美国文学选读期末复习资料
美国文学期末复习资料（作家作品）
美国文学期末复习资料（作家作品）——美国文学1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1）"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴2）“The Way to Wealth”致富之道“The Autobiography”自传18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传2、Washington Irving华盛顿.欧文 the first great belletrist 第一个纯文学作家，the first great prose stylist of American romanticism. 美国第一位浪漫主义散文文体作家“Sketch Book”《见闻札记》, the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature.现代文学史上第一部短篇小说和美国第一部伟大的青少年文学读物。
“Legends of the Conquest of Spain”《西班牙征服记》A History of New York 纽约的历史-----美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；The Sketch Book见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说-----使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家；Bracebridge Hall布雷斯布里奇田庄；Talks of Travellers旅客谈；The Alhambra 阿尔罕伯拉3.James Fenimore Cooper 詹姆斯.芬尼莫.库珀“Leatherstocking Tales”《皮袜子故事集》，包括“The Deerslayer”《杀鹿者》、“The Last of the Mohicans”《最后的莫希干人》、“The Pathfinder”《探路人》、“The Pioneers”《拓荒者》、“The Prairie”《大草原》, regard as “the nearest approach yet to an American epic.” 被认为是迄今为止美国最接近史诗的作品。
美国文学史及其选读期末复习资料题
1.Captain John Smith became the first American writer.2.The puritans looked upon themselves asa chosen people.is an annual collection of proverbs written by Benjamin Franklin.4.Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet Common Sense boldly advocated a “Declaration for Independence”.5.Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.has been called the “Father of American Poetry”.7.In Washington I rving’sappeared the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature.8.Cooper’s enduring fame rests on his frontier stories, especially the five novelsWilliam Cullen Bryant’s wok.is considered “father of American detective stories and American gothic stories”.10.Emerson believed above all inand self-reliance.11.Hawthorne’s stories touch the deepest12.Moby Dick is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of a seemingly supernatural white whale. 13.After his death, Longfellow became the only American to be honored with a bust in the Poet’s Corne r of Westminster Abbey.14.Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, had become an American institution and the most famous literary woman in the world.15.The naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that their lives werecontrolled by and the16.The poetic style Walt WhitmanHenry James is famous for his international theme of the traditionless American confronting the complexity of European life.17.Writers of the first postwar era self-consciously acknowledged that they were a “Lost Generation,”devoid of faith and alienated from a civilization. 18.With the publication of The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway became thespokesman for what Gertrude Stein had called “a lost generation.”Terms1.TranscendentalismTranscendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the m iddle 1800’s,which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition, the Oversoul, and Nature. New England Transcendentalism is the product of a combination of native American Puritanism and European Romanticism.2.NaturalismNaturalism, a more deliberate kind of realism, usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forcesand social environment. As a literary movement, naturalism was initiated in France. Natural fiction aspired to a sociological objectivity, offering detailed and fully researched investigations into unexplored corners of modern society. The most significant work of naturalism in English being Dreiser’s Sister Carrie.The Lost GenerationThe term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group of American Literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period which saw the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein herself. More generally, the term is being used for the young adults of Europe and America during World War I. They were “lost” because after the war many of themwere disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to more into a settled life5. ModernismModern writing is marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional forms and techniques of expression; it believes that we create the world in the act of perceiving it. Modernism implies historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, of loss, and of despair. It elevates the individual and his inner being over social man and prefers the unconscious to the self-conscious.6. Romanticism7. PuritanismThe principles and practices of puritans were popularly known as Puritanism. Puritanism accepted the doctrines ofCalvinism: the sovereignty of God; the supreme authority of the Bible; the irresistibility of God’s will for man in every act of life from cradle to grave. These doctrines led the Puritans to examine their souls to find whether they were of the elect and to search the Bible to determine Go d’s will.8.Hemingway Heroes / Code HeroSuch a hero usually is an average man of decidedly masculine tastes, sensitive and intelligent. And usually he is a man of action and of a few words. He is such an individualist, alone even when with other people, somewhat an outsider The Hemingway heroes stand for a whole generation. But Hemingway heroes possess a kind of “despairing courage” It is this courage that enables a man to behave like a man, to assert his dignity in face of adversity.Give brief answers to the followingquestions.1.What are the characteristics of the Colonial Literature?In a real sense, there were no literal works in the early colonial period. They were just personal literature in the form of diaries, travel books, letters, journals, sermons, histories and prose.(1) In content, they wrote about the voyage to the new land, about adopting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops, about dealing with Indian, and especially about religion.(2) In form, English traditions were imitated.ment briefly on Emily Dickinson’s themes?(1)By far the largest portion of Dickinson’s poetry concerns death and immortality, theme which lie at the centre of Dickinson’s world.(2)Dickinson’s nature poems are also great in number and rich in matter. Natural phenomena, changes of seasons, heavenly bodies, animals, birds and insects, flowers of various kinds, and many other subjects related to nature find her way into her poetry.(3)Dickinson also wrote some poems about love. Like her death and nature poems, her love poems were original. (4)Besides deaths and immortality, nature and love, Dickinson’s poems are concerned about ethics, with respect to which, she emphasizes free will and human responsibility.4 Henry James is a great realistic writer. Name two of his major works. Do you know anything about his narrative “point of view”? What is it for? How does James employ it in his works? Briefly discuss this question.(1) Henry James’s major works include Daisy Miller and The Portrait of A Lady, etc.(2) One of Henry James literary techniques is his narrative “point of view.” As the author, James avoids the authorial omniscience as much as possible and makes his characters reveal themselves with his minimal intervention. So it is often the case that in his novels we usually learn the main story by reading through one or several minds and share their perspectives. This narrative method proves to be successful in bringing out his themes.5. Tell the differences between Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman(1)Emily Dickinson expresses the inner life of individuals, while Walt Whitman keeps his eyes on the society at large. (2)Emily Dickinson is “regional”, while Walt Whitman is “national” in his outlook.(3)Formally, Emily Dickinson usesconcise, simple dictions and syntax, while Walt Whitman uses endless, all-inclusive catalogs.8. Briefly discuss the Jazz Age“The Jazz Age” describes the period the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years between World War I and World War II, particularly in North America; with the rise of the Great Depression, the values of this age saw much decline. Perhaps the most representative literary work of the age is American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, highlighting what some describe as the decadence and hedonism, as well as the growth of individualism. Fitzgerald is largely credited with coining the term “The Jazz Age”. It can also be known as “The Roaring Twenties” and “The Dollar Decade.”。
美国文学选读复习
History And Anthology of American Literature (VolumeⅠⅡ)美国文学史及选读1、2PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖民主义时期的文学(at the beginning of 17th century)Part Ⅱ The Literature of Reason And Revolution理性和革命时期文学(by the mid-18th century)1．Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of Independence 独立宣言(1776年18世纪中后期)（仔细阅读知道意思）Benjamin Franklin: The AutobiographyThomas Paine: The American Crisis*一、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1706-1790Symbol of America in the Age of Enlightenment殖民地时期作家。
独立战争前惟一的杰出的美国作家in the colonial period, the only good American author before the Revolutionary War.1．其还是美国第一位主要作家the first major writer非凡表达能力，简洁明了，有点幽默，还是一位讽刺天才as an author he had power of expression, simplicity, a subtle humor. He was also sarcastic.2．他最好作品收录在《自传》“Autobiography”。
“对这个年青的国家来说，他的损失比其它任何人的都要大“his shadow lies heavier than any other man’s on this young nation.二、Thomas Jefferson托马斯·杰弗逊（1743-1826）1．美国历史上最为广泛影响人物his thought and personality have influenced his countryman more deeply and remained more effectively alive.同富兰克林一样具人道主义精神vigorous humanitarian sympathies.启蒙运动的产物a product of the Enlightenment.2．1776年同约翰·亚当斯、本杰明·富兰克林、罗杰·谢尔曼、罗伯特·R·利文斯顿一起起草《独立宣言》with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R Livingston, he drafted the Declaration of Independence.3．1790-1793任华盛顿内阁中第一任国务卿，as the first American secretary of state. 1800起担任两届美国总统。
美国文学期末复习资料
美国文学期末复习资料美国文学期末复习资料美国文学是一门广泛而深入的学科，涵盖了从殖民地时期到现代的众多作品和作家。
为了帮助大家复习期末考试，本文将以不同的主题和时期为线索，介绍一些重要的美国文学作品和相关知识。
一、殖民地时期的文学在殖民地时期，美国文学主要以宗教为主题，反映了早期殖民者的信仰和生活。
《普利茅斯纪事》是美国文学史上的里程碑之一，它记录了普利茅斯殖民地的建立和早期的困难。
另外，约翰·史密斯的《弗吉尼亚史诗》和威廉·布拉德福的《普利茅斯植民地纪事》也是重要的作品。
二、启蒙时代的文学启蒙时代是美国文学的重要时期，这一时期的作品反映了人们对自由、理性和独立思考的追求。
本杰明·富兰克林是启蒙时代的代表人物，他的《贫穷理性者的儿子》和《自传》都是重要的作品。
此外，托马斯·潘恩的《常识》和托马斯·杰斐逊的《独立宣言》也是这一时期的重要文献。
三、浪漫主义时期的文学浪漫主义时期是19世纪美国文学的高峰期，作家们开始关注个人情感和内心体验。
华盛顿·欧文的《睡谷传奇》和爱德加·爱伦·坡的《乌鸦》是这一时期的代表作品。
此外，纳撒尼尔·霍桑的《红字》和赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的《白鲸》也是不可忽视的作品。
四、现实主义时期的文学现实主义时期是19世纪末到20世纪初的文学运动，作家们开始关注社会问题和人类命运。
马克·吐温的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》和斯蒂芬·克莱恩的《红字》是这一时期的代表作品。
此外，亨利·詹姆斯的《国际象棋之家》和埃德蒙·威尔逊的《了不起的盖茨比》也是重要的作品。
五、现代主义和后现代主义时期的文学现代主义和后现代主义时期是20世纪美国文学的重要阶段，作家们开始挑战传统的叙事方式和观念。
欧内斯特·海明威的《老人与海》和威廉·福克纳的《喧哗与骚动》是现代主义时期的代表作品。
美国文学期末复习.docx
作家作品Naturalism1、Stephen Crane斯蒂芬•克莱恩1871-1900战争小说之父Maggie: A Girl of the Streets《街头女郎麦琪》（美国文学史上首次站在同情立场上描写受辱妇女的悲惨命运），a pioneering work of sociological naturalism；关于南北战争的The Red Badge of Courage《红色英勇勋章》,奠定了他在美国文坛上不可动摇的地位；优秀短篇小说集The Open Boat《海上扁舟》和blue hotel《蓝色旅馆》;wounds in the rain 《雨中的伤痕》The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky《新娘来到黄天镇》2、Theodore Dreiser西奥多•德莱塞1871-1945美国文学史上最杰出的现实主义小说家，一位以探索充满磨难的现实生活着称的美国口然主义作家.Sister Carrie ＜嘉莉妹妹》,真实再现了当时羌国社会Jennie Gerhardt ｛珍妮姑娘》, 被称为《嘉莉妹妹》的姐妹篇;Trilogy of Desire欲望三部曲（Financer金融家,The Titan巨人,The Stoic斯多喝）;An American Tragedy《美国悲剧》是徳莱赛成就最高的作品，是人们清晰地看到了美国社会的真实悄况，“至今依然具有巨大的现实意义"在《美国悲剧》中，Dreiser intended to tell us that it is the social pressure that makes Clyde's downfall inevitable. Clyde's tragedy is a tragedy that depends upon the American social system which encouraged people to pursue the n dream of success" at all costs. 1、Naturalism emphasized heredity and environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances-2.The effect of Darwinist idea of n survival of the fittest H was shattering. It is not surprising to find in Dreiser's fiction a world of jungle, where “k ill or to be killed^ was the law・Dreiser's Writing Features:/ As a naturalist writer, Dreiser stressed determinism in his novels which deals with everyday life, often with its sordid side・丁As a naturalist, he developed the capacity for photographic and relentless （无情0勺）observation, thereby truthfully reflecting the society and people of his time・/ His naiTative method is natural and free from artifice・Modern Poetry3、Robert Frost 罗伯特•弗罗斯特1874-196320世纪最受欢迎的美国诗人，美国文学屮的桂冠诗人出园诗；自然诗□ He used symbols from everyday country life to express his deep ideas. His graceful and traditional poetic style is highly appreciated in the country.A Boy's Will 少年心愿and North of Boston 波士顿Z北were published and highly acclaimed in England. Mending Wall 修墙,After Apple-picking 摘苹果Z后;Mountain Interval 山间The Road Not taken 没有选择的道路；New Hampshire《新罕布什尔West-running Brook 曲流的溪涧;A Further Range 又一片牧场；A Witness Tree—株作证的树a masque of reason《理智的假面具》a masque of mercy慈芯的假面具complete poems诗歌全集a steeple bush尖塔丛林The Analysis of "The Road Not Taken"L when confronted with important decisions which one must make in life, one must accept the consequences, for he will not have a chance to go back・2.He encourages people to try things new and choose the road less traveled by. At the same lime, heexpresses the regrets that one can not choose two al the same time.3.The poem is written in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme AB A AB4.Symbolism is used as a very effective writing technique.4、Ezra Pound 艾兹拉•庞徳1885-1972Imagism1)With a spirit of revolt against conventions, imagism was anti-romantic and anti-Victori a n.2)Imagism produced free verse without imposing a rhythmical pattern・3)Imagism tried to record objective observations of an object or a situation without inteipretation or comment by the poet (creating an image). It calls for brief language, and pinpoints the precise picture in as few words as possible・美国著名诗人，意象派的代表人物。
美国文学选读复习资料
1、Benjamin Franklin（1706-1790）本杰明·富兰克林He is the representative of the Enlightenment in America in 18th century. Humanist, statesman, writer, scientist, inventor.The Autobiography《自传》♂简析：The book is about the course of Franklin's struggle for success. It tells us the importance of being diligent. The book had a great influence on American people,and changed the destinies of many youth.It is the first America successful biographical work（传记文学）, has an important position in the history of American Literaturel.Poor Richard’s Almanac 《格言历书》♂简析：A collection of maxims （格言），or proverbs, on the value of work and savings for success.2、Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849) 埃德加·爱伦·坡 Novelist,poet,critic.Good at writing Gothic（哥特式）and detective fiction.Father of western detective stories and psychoanalytic criticism.（扩展：文学理论建树不容忽视，影响深远。
美国文学期末重点复习资料
美国文学一．术语解释1，Transcendentalism(超验主义):简略版：It started in 1830s in US; which emphasis on spirit or oversoul and stressing importance of the individual; regarding nature as symbols of the spirit or God. It took idea from the romantic literatures of Europe, from Neo-Platonism and so on. Emerson was its representative.深层次版：American Transcendentalism: the emergence of the Transcendentalists as an identifiable movement took place during the late 1820s and 1830s, but the roots of their religious philosophy extended much farther back into American religious history. Transcendentalism and evangelical Protestantism followed separate evolutionary branches from American Puritanism, taking as their common ancestor the Calvinism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the Universe. They stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual was the most important element of society. They offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was, to them, alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that the most fundamental truths about life and death can be reached only by going beyond the world of the senses. Emerson’s Nature has been called the “Manifesto of American Transcendentalism” and his The American Scholar has been rightly regarded as America’s “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.美国超验主义：美国超验主义出现的19世纪20年代末期到三十年代，但是它的根源在宗教史上要远得多。
美国文学选读复习资料
美国文学选读复习资料美国文学选读复习资料美国文学是世界文学宝库中的一颗璀璨明珠，承载着美国历史、文化和社会的精华。
作为文学爱好者和学生，对于美国文学的了解和掌握是必不可少的。
本文将为大家提供一份美国文学选读的复习资料，帮助大家更好地理解和欣赏美国文学的经典之作。
一、美国文学的起源与发展美国文学的起源可以追溯到十七世纪的殖民地时期。
最早的美国文学作品是早期殖民者的日记、教会纪实和历史记录，如《普利茅斯纪事》和《马萨诸塞纪事》。
随着殖民地的发展和美国独立战争的爆发，美国文学逐渐形成了自己的独特风格和主题，如《飘》、《红字》和《汤姆·索亚历险记》等。
二、美国文学的主题与特点美国文学的主题广泛而多样，涵盖了对自由、平等、个人主义和社会正义的探索。
美国文学作品常常关注社会问题和人类命运，如种族歧视、性别平等、战争和社会阶级等。
同时，美国文学也以其写实主义和现实主义的风格著称，力求真实地描绘社会生活和人物形象。
三、美国文学的代表作品1.《钢铁是怎样炼成的》这是美国作家海明威的代表作之一，通过描写一战期间的士兵们的生活和战争的残酷性，展现了人性的脆弱和战争的荒谬。
2.《了不起的盖茨比》这是美国作家菲茨杰拉德的代表作之一，以20世纪20年代的纽约社交圈为背景，描绘了财富、爱情和欲望的交织，对美国梦的追求和破灭进行了深刻的探讨。
3.《杀死一只知更鸟》这是美国作家哈珀·李的代表作之一，通过一个小女孩的视角，揭示了种族歧视和社会不公的问题，以及人性的复杂性和善恶的边界。
4.《老人与海》这是美国作家海明威的另一部代表作品，通过一个老渔夫与大海的搏斗，探讨了生命的意义和人与自然的关系。
5.《傲慢与偏见》这是英国作家简·奥斯汀的作品，虽然不是美国文学，但对美国文学的影响深远。
通过描写女主角伊丽莎白·班纳特的成长和婚姻观念的转变，探讨了社会等级、婚姻和爱情的主题。
四、美国文学的影响与意义美国文学不仅仅是一种艺术形式，更是美国文化和民族精神的重要组成部分。
美国文学选读期末考试重点
1、The Colonial Period（1607-1765）American Puritanism ( in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th)北美第一位女诗人Anne Bradstreet(宗教气息，夫妻恩爱)Edward Taylor 都受英国玄学派影响（metaphysical）2、The Enlightenment and Revolution PeriodBenjamin Franklin:Poor Richard's Almanac The Autobiography---“美国梦”的根源3、American Romanticism（end of 18th to the civil war）American writers emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature.早期浪漫主义Washington Irving father of American Literature <The Sketch Book>短篇小说James Fenimore Cooper 历史，冒险，边疆小说《The Leather-stocking Tales>文明发展对大自然的摧残与破坏William Cullen Bryant 美国第一个浪漫主义诗人《To a Waterfowl><The Yellow Violet>美国山水，讴歌大自然，歌颂美国生活现实Edgar Allan Poe ---(48 poems,70 short stories)He greatly influenced the devotees of “Art for art’s sake.”He was father of psychoanalytic criticism , and the detective story.Ralph Waldo Emerson---The chief spokesman of New England TranscendentalismAmerican Transcendentalism (also known as “American Renaissance”) It is the high tide of American romanticism Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society. 《Nature》---the Bible of Transcendentalism by Emerson 《Self-Reliance》表达他的超验主义观点Henry David Thoreau------ Waldenhe regarded nature as a symbol of spirit.Thoreau was very critical of modern civilization.小说家：Hawthorne-赞成超验He is a master of symbolism The Scarlet Letter《红字》Melville 怀疑，悲观，sailing experiences Moby Dick百科全书式性质/海洋作品/动物史诗诗人Longfellow《I Shot an Arrow...》《A Psalm of Life》第一首被完整地介绍到中国的美国诗歌Whitman （Free Verse---without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme ）《Leaves of Grass》《One's Self I Sing》《O Captain! My Captain!》songDickinson inner life of the individual ---died for beauty4、The Age of RealismJames upper reaches of American society. <一位女士的肖像》inner world of manHowells, concerned himself chiefly with middle class life.<The Rise of Silas Lapman>Twain the lower strata of society. humor and local colorism<Life on the Mississippi> <The Adventures of Tom Sawyer> <The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn >American Naturalism 自然主义（新型现实）Stephen Crane；《Maggie: A Girl of the Streets》《The Red Badge of Courage》pessimisticTheodore Dreiser；Sister Carrie；Jennie Gerhardt；An American Tragedy(Trilogy of Desire)O.Henry (William Sydney Porter)：The Gift of the Magi；The Cop and the anthemJack London：The Call of the Wild；Martin Eden5、The Modern Period The 1920s-1930s ( the second renaissance of American literature)The Roaring Twenties ，The Jazz Age ，“lost”(Gertrude Stein) and “waste land”(T.S.Eliot)现代主义小说家F. Scott Fitzgerald：《The Great Gatsby》被视为美国文学“爵士时代”的象征，以美国梦American Dream为主线。
(完整版)美国文学期末复习资料(完美版)
（美国文学期末复习资料(完美版）Imagism （意向主义）(1)Imagism came into being in Britain and US around 1910 as a reaction to the traditional English poetry to express the sense of fragmentation and dislocation。
（2）The Imagists， with Ezra Pound leading the way, hold that the most effective means to express these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image。
（3) Imagism is characterized by the following three poetic principles： i） direct treatment of subject matter； ii） economy of expression; iii） as regards rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of metronome; iv) Ezra Pound’s In a Station of the Metro is a well—known imagist poem。
Ezra Pound (爱兹拉·庞德）Cathay （1915）《中国》a volume of Chinese translation.He blue—penciled The Waste Land《荒原》 the most significant American poem of the twentieth century.Cantos 《诗章》，a modern epic Pound’s major work of poetry。
美国文学史及选读期末复习题
1.Captain John Smith became the first American writer.5.The puritans looked upon themselves as a chosen people.6.The first major intellectual spokesman of the Massachusetts Bay colony was John Cotton,sometimes called “the Patriarch of New England.”7.Anne Bradstreet published The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, and she wasnicknamed the tenth Muse.8.Poor Richard’s Almanac is an annual collection of proverbs written by Benjamin Franklin.9.Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet Common Sense boldly advocated a “Declaration forIndependence”.10.Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence with John Adams, BenjaminFranklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.11.Philip Freneau developed a natural, simple, and concrete diction, best illustrated in suchnature lyrics as “The Wild Honey Suckle” and “The Indian Burying Ground”.12.Philip Freneau has been called the “Father of American Poetry”.13.In Washington Irving’s Sketch Book appeared the first modern short stories and the first greatAmerican juvenile literature.14.Cooper’s enduring fame rests on his frontier stories, especially the five novels that comprisethe Leatherstocking tales.15.“To a Waterfowl” is perhaps the peak of William Cullen Bryant’s wok.16.“Thanatopsis”, William Cullen Bryant’s best-known poem, consists of four stanzas in iambictetrameter abab. The title means “view of death”.17.Edgar Allan Poe is considered “father of American detective stories and American gothicstories”.18.Emerson believed above all in individualism, independence of mind, and self-reliance.19.In Walden, Thoreau thought it better for a man to work one day a week and rest six, and therest of the time could be devoted to thought.20.Hawthorne’s stories touch the deepest roots of man’s moral nature.21.Moby Dick is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of a seeminglysupernatural white whale.22.After his death, Longfellow became the only American to be honored with a bust in the Poet’sCorner of Westminster Abbey.23.Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, had become an American institutionand the most famous literary woman in the world.24.William Dean Howells found his subject matter in the experiences of the American middleclass.25.William Dean Howells called for the treatment of the “smiling aspects of life” as being themore “American.”26.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.27.The poetic style Walt Whitman devised is now called free verse.28.O·Henry’s stories are usually short and interesting; Famous for theirsurprising end.29.Henry James is famous for his international theme of the traditionless American confrontingthe complexity of European life.30.Jack London believed in the inevitable triumph of the strongest individuals.31.Dreiser’s greatest and most successful novel, An American Tragedy, is about a young manwho acts as if the only way he can be truly fulfilled is by acquiring wealth—through marriage if necessary.32.Writers of the first postwar era self-consciously acknowledged that they were a “LostGeneration,” devoid of faith and alienated from a civilization.33.Wallace Stevens’ work is primarily motivated by the belief that “ideas of order”.34.With the publication of The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway became the spokesman for whatGertrude Stein had called “a lost generation.”Terms1.TranscendentalismTranscendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the middle 1800’s, which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition, the Oversoul, and Nature. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self-reliant. New England Transcendentalism is the product of a combination of native American Puritanism and European Romanticism.2.NaturalismNaturalism, a more deliberate kind of realism, usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. As a literary movement, naturalism was initiated in France and it came to be led by Zola, who claimed at “scientific” status for his studies of impoverished characters miserably subjected to hunger, sexual obsession, and hereditary defects. Natural fiction aspired to a sociological objectivity, offering detailed and fully researched investigations into unexplored corners of modern society. The most significant work of naturalism in English being Dreiser’s Sister Carrie.3.American DreamThe American Dream is the faith held by many people in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations.4.The Lost GenerationThe term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group of American Literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period which saw the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, T. S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein herself. Hemingway likely popularized the term, quoting Stein (“You are all a lost generation”) as epigraph to his novel The Sun Also Rises. More generally, the term is being used for the young adults of Europe and America during World War I. They were “lost”because after the war many of them were disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to more into a settled life5. ModernismModern writing is marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional forms and techniques of expression; it believes that we create the world in the act of perceiving it. Modernism implies historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, of loss, and of despair. Itelevates the individual and his inner being over social man and prefers the unconscious to the self-conscious.6. RomanticismRomanticism as a literary movement came into being in England in the later half of the 18th century. It first made its appearance in England as a renewed interest in medieval literature. William Blake and Robert Burns represented the spirit of what is usually called Pre-Romanticism. With the publication of W illiam Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads in collaboration with S. T. Coleridge, romanticism began to bloom and found a firm place in history of English literature. In fact, the first half the 19th century recorded the triumph of Romanticism.7. PuritanismThe principles and practices of puritans were popularly known as Puritanism. Puritanism accepted the doctrines of Calvinism: the sovereignty of God; the supreme authority of the Bible; the irresistibility of God’s will for man in every act of life from cradl e to grave. These doctrines led the Puritans to examine their souls to find whether they were of the elect and to search the Bible to determine God’s will.8.Hemingway Heroes / Code Hero“Hemingway Heroes” refer to some protagonists in Hemingway’s works. Such a hero usually is an average man of decidedly masculine tastes, sensitive and intelligent. And usually he is a man of action and of a few words. He is such an individualist, alone even when with other people, somewhat an outsider, keeping emotions under control, stoic and self-disciplined in a dreadful place where one can not get happiness. The Hemingway heroes stand for a whole generation. In a world which is essentially chaotic and meaningless, a Hemingway hero fights a solitary struggle against a force he does not even understand. The awareness that it must end in defeat, no matter how hard he strives, engenders a sense of despair. But Hemingway heroes possess a kind of “despairing courage” as Bertrand Russell terms. It is this courage that enables a man to behave like a man, to assert his dignity in face of adversity. Surely Hemingway heroes differ, one from another, in their view of the world. The difference which comes gradually in view is an index to the subtle change which Hemingway’s outlook had undergone.Identify the fragments.1. These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly—This dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods.(1)Which book is this passage take from?(2)Who is the author of this book?(3)Whom is the author praising? Whom is the author criticizing?(4)What do you think of the language?Answer:(1) The American Crisis.(2) Thomas Paine(3) Paine is praising those who stand “it”, it referring to “the service of their country”. In themeantime, Paine is criticizing those who shrink from the service of their country in this crisis. (4) The language is plain, impressive and forceful. Paine himself once said that his purpose as a writer was to use plain language to make those who can scarcely read understand and to fit the powers of thinking and the turn of language to the subject, so as to bring out a clear conclusion that shall hit the point in question and nothing else.2. From morning suns and evening dewsAt first thy little being came;If nothing once, you nothing lose,For when you die you are the same;The space between, is but an hour,The frail duration of a flower.(1) Who is the writer of these verses?(2) What is the title of this poem?(3) Give a brief comment on this poems.Answer:(1) Philip Freneau(2) The Wild Honeysuckle(3) Here Freneau offers a version of an abundant America with potential for providing a good life for all. The poem is also an indication of his dedication to American subject matter as he examined peculiarly American characteristics of the countryside.3.From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. Drowsy and dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. Question:(1) Who is the writer of this short story from which the passage is taken?(2) What is the title of this short story?(3) Give a definition of “short story”?Answer:(1) Washington Irving(2) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(3) A short story is a brief prose fiction, usually one that can be read in a single sitting. It generally contains the six major elements of fiction—characterization, setting, theme, plot, point of view and style.4. It was not very long after speaking the Goney that another homeward-bound whaleman, the Town-Ho, was encountered. She was manned almost wholly by Polynesians. In the short gam that ensued she gave us strong news of Moby Dick. To some the general interest in the White Whale was now widly heightened by circumstance of the Town-Ho’s story, which seemed obscurely to involve with the whale a certain wondrous, inverted visitation of one of those so called judgments of God which at times are said to overtake some men. This latter circumstance, with its ownparticular accompaniments, forming what may be called the secret part of the tragedy about to be narrated, never reached the ears of Captain Ahab or his mates…Nevertheless, so potent and influence did this thing have on those seamen in the Pequod who came to the full knowledge of it, and by such a strange delicacy, to call it so, were they governed in this matter, that they kept the secret among themselves so that it never transpired abaft the Pequod’s main-mast. Interweaving in its proper place this darker thread with the story as publicly narrated on the ship, the whole of this strange affair I now proceed to put on lasting record.Question:(1)From which novel is this paragraph taken?(2) What is the name of the novelist?(3) Who is Ahab?(4) What is Pequod?(5) What is the theme of the novel?Answer:(1) Moby Dick(2) Herman Melville(3) The captain of the whaling ship(4) The name of the whaling ship(5) The rebellious struggle of Captain Ahab against the overwhelming, mysterious vastness of the universe and its awesome sometimes merciless forces.5. To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and vulgar things. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generation the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these preachers of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.Question:(1)This paragraph is taken from a famous essay. What is the of the essay?(2)Who is the author?(3)What does the author say would happen if the stars appeared one night in a thousand years?(4)Give a peculiar term to cover the author’s belief.Answer:(1) Nature(2) Ralph Waldo Emerson(3)Then, the men cannot believe and adore the God, cannot preserve the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown.(4)Transcendentalism6. Isabel always felt an impulse to pull out the pins; not that she imagined they inflicted any damage on the tough old parchment, but because it seemed to her her aunt might make better use of her sharpness. She was very critical herself-it was incidental to her sex, and her nationality butshe was very sentimental as well, and there was something in Mrs. Touchett’s dryness that set her own moral fountains flowing.Questions:(1) This passage is taken from a well-known novel. What is the name of the novel?(2) Who is the author of this novel?(3) Make a brief comment on the heroine of this novel?(4) What is theme of the author? Tell something about it.Answer:(1) The Portrait of a Lady(2) Henry James(3) She is one of the Jamesian American girls. She arrives in Europe, full of hope, and with a will to live a free and noble life, but in fact, she only falls prey to the sinister designs of two vulgar and unscrupulous expatriates, Madam Merle and Gilbert Osmond.(4) Jamesian theme refers to Henry James’s handling of his major fictional theme, “the international theme”: the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence and the moral and Psychological complications arising there from.7.When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things. Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better, or she rapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse. Of an intermediate balance, under the circumstances, there is no possibility. The city has its cunning wiles, no less than the infinitely smaller and more human temper. There are large forces which allure with all the soulfulness of expression possible in the most cultured human. The gleam of a thousand lights is often as effective as the persuasive light in a wooing and fascinating eye. Half the undoing of the unsophisticated and natural mind is accomplished by forces wholly superhuman. A blare of sound, a roar of life, a vast array of human hives, appeal to the astonished senses in equivocal terms. Without a counselor at hand to whisper cautious interpretations, what falsehoods may not these things breathe into the unguarded ear! Unrecognized for what they are, their beauty, like music, too often relaxes, then weakens then perverts the simpler human perceptions.Questions:(1) From which novel is this paragraph taken?(2) Who is the author of this novel?(3) How do you understand “the cosmopolitan standard of virtue”?(4) Is there any naturalist tendency in this passage?Answer:(1)Sister Carrie(2) Theodore Dreiser(3) “The cosmopolitan standard of virtue” is something that makes a person become low in virtue and become worse.(4) Yes.Give brief answers to the following questions.1.What are the characteristics of the Colonial Literature?In a real sense, there were no literal works in the early colonial period. They were just personalliterature in the form of diaries, travel books, letters, journals, sermons, histories and prose.(1) In content, they wrote about the voyage to the new land, about adopting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops, about dealing with Indian, and especially about religion.(2) In form, English traditions were imitated.ment briefly on Emily Dickinson’s themes?(1)By far the largest portion of Dickinson’s poetry concerns death and immortality, theme which lie at the centre of Dickinson’s world.(2)Dickinson’s nature poems are also great in number and rich in matter. Natural phenomena, changes of seasons, heavenly bodies, animals, birds and insects, flowers of various kinds, and many other subjects related to nature find her way into her poetry.(3)Dickinson also wrote some poems about love. Like her death and nature poems, her love poems were original.(4)Besides deaths and immortality, nature and love, Dickinson’s poems are concerned about ethics, with respect to which, she emphasizes free will and human responsibility.3. Comment briefly on Theodore Dreiser’s themes and writing style?Theme: Dreiser’s works are mainly concerned with the tragic nature of the human condition by depicting the coarse, vulgar, cruel, and terrible aspects of life like sex and crime.Style: In terms of style, Dreiser has sometimes been censured for his clumsy syntax, deficient characterization, and inept and dull prose. Yet his accumulated detail, carefully selected and faithfully recorded, is a technique of power. Like the other naturalists, he refused to judge—to consider people as good or evil. He clothes his concepts symbolically in the details of reality. It is his journalistic method that has made him one of America’s foremost novelists.4 Henry James is a great realistic writer. Name two of his major works. Do you know anything about his narrative “point of view”? What is it for? How does James employ it in his works? Briefly discuss this question.(1) Henry James’s major works include Daisy Miller and The Portrait of A Lady, etc.(2) One of Henry James literary techniques is his narrative “point of view.” As the author, James avoids the authorial omniscience as much as possible and makes his characters reveal themselves with his minimal intervention. So it is often the case that in his novels we usually learn the main story by reading through one or several minds and share their perspectives. This narrative method proves to be successful in bringing out his themes.5. What are the three main principles that Ezra Pound endorsed?(1)Directly treat poetic subjects.(2)Eliminate merely ornamental or superfluous words.(3)Rhythmical composition in the sequence of the musical phrase rather than in the sequence of metronome.6.Tell the differences between Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman(1)Emily Dickinson expresses the inner life of individuals, while Walt Whitman keeps his eyes on the society at large.(2)Emily Dickinson is “regional”, while Walt Whitman is “national” in his outlook.(3)Formally, Emily Dickinson uses concise, simple dictions and syntax, while Walt Whitman uses endless, all-inclusive catalogs.7. Briefly discuss Hemingway’s Iceberg PrincipleIceberg principle is that the full meaning of the text is not limited to moving the plot forward:there is always a web of association and inference, a submerged reason behind the inclusion (or even the omission) of every detail.In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway outlined his “theory of omission” or “iceberg principle.”He states: “is a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know only makes hollow places in his writing.”8. Briefly discuss the Jazz Age“The Jazz Age” describes the period the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years between World War I and World War II, particularly in North America; with the rise of the Great Depression, the values of this age saw much decline. Perhaps the most representative literary work of the age is American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, highlighting what some describe as the decadence and hedonism, as well as the growth of individualism. Fitzgerald is largely credited with coining the term “The Jazz Age”. It can also be known as “The Roaring Twenties” and “The Dollar Decade.”9. Jack Landon’s themes(1) London was logically inconsistent in his viewpoint.On the one hand, he took faith in Darwin’s surviv al of the fittest, evolutionary concept of progress, and on the other hand, he embraced the socialists’ doctrines of Marx.(2) London wrote on many subjects and themes which centered around primitive violence, Anglo-Saxon supremacy(至上), biological evolution, class warfare, and mechanistic determinism. His heroes are physically robust and rugged but often psychologically harried(苦恼). His heroines are athletic, daring, yet intensely feminine. They are man’s intellectual equal and his emotional superior.10. Briefly discuss ImagismImagism was one of the modern literary movements which expressed the modern spirit, the sense of fragmentation（破裂）and dislocation（错位，混乱）. It came as a reaction to the traditional English poetics. The first Imagist theorist is the English writer T.E. Hume. He suggests that modern art deal with expression and communication of momentary（瞬间的）phases in the poet’s mind.Poetic techniques should become subtle enough to record exactly the momentary impressions. The most effective means to express these momentary impressions is through one dominant image. Each word must be an image seen. Each sentence should be a lump(团,块), a piece of clay, a vision seen. Hulme advises the poet to seek the hard, personal word for expression. The Imagist movement lasted from 1908 to 1917.。
重点参考 美国文学史期末复习
H i s t o r y A n d A n t h o l o g y o f A m e r i c a n L i t e r a t u r e(V o l u m eⅠⅡ)美国文学史及选读1、2PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖民主义时期的文学1.17世纪早期English and European explorers开始登陆美洲。
在他们之前100多年Caribbean Islands,Mexico and other Parts of South America已被the Spanish占领。
2.17th早期English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts(弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞)开始了美国历史3.美国最早殖民者(earliest settlers)included Dutch ,Swedes ,Germans ,French ,Spaniards ,Italians andPortuguese (荷兰人，瑞典人，德国人，法国人，西班牙人，意大利人及葡萄牙人等)。
4.美国早期文学主要为the narratives and journals of these settlements采用in diaries and in journals(日记和日志)，他们写关于the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil.5.第一批美国永久居民：the first permanent English settlement in North America was established atJamestown,Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)。
6.船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith他的作品(reports of exploration)17th早期出版，被认为是美国第一部真正意义上的文学作品in the early 1600s,have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English.他讲述了filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, character and events,吸引了朝圣者和清教徒前往lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.7.美国第一位作家：1608年Captain John Smith写了封信《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as HathHappened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”.8.他的第二本书1612年《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Descriptionof the Country”.9.他一共出版了八本书，其中有关于新英格兰的历史及描述。
美国文学期末复习
College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
Life experience (3)
5 voracious reader;prolific for 8 years after his return from the sea; 6 later in his life wrote other books and some long stories; 7 worked in the Custom House in New York for the last 20 years of his life; 8 died at 72 in oblivion.
2. worked early: bank clerk;
salesman; farm-hand; school teacher;
3.The boy was forced to leave school.Unable to find a profession, he became a sailor. He went to sea at about 20 as a
whaler;
College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
Life experience
(2)
4.Three things deserve mention about his life: a.going out to sea b. marriage c. friendship with Hawthorne His sailing tears gave him the background Of ships and islands that served him well in his early successes,Typee(1846).His masterpiece Moby Dick, a whaling story took almost a century before the novel was recognized by readers. Herman Melville soon became known as the “man who lived among cannibals.”His commercial failure of the works made his death unnoticed by the public in 1891.
美国文学选读期末复习资料
美国文学选读期末复习资料The Colonial Period or The Enlightenment and Revolution Period American Puritanism roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th一、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林作品：1、Poor Richard's Almanac 格言历书 --- A Collection of maxims; or proverbs; on thevalue of work and savings for success.2、The Autobiography 自传---“美国梦”的根源3、参与起草独立宣言American RomanticismThe Romantic Period stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It is a period of the great flowering of American literature.浪漫主义两大主题：爱和大自然的力量The social and cultural background of Romanticism：---The young Republic was flourishing into a politically; economically and culturally independent country.---The Romantic writings revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands.---The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.---The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values.Romantics frequently shared certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm; faith in value of individualism and intuitive perception; and a presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s societies as a source of corruption.二、Edgar Allan Poe 埃德加·爱伦·坡---poet; short story writer and literary critic 48 poems;70 short storiesHe greatly influenced the devotees of “Art for art’s sake.”He was father of psychoanalytic criticism 心理分析批评; and the detective story.诗歌的精髓就是追求美小说的主题常常是恐怖和死亡;其中还运用了象征手法..The Poetic Principle : 1. The poem; should be short; readable at one sitting;2. Beauty the rhythmical creation of beauty;3. Melancholy 忧伤especially the death of a beautiful woman.代表作：The Fall of the House of Usher 厄舍大厦的倒塌Ligeia 莉盖亚Annabel Lee 安娜贝尔·李The Raven 乌鸦The Cask of Amontillado 阿芒提拉多的酒桶---gothic novel 人物：蒙特利瑟Montresor; 弗图纳多Fortunato ;筵席上男人将喝醉的死对头哄骗至地窖并砌墙活埋的故事..三、Ralph Waldo Emerson 拉尔夫·华尔多·爱默生---The chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism 超验主义He was a descendent后裔of a long line of New England clergymen 牧师.散文家、诗人、超验主义的哲学的主要倡导者..American TranscendentalismAs a philosophical and literary movement; American Transcendentalism also known as “American Renaissance”flourshed in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War. It is the high tide of American romanticism and its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society.The major features of Transcendentalism:①The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit; or the Oversoul; as the most important thing in the universe. 思想超灵宇宙② The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To them; the individual is the most important element of Society. 个体+社会③ The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive; filled with God’s overwhelming presence.自然+上帝代表作：Nature论自然---the Bible of Transcendentalism by Emerson ；Self-Reliance 论自助 ---是表达他的超验主义观点的最重要作品之一The American Scholar论美国学者；The Over-soul 论超灵四、Nathaniel Hawthorne纳撒尼尔·霍桑 --- effected by 超验主义He was born into a prominent Puritan family.One of the most ambivalent矛盾的writers in the American literary history.主要成就：美国心理分析小说的开创者浪漫主义小说家心理小说家代表作：Mosses from an Old Manse 古宅青苔;Twice-Told Tales 故事重述;The Marble Faun 玉石雕像;The House of the Seven Gables 带有七个尖角阁的房子The Scarlet Letter红字Many of his earlier stories had treated themes that led to The Scarlet Letter. Puritan severity toward sex and matrimony and its tendency to suppress bright color and true feelings.The Scarlet Letter红字：Hester Prynne---strong-willed; impetuous; a king of compassionate; maternal figure;Pearl---innocent; perceptive;Roger Chillingworth---a man deficient in human warmth; true evil in the story;Arthur Dimmesdale---intelligent and emotional.Symbolism in his worksHawthorne is a master of symbolism; which he took from the Puritan tradition 清教徒传统and bequeathed to American literature in a revivified form. In his masterpiece; by using Pearl as a thematic symbol; Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. With the scarlet A as the biggest symbol of all; which is ambiguous; he proves himself to be one of the best symbolists.五、Herman Melville赫尔曼·梅尔维尔The early sailing experiences were rewarding.代表作： White Jacket 白外衣Billy Budd毕利·伯德;Typee泰比;Omoo欧穆;Mardi玛地.Moby Dick 1851 白鲸---百科全书式性质/海洋作品/动物史诗熊福克纳、老人与海海明威、白鲸梅尔维尔Moby Dick represents the sum total of Melville’s bleak view of the world in which he lived. It is at once Godless and purposeless. Man in this universe lives a meaningless and futile life; meaningless because futile. Once he attempts to seek power over it he is doomed. The idea that man can make the world for himself is nothing but a Transcendentalist folly. Moby Dick thus reveals the basic pattern of 19th century American life:loneliness and suicidal individualism in a self-styled democracy. a negative reflection upon TranscendentalismSymbolism in Moby Dick：---It is regarded as the first American prose epic. It is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure; considering that Melville is a great symbolist. It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth 寻找真理and knowledge of the universe; a spiritual exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology.---Different people on board the ship are representations of different ideas and different social and ethnic groups; facts become symbols and incidents acquire universal meanings; the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. The white whale; Moby Dick; symbolizes nature for Melville; for it is complex; unfathomable难以理解的;malignant恶性的; and beautiful as well.Moby Dick相关人名、地名人名：Ishmael Ahab Queequeg Moby Dick地名：Pequod Jeroboam where they meet Gabriel; a prophet.Samuel Enderby whose captain is BoomerThe Rachel The Delight六、Henry David Thoreau 亨利·大卫·梭罗As a young man; Thoreau took a more than usual interest in the natural world. Like Emerson; but more than him; he saw nature as a genuine restorative; healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being; and regarded it as a symbol of spirit.Thoreau was very critical of modern civilization. It was; in his opinion; degrading and enslaving man.新英格兰超验主义的重要作家;最有代表性的两件事情就是在瓦尔登湖畔度过的两年和在监狱度过的一夜..代表作：On the Duty of Civil Disobedience 论公民的不服从Walden 瓦尔登湖---not only fully demonstrates Emersonian ideas of self-reliance but also develops and tests Thoreau’s own transcendental philosophy.七、Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 亨利·沃兹沃思·朗费罗Features of Longfellow’s poetic works---Chief romantic tendencies as humanitarian attitude; love of nature and love of beauty.---The first American poet to write narrative poems.---Generally simple ideas expressed musically and powerfully. Above all; there is a joyousness in them; a spirit of optimism and faith in the goodness of life which evokes immediate response in the emotions of his readers.---Simplicity and detachment from the deep problems of contemporary life.19世纪美国最伟大的浪漫主义诗人之一..传统派;励志型..诗集：夜吟Voices of the Night歌谣及其他Ballads and Other Poems伊凡杰琳Evangeline海依华沙之歌The Song of Hiawatha诗歌：我射出一支箭······ I Shot an Arrow...A Psalm of Life 生命颂/人生颂---第一首被完整地介绍到中国的美国诗歌八、Walt Whitman 沃尔特·惠特曼美国着名诗人、人文主义者;他创造了诗歌的自由体Free Verse---without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme.;The first edition of Leaves of Grass 草叶集was published in 1855.In this giant work; openness; freedom; and above all;individualism are all that concerned him.Writing features of Whitman---A singer for the ideals of equality; democracy and human dignity. ---Songs for himself; for the labour of common American people; natural creation; the independence of the country; love and friendship; and for the memorizing of President Lincoln.---Free verse; rhythmical unit; phonetic recurrence.诗歌：我歌唱自我One's Self I Sing噢;船长我的船长O Captain My Captain九、Emily Dickinson19世纪唯一出名的女作家---I Died for Beauty; because I could not stop for Death.美国女诗人;狄金森一生都没有离开过自己的家乡;对她的诗歌风格产生直接影响的是爱默生的诗歌;她的诗歌预示了20世纪诗歌的诞生..宅女;想象力;诗歌死亡、爱情、失败、无标点Whitman: societyDickinson: inner life of the individualMost of her poems are about death and immortality. Nature is to her both benevolent and cruel.Emily was an energetic and outgoing woman while attending the Academy and Seminary.Most of her poems are about life and nature. They are short; many of them are based on a single image or symbol.作品：要描绘一片草原······ To Make a Prairie最美妙的胜利感觉 Success Is Counted Sweetest我是无名之辈 I'm NobodyThe Age of RealismThe war led many to question the assumptions shared by the transcendentalists ---- natural goodness; the optimistic view of nature and man; benevolent God. It taught men that life was not good; man was not and God was not.As a literary movement; the Age of Realism came into existence after Romanticism with the Civil War It was a reaction against “the lie”of Romanticism and sentimentalism; and paved the way to Modernism. This literary interest in the so-called “reality” of life started a new period in the American literary writing known as The Age of Realism.The three dominant figures of the period:William Dean Howells; Mark Twain; Henry JamesJames wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society. Howells concerned himself chiefly with middle class life. Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society.Mark Twain and Howells seemed to have paid more attention to the “life” of the Americans; and Henry James had apparently laid greater emphasis on the “inner world” of man.十、Mark Twain 马克·吐温Writing: humor and local colorismThe characteristics of local colorism:---Twain preferred to have his own region and people at the forefront of his stories. This particular concern about the local character of a region came about as “local colorism” a unique variation of American literary realism.---Local Colorism or Regionalism first appeared in the late 1860s and early seventies in America. Hamlin Garland defined local colorism as having “such quality of texture and background that it could not have been written in any other place or by anyone else than a native.” The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous土产的 little world with qualities that tell it apart from the world outside.---Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify; but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life.代表作： Life on the Mississippi 密西西比河上The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 汤姆·索亚历险记The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 哈克贝里·费恩历险记---Mark Twain’s most representative workThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn---The novel is written in a language that is totally different from the rhetorical language used by Emerson; Poe; and Melville.---His characters; confined to a particular region and to a particular historical moment; speak with a strong accent; which is true of his local colorism.---The rich material of his boyhood experience on the Mississippi became the endless resources for his fiction; and the Mississippi valley and the West became his major theme.---His humor; a kind of artistic style used to criticize the social injustice and satirize the decayedromanticism; is remarkable.人物：Huckleberry Finn、Jim、Tom Sawyer、Widow Douglas and Miss Watson、PapThe Duke and Dauphin 公爵和法国皇太子十一、Henry James 亨利·詹姆斯作品：The Portrait of a Lady 一个女士的画像Daisy Miller 黛西·密勒The international theme: the meeting of America and Europe; American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence and the moral and psychological complications arising therefrom.Like Hawthorne; James regarded evil as essentially of inward cause and repeatedly emphasized magnanimity and the beauty of goodness. Psychological Realism 心理现实主义It is the realistic writing that probes deeply into the complexities of characters’thoughts and motivations. And Henry James is considered the founder of psychological realism. He 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.American Naturalism 自然主义---Living in a cold; indifferent; and essentially Godless world; man was no longer free in any sense. He was completely thrown upon himself for survival. Life became a struggle for survival.---Both Howells and Twain had written their best work and had said what they had to say. Apparently they were too old and too set in their ways to reorientate themselves in the new period.---The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory达尔文进化论on the American thought and the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to another school of realism: American naturalism.The emergence of naturalism does not mark a radical break with realism.It is a new and harsher realism.The naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral与道德无关的; that men and women had no free will; that lives were controlled by heredity遗传and environment; that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion湮没in death.代表作家Stephen Crane；Theodore Dreiser；Jack London；O’Henry十二、Stephen Crane 史蒂芬·克莱恩是美国着名的文学家;自然主义手法Naturalism Human are controlled by laws of environment 环境and heredity遗传 ..其作品特点：realistic;naturalistic; impressionistic.同时其作品大多关注社会底层;但比较pessimistic. 海上扁舟中运用了自然主义和印象主义光的变化的手法作品：Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 街头女郎麦姬；The Red Badge of Courage 红色英勇勋章；The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky 新娘来到黄天镇The Blue Hotel 蓝色旅店The Open Boat 海上扁舟；人物：船长Captain; 注油工Oiler最后死了厨师Cook; 记者CorrespondentA Man Said to the UniverseA man said to the universe:"Sir; I exist""However;" replied the universe;"The fact has not created in meA sense of obligation."---Stephen CraneJack London：The Call of the Wild；Martin EdenO.Henry William Sydney Porter：The Gift of the Magi；The Cop and the anthemTheodore Dreiser：Trilogy of Desire: 1.The Financier 2. The Titan 3. The Stoic；Sister Carrie；Jennie Gerhardt；An American TragedyThe Modern PeriodThe Modern Period ：The 1920s-1930s the second renaissance of American literature又称：---The Roaring Twenties economically---The Jazz Age socially---“lost” and “waste land” spiritually;其中;“lost”来源：Gertrude Stein ;“waste land”The historic and cultural background---The USA’s participation in World WarⅠmarked a crucial stage in the nation’s evolution to a world power.---By the second decade of the 20th century; the USA had become the most powerful industrialized nation in the world.---There was a decline in moral standard and the first few decades of the 20th century was best described as a spiritual wasteland. There had been a big flush of new theories and new ideas in both social and natural sciences. Darwinism Darwin; Socialism Karl Marx; Psychoanalysis Sigmund FreudThere had been a big flush of new theories and new ideas in both social and natural sciences.DarwinismDarwin; Socialism Karl Marx; Psychoanalysis Sigmund FreudThe Lost GenerationThe term “Lost Generation” came from Gertrude Stein; who had a salon in her house for English and American expatriates in Paris. The Phrase was a remark she made to a mechanic in Hemingway’s presence that “You are all a lost generation.”Gertrude Stein used the term to describe the post-World War I generation of American writers: men and women haunted by a sense of betrayal and emptiness brought about by the destructiveness of the war. The term is commonly applied to Ernest Hemingway; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Ezra Pound; Sherwood Anderson; John Dos Passos; E.E. Cummings and some others.Winners of Nobel Prize for Literature during this periodSinclair Lewis 1930 第一个获奖的美国人特点：Main Street; Babbitt; Eugene O’Neill 1936; Pearl S. Buck 1938; T.S. Eliot 1948; William Faulkner 1949; Ernest Hemingway 1954; John Steinbeck 1962十三、Sherwood Anderson 舍伍德·安德森代表作：Winesburg; Ohio 俄亥俄州的温斯堡镇;又称“小镇畸人”Hands;Paper PillsWinesburg; Ohio---a short story collection containing more than 20 connected stories about some grotesque people.---Each story is about one or more people with a ruling kind of passion which distorts their personalities.---Grotesque people also possesses love; passion and beauty nobody knows because other people in the town only care for money. The collection is a bitter satire on the utilitarianism that prevailed in American society.---Vivid picture of a small town in transition from rural to industrial; alienation; loneliness; wanting of love and understanding.十四、F. Scott Fitzgerald 弗·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德American DreamIn the United States’ Declaration of Independence独立宣言; our founding fathers: "…held certain truths to be self-evident; that all Men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are life; Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." …….作品：The Side of Paradise 人间天堂The Beautiful and the Damned 漂亮的冤家Flappers and Philosophers 姑娘们与哲学家们Tales of the Jazz Age 爵士乐时代的故事Tender is the Night 夜色温柔The Crack-up 崩溃The Last Tycoon unfinishedThe Great GatsbyJay Gatsby is a man driven by greed; ambition and; most of all; an unwavering desire for a woman he met before the Great War; when he was poor and she was unobtainable. As Gatsby reinvents himself in an attempt to buy his way into the social elite of Long Island's Gold Coast; he yearns to rekindle his romance with the woman who stole his heart years before. But when the chance finally arrives;a shadow of tragedy is cast over what Gatsby long imagined would be his triumphant moment.主要人物：Nick Carraway、Jay Gatsby、Daisy Buchanan、Tom Buchanan Jordan Baker、Myrtle Wilson、George WilsonThe Great Gatsby 了不起的盖茨比被视为美国文学“爵士时代”的象征;以美国梦American Dream为主线..“迷惘的一代”人物: Gatsby盖茨比;Daisy黛西;Tom汤姆;Nick尼克;Myrtle汤姆的情妇;Wilson汤姆情妇的丈夫十五、William Faulkner 威廉·福克纳 1897-19621949 Nobel price:“for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel.”---He is particularly interested in describing the decay of Deep South after the Civil War. Under his pen; the aristocratic families fail to live up to their historical greatness.---He writes about the histories of a number of southern aristocratic families such as the Compsons; the Sartorises; the Sutpens and the McCaslins. He sees their inevitable fall.---Faulkner is a difficult writer. He structures his stories in his own original fashion and is proficient in employing a distinctive narrative method. He often employs stream of consciousness narrative; discards and notion of chronological order; uses multiple narrations; shifts between the present and past tense; and tends toward impossibly long and complex sentences.写作特点、内容：Yoknapatawpha Country---以故乡为原型虚构的;表现南方贵族家庭的没落Southern familyThe Town of Jefferson作品: The Sound and the Fury 1929 喧嚣与骚动;取自莎士比亚的麦克白As I Lay Dying 1930 我弥留之际Light in the August 1932 八月之光Absalom; Absalom 1936 押沙龙;押沙龙Go Down Moses 1942 去吧;摩西23部长篇小说;11个短篇小说;7个诗集;6个电影剧本;1个电视剧剧本十六、Ernest Hemingway厄内斯特·海明威---“迷惘的一代”作家的主要人物He is a legendary hero in American literature. Besides his novels; as a man his life experience is quite a miracle.Iceberg Principle Theory:冰山法则The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.Code hero or Hemingway heroesa noble but tragic hero; fighting with the overwhelming force; though he knows that he will be defeated at last; he decides to act like a hero. In one sense Hemingway wrote all his life about one theme; which is neatly summed up in the famous phrase “grace under pressure”重压下的风度.Major Works:1.The Sun Also Rises 1926 Jake Barnes 太阳照样升起2.A Farewell to Arms 1928 a tragic story about war and love Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley 永别了;武器3.For Whom the Bell Tolls 1940 Spanish civil war Robert Jordan 丧钟为谁而鸣;取材于Donne的一句诗4.The Old Man and the Sea 1952 Santiago 老人与海The 20th Century American PoetsⅠTwo characteristic strains：introspection自省&social criticism Imagism 意象派A poetic movement of England and the U.S. that flourished from 1909 to 1917. The movement insists on the creation of images in poetry by “the direct treatment of the thing直接处理主题” and the economy of wording简化措辞.“poetic techniques to record exactly the momentary impressions”An Imagist poem; therefore; often contains a single dominant image; or a quick succession of related images. Its effect is meant to instantaneous.The imagist movement drew form a variety of poetic traditions. Greek; Provencal and Japanese poetry are among the many acknowledged sources of Imagism and Pound’s poetry.Three main principles of the Imagist Movement 1912 :1 direct treatment of poetic subjects2 elimination of merely ornamental or superfluous words; to use no word that does notcontribute to the presentation.3 rhythmical composition in the sequence of the musical phrase rather than in the sequenceof a metronome.意象派诗人：Ezra Pound、Wallace Stevens、William Carlos Williams 十七、Ezra Pound埃兹拉·庞德Born: Idaho爱达荷洲Education: University of Pennsylvania9 languagesworked for the Italian government in WW II; engaged in some radio broadcasts of anti-Semitism and pro-Fascism.代表作: Cantos 诗章;Hugh Selwyn Mauberley 休·赛尔温·毛伯利;In a Station of the Metro在一个地铁车站;Cathay 中国/华夏集十八、Wallace Stevens 华莱士·斯蒂文斯Anecdote of the Jar坛子的轶事十九、William Carlos WilliamsThe Red Wheelbarrow 红色手推车: La; r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r二十、Robert Frost 罗伯特·弗洛斯特罗伯特·弗罗斯特是20世纪最受欢迎的美国诗人..他曾赢得4次普利策奖和许多其他的奖励及荣誉;被称之为美国文学中的桂冠诗人..被称作“新英格兰诗人”;传统诗歌形式和五音抑扬格诗行;他的诗歌精雕细琢;没有一个字是多余的..Major Features:---His verse was terrifying at first; showing the dark side of human life and society. Later; filledwith sunshine.---New England as the setting; The subjects come from daily life of ordinary life;Rural poetry inpastoral tradition. Wordsworth; Emerson---His themes include landscape and people of New England; loneliness and poverty of isolatedfarmers; beauty; terror and tragedy in nature.---Simple language; a graceful style and traditional forms of poetry.作品：A Boy’s Will 一个男孩的意愿North of Boston 波士顿的北部New Hamphshire 新罕布什尔Collected Poems 诗集A Further Range 又一片牧场A Witness Tree 标记树Fire and Ice 火与冰Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 雪夜林边驻脚The Road Not Taken 未选择的路二十一、Langston Hughes兰斯顿·休斯---The first prominent black writer in American literary history. ---Poet Laureate of Harlem 哈莱姆桂冠诗人---O’Henry of Harlem---A poet; playwright; novelist; song writer; biographer; editor; newspaper columnist; translator; lecturer.Harlem Renaissance 哈莱姆文艺复兴---In the 1920s in America; there was an upsurge of Black literature; popularly known as the “Harlem Renaissance”; out of which such eminent literary figures as Langston Hughes grew. So; “Harlem Renaissance” is a burst of literary achievement in the 1920s by Negro playwrights; poets and novelists who presented new insights into the American experience and prepared the way for the emergence of numerous Black writers after mid-twentieth century.---The Harlem Renaissance began with a work entitled: New Negro: An Interpretation by Alain Locke.---Dialect; folklore; and Jazz.作品：The Weary Blues 萎靡的布鲁斯Fine Clothes to the Jew 抵押给犹太人的好衣服The Dream Keeper and Other Poems 梦乡人Shakespeare in Harlem 哈莱姆的莎士比亚Dreams 梦想Me and the Mule 我与骡子Border Line 分界线二十二、Ralph Waldo Ellison 拉尔夫·华尔多·埃利森美国二十世纪五十年代以来最重要的黑人文学作家;同时是一个卓有成效的美国文学评论家;还是20世纪美国文化研究的重要开拓者之一..隐形人的问世标志着黑人文学脱离现实主义和自然主义文风;黑人命运;种族;人性..主线：我是谁Self-identity;自然主义naturalism和超现实主义surrealism;表现主义expressionism;象征symbolism;飞去来器boomerang..愚昧到启蒙;隐形到现形;“务必让这个黑小子跑个不停”Keep This Nigger-Boy Running.作品：Invisible Man 看不见的人---“寻找自我”主题的代表作Shadow and Act 影子与行动Going to the Territory 走向领域The Post-War PeriodHistorical Background1.Cold War2.McCarthyism persecution of communists3.The Vietnam War; The Korean War4.Civil Rights Movement5.Counter-culture Movement:political; economical and military achievementLiteratureThis period is the rising period of post-modern literature. Many forms of post-modern fictionappeared. The same mood in this period is despair; but continuing to search absurdity荒谬ofmodern life; lonely; but searching for the meaning of existence; identity.The Beat Generation---The Beat Generation is a group of American young writers and artists popular in the 1950s andearly 1960s; known especially for their use of non-traditional forms and their rejection of conventional social values.---The term "Beat" was reportedly coined by Jack Kerouac in the late 1940s; quickly becoming a slang term in America after World War II; meaning "exhausted" or "beat down" and provided this generation with a definitive label for their personal and social positions and perspectives.---The Beat writers were a small group of close friends first; and a movement later. The core group consisted of Jack Kerouac; Allen Ginsberg; Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs; who met in the neighborhood surrounding Columbia University in uptown Manhattan in the mid-1940s. The principal works of the movement are considered to be Jack Kerouac's On the Road 1957; Allen Ginsberg's Howl 1956; and William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch 1959.Black American LiteratureFrederick Douglass：My Bondage and My FreedomRichard Wright: Native SonRalph Ellison: Invisible ManJames Baldwin: Go Tell It on the MountainAlex Haley: RootsAlice Walker: The Color PurpleToni Morrison: The Bluest EyeBlack HumorIt refers to the use of morbid and absurd for darkly comic purpose. It carries the tone of anger; bitterness in the grotesque situation of suffering; anxiety; and death. It makes the reader laugh at the blackness of modern life. The writers usually do not laugh at the characters.主要作家：Joseph Heller; Thomas Pynchon; Kurt Vennegut; Vladimir Nabokov; etc二十三、Allen Ginsberg艾伦·金斯堡艾伦·金斯堡是战后“垮掉的一代”文学运动中的主要代表诗人..Howl 嚎叫成为该运动的一个象征..这部作品极大地震撼了当时的文坛;因为诗中所描绘的同性恋、吸毒、佛教教义等内容充满了感官刺激、狂热和预言;逼真地表现了当时的青年一代对于社会的反叛心理..作品：Howl 嚎叫A Supermarket in California加利福尼亚州的一个超级市场二十四、Saul Bellow索尔·贝娄----Jewish American Literature犹太裔小说家..作品：Dangling man 晃来晃去的人The Victim 受害者The Adventures of Augie March 奥吉·玛琪历险记Seize the Day 只争朝夕Henderson the Rain King 雨王汉德森Herzog 赫尔索格Mr. Sammler’s Planet 塞姆勒先生的行星Humbolt’s Gift 洪堡的礼物The Dean’s December 院长的十二月More Die of Heartbreak 更多人死于悲痛The Theft 盗窃The Actual 真实的Ravelstein 拉维尔斯坦Mosby’s Memories and Other Stories 莫斯比的回忆及其他故事 The Last Analysis 最后的分析二十五、Joseph Heller约瑟夫·海勒作品：Catch-22 第二十二条军规---黑色幽默代表作We Bombed in New Haven 我们轰炸了纽黑文Something Happened 出了毛病Good as Gold像高尔德那样好。
美国文学史及选读期末复习资料
美国文学史复习1（colonialism)第一部分殖民主义时期的文学一、时期综述1、清教徒采用的文学体裁：a、narratives 日记 b、journals 游记2、清教徒在美国的写作内容：1）their voyage to the new land2) Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops3) About dealing with Indians4) Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit3、清教徒的思想：1）puritan want to make up pure their religious beliefs and practices 净化信仰和行为方式2) Wish to restore simplicity to church and the authority of the Bible to the theology. 重建教堂，提供简单服务，建立神圣地位3）look upon themselves as chosen people, and it follow logically that anyone who challenged their way of life is opposing God's will and is not to be accepted. 认为自己是上帝选民，对他们的生活有异议就是反对上帝4）puritan opposition to pleasure and the arts sometimes has been exaggerated. 反对对快乐和艺术的追求到了十分荒唐的地步 5）religious teaching tended to emphasize the image of a wrathful God.强调上帝严厉的一面，忽视上帝仁慈的一面。
重点参考美国文学史期末复习
H i s t o r y A n d A n t h o l o g y o f A m e r i c a n L i t e r a t u r e(V o l u m eⅠⅡ)美国文学史及选读1、2PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖民主义时期的文学1.17世纪早期English and European explorers开始登陆美洲。
在他们之前100多年Caribbean Islands, Mexicoand other Parts of South America已被the Spanish占领。
2.17th早期English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts(弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞)开始了美国历史3.美国最早殖民者(earliest settlers)included Dutch ,Swedes ,Germans ,French ,Spaniards ,Italians and Portuguese(荷兰人，瑞典人，德国人，法国人，西班牙人，意大利人及葡萄牙人等)。
4.美国早期文学主要为the narratives and journals of these settlements采用in diaries and in journals(日记和日志)，他们写关于the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil.5.第一批美国永久居民：the first permanent English settlement in North America was established atJamestown,Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)。
6.船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith他的作品(reports of exploration)17th早期出版，被认为是美国第一部真正意义上的文学作品in the early 1600s,have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English.他讲述了filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, character and events,吸引了朝圣者和清教徒前往lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.7.美国第一位作家：1608年Captain John Smith写了封信《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”.8.他的第二本书1612年《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of theCountry”.9.他一共出版了八本书，其中有关于新英格兰的历史及描述。
美国文学期末考试复习
Ⅲ. 重要作家及作品Nathanial Hawthorne (纳撒尼尔·霍桑)1.life2.works(1)Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from an Old Manse(2)The Scarlet Letter(3)The House of the Seven Gables(4)The Marble Faun(5)The Blithedale Romance(6)―Rappaccini’s Daughter‖(7)―The Birth-ma rk‖(8)―Young Goodman Brown‖3.point of view(1)Evil is at the core of human life, ―that blackness in Hawthorne‖(2)Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation (causality).(3)He is of the opinion that evil educates.(4)He has disgust in science.4.aesthetic美学的ideas(1)He took a great interest in history and antiquity.To him these furnish the soil on which his mind grows tofruition.(2)He was convinced that romance was thepredestined form of American narrative. To tell the truth and satirize and yet not to offend: That was whatHawthorne had in mind to achieve.5.style – typical romantic writer(1)the use of symbols(2)revelation of characters’ psychology(3)the use of supernatural mixed with the actual(4)his stories are parable (parable inform) – to teacha lesson(5)use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the worldof uncertainty – multiple point of view6.Hawthorne’s Literary View:(1)He repeatedly complains about ―the poverty of materials‖ in America.(2)He believes that romance is the predestined form of American narrative. He makes a distinction between novel and r omance in his Preface to ―The House of the Seven Gables‖.(3)He is haunted by his sense of sin and evil in life, therefore we see ―black vision‖ in his works.7.―The Minister’s Black Veil‖:Parable: allegoryMr. Hooper: a Christ figure; moral ambiguitythe veil: a symbol of sin, separationthemes: isolation of the individual from society; guilt of sinThe Scarlet Letter, （adultery）1.About the story:(1)The story of Hester Prynne Set: the 17th century(2)What is situated immediately outside the door ofthe prison in which Hester is kept: A rosebush(3)How does Hester support herself financially: as aseamstress(4)She always wears: black(5)―A‖ represents: adultery2.Major characters in the story:(1)Hester Prynne: wears ―A‖; ―A‖ defines her identity(2)Arthur Dimmesdale: wears ―A‖ in his heart; hissoul never in peace (invisible wearer)(3)Roger Chillingworth: the maker of scarlet letter(4)Pearl: the p roduct/result of ―A‖3.Symbolism: (special movement in literature; the use of symbols)In ―The Scarlet Letter‖:(1)The rosebush: passion(2)The forest: an ungovernable place(3)The scarlet letter: adultery; sin(4)Pearl: wildness; passion(5)The meteor: community4.Refuse to take off ―A‖:(1)For Hester, to remove scarlet letter would be toacknowledge the power it has in determining who she is(2)She is determined to transform its meaning andher identity(3)She wants to be the one who controls its meaning(4)She stands as a self-appointed reminder of theevils society can commitYoung Goodman Brown1. Psychological interpretation——Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychology):(1)superego——consciousness——the principle ofmorality 超我(2)ego——subconsciousness——the principle ofreality 自我(3)id——unconsciousness——the principle of pleasure本我Brown’s journey is psychological as well as physical:Village, a place of light and order——Forest, a place of darkness and wildnessconsciousness——unconsciousnessvillage——superego——FaithBrown——egoforest——id——SatanHawthorne saw the dangers of an overactive suppression of libido and the consequent development of tyrannous superego.2. Men, Women, and the loss of Faith:Despite the literary sexism of his day, Hawthorne portrays women as powerful moral agents.Although Faith is not a three-dimensional character, the story centers on her husband’s rejection of her. Women are victimized.Women——angle in the house——do not have desires, rights and needsFallen women——prostitutes, witches, and mad womenFaith to Brown is female sexuality; Satan to Brown is patriarchal authority3. Female images:Innocents vs. Temptresses:(1)Governor’s wife, Goody Cloyse, prostitutes,maidens, witches, Quaker women, Faith(2)Sex is seen as alluring and dangerous(3)Brown is an empty and failed husband and fatherHerman Melville (赫尔曼·麦尔维尔)1.life2.works(1)Typee 《泰皮》(2)Omio 《殴穆》(3)Mardi 《玛地》(4)Redburn 《雷德本》(5)White Jacket 《白外衣》(6)Moby Dick 《白鲸》(7)Pierre 《皮埃尔》(8)Billy Budd 《比利·巴德》3.point of view(1)He never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life: His is the attitude of ―Everlasting Nay‖ (negative attitude towards life).(2)One of the major themes of his is alienation (far away from each other).Other themes: loneliness, suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death), rejection and quest, confrontation of innocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19c idea of progress4.style(1)Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique ofmultiple view of his narratives.(2)He tends to write periodic chapters.(3)His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic powerhave been profusely commented upon and praised.(4)His works are symbolic and metaphorical.(5)He includes many non-narrative chapters offactual background or description of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick)Moby Dick《白鲸》：Moby-Dick, often considered the greatest American novel, is a masterpiece with many layers. It is a sea adventure, an exciting chase after a destructive and mysterious creature. The enormous white whale Moby-Dick torments Captain Ahab, who is obsessed with finding and killing Moby-Dick, having lost a leg in a previous encounter with the whale, and Ahab’s burning desire for revenge really is the center of the story. At the novel’s end, Ahab finds and attacks Moby-Dick, but the terrible whale takes Ahab, his ship Pequod, and nearly all its crew down to a watery grave with him.1. An encyclopedia of everythingA Shakespearean tragedy of man fighting against fates (extreme individualism)2. Image of ship: ship on the sea is the human soul search the meaning in the universe.3. Purpose——noble: he think Moby Dick as an evilHero: he is a hero but not a traditional hero (he does not stand for goodness); a villain hero4. Byronic hero (create by Byron): mad, bad, dangerous to know, obsessive——rebellions: challenge the authority; unconventional; right the wrongSatanic: revengeful; rebellious; the fight between God & Satan5. The Pequod——a symbol of doom(named after a native American tribe in Massachusetts; did not long survived of white men(extincted); is painted gloomy black and covered in whale teeth and bones)The sailors are of different ethics——all people in American (individual)Queequeg’s Coffin——life boat; life6. Theme of Moby Dick:(1)Melville’s bleak view (negative attitude) the senseof futility and meaninglessness of the world. His attitude to life is ―Everlasting Nay‖. Man in this universe lives ameaningless and futility.The adventure of killing Moby Dick is meaningless. Ahab tries to control it, which leads to his doom.Modern life——the loss of faith, the sense of futility——well expressed in Moby Dick(2)Alienation (far away from each other): exists between man & man, man & society, and man & nature.(3)Loneliness and suicidal individualism——the basic pattern of 19th century American life(individualism causing disaster and death)——Moby Dick isa negative reflection upon Transcendentalism.(4)Rejection and quest:Voyaging for Ishmael has become a journey in quest of knowledge and valuesHenry David Thoreau （亨利·戴维·梭罗）1.life2.works(1) A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River康《科德河和梅里麦克河上的一个星期》(2)Walden《瓦尔登湖》(3)Civil Disobedience 《论公民的不服从权利，又译作消极反抗》(4)Life Without Principle3.point of view(1)He did not like the way a materialistic America was developing and was vehemently outspoken on the point.(2)He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system.(3)Like Emerson, but more than him, Thoreau saw nature as a genuine restorative, healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being.(4)He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.(5)He was very critical of modern civilization.(6)―Simplicity…simplify!‖(7)He was sorely disgusted with ―the inundations of the dirty institutions of men’s odd-fellow society‖.(8)He has calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men.WaldenEdgar Allen Poe (埃德加·爱伦·坡)I.Life诗人、小说家和文学评论家II.Works(1)Ms Found in a BottleThe Purloined LetterThe Fall of the House of UsherThe Masque of the Red DeathAnnabel LeeTo HelenSonnet—To ScienceThe Raven(2)Literary theorya.The Philosophy of Compositionb.The Poetic Principlec.Review of Hawthorne’s Twice-told TalesIII.Themes1.death –predominant theme in Poe’s writing―Poe is not interested in anything alive. Everything in Poe’s writings is dead.‖2.disintegration (separation) of life3.horror4.negative thoughts of scienceIV.Aesthetic ideas1.The short stories should be of brevity, totality, single effect, compression and finality.2.The poems should be short, and the aim should be beauty, the tone melancholy. Poems should not be of moralizing. He calls for pure poetry and stresses rhythm.V.Style – traditional, but not easy to readVI.Reputation: ―the jingle man‖ (Emerson)VII.His influencesWalt Whitman(沃尔特·惠特曼)1.life诗人、人文主义者2.work: Leaves of Grass 草叶集(9 editions)(1)Song of Myself(2)There Was a Child Went Forth(3)Crossing Brooklyn Ferry(4)Democratic Vistas(5)Passage to India(6)Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking3.themes –―Catalogue of American and European thought‖He had been influenced by many American and European thoughts: enlightenment, idealism, transcendentalism, science, evolution ideas, western frontier spirits, Jefferson’s individualism, Civil War Unionism, Orientalism.Major themes in his poems (almost everything):●equality of things and beings●divinity of everything●immanence of God●democracy●evolution of cosmos●multiplicity of nature●self-reliant spirit●death, beauty of death●expansion of America●brotherhood and social solidarity (unity of nations inthe world)pursuit of love and happiness4.style: ―free verse‖(1)no fixed rhyme or scheme(2)parallelism, a rhythm of thought(3)phonetic recurrence(4)the habit of using snapshots(5)the use of a certain pronoun ―I‖(6) a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure(7)use of conventional image(8)strong tendency to use oral English(9)vocabulary – powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong(10)sentences – catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem lines5.influence(1)His best work has become part of the common property of Western culture.(2)He took over Whitman’s vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood.(3)He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history.(4)Contemporary American poetry, whatever schoolor form, bears witness to his great influence.Ralph Waldo Emerson (拉尔夫·华尔多·爱默生)1.life (American philosopher, poet and essayist; the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism)2.works(1)Nature——his first book expressing the main principle of Transcendentalism. It is regarded as―American’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence‖(2)Two essays: The American Scholar, The Poet(3)Self-Reliance(4)Each and All(5)Rhodora3.point of view(1)One major element of his philosophy is his firm belief in the transcendence of the ―oversoul‖.(2)He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature.(3)If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson means by ―the infinitude of man‖.(4)Everyone should understand that he makes himselfby making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself.老尹：(1)the transcendence of the Oversoul. His Nature records his ―moment of ecstasy‖, the moment of losing one’s individuality.(2)the infinitude of man and human perfectibility. Emerson believes that the possibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite.(3)nature as symbolic of God. In the eyes of Emerson,―nature is the vehicle of thought,‖ and ―particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts‖.4.aesthetic ideas(1)He is a complete man, an eternal man.(2)True poetry and true art should ennoble.(3)The poet should express his thought in symbols.(4)As to theme, Emerson called upon Americanauthors to celebrate America which was to him a lone poem in itself.5.How important is Emerson in history?He embodied a new nation’s desire and struggle to assert its own identity in its formative period.His aesthetics marked the birth of true American poetry.He called for an independent culture, which representedthe desire of the whole nation to develop a culture of its own.His reputation declined somewhat in recent years because of his cheerful optimism.Washington Irving（华盛顿·欧文）1.several names attached to Irving(1)first American writer(2)the messenger sent from the new world to the oldworld(3)father of American literature2.life作家3.works(1) A History of New York 《纽约外史》(2)The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. 《见闻札记》）(He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.)(3)The History of the Life and Voyages ofChristopher Columbus《哥伦布传》(4) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada《攻克格拉纳达》(5)The Alhambra《阿尔罕伯拉》4.Literary career: two parts(1)1809~1832a.Subjects are either English or Europeanb.Conservative love for the antique(2)1832~1859: back to US5.style – beautiful(1)gentility, urbanity, pleasantness(2)avoiding moralizing – amusing and entertaining(3)enveloping stories in an atmosphere(4)vivid and true characters(5)humour – smiling while reading(6)musical languageJames Fenimore Cooper（詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库柏）1.life (―father of American novelists‖; the creation of the west frontier and its heroes)2.works(1)The Precaution (《戒备》（1820, his first novel,imitating Austen’s Pride and Prejudice)(2)The Spy 《间谍》(his second novel and greatsuccess)(3)Leather stocking Tales 皮袜子故事集(hismasterpiece, a series of five novels)The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie3.point of viewThe theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law,order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natural rights vs. legal rights4.style(1)highly imaginative(2)good at inventing tales(3)good at landscape description(4)conservative(5)characterization wooden and lacking in probability(6)language and use of dialect not authentic5.literary achievementsHe created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradition to American literature.Benjamin Franklin1.life (printer, enlightener, inventor, scientist, statesman, diplomat)2.works(1)Poor Richard’s Almanac(2)Autobiography——form: the first autobiography of Americanmeaning: American dream & individualismself-improvement; business (contents); prototype of American success (significance); Puritanism and enlightenment spirits3.contribution(3)He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society.(4)He was called ―the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this case) from heaven‖.(5)Everything seems to meet in this one man –―Jack of all trades‖. Herman Melville thus described him ―master of each and mastered by none‖.(6)Aid Jefferson in writing The Declaration of IndependenceThomas Paine托马斯·潘恩1.father of the American Revolution2.propagandist, pamphleteer, a master of persuasion who understands the power of language to move a man to action3.main works:(1)The American Crisis(2)Common Sense(3)The Right of Man(4)The Age of ReasonPoetry:1.Genre:Narrative Poetry 叙事诗Epic Poetry 史诗Dramatic Poetry 戏剧诗Satirical Poetry 讽刺诗Lyric Poetry 抒情诗2.Basic Elements of Poetry:(1)R hythm: the beat created by the sounds of the poem(2)Meter: a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllablesa)Foot: unit of meter 有几个重音就有几个footb)Types of Feet: Iambic——unstressed, stressed抑扬格（最常见）Trochaic——扬抑格Anapestic——抑抑扬格Dactylic——扬抑抑格Kinds of Metrical lines: monometer (1 foot on a line), dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter, octameter(3)Rhyme3.Free Verse Poetry:(1)D oes not have repeating patterns of stressed & unstressed syllables(2)Very conversational: sounds like someone talking with you(3) A modern type of poetry: does not have rhyme4.Blank Verse Poetry:Written in lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter but does not use end rhymeUnrhymed iambic pentameter5.End Rhyme尾韵: a word at the end of one line rhymes with a word at the end of another line6.Alliteration头韵: consonant sounds repeated at the beginnings of words7.Consonance一致: similar to alliteration except the repeated consonant sounds can be anywhere in the words8.Internal Rhyme: in the same line9.Figures of speech修辞: simile明喻, metaphor暗喻，隐喻, personification拟人, onomatopoeia拟声, parallelism排比, allusion引喻。
美国文学期末复习资料
美国文学期末复习资料美国文学作为一个重要的学科，涉及的内容很广，题材也很多。
为了帮助大家更好地进行期末复习，本文将为大家提供一些有用的资料和复习方法。
一、美国文学的历史概述美国文学的历史可以分为几个时期：殖民时期、启蒙时期、浪漫主义时期、现实主义时期、自然主义时期、现代主义时期等。
每个时期都有不同的题材和文学流派，需要我们进行详细的了解和掌握。
二、重要的美国文学作品在美国文学中，有很多重要的作品，如《飘》、《百年孤独》、《了不起的盖茨比》、《老人与海》、《麦田里的守望者》等。
这些作品的作者都是文学史上的巨匠，他们的作品对之后的文学创作产生了很大的影响，也是重要的考题。
三、主要的美国文学流派美国文学中有很多流派，如现代主义、后现代主义、现实主义、自然主义、浪漫主义等。
每个流派都有不同的特点和代表作品，需要我们对其进行深入的了解，从而更好地掌握美国文学的发展历程。
四、美国文学中的重要人物美国文学历史上有很多重要的人物，如沃尔特·惠特曼、马克·吐温、欧内斯特·海明威、海伦·凯勒等。
这些人物都是文学史上的重要人物，他们的作品对于美国文学的发展产生了深远的影响。
五、复习方法在复习美国文学的时候，我们可以采取以下几种方法：1. 将美国文学的历史概述、重要作品、主要流派、重要人物等内容进行系统的总结，形成属于自己的笔记。
2. 阅读相关作品，在了解作品的同时，结合自己的理解，形成自己的见解和思考。
3. 参加相关讲座和研讨会，向专业人士请教，深入了解美国文学的相关知识和技能。
4. 做好考试的准备，根据历年考题，进行模拟练习，找到自己的薄弱环节，进行针对性的复习。
总之，在进行美国文学的复习时，我们需要深入了解相关内容，同时养成良好的阅读习惯和思考习惯，不断加强对美国文学的理解和掌握，从而有效提高自己的成绩。
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美国文学选读期末复习资料The Colonial Period or The Enlightenment and Revolution Period American Puritanism ( roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th)一、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林作品：1、Poor Richard's Almanac 《格言历书》--- A Collection of maxims, or proverbs, on the value of work and savings for success.2、The Autobiography 《自传》---“美国梦”的根源3、参与起草《独立宣言》American RomanticismThe Romantic Period stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It is a period of the great flowering of American literature.浪漫主义两大主题：爱和大自然的力量The social and cultural background of Romanticism：---The young Republic was flourishing into a politically, economically and culturally independent country.---The Romantic writings revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands.---The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.---The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values.Romantics frequently shared certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm, faith in value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s societies as a source of corruption.二、Edgar Allan Poe 埃德加·爱伦·坡---poet, short story writer and literary critic (48 poems,70 short stories)He greatly influenced the devotees of “Art for art’s sake.”He was father of psychoanalytic criticism (心理分析批评), and the detective story.诗歌的精髓就是追求美小说的主题常常是恐怖和死亡，其中还运用了象征手法。
The Poetic Principle : 1. The poem, should be short, readable at one sitting;2. Beauty (the rhythmical creation of beauty);3. Melancholy 忧伤(especially the death of a beautiful woman).代表作：The Fall of the House of Usher 《厄舍大厦的倒塌》Ligeia 《莉盖亚》Annabel Lee 《安娜贝尔·李》The Raven 《乌鸦》The Cask of Amontillado 《阿芒提拉多的酒桶》---gothic novel 人物：蒙特利瑟Montresor, 弗图纳多Fortunato ，筵席上男人将喝醉的死对头哄骗至地窖并砌墙活埋的故事。
三、Ralph Waldo Emerson 拉尔夫·华尔多·爱默生---The chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism （超验主义）He was a descendent（后裔）of a long line of New England clergymen（牧师）.散文家、诗人、超验主义的哲学的主要倡导者。
?American TranscendentalismAs a philosophical and literary movement, American Transcendentalism (also known as “American Renaissance”) flourshed in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War. It is the high tide of American romanticism and its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society.The major features of Transcendentalism:①The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. 思想超灵宇宙②The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual is the most important element of Society. 个体+社会③The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence.自然+上帝?代表作：Nature《论自然》---the Bible of Transcendentalism by Emerson ；Self-Reliance 《论自助》---是表达他的超验主义观点的最重要作品之一The American Scholar《论美国学者》；The Over-soul 《论超灵》四、Nathaniel Hawthorne纳撒尼尔·霍桑--- effected by 超验主义He was born into a prominent Puritan family.One of the most ambivalent（矛盾的）writers in the American literary history.主要成就：美国心理分析小说的开创者浪漫主义小说家心理小说家代表作：Mosses from an Old Manse 《古宅青苔》;Twice-Told Tales 《故事重述》;The Marble Faun 《玉石雕像》;The House of the Seven Gables 《带有七个尖角阁的房子》The Scarlet Letter《红字》Many of his earlier stories had treated themes that led to The Scarlet Letter. Puritan severity toward sex and matrimony and its tendency to suppress bright color and true feelings.The Scarlet Letter《红字》：Hester Prynne---strong-willed, impetuous, a king of compassionate, maternal figure;Pearl---innocent, perceptive;Roger Chillingworth---a man deficient in human warmth, true evil in the story;Arthur Dimmesdale---intelligent and emotional.Symbolism in his worksHawthorne is a master of symbolism, which he took from the Puritan tradition 清教徒传统and bequeathed to American literature in a revivified form. In his masterpiece, by using Pearl as a thematic symbol, Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. With the scarlet A as the biggest symbol of all, which is ambiguous, he proves himself to be one of the best symbolists.五、Herman Melville赫尔曼·梅尔维尔The early sailing experiences were rewarding.代表作：White Jacket 《白外衣》Billy Budd《毕利·伯德》,Typee《泰比》,Omoo《欧穆》,Mardi《玛地》.Moby Dick 1851 《白鲸》---百科全书式性质/海洋作品/动物史诗（《熊》福克纳、《老人与海》海明威、《白鲸》梅尔维尔）Moby Dick represents the sum total of Melville’s bleak view of the world in which he lived. It is at once Godless and purposeless. Man in this universe lives a meaningless and futile life, meaningless because futile. Once he attempts to seek power over it he is doomed. The idea that man can make the world for himself is nothing but a Transcendentalist folly. Moby Dick thus reveals the basic pattern of 19th century American life:loneliness and suicidal individualism in a self-styled democracy. (a negative reflection upon Transcendentalism)Symbolism in Moby Dick：---It is regarded as the first American prose epic. It is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure, considering that Melville is a great symbolist. It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth 寻找真理and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology.---Different people on board the ship are representations of different ideas and different social and ethnic groups; facts become symbols and incidents acquire universal meanings; the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. The white whale, Moby Dick, symbolizes nature for Melville, for it is complex, unfathomable难以理解的,malignant恶性的, and beautiful as well.Moby Dick相关人名、地名人名：Ishmael Ahab Queequeg Moby Dick地名：Pequod Jeroboam (where they meet Gabriel, a prophet.Samuel Enderby ( whose captain is Boomer)The Rachel The Delight六、Henry David Thoreau 亨利·大卫·梭罗As a young man, Thoreau took a more than usual interest in the natural world. Like Emerson, but more than him, he saw nature as a genuine restorative, healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being, and regarded it as a symbol of spirit.Thoreau was very critical of modern civilization. It was, in his opinion, degrading and enslaving man.新英格兰超验主义的重要作家，最有代表性的两件事情就是在瓦尔登湖畔度过的两年和在监狱度过的一夜。