving quotes1, Acting provides the fulfillment of never being fulfilled. You’re never as good as you’d like to be. So there’s always something to hope for.2, A sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.3, Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.4, Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them 5, One of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and growing is doing more.6, A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother’s love endures through all.The Sketch Book (1819)The Sketch Book (1819), contains two most enduring stories “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. In both these stories, Irving aims at creating a past in which history and myth blend into each other, providing for a rapidly changing American society kind of historical tradition so apparent in England and so apparently absent in the new nation. The plots of both stories are based on old German folk tales. However, Irving fills them with the “local color” of New York’s Hudson River Valley.5. James Fenimore Cooper(1789----1851)Information about his life:1,In 1808 he served on the Vesuvius and on the Wasp in the Atlantic in 1809. These experiences later inspired his sea stories.2, Cooper's first novel Precaution (1820) was an imitation of Jane Austin’s novels anddid not meet with great success.3, His s econd, The Spy (1821), was based on Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly series, and told an adventure tale about the American Revolution, set in Westchester Country. The book brought Cooper fame and wealth and he gave up farming.Work:The Spy (1821)The Leatherstocking Tales (1823—1841)The Pilot (1824) The Red Rover (1827)The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans,The Pathfinder, and The Prairie (1827).PS:Cooper’s enduring fame rests on his frontier stories, especially the five novels that comprise the Leatherstocking Tales. The five novels are The Pioneers (1823), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841). A modern American historian, Allan Nevins, who has edited a one-volume version of the series, calls these five novels “the nearest approach yet to an American epic.”Cooper’s famous “Leatherstocking” series set in the exciting period of America’s movement westward. Natty Bumppo (who is often called Leatherstocking) appears in all of the novels in the series and is one of the best-known characters in American literature.Literary Achievements:1, The lst successful American novelistIn his fiction he dealt with the themes of wilderness versus civilization, freedom versus law, order versus change, aristocrat versus democrat, and natural rights versus legal rights.2, Cooper developed 3 kinds of novels:--the 1st kind is the novels about the revolutionary past (“The Spy”);--the 2nd is the sea novels (he also was the 1st writer to write a novel on the sea, “The Pilot”);--the 3rd is novels about the American frontier (“The Pioneers ”, “The Pathfinder” and “The Deerslayer” ).6. New England TranscendentalismBackgrounds:1, Ralph Waldo Emerson published ‘Nature’ in 1836 which represented a new way of intellectual thinking in America.2, ‘The Universe is composed of Nature and the Soul, Spirit is present everywhere. ’3, romantic idealism on Puritan soil4, 1836, the Transcendental ClubWhat is Transcendentalism:In the realm of art and literature it meant the shattering of pseudo-classic rules and forms in favor of a spirit of freedom, the creation of works filled with the new passion for nature and common humanity and incarnating a fresh sense of the wonder, promise, and romance of life.Major Concepts (main ideas)1, ‘transcend ere’: to rise above, to pass beyond the limits2, Believe people could learn things both from the outside world by means of the 5 senses and from the inner world by intuition.3, It placed spirit first and matter second4, It took nature as symbolic of spirit or God. (All things in nature were symbols of the spiritual, of God’s presence. Nature could exercise a healthy and restorative influence on human mind.)5, It emphasized the significance of the individual (the individual was the most important element in society, the ideal kind of individual was self-reliant and unselfish.)6, Religion was an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal ‘oversoul’.Major writers and Literary WorksRalph Waldo Emerson (1803----1882)Henry David Thoreau (1817----1862)7. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)About Emerson1, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the towering figure of his era, had a religious sense of mission.2, Emerson's philosophy has been called contradictory, and it is true that he consciously avoided building a logical intellectual system because such a rational system would have negated his Romantic belief in intuition and flexibility.3, In his essay "Self-Reliance," Emerson remarks: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Yet he is remarkably consistent in his call for the birth of American individualism inspired by nature.4,Most of his major ideas -- the need for a new national vision, the use of personal experience, the notion of the cosmic Over-Soul, and the doctrine of compensation -- are suggested in his first publication, Nature (1836).Achievement:1, ‘Nature’ has been called “the manifesto of American transcendentalism”2, ‘The American Scholar’ has been called “America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence”3, The contribution both for philosophy and literature4, His perception of humanity and nature as symbols of universal truth encouraged the development of the American symbolist movement.5, Emphasize the common life worth of highest art6, Believed the work’s form was determined by the writer’s perception of the higher truth he found symbolized in nature.Influence:1, A great prose-poet, Emerson influenced a long line of American poets, including Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Wallace Stevens, Hart Crane, and Robert Frost.2, He is also credited with influencing the philosophies of John Dewey, George Santayana, Friedrich Nietzsche, and William James.Henry David Thoreau（1817 –1862，Classically educated at Harvard，Two books published in his lifetime--neither sold well.1）If Ralph Waldo Emerson was the philosopher of Transcendentalism, Thoreau was its most devoted practitioner. Thoreau tried to live as a transcendentalist.超验主义者2）As an independent thinker, Thoreau became the head of the Concord Lyceum organizing lectures where he met Ralph Waldo Emerson.3）From 1841 – 1843 Thoreau decided to conduct an experiment of self-sufficiency 自给自足）by building his own house on the shores of Walden Pond and living off the food he grew on his farm. a) Thoreau later documented his experiment in his famous memoir Walden. H7e wrote thirteen drafts of Walden before publishing it. b)Another work that was a result of Thoreau’s Walden Experiment was his essay Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience has been a highly influential work that has inspired peaceful activists such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.4) On May 6th, 1862 Thoreau died losing his fight to the disease, Tuberculosis.肺结核His collection of writing consist of over twenty volumes. Emerson later published a collection of Thoreau’s poems in 1865.Main work: Walden瓦尔登湖--- a spiritual book--- a diary of a nature lover, a classic of American prose (this is a book of essays put together, exploring subjects concerned with Nature, with the meaning of life, and with morality)---3 aims in writing the book: to make people evaluate the way he lived and thought; to reveal the hidden spiritual possibilities in everyone’s life; to condemn the weakness and errors of society--- subjects: a)The essentials of life: living rather than getting a livingb) It is a condemnation of making social improvement and comfort all important.c) It stresses the importance of thought over material circumstance.d) It has confidence in the individual, and holds that individual freedom breaksdown the rules and barriers of society so that the individual can express himself and act on his own principles.e) There is the possibility for and importance of change in one’s spiritual lifewhich is in harmony with nature.--- Style:Prophetic 预言的voiceDirect forceful sentenceConversational in toneHumorProverbial 谚语式的expressionsBrief tales, fables 寓言and allegories讽喻MetaphorsNathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)“Like Edgar Allan Poe, Hawthorne took a dark view of human Nature.”Nathaniel Hathorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning Hathorne. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials.---Hawthorne is significant as a romantic writer because he used the New England regional past as subject and setting for his stories and he showed great concern about the American past.--- He is significant for his themes: the consequences of pride, selfishness, and secret guilty; the conflict between lighthearted and somber忧郁toward life; the impingement of ——---He is significant for his style He used symbols and setting to reveal the psychology of the characters. His style is soft, flowing, and almost feminine. He used ambiguity to keep the reader in a world of uncertainty.1.Themes in Hawthorne’s Writings1）Moral allegories寓言——a story where everything is symbol, used commonly to instruct especially in religious matters2）The sinful man 罪人3）Hypocrisy (伪善)4）The Dark side of human nature5）Religious in nature2. Hawthorne’s Major Works1）Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales + Mosses from an Old Manse(古屋青苔)2）The Scarlet Letter红字——His masterpiece, which established him as the leading American native novelist of the 19th century.3)The House of the Seven Gables(带有七个尖角阁的房子)4)The Blithedale Romance(福谷传奇)5)The Marble Faun(玉石雕像)3. Hawthorne’s Point of ViewHawthorne is influenced by Puritanism deeply. He was not a Puritan himself, but he had Puritan ancestors who played an important role in his life and works.1)Evil is at the core of human life.2)Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed fromgeneration to generation.3)Evil educates4)He has disgust in science. One source of evil is overweening intellect. Hisintellectual characters are villains, dreadful and cold-blooded4.Hawthorne’s aesthetic审美的ideas1) He took a great interest in history and antiquity（古物），to him these furnish thesoil on which his mind grows to fruition. Trying to connect a bygone time with the very present, he makes the dream strange things look like truth.2) He was convinced that romance was the best form to describe AmericaThe poverty of materials and the avoidance of offending the puritan taste——romances rather than novels to tell the truth and satirize讽刺and yet not the offend5. Hawthorne’s Writing Style1）A man of literary craftsmanship, extraordinary in the use of symbol: symbols serve as a weapon to attack reality. It can be found everywhere in his writing.2）Revelation of characters’ psycho logy: he is good at exploring the complexity of human psychology. There isn’t much physical movement going on in his works.3) The use of supernatural mixed with the actual4)His stories are parable(allegory)——to teach a lesson5)Use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty——multiple point of view.MelvilleEdgar Allan Poe (1809---1849): 象征主义唯美主义Edgar Allen Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement.Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre流派.He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, which resulting in a financially difficult life and career.Poe established a new symbolic poetry, formulated the new short story in detective and science fiction line, developed an important artistic theory, and laid foundation for analytical criticism.1) Father of modern short story2) Father of detective story3) Father of psychoanalytic criticism1.Poe’s Major Literary WorksPoems1) “The Raven” 《乌鸦》2) “Annabel Lee” 《安娜贝尔·李》3) “The Sleeper” 《睡梦人》4) “A Dream Within a Dream” 《梦中梦》5) “Sonnet—To Science” 《十四行诗—致科学》6) “To Helen” 《致海伦》7) “The City in the Sea” 《海中的城市》earlier entitled The Doomed City 《衰败的城市》Tales——two kindsHorror：Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque «述异集»：a collection of short stories The Black Cat《黑猫》Ligeia《莉盖亚》The Cask of Amontillado(红色死亡假面舞会)《一桶蒙特亚白葡萄酒》The Fall of the House of Usher 《厄舍府的倒塌》Ratiocination（推理）:The Murders in the Rue Morgue《莫格街谋杀案》The Gold Bug《金甲虫》The Purloined Letter《被窃的信件》The Mystery of Marie Roget《玛丽罗杰谜案》Literary theory:The Philosophy of Composition 《创作原理》The Poetic Principle 《诗歌原则》2. Themes1) Death –predominant theme “Poe is not interested in anything alive. Everything inPoe’s writings is dead.”2)Horror 3)Negative thoughts of science3. Poe’s theory for poetryPoems: 1) short but achieve maximum effect, "pure“, not to moralize2) produce a feeling of beauty in the reader3)He stresses rhythm, insists on an even(规则的) metrical韵律flow.真实能够满足人的理智,感情能够满足人的心灵, 而美则能激动人的灵魂4. Poe’s theory for short storyShort story should be of brevity简洁, totality全面, single effect, compression(压缩) and finality.5.Conclusion about his theories:--- Only short poems could sustain the level of emotion in the reader that was generated by all good poetry.--- The most important purpose of poetry is the creation of beauty--- The tone of its highest manifestation表现is one of sadness. (The death of a beautiful woman is the most potential topic.)--- The immediate object of poetry is pleasure, not truth.--- Music is essential because it is associated with indefinite sensations.感觉(alliteration头韵, assonance,谐音repetition)--- Poe preferred the tale to other fictional such as the novel because it is brief. He stressed the principle of concentration and thematic主题的totality.--- The writer must decide the effect first and then determine the incidents.--- Truth rather than beauty is often the aim of the tale.--- The merit of a work of art should be judged by its psychological effect upon the reader.6. Poe’s a chievement：Poe is generally regarded as a pioneering aesthetician, psychological investigator, literary technician and his influence on American literary circles can never be overrated.1) His aesthetics, his call for "the rhythmical creation of beauty" have influenced French symbolists and the devotees of "art for art's sake."2) He is the father of psychoanalytic(心理分析的) criticism.3) He is the father of the detective story.Raven《乌鸦》是爱伦·坡1844年创作的。
简单介绍美国文学英语作文
American literature is a rich and diverse field that has evolved over the centuries, reflecting the nations history, culture, and values. It encompasses a wide range of genres, including poetry, novels, short stories, and plays, and has been shaped by various literary movements and influential authors.The roots of American literature can be traced back to the colonial period, when writers like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine used their pens to advocate for independence and democracy. The 19th century saw the emergence of the Romantic movement, with authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville exploring themes of individualism, nature, and the supernatural.The turn of the 20th century brought about the Realism and Naturalism movements, with writers like Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, and Theodore Dreiser depicting the harsh realities of life in America. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s showcased the talents of African American writers like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, who celebrated their heritage and challenged racial stereotypes.In the mid20th century, the Modernist movement emerged, with authors like T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald experimenting with new forms and styles. The postWorld War II era saw the rise of the Beat Generation, with writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg rebelling against societal norms and embracing a more freespirited lifestyle.Contemporary American literature continues to thrive, with authors like Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, and Junot Díaz exploring themes of identity, race, and social issues. The genre also encompasses a variety of subgenres, such as science fiction, fantasy, and mystery, with authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, Stephen King, and Agatha Christie making significant contributions.In conclusion, American literature is a vibrant and everevolving field that offers a window into the nations soul. It is a testament to the creativity, resilience, and diversity of the American spirit, and continues to captivate readers around the world.。
美国文学(American literature
美国文学（American literature美国文学的雏形早期的美国文学是从欧洲文学的样式和风格中衍生出来的。
例如，维兰德和查尔斯·布罗克登·布朗的小说创作就是对英格兰哥特小说的模仿。
就连华盛顿·欧文Washington Irving的杰作《李伯大梦》和《睡谷传奇》The Legend of Sleeping Hollow也是十足的欧洲风格，只是故事发生的场景改为美国而已。
美国文学的诞生美国第一位在小说和诗歌创作领域取得显著成就的作家是艾德加·爱伦·坡Edgar Allen Poe （1809－1849），他于1835年开始短篇小说的创作，其作品包括《红死病》The Red Death、《陷坑与钟摆》、《颓败之屋》和《莫尔格街凶杀案》The Murder of the Rue Morgue。
他的创作触及了前人很少涉及的心理学领域，并且将神秘、幻想等元素融入小说创作之中。
1837年，年轻的作家纳撒尼尔·霍桑Nathanial Howthorne（1804－1864）将他的一些短篇小说集结成册出版，名为《重讲一遍的故事》Twice Told Tales。
这是一部包含了丰富的象征主义及神秘主义元素的作品。
后来，霍桑又开始写作长篇的传奇小说、类寓言小说，他的本土小说《新英格兰》New England以人类的内疚、荣耀和情感上的压抑为主题。
霍桑的代表作是《红字》The Scarlet Letter，讲述一个因通奸adultary行为而被驱逐出社区的女人的故事。
[hide] 霍桑的小说创作对他的朋友，作家赫尔曼·麦尔维尔（1819－1891）产生了深远的影响。
麦尔维尔以自己早期的水手经历为蓝本创作了许多富有异国情调的小说。
在霍桑的影响下，麦尔维尔的小说中也融入了很多哲学上的思索。
在其代表作《白鲸》中，作家通过对一场惊心动魄的捕鲸历程的描述，表达了对人类痴迷状态、人性中罪恶成分以及人类如何战胜这些天性的思索。
O. Henry 美国文学英文介绍
O. Henry(September 11,
American writer. He died of cirrhosis of the liver,
complications of diabetes, and an enlarged heart. He was buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina.
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O . Henry’s writing themes…
A class of life mainly in the western United States. A class of life in some U.S. cities. A class of life in Latin American These different themes have a close relationship with the author’s several major life experiences of living in different periods. The works which described the city life have the greatest significance ,and the maximum quantity.
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SOMETHING ABOUT Him...
1910
Died of Cirrhosis
1907
He married again with his childhood sweetheart Sarah Lindsey Coleman.
He moved to New York City, and wrote stories for the New York World, he won fame and money because his articles. But he was not only extravagant, but gambling, drinking.
美国文学作文英文
美国文学作文英文英文：American literature is a vast and diverse field, encompassing a wide range of genres, styles, and themes. As an avid reader and writer, I have always been drawn to the works of American authors, from the classic novels of Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway to the contemporary fiction of Toni Morrison and Stephen King.One of the things that I find most interesting about American literature is its ability to reflect and commenton the social, cultural, and political issues of its time. For example, in the 19th century, writers like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frederick Douglass used their works to address the issue of slavery and advocate for its abolition. Similarly, in the 20th century, authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck explored the impact of the Great Depression on American society.Another aspect of American literature that I appreciate is its diversity. From the works of African Americanwriters like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston to the Native American literature of Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie, American literature encompasses a wide range of voices and perspectives.Overall, I believe that American literature is an important and valuable part of our cultural heritage, one that continues to inspire and challenge readers today.中文：美国文学是一个广阔而多样化的领域，涵盖了各种流派、风格和主题。
美国文学英文版本5
From 1860 to 1914, the United States was transformed from a small, young, agricultural ex-colony to a huge, modern, industrial nation. A debtor nation in 1860, by 1914 it had become the world's wealthiest state, with a population that had more than doubled, rising from 31 million in 1860 to 76 million in 1900. By World War I, the United States had become a major world power.
Chapter Five
The Rise of Realism: 1860-1914
T he U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) between the industrial North and the agricultural, slave-owning South was a watershed in American history. The innocent optimism of the young democratic nation gave way, after the war, to a period of exhaustion. American idealism remained but was rechanneled. Before the war, idealists championed human rights, especially the abolition of slavery; after the war, Americans increasingly idealized progress and the self-made man. This was the era of the millionaire manufacturer and the speculator, when Darwinian evolution and the "survival of the fittest" seemed to sanction the sometimes unethical methods of the successful business tycoon.
美国文学英文介绍【精品】
Authors of the Age of Reason
Abigail Adams Benjamin Franklin Thomas Jefferson Thomas Paine
Romanticism 1800-1850
After the “Age of Reason” came to an end, the people of America were tired of reality; they wanted to see life as more than it was. This was the Era of Romantics. The main medium that presented itself at that time were short stories, poems, and novels. During this era, as appose to the “Age of Reason” the imagination dominated; intuition ruled over fact, and there was a large emphasis on the individual/common man, and on nature or the natural world. Gothic literature was also introduced at this time, which is a sub-genre of Romanticism, this genre included stories about characters that had both good and evil traits. Gothic literature also incorporated to use of supernatural elements.
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American Romanticism (1815-1865)
Learning Points
Distinct Features
Representatives Conclusion
Much classroom discussion will involve close textual commentary upon the assigned works.
Course Outline
1.Literature of Colonial American 2.Early Romantics 3.Transcendentalism 4.High Romantics 5.Realism 6.Local Color Fiction 7.Naturalism 8.Modern Poetry 9.Modern Fiction Before 1945
Philip Freneau
Philip Freneau(1752-1832)
A forerunner of American Romanticism or a transitional figure towards Romanticism.
Wild Honeysuckle a lyrical lament for the mutability of nature and an expression of faith in man’s ability to learn universal truths from nature. An indirect eulogy of America predicting Whitman
---- Having faith in human accomplishment and progress
---- Believing that an individual with industry and thrift will improve himself and his community, a self-mad man and an archetypal American success story that has since become part of American popular culture ---- Almost the first example of achieving the “American Dream”
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2.
Class attendance(10%)
Assignments(10%)
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4.
Classroom Discussion(10%)
Final Exam(70%)
Literature of Colonial American
“The first American literature was neither American nor really literature. It was not American because it was the work mainly of immigrants from England. It was not literature as we know it---- in the form of poetry, essay, or fiction---- but rather an interesting mixture of travel accounts and religious writings”
American Literature
Introduction
Course Description
This course will survey American literature from the Colonial period to the Post-World War II period. Readings will include poems, novels, essays, autobiographies, short stories, and philosophical writings, originating in different regions and social settings across the country. Some works are chosen from their historical importance, others for their aesthetic virtues. Taken as a whole, they form a rich collection of imaginative and critical writings.
10.Postwar Realism in Fiction 11.Beat Generation 12.Women Writers in America 13.Black Literature 14.Southern Literature 15.Modern Drama
Course Requirements
Our goal will be to analyze these works as diverse representations of American experience, ideas, and values. As it is created, literature in its widest sense can function as moral instruction, personal expression, and casual entertainment.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790)
An inventor, scientist, printer, political statesman, diplomat, exemplary self-made man, revolutionary hero, author.