美国文学 期末考试 总结三
美国文学史期末总结
美国文学史美国文学全书的焦点集中于南太平洋一条名叫莫比·迪克的白鲸,以及捕鲸船皮廓德(Pequod)号的船长阿哈(Ahab)如何对它有不共戴天的仇恨.阿哈在一次航行中被莫比·迪克咬掉一条腿,立志报仇,指挥皮廓德号环航全球追踪,终于发现了它.经过三天放下小艇紧追.虽然刺中了这条白鲸,但它十分顽强狡猾,咬碎了小艇,也撞沉了大船.它拖着捕鲸船游开时,绳子套住阿哈,把他绞死了.全船人尽皆灭顶.只有一个水手借着由棺材改制的救生浮子而逃得性命.整个故事以这个水手伊希梅尔(Ishmael)自述的方式展开.The book focuses on a whale named Moby Dick lived in south pacific and the captain of whaler Pequod—Ahab. Ahab was once bite by Moby Dick and lost a leg, determined to revenge,he commanded whaler pequod do global tracking, and finally found it. After three days of hot pursuit with the skiff,while they stabbed this white whale, but it was very tenacious and cunning, eventually chewed the skiff, also sank the ship. It dragged whaler swimming away, the rope was around Ahab, he was hanged. Almost all of people on the boat drowned, only a sailor called Ishmael survived .。
美国文学期末必考点总结
20151120美国文学必考点总结By Wang HX.说明：1，名词解释可参考我以前发的资料或者自己的资料，也可在网上搜美国文学名词解释。
2，作家作品一定要正确搭配，还要会写下面我列出的作家和作品。
作者是什么时代的代表，有什么称号要记住。
1,英国最早移民到美国的诗人：Anne Bradstreet，作品<The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America>first woman poet.2,Edward Taylor超验主义的先驱。
3，Hard work,thrift,piety and sobriety。
清教徒强调的四点，会写，可能填空。
4，Benjamin Franklin，作品"Poor Richard's Almanac"包括很多collection of proverbs流行谚语集。
The Autobiography自传。
5，Thomas Paine托马斯·佩因1737-1809"Great Common of Mankind"最平凡的人。
作品"American Crisis"《美国危机》，Common Sense常识。
6，Thomas Jefferson托马斯·杰弗逊，drafted the Declaration of Independence.起草了独立宣言。
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.人人生而平等，他们都从“造物主”那边被赋予了某些不可转让的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。
美国文学 期末考试 总结三
1. A Psalm of Life1.1Analysis:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow begins his poem "A Psalm of Life" with the same exuberance and enthusiasm that continues through most of the poem. He begs in the first stanza to be told "not in mournful numbers" about life. He states here that life doesn't abruptly end when one dies; rather, it extends into another after life. Longfellow values this dream of the afterlife immensely and seems to say that life can only be lived truly if one believes that the soul will continue to live long after the body dies.The second stanza continues with the same belief in afterlife that is present in the first. Longfellow states this clearly when he writes, "And the grave is not its goal." Meaning that,life doesn't end for people simply because they die; there is always something more to be hopeful and optimistic for. Longfellow begins discussing how humans must live their lives in constant anticipation for the next day under the belief that it will be better than each day before it: "But to act that each to-morrow / Find us farther than to-day."In the subsequent stanza, Longfellow asserts that there is never an infinite amount of time to live, but art that is created during one's life can be preserved indefinitely and live on long after its creator dies.In the following stanzas, Longfellow likens living in the world to fighting on a huge field of battle.He believes that people should lead heroic and courageous lives and not sit idle and remain ineffectual while the world rapidly changes around them: "Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Bea hero in the strife!" His use of the word "strife" is especially interesting, since it clearly acknowledges that life is inherently difficult, is a constant struggle, and will never be easy. Longfellow then encourages everyone to have faith and trust the lord and not to rely on an unknown future to be stable and supportive.2. Commentary for A Psalm of LifeSensory languageRhyme schemeABABUses descriptive languageUses similes2. ExcelsiorSummary: Excelsior is a poem about a traveler who had only one goal stuck into his head that was to get higher and nothing could make him stop, not even the warm light of houses, nor the warm welcome of a girl, nor the storm that will come at night, nor the avalanche could stop him. And in the end he died. He did what he determined to do and he ended up losing his life.3. Sit and Look OutAnalysis:As the poet surveys the human world, he is struck by the numbers and variety of misfortunes to which mankind is subject and which are the causes of wide-spreading suffering in the world. He sees all this but he remains silent. His silence is of course due to the profundity of suffering in the world and his helplessness in the matter.4. Mending Wall (from North of Boston)Form and style: The poem is in blank verse—that is, unrhymed iambic pentameter. Its forty-five lines are in the form of a monologue, but quite different from the style of dramatic monologuepopularized by Robert Browning’s give a revelation of the speaker’s character, often unintentional, and are focused inward. Frost’s are directed outward, usually at some object that can serve: as a point of departure of general observations. The verse is largely monosyllabic, the language typically unpretentious. His Paleolithic savage, for example, is old-stone, a literal translation of the Greek word and much more effective. Simplicity and dignity set the tone.。
美国文学考试重点总结
Realism1、It aims at the interpretation of actualities of any aspect of life, free from subjective prejudice, idealism, or romantic color.2、Major features：（Familiar aspects of contemporary and everyday life are represented in a）straightforward or matter-of-fact manner;Characters from all social levels社会阶层; Open ending; Focus on commonness of the lives of the common people;objectivity客观; it presents moral visions.American realistic authors1、Bret Harte：the first American writer of local color .2、William Dean Howells: the arbiter of American realism /holds that truth is the highest beauty.3、Henry James insisted that art must be related to life.4、Henry James / Mark Twain: the greatest of American realists.5、Samuel Langhorne Clemens：American writer and humorist, whose best work is characterized by broad, often irreverent humor or biting social satire.（无礼的幽默和尖锐的社会讽刺）Twain's writing is also known for realism of place and language, memorable characters, and hatred of hypocrisy and oppression（憎恨虚伪和压迫）.6、Mark Twain's work during the 1890s and the 1900s is marked by growing pessimism and bitterness（不断增长的悲观和痛苦）Major works: The Gilded Age镀金时代（第一部长篇小说）: A Tale of To-day (1873); The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894);The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876);The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》Travel fiction: The Innocents Abroad (or The New Pilgrim’s Progress)(1869) 《傻子国外旅行记》;Roughing It (1873) 艰难生涯;Life on the Mississippi (1883) 密西西比河上的生活，combines an autobiographical account(结合了自传)7、Historical Romance: The Prince and the Pauper(1882)（王子与贫儿）, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court（在亚瑟王朝廷中的康涅狄格州美国人）, It isa parable of colonialization(这是一个殖民化的寓言).8、The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865) 《卡拉维拉斯县驰名的跳蛙》充满夸张和喜剧的边疆生活。
20世纪欧美文学史 期末考试复习(推荐文档)
20世纪欧美文学史期末考试复习整理一、名词解释1、后期象征主义：象征主义是西方现代主义文学运动中出现最早、影响最大的文学流派，它分为前后两个时期。
前期象征主义流行于19世纪后半叶的法国。
第一次世界大战后，后期象征主义应运而生，20世纪20年代，后期象征主义达到高潮。
（2）后期象征主义一是更注重诗歌的复杂性、暗示性、神秘性和音乐，强调通过象征，实现灵魂与灵魂的对话，实现已知世界与未知世界的对话；二是创作变得愈来愈隐秘与个人化，诗人仿佛神庙中祈祷的神甫，试图在喃喃自语是创造某种奥秘的迷；三是更加强调形式的“纯粹”，试图创造一种“纯诗”。
（3）后期象征主义代表作家有：瓦雷里、里尔克、庞德、叶芝和艾略特。
2、意识流小说：二十世纪初期兴起的文学流派。
20年代出现于英国，代表作家为乔伊斯和弗吉尼亚∙沃尔夫。
在法国和美国以普鲁斯特和福克纳为代表。
其理论基础包括法国哲学家柏格森提出的“心理时间”和美国心理学家威廉詹姆斯的《心理学原理》。
（“意识流”一词首先在此书中提出）意识流小说主要包括内心独白，内部分析，感观印象三种基本形式，它使文学描写领域从社会表层进入意识深层，打破了传统小说基本上按故事发生的先后来安排情节的直线结构方法，使故事情节随着人的意识而展开，不受时间，空间，逻辑，因果关系的制约，靠自由联想把各个部分连接起来。
在时间上产生大幅度跳跃和倒错，产生逻辑上模糊，混乱的感觉。
3、荒诞派戏剧：是指第二次世界大战后旅居法国巴黎的一群剧作家开创的一种戏剧流派。
兴起于20世纪50年代。
该戏剧流派得名于英国批评家马丁∙艾思林。
荒诞派戏剧的哲学基础是存在主义，它拒绝用传统的、理智的手法去反映荒诞的生活，而主张用荒诞的手法直接表现荒诞的存在。
荒诞派戏剧家提倡纯粹戏剧性、通过直喻把握世界，他们放弃了形象塑造与戏剧冲突，运用支离破碎的舞台直观场景、奇特怪异的道具、颠三倒四的对话、混乱不堪的思维，表现现实的丑恶与恐怖、人生的痛苦与绝望，达到一种抽象的荒诞效果。
美国文学考试期末知识点
1. features of Puritanism 请教主义(1)Predestination: God decided everything before things occurred.(2)Original sin: Human beings were born to be evil, and this original sin can be passed down from generation to generation. (3)Total depravity(4)Limited atoneme nt: Only the “elect” can be saved.2, American Puritanism 美国请教主义的Basic Puritan Beliefs(1)Total Depravity - through Adam and Eve's fall, every person is born sinful - concept of Original Sin.(2)Unconditional Election - God "saves" those he wishes - only a few are selected for salvation - concept of predestination. (3)Limited Atonement - Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone. (4)Irresistible Grace - God's grace is freely given, it cannot be earned or denied. Grace is defined as the saving and transfiguring power of God.(5)Perseverance of the "saints" - those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God, and to live uprightly. If anyone rejects grace after feeling its power in his life, he will be going against the will of God - something impossible in Puritanism.(6)Puritan values (creeds): Hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety, simple tastes. Puritans are more practical, tougher, to be ever ready for any misfortune and tragic failure and optimistic..3.Influence on American Literature对美国文学影响定义:America literature is in good measure a literary expression of the pious idealism of the American Puritanism bequest. All literature is based on a myth of garden of Eden.Symbolism象征the American puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chie fly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. Symbolism as a technique has become a common practice in American literature.With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible.4. The literary Scene in colonial America 殖民地的美国Humble origins: diaries, histories, journals, letters,travel books, autobiographies/biographies, sermons各种作家Writers: (1)John Smith: the first American writer(2)Anne Bradstreet: a Puritan poet ,The Complete Work: Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America(3)Edward Taylor: a variety of verse: funeral elegies, lyrics, a medieval "debate," and a 500-page Metrical History of Christianity (mainly a history of martyrs). His best works, according to modern critics, are the series of short Preparatory Meditations.5;Features of Colonial Poets殖民地诗人的特征American literature grew out of humble origins. Diaries, histories, journals, letters, commonplace books, travel books, sermons, in short, personal literature in its various forms, occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period.They faithfully imitated and transplanted English literary traditions.---In English styleThey were servants of God.---Puritan poetsThey served either God or colonial expansion or both.6,Anne Bradstreet’s Works1,“Some vers es on the Burning of Our House”2,“The Spirit and the Flesh”3,The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America(the first collection published by English colonists living in America)7.several points in this period:(1)William Hill Brown published the first American novel The Power of Sympathy in 1789.(2)Charles Brockden Brown) was the first American author to attempt to live from his writing. He developed the genre of American Gothic. He employed new narrative techniques. Another significance was his description of his characters’ in ner world, so his works can be read as psychological novel.(3)Roger Williams (1603-1683)Preach for civil and religious liberty and against the puritan oligarchy of Boston.Call for democratic government and oppose to the eviction of the Indians.Works: The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience(4)CJohn Woolman1:From a pious Quaker family 2:Transcendentalism humanitarianism3:Plea for the rights of all men and the abolition of the slavery system.Works: Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes; A Plea for the Poor.(5)Thomas Paine :A great influence in the American RevolutionWorks: The Rights of Man; The Age of Reason(6)Philip Freneau:“Poet of the American Revolution”“Father of American Poetry”,the most significant poet of 18th century in America. Some off his themes and images anticipated theworks of such 19th century American Romantic writers as Cooper, Emerson, Poe and Melville.His works:(1) The Rising Glory of America1772 《美洲光辉的兴起》(2) The Wild Honey Suckle 1786 《野地里德忍冬》(3) The Indian Burying Ground1788 《印第安人墓地》(4The Dying Indian: Tomo Chequi《奄奄一息的印第安人：托姆·柴吉》关于他的评价：He was the most significant poet of 18th century America.Some of his themes and images anticipated the works of such 19th century American Romantic writers as Cooper, Emerson, Poe and Melville.Poet of American Independence: Freneau provides incentive and inspiration to the revolution by writing such poems as "The Rising Glory of America" and "Pictures of Columbus."Journalist: Freneau was editor and contributor of The Freeman's Journal (Philadelphia) from 1781-1784. In his writings, he advocated the essence of what is known as Jeffersonian democracy - decentralization of government, equality for the masses, etc.Freneau's Religion: Freneau is described as a deist - a believer in nature and humanity but not a pantheist. In deism, religion becomes an attitude of intellectual belief, not a matter of emotional of spiritual ecstasy. Freneau shows interest and sympathy for the humble and the oppressedFreneau as Father of American Poetry: His major themes are death, nature, transition, and the human in nature. All of these themes become important in 19th century writing.All the while.in romanticizing the wonders of nature in his writings...he searched for an American idiom in verse.8：The American Enlightenment 美国启蒙运动(1)It was a part of a larger intellectual movement known as the Age of Enlightenment. Influenced by the scientific revolution of the 17th century, the Enlightenment took scientific reasoning and applied it to human nature and society.(2)Reason was advocated as the primary source and basis of authority.There was a shift from God-centered thinking to human being centered. Instead of going through life unhappy and thinking they had to suffer so they could enjoy the afterlife - people began to think about what they could accomplish on earth.(3)Equality The American Enlightenment inflenced Benjamin Franklin dramatically.Great Awening影响(1)It is a serires of religious revivals that swept over the American colonies about the middle of the 18th century.(2)It results in doctrinal changes and influnce social and political thought.In New England it was started by the rousing preaching of Jonathan Edwards9:Jonathan Edwards Works: (1)The Freedom of the Will《论意志自由》(2)The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended《论原罪》(3)The Nature of True Virtue《论真实德行的本原》AssessmentJonathan Edwards was a good deal of a transcendentalistbecause of his ideas:a, The spirit of revivalism b. Regeneration of man c. God’s presence d. Puritan idealism10:Benjamin Franklin Works:1：The Autobiography《自传》（1）The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is a record of self-examination and self-improvement.（2）The Autobiography is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Benjamin Franklin was spokesman for the new order of 18th century enlightenment, and that he represented in America all its ideas, that man is basically good and free, by nature endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.（3）Through telling a success story of self-reliance, the book celebrates, in fact, the fulfillment of the American dream.Now a look at the style of The Autobiography will readily reveal that it is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concisionThe Autobiography《自传》:It is perhaps the first real post-revolutionary American writing as well as the first real autobiography in English.It gives us the simple yet immensely fascinating record of a man rising to wealth and fame from a state of poverty and obscurity into which he was born, the faithful account of the colorful career of America’s first self-made man:2：Poo r Richard’s Almanac《穷理查德格言历书》Poor Richard’s Almanac is full of adages and common-sense witticism which became ,very quickly, household words.Benjamin Franklin Borrowed from such writers as Defoe, Swift, and Pope , and used his own wit to simplify and enrich their axioms11：General Introduction to Romanticism 浪漫主义介绍a. Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution.b. It was partly a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature.The movement stressed运动强调a. strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, horror and awe—especially that which is experienced in confronting the sublimity of untamed nature and its picturesque qualities, both new aesthetic categories.b. It elevated folk art and custom to something noble.c. It argued for a "natural" epistemology of human activities as conditioned by nature in the formof language, custom and usage.12：Characteristics of Romanticism:浪漫主义特征（1）an innate and intuitive perception of man, nature and society—reliance on the subconscious, the inner life, the abnormal psychology（2）an emphasis on freedom, individualism and imagination—rebellion against neoclassicism which stressed formality, order and authority（3）a profound love for nature—nature as a source of knowledge, nature as a refuge from the present, nature as a revelation of the holy spirit the quest for beauty—pure beautythe use of antique and fanciful subject matters—sense of terror, Gothic, grotesque, odd and queer13，Romanticism Historical Background历史背景1，Political: After American Revolution, American developed into a political, economic and cultural independence. Democracy and equality became the ideals of the new nation. Complete changes came about in the political life of the country.2. Economic: Industrialism spread widely and fast. A large number of immigrants arrived. All these produced an economic boom.3. Both the change in political and the economic development brought about a sense of optimism and hope.4. Culturally: Magazines appeared in ever-increasing numbers and they played an important role in facilitating literary expansion.5. Foreign influence added incentive to the growth of romanticism in America.14Features of American Romanticism美国浪漫主义特征a. Imitative: Some of the American Romantic writings were modeled on English and European works. The Romantic Movement proved to be a decisive influence. Without it, the rise of Romanticism would have been impossible. Romanticism writers such as Scott, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron all made a stimulating impact on American literature.b. Independent: From the very beginning, American Romanticism exhibited distinct features of its own. It originated from a mixture of factors which were altogether American rather than anything else.c. Puritan influence over American Romanticism was clearly noticeable. E.g., the author tended more to moralize than writers in England.15：Uniqueness of Am. Romanticism:美国浪漫主义独特性Unique subject matter：The western movement ：the American national experience of pioneering into the west proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated American’s landsc ape with its virgin forests, meadows, groves, endless prairies, stream, and vast oceans. The wildness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral law.Uniqueness of Am. Romanticism:：the newness as a nation美国浪漫主义独特性的具体体现（1）The ideals of individualism and political equality, and their dream that America was to be a new Garden of Eden for man were distinctly American. This feeling of newness was strong enough to inspire the romantic imagination and channel it into different vein of writing.Puritan moral values（2）Puritan influence over American Romanticism was clearly noticeable. E.g., the author tended more to moralize than writers in England.（3）Mixture of different races：The immigrants coming from different cultural and social background bring with them different cultures16. Two phases:两个时期a. 1770s to 1830s Early period Representatives: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooperb.1830s to 1860s Late period summit of American literature Representatives: Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman, Dickinson, Poe etc.；Washington Irving “Father of the American short storyHis Worksa. A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty1809 《纽约外史》b. The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent1819-1820 《见闻札记》c. Bracebridge Hall 1822 《布雷斯布里奇庄园》d. Oliver Goldsmith 1840 《哥尔德斯密斯》e. Life of George Washington1855-1859 《华盛顿传》The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent1819-1820 《见闻札记》评价：（1）The Sketch Book is a collection of essays, sketches, and tales.（2）In The Sketch Book, the most famous and frequently anthologized（选编）are “Rip Van Winkle” 《瑞普·凡·温克》“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” 《睡谷的传说》(3）The short story as a genre in American literature began with The Sketch Book.(4)The book touched the American imagination and foreshadowed the coming of Hawthorne, Melville, and Poe. (5)It also marked the beginning of American Romanticisms.The evaluation of Irving：a:Father of American literatureb：The beginning of short story as a genre-“Father of the American short story”c The first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international famed The Sketch Book also marked the beginning of American RomanticismThe theme of the storyThe story of man who has difficulties facing his advancing ageThe contradictory impulses in America toward work- the puritan attitude as opposed to the American desire for leisureThe theme of escape from one’s responsibilities and even one’s historyThe loss of identity19：James Fenimore Cooper(1789-1851)Major Works：Precaution戒备(1820, his first novel, imitating Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) The Spy间谍(his second novel and great success)皮袜子故事集：“Leatherstocking Tales” (his masterpiece, a series of five novels): The Pioneers开拓者, The Last of the Mohicans最后的莫西干人, The Prairie草原, The Pathfinder探路者, The Deerslayer 杀鹿者point of view：the theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natural rights vs. legal rightsTheme：a. America was made conscious of his past, particularly the contribution from the Mohicans.b. The antithesis between nature and civilization, at the cost of the life and labor, will be dissolved to push the development of frontiers.c. The battle between the colonists caused the trage dy of Indians in American continentThe features of Cooper ：He is a mythic writer Good at inventing plots (Cooper had never been to the frontier area personally.)Style: powerful, yet clumsy and dreadfulWooden Characters ：Use of dialect, but not authentic (criticized by Mark Twain)19：超验主义：Transcendentalism （1）定义Emerson’s Definition：In his essay "The Transcendentalist," Emerson explained transcendentalism is “idealism; i dealism as it appears in 1842".The factors that influenced New England Transcendentalism：New England Transcendentalism was the Product of a combination of foreign influences and the American Puritan traditiona. Foreign influences: the introduction of idealism (唯心主义)from Germany and France and Oriental mysticismb. American PuritanismMajor Features超验主义特征：emphasis on spirit or the Oversoul as the most important thing in the universe. 1 The Oversoul was an all-pervading power for goodness, omnipresent and omnipotent, from which all things came and of which all were a part. It exists in nature and man alike and constituted the chief elements of the universe2 It emphasized the significance of the individual and believed that the individual was the most important element in society and that the ideal kind of individual was self-reliant and unselfish.It took nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God3 All things in nature were symbols of the spiritual, of God’s presence. Nature was alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. Everything in the universe was viewed as an expression of the divine spirit.4 It stressed the power of intuition. It stressed the power of intuition, believing that people could learn things both from the outside world by means of the five senses and from the inner world by intuition. But the things they learned from within were truer than the things they learned from without, and transcended them. It held that everyone had access to a source of knowledge that transcended the everyday experiences of sensation and reflection. Intuition was inner light within.Influence超验主义的影响：1 It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and brought about the idea that human can be perfected by nature. It stressed religious tolerance, called to throw off shackles of customs and traditions and go forward to the development of a new and distinctly American culture.2 It advocated idealism that was great needed in a rapidly expanded economy where opportunity often became opportunism, and the desire to “get on” obscured the moral necessity for rising to spiritual height.It helped to create the first American renaissance –one of the most prolific period in American literatureSignificance: New England Transcendentalism is the summit of American Romanticism. Representatives: Emerson, Thoreau20：Ralph Waldo Emerson拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生His Works：a. Essays《散文集》b. Nature《论自然》(a book which declared the birth of Transcendentalism)c. The American Scholar《论美国学者》(American’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence)d. Divinity, The Oversoul《论超灵》e. Self-reliance《论自立》f. The Transcendentalist《超验主义者》His point of view a. One major element of his philosophy is his firm belief in the transcendence of the “oversoul”.b. He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying(圣洁的神圣化的) moral influence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent(内在的固有的) God in nature.c. 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”.d. Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself.His aesthetics a. poets should function as preachers who gave directions to the mass.b. True poetry and true art should ennoble and serve as a moral purification and a passage toward organic unity(有机统一) and higher reality.c. Emerson places emphasis on ideas, symbols and imaginative words.d. As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrate America and the life today.e. Emerson’s aesthetics brought about a revolution in American li terature in general and in American poetry in particular. It marked the birth of true American poetry and true America poets such as Whitman and DickinsonNature （论自然）：Emerson’s first published work was Nature(1836). This work has the clearest statement of Transcendentalist ideas. Nature is considered the “gospel” (真理信条)of American Transcendentalism. It has an Introduction and eight chapters:1.Nature2. Commodity3. Beauty4. Language5. Discipline6. Idealism7. Spirit8. Prospects.The major thesis of the essay, in Emerson‘s words, is that we should now “enjoy an original relation to the universe,” and not become dependent on past experiences of others or on holy books, creeds ,dogma(教条教理).主要内容：In it Emerson stated that man should not see nature merely as something to be used; that man’s relationship with nature transcends the idea of usefulness. Nature is a kind of discipline to man. Once you are in nature, totally in solitude, you feel you’re nothing, but you see all. Nature makes people feel transparent(透明的) and humble. Meanwhile, He saw an important difference between understanding (judging things only according to the senses) and reasonThe American Scholar论美国学者These two works made him famous.As “Man Thinking”, the Scholar should know how to think when confronted with Nature, the Past (in the form of books) and Action (life).Emerson particularly warns that the past should be used to inspire and not to enslave the scholar. Emerson argued in the speech that the age called to the Scholar for active participation and leadership.It is American’s Declaration of Intellectual IndependenceSelf-Reliance(论自助)Self-Reliance is one of the most famous of these lecture essays, and is widely read in American high schools today. Emerson believed above all in individualism, independence of mind, and self-reliance; He admired courage and was not afraid of changing or clashing ideas.Equally important is Emerson’s essay The Over-Soul (1841).The Major Themes in Emerson’s Works：the emphasis on the independence and separateness of the individual, and the right (and duty) of man rise to his full potential, asserting the inalienable worth of every man.“Another sign of our times…is the new importance given to the single personEmerson’s Influences on A.La He called on American Writers to write about America in a peculiarly American way.b His perception of humanity and nature as symbols of universal truth encouraged the development of the symbolist movement in A. art and literature.c He embodied a new nation’s desire and struggle to assert（维护主张）its own identity in its formative period.Henry David Thoreau a. A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers(1849)《康科德和梅里马克河上的一周》b. A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and Walden / Walden《瓦尔登湖》c. Civil Disobedience《论公民之不服从》It influenced people such as Mahatma Gandhi.point of viewHe did not like the way a materialistic America was developing and was vehemently(激烈的) outspoken on the point.He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system.Like Emerson, but more tha n him, Thoreau saw nature as a healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being.He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.He was very critical of modern civilization.“Simplicity…simplify!”He has trust in the future and has belief in a new generation of men.Civil DisobedienceThe essay makes it clear that this stance(立场姿态) is not a matter of whim（一时的兴趣奇想）but a demanding moral principle.The appeal of civil disobedience in the North grew in the wake of the Compromise of 1850, whichincluded the hated Fugitive Slave Law, requiring all citizens to aid in the return of escaped slaves to their owners. Though civil disobedience is usually associated with passive resistance, Thoreau brought out the more direct action of John Brown.Thoreau's essay had a profound influence on reformers worldwide, from Gandhi in South Africa and India; to Martin Luther King, and the opposition to the Vietnam War in the United States.Walden (1854In 1854, Thoreau published the book by which he will always be best known, Walden, or Life in the Woods. It is by far the deepest, richest, and most closely jointed of his books. It shows Thoreau at his best, and contains all that he had to say to the world. In fact, he is a man of one book, and that book is Walden. Thoreau's Walden is mythic, poetic, fictitious, fabulous, and metaphoric in the best senses of these terms. In it the artistically recreated real-life experience (itself an experiment in "artistic" living) becomes a symbolic model or paradigm for an embodied spiritual quest for the disembodied, for a journey from the "gross" to the divine "necessaries of life." The thesis of Walden is clearly indicated in the first chapter of the book. True economy has nothing to do with the ways and means of increasing wealth, with methods for multiplying the superfluities, the "gross necessaries of life." True economy is that which simply provides the flesh with what belongs to the flesh so that the spirit may go about its own business.The book described the author’s extremely simple life and regeneration he experienced when he lived near the Walden pond.This is a book on self-culture and human perfectibilityThoreau has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man. He holds that the most important thing for men to do with their lives is to be self-sufficient and strive to achieve personal spiritual perfection.In the book Thoreau criticized the modern civilization and told people to leave the life of hurry and bustle and to sink themselves in nature.It is a book full of ideas expressed to jostle his neighbors out of their smug(自鸣得意的) complacency(自满满足For the fatal modern craze for monetary success he prescribes a panacea(灵丹妙药) “Simplicity…simplify!” Spiritual richness is real wealth.One’s soul might not help one up in the world, but it will help make real progress in self-improvementRegeneration is a major thematic concern of wardenRegeneration is a major thematic concern of warden and thus decide the structural framework of the book. The whole book is within the frame of a single year, and progresses through spring, summer and autumn to winter.EvaluationComparing with Emerson who was a great thinker, Thoreau was a great experimentalist who put Emerson's Transcendental doctrines into practice in the actual life.Herman Melville (1819 ---- 1891):Master of philosophical allegory寓言1:His point of view : a. negative attitude towards life. b. One of the major themes of his is alienation孤立（far away from each other）. c. Other themes: loneliness, suicidal individualism（individualism causing disaster and death）, rejection and quest, confrontation of innocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19th-century idea of progress2:His Writing Stylea. Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.b. He tends to write periodic chapters.c. His rich rhythmical富有节奏感的prose and his poetic power have been profusely丰富地commentedupon and praised. d. His works are symbolic and metaphorical.e. He includes many non-narrative chapters of factual background or description of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick)His Worksa.Typee1846《泰比》b. Omoo1874《奥穆》c. Moby Dick 1851《莫比·迪克》d. Mardi1849《玛地》 f. White Jacket1850《白外衣》g. Pierre1852《皮尔埃》h. Billy Budd (posthumously) 《比利·巴德》Moby Dick(1)Ishmael, feeling depressed, seeks escape by going out to sea on the whaling ship, Pequod. The captain is Ahab, the man with one leg. Moby Dick, the white whale, had sheared off his leg on a previous voyage, and Ahab resolves to hunt him to kill him. He hangs a doubloon on the mast as a reward for anyone who sight the whale first. The Pequod makes a good catch of whales but Ahab refuses to turn back until he has killed his enemy. Eventually the white whale appears, and the Pequod begins its doomed fight with it. On the first day the whale overturns a boat; on the second it swamps another. When the third day comes, Ahab and his crew manage to plunge a harpoon into it, but the whale carries the Pequod along with it to its doom. All on board the whaler get drowned, except one, Ishmael, who survive to tell the tale.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.One of the major themes in Melville is alienation, which he sensed existing in the life of his time on different levels, between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Nature has overwhelming power. Man can’t conquer nature. Man, living in this world, is a tragedyIt is a negative reflection of self-reliance, and individualism. Ahab may have been Melville’s portrait of an Emersonian self-reliant individual. Melville lost no opportunity in his criticism of New England Transcendentalism. Constantly under his attack is its emphasis on individualism and Oversoul. The idea that man make the world for himself is nothing but a Transcendentalist folly.Symbolismthe voyage: the search for the ultimate truth of experienceMoby Dick: the final mystery of the universe which man will do well to desist from pursuing Ambiguity (You can understand his Moby Dick differently.)First, it can be understand as a tragedy of man fighting against overwhelming odds in an indifferent and even hostile universe. Thus, Captain Ahab is a hero who dares to fight though he failed at last.Then, it can be understood as a bitter satire on Transcendentalism’s emphasis on self-reliance. Captain Ahab believed in his own power (a human being’s power) too much and thus he doomed to fail, because human’s power is limited and there is a mysterious thing existed in the universe which controlled man’s life and cannot be understood by human being.Nowadays some new research indicated that the story means man should protect the nature otherwise man will be punished as those whalers in the story were punished by the whale.Melville spoke ahead of his time. He knew that he was doomed to write a book like Moby Dick in his day, but he just could not help himself because he was a dedicated literary artist. There was, to be sure, a good deal of Ahab in him. “I have written a wicked book,” he said after finishing Moby Dick, and the public felt outraged. Thus born in the 19th century, Melville did not receive recognition until the twentieth century. Scarlet Letter1:The beauty shows:Free in the jail in her mind.。
美国文学期末复习知识点-绪论
绪论1.一般认为，美国文学史大致可分为七个时期，分别是殖民地时期、独立战争前后时期、南北战争时期、南北战争后至第一次大战前时期、两次大战之间时期、第二次大战后至越南战争前时期、越南战争后至新世纪初时期。
2.殖民地时期的美国文学主要有三类，它们是原住民印第安人口头文学和民间故事、欧洲探险者到北美的探险日记和航海记录、早期到北美殖民地的英国官员和牧师的散文和游记。
3.在殖民地英国官员和牧师作家们中大致可分为两类，即清教主义作家和反清教主义作家。
4.独立战争前后的美国文学中，发展成果最为突出的文学类型是散文。
5.第一位获得国际声誉的美国小说家是华盛顿·欧文，他的短篇小说代表作是《瑞普·凡·温克尔》、《睡谷传奇》。
6.詹姆斯·范·库柏创作了“皮袜子五部曲”：《开拓者》、《最后一个莫希干人》、《草原》、《探路人》、《逐鹿者》；他是第一位描写美洲殖民地历史的历史小说家、第一位刻画印第安人形象的小说家。
7.爱默生的散文《论自然》是美国超验主义运动的宣言，在该文中，爱默生提出新大陆需要精神独立。
超验主义是民主思想在哲学上的表现。
8.美国诗人瓦尔特·惠特曼的诗集《草叶集》的问世标志着美国浪漫主义运动达到高潮，爱默生欢呼的伟大的美国诗人诞生了。
9.惠特曼去世标志着浪漫主义文学时代的结束，美国文学迅速走进一个现实主义和自然主义文学发展新时代。
10.马克·吐温的小说《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》开创了美国文学的一代新风；威廉·豪威尔斯被认为是美国现实主义文学的奠基人，他最先指出“金钱成了时代的史诗”，“当个百万富翁成了美国人的理想”；而亨利·詹姆斯则开创了20世纪美国心理小说的新方向。
11.欧·亨利被誉为“美国短篇小说之父”，与法国作家莫泊桑和俄国作家契诃夫并列为世界三大短篇小说家。
12.弗兰克·诺里斯是第一个名副其实的美国自然主义作家，西奥多·德莱赛被称为第一次世界大战前最优秀的自然主义作家，其代表作品有《嘉莉妹妹》、《美国的悲剧》。
(完整版)美国文学史总结
ⅠColonial America(17th century)殖民主义时期文学1.In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America and he mistook the native people onthe new continent for Indians.Character of colonial literature:a.content: religious, politicalb.form: diary, journal, letters, travel books, sermons, history (personalliterature)c.Style: simple. direct, concised.out of humble originsEarly in the 17th century, the English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history.The earliest settlers in America included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese.The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)2.Captain Town Smith, the first American writer3.Puritan Thoughts: hard work, thrift(节俭), piety(虔诚), sobriety(节制), 这些也成了早期美国作品主导思想.典型的清教徒：John Cotton & Roger William, John Cotton was called “the Patriarch of New England(新英格兰教父)”清教徒采用的文学体裁：narratives(日记) and journals(游记)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 spirit4.Private literature: theological, moral, historical, political5.The work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, rose to the level of realpoetry. Anne Bradstreet is one of the most interesting of the early poets, 英国最早移民到美国的诗人. The best of the Puritan poets was Edward Taylor.ⅡReason and Revolution(18th century)理性和革命时期文学1.The War for Independence (1776-1783) ended in the formation of a Federative bourgeoisdemocratic republic - the United States of America.2.Bourgeois Enlightenment3.Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard’s Almanac(穷人理查德的年鉴), an annual collection ofproverbs.The Autobiography, 18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传⏹The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is Puritan because it is a recordof self-examination and self-improvement. The Puritans, as a type, were very much given to self-analysis.⏹The Autobiography shows Franklin was spokesman for the new order of 18th-centuryEnlightenment, and that he represented in America all its ideas, that man is basically good and free, by nature endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.⏹It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision. The plainness of its style,the homeliness of imagery, the simplicity of diction, syntax and expression are some of the obvious features we cannot mistake.⏹Tone: OptimismThe American dream began with the settlement of the American continent –the Promised Land – the Garden of Eden – optimistic about the future4.Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, 极大恢复士气5.Thomas Jefferson:The Declaration of Independence6.Philip Freneau, Father of American Poetry: The Indian Burring Ground(印第安人的坟地)The Wild Honey Suckle(野忍冬花)⏹The poem is an indication of the poet’s dedication to American subjectmatter and the natural scenes on the new continent.⏹Here in this poem Freneau deals with the themes of loveliness and thetransience of life.⏹This poem, well within the melancholy genre, consists of the poet’s pensivemusings on the flower’s story.⏹The first two stanzas picture the advantages of the flower’s country retreat.⏹The next two stanzas unite the theme of the seasons with the thought that allmust die. Death and decay, as well as creation, are so common, so much a part of the universal law.ⅢRomanticism(end of the 18th century——Civil War)浪漫主义文学1.Washington Irving, Father of American literature: Sketch Book(见闻札记, the firstmodern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature, a collection of essays, sketches, and tales)2.James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales(皮袜子故事集, the AmericanNational Epic) contains of 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), and The Prairie(大草原).3.Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven(乌鸦), Annabel Lee(安娜贝尔·李), The Fall of the House ofUsher(鄂榭府崩溃记)To Helen○Edgar Allan Poe wrote “To Helen” as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard, of Richmond, Va., who died in 1824. She was the mother of one of Poe’s school classmates, Robert Stanard. When Robert invited Edgar, then 14, to his home (at 19th and East Grace Streets in Richmond) in 1823, Poe was greatly taken with the 27-year-old woman, who is said to have urged him to write poetry. He was later to write that she was his first real love.○ 1 stanza⏹Helen: An allusion to Helen of Troy in Greek mythology.⏹Nicean: Of or from Nicea (also spelled Nicaea), a city in ancient Bithynia (nowpart of present-day Turkey) near the site of the Trojan War.⏹Barks: small sailing vessels.⏹End rhyme: A, B, A,B, B.○ 2 stanza⏹wont: accustomed to⏹Naiad: Naiads were minor nature goddesses in Greek and Romanmythology. They inhabited and presided over rivers, lakes, streams, and fountains.⏹Naiad airs: Peaceful, gentle breezes or qualities⏹The glory that . . .Rome: These last two lines, beginning with the glorythat was, are among the most frequently quoted lines in world literature.⏹End rhyme: A, B, A, B, A.Half rhyme: Face and Greece○ 3 stanza⏹Psyche: In Greek and Roman mythology, Psyche was a beautifulprincess dear to the god of love, Eros (Cupid), who would visit her in a darkened room ina palace. One night she used an agate lamp to discover his identity. Later, at the urging ofEros, Zeus gave her the gift of immortality. Eros then married her.⏹End rhyme: A, B, B, A, B.⏹from the regions which are Holy Land: from ancient Greece and Rome;from the memory Poe had of Mrs. Stanard○Theme■Beauty, as Poe uses the word in the poem, appears to refer to the woman's soul as well as her body. On the one hand, he represents her as Helen of Troy–the quintessence of physical beauty–at the beginning of the poem. On the other, he represents her as Psyche–the quintessence of soulful beauty–at the end of the poem. In Greek, psyche means soul.4.Transcendentalism(超验主义):❖19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of man, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. In their religious quest, the Transcendentalists rejected the conventions of 18th-century thought; and what began in dissatisfaction with Unitarianism developed into a repudiation of the whole established order.❖Representative figures: some 30 men and a couple of women such as Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller, most of them teachers or clergymen, radicals against rigid rationalism of Unitarianism.❖Time: 1836-1855❖Essence: “Transcendentalism is idealism” in essence❖Major Features:A.Emphasis on spirit;B.The importance of the individual as the most important element ofsociety;C．N ature as symbolic of the Spirit or GodRalph Waldo Emerson, Father of American Essay, Essayist, poet, philosopher, orator, critic : Nature(the Bible and manifesto(宣言) of the New England Transcendentalism), Self-relianceHenry David Thoreau(The Prophet(提倡者) of Non-Violence Movement, he wasEmerson’s truest disciple, who put into practice many of Emerson’s theories): Walden5.Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter⑴女主角honest, calmly face fault 诚实，坦然的面对罪过。
美国文学整理终
美国文学一、单选(10/20’)二、True or false(10/10’)三、填空(15/15’)四、根据一段作品内容节选,写出该作品的作品名及作家(5/10’)五、简答(5/25’)六、文学评论(20’)简答题:1.欧文的重要地位就是什么？Washington Irving(1)first American writer(2)the messenger sent from the new world to the old world(3)father of American literature2.超验主义American TranscendentalismI.Background: four sources1.Unitarianism(1)Fatherhood of God(2)Brotherhood of men(3)Leadership of Jesus(4)Salvation by character (perfection of one’s character)(5)Continued progress of mankind(6)Divinity of mankind(7)Depravity of mankind2.Romantic IdealismCenter of the world is spirit, absolute spirit (Kant)3.Oriental mysticismCenter of the world is “oversoul”4.PuritanismEloquent expression in transcendentalismII.Appearance1836, “Nature” by EmersonIII.Features1.spirit/oversoul2.importance of individualism3.nature – symbol of spirit/Godgarment of the oversoul4.focus in intuition (irrationalism and subconsciousness)IV.Influence1.It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and brought about the idea thathuman can be perfected by nature、It stressed religious tolerance, called to throw offshackles of customs and traditions and go forward to the development of a new anddistinctly American culture、2.It advocated idealism that was great needed in a rapidly expanded economy whereopportunity often b ecame opportunism, and the desire to “get on” obscured the moralnecessity for rising to spiritual height、3.It helped to create the first American renaissance – one of the most prolific period inAmerican literature、V.Ralph Waldo Emerson1.works(1)Nature(2)Two essays: The American Scholar, The Poet2.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 inhimself, he can hope to become better and even perfect、This is what Emersonmeans by “the infinitude of man”、(4)Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and thathe makes the world by making himself、3.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 American authors to celebrate America whichwas to him a lone poem in itself、VI.Henry David Thoreau1.works(1) A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River(2)Walden(3) A Plea for John Brown (an essay)2.point of view(1)He did not like the way a materialistic America was developing and wasvehemently 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’sodd-fellow society”、(8)He has calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men、3、清教主义(Puritanism)1.features of Puritanism(1)Predestination: God decided everything before things occurred、(2)Original sin: Human beings were born to be evil, and this original sin can be passeddown from generation to generation、(3)Total depravity(4)Limited atonement: Only the “elect” can be saved、2.Influence(1) A group of good qualities –hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious andthoughtful) influenced American literature、(2)It led to the everlasting myth、All literature is based on a myth – garden of Eden、(3)Symbolism: the American puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chieflyinstrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctlyAmerican、(4)With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric isplain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the directinfluence of the Bible、4、欧亨利短篇小说特点(第二册P53)●their wit,●Wordplay●warm characterization●Clever twist endings, "O、Henry ending、"●witty narration5、Henry James(美国人的命运)？？？(1)Aesthetic ideasa.The aim of novel: represent lifemon, even ugly side of lifec.Social function of artd.Avoiding omniscient point of view(2)Point of viewa.Psychological analysis, forefather of stream of consciousnessb.Psychological realismc.Highly-refined language(3)Style –“stylist”nguage: highly-refined, polished, insightful, accurateb.Vocabulary: largec.Construction: complicated, intricate二、称号性评价(John Smith)约翰·史密斯------美国文学史上第一个作家(Thomas Paine)托马斯·潘恩------美国独立之父the father of American revolution (Philip Freneau-1752-1832)菲利普·弗伦诺-- a poet of the American Revolution,美国诗歌之父(Washington Irving-1783-1859)华盛顿·欧文-------美国文学之父,美国短篇小说之父Nathaniel Hawthorne 纳撒尼尔·霍桑-----human soul first great American writer of fiction 象征主义大师Walt Whitman 沃尔特·惠特曼--------Father of free verse自由诗之父Edgar Allan Poe 埃德加·爱伦·坡-------侦探小说之父炉边诗人Fireside PoetsHenry Wadsworth Longfellow 亨利·沃兹沃思·朗费the first poet to write the narrative poems Ezra Pound 埃兹拉·庞德诗人,美国意象派诗歌的创始人。
美国文学史及选读期末复习
美国文学史及选读期末复习.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 whochallenged 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。
大三美国文学笔记整理3(完整)
Nathaniel Hawthorne霍桑Imbued with an inquiring, imagination, an intensely meditative mid, unceasing interest in the interior of the heart of man's being, 霍桑remains one of the most interesting, yet most ambivalent writers in the American literary history.霍桑是美国文学史上最富矛盾情感的作家，他极富想象，喜欢沉思，对人类的内心世界具有极大的兴趣。
霍桑's view of man and human history originates, to a great extent, in puritanism.霍桑's remarkable sense of the Puritan past, his understanding of the colonial history in New England, his apparent occupation with the moral issues of sin and guilty, and his keen psychological analysis of people are brought to full display in his master piece.霍桑对清教的历史，对新英格兰殖民地历史上理解，对罪恶道德上剖析以及对之的心理分析，在他的名著The Scarlet Letter中得到了充分的体现。
The Minister's Black V eil, the parable by 霍桑, published in The Token1836 and in Twice- Told Tales 1837.The reverend Mr. Hooper, a New England Puritan minister, appears one Sunday with his face covered by a black veil. Refusing to explain his action to his terrified congregation or to his fiancee, who leaves him, he goes through life concealing his face, saying only that the veil is a symbol of the curtain that hides every man's heart and makes him a stranger even to his friend, his lover, and his God.Excelsior, poem by Longfellow, published in Ballads and Other Poems1841. In four-stress iambic collplets, with the title as a refrain, the poem figuratively depicts the life of a man of genius, as he maintains his individualistic purpose, resisting temptations and ignoring warnings. Climbing the mountain of his career, he passed beyond the village and monastery, repeating his idealistic motto, until he is found dead on the highest glacier. Even then a voice heard from the sley proclaiming the motto as a promise of immortality.ExcelsiorDiscuss the moral of this parable poem.-- immortality, brave, resist the tempurition. Even if the young man is brave, determined, and the young tried to get his goal, to reach the destination, but it is pity that the young didn't listen to the old man. If he wanted to get his goal without considering the difficulties and risks.The Quadroon GirlHow does the poet show his sympathy for the girl?The girl is very important, she didn't know what would happen. She had no protection. Such innocent and pale girl could not control not be a paramour of her fate.Ballads and Other Poems1841 contains many Longfellow's most famous poem, of all the poems in the colume, the most famous one is "Excelsior". It was regarded as an inspiring expression of idealism. It is a young man climbing a mountain in the Alps. A terrible stormis coming but he never stops. When he is invited by a beautiful maiden to rest, he does not stop and climbs on to the top of the mountains.Edgar Allan PoeAnnabel Lee, a lyrical ballad, post- humously published in the New York Tribune. In six stamzasof alternative four and three stress lines, the poem evokes a mood or feeling rather than telling a story. The feeling the poet deals with in the loss of love. It is a love that is more than love. Such exaggeration occupies.An essential part of the poem: lyric poem: a lyric poem expresses the observation and feelings of a single speaker. Types of lyrics include the elegy, the ode and the sonnet.A narrative poem tells a story in verse. Foot, a division or unit of verse, each with 1 strong stress or 1 or more weak stresses.A line of poetry is described as iambic抑扬, trechoic扬抑, anapaestic抑抑扬, or daclylic扬抑抑according to what kind of foot appears most often in the line.Emily DickinsonDickinson's poetry writing began in the early 1850s. Altogether she write 1775 poems, of which only 7 had appeared during her lifetime. Dickinson called this stream of tiny, aphoristic poems a continuous fragmented "Letter to the world" a way to bridge her private world with the public. She is now recognized, not only as a great poetesses on her own right but as a poetess of considerable influence upon American poetry of the 20th century.Dickinson's poems are usually based on her own experience, her sorrow and joys. But within her little lyrics D addresses those issues that concern the whole human beings, which include religion, death, immortality, love and native.Love is another subject D dwelt on, one group of her love poems threads the sufferings and frustration love can cause. These poems are dearly the reflections of her own unhappy experience closely related to her deepest and most private feelings.More than five hundred poems D wrote are about nature, in which her general skepticism about the relationship between man an d nature is well-expressed.Theme: common people are really heroism, but they still remain honesty, humble and never show off.Sister Carrie: the selected reading is the last chapter of the novel. After Carrie deserts Hurstwood, he is in great despair. Feeble and penniless, Hunstwood wanders in a cold winter night nobody trying to help. Extremely hopeless and totally devaluated, he turns the gas on in a cheap lodging house and ends his life, while at the same time Carie is rocking comfortably in her luxuriant hotel room before she boards a ship for London.The main theme of The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn is Huck’s search for personal liberation, for the freedom based upon his maturity and his longing to his own master.Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)Dickinson’s po etry writing began in the early 1850s. Altogether , she wrote 1775 poems, of which only seven had appeared during the lifetime. Dickinson called his stream of tiny, aphoristic poems a continuous fragmented”letter to the world” a way to bridge her private w orld with the public . She is now recognized, not only as a great poetesses on her own right but as a poetess of considerable influence upon American poetry of the 20th century.Walt Whitman(华尔特.惠特曼)"song of myself"-----his longest poetry----1346lines1."I Hear America Singing"Structure:自由诗（非押韵）Free VerseQ: (1).Analyze how the total effect of the poem is achieved, especially through the use of parallelism and repetition?Every American is singing and working hard with enthusiasm, energy,they wanted to build America a rich country---use symbolic(2).To whom does song belong? Belong to the every filed of the American people.Are the people literally singing? Of course notShould we interpret "singing" figuratively? They sing with their hands---not with their voice or throat.(3).Study the title.In what sense does the speaker hear American singing?The American is happy, riching , prosperous.2.O Captain! My Captain!Symbolic: Ship---America captain---Lincoln(林肯) ---- 赞扬林肯The "bells "I hear---bell----pun(双关)既指林肯的下船铃（get ready get off）又指林肯死亡的丧钟（dead of Lincoln）Q:1.The poem is obviously written in the form of an allegory. Explain how this form strenthens the effect of the poem.2. Why do the rhythms of the poem seem appropriate to the poem's subject?done-won, red-dead,.... heavy syllable sound(单音节词)Theodore Dreiser(西奥多.德莱塞)This is the last chapter of the novel. After Carrier deserts Hurstwood, he is in great despair. Foeble and penniless, Hurstwood wonders in a cold winter night with totally devastated, he turn the gas on in a cheap lodging house ends his life, while at the same time Carrier is roching comfortably in her luxuriant hotel room before she bows a ship for London.Edwin Arlington Robinson(埃德温.阿林顿.罗宾逊)who started writing poetry in the closing years of the 19 century. He achieved recognition in the first decades of the 20th century and was generally regarded as American greatest living poet in 1900's. His poetry deals with the modern man's failure and facility in a contrary universe in which he thought everything came out of joint "The world is not a prison house" he said."but a kind of spiritual kindergarden, where millions of bewildored infants are trying to spell God with the wrong blocks" Robinson condemned materialism and world.Style:The major features of Robinson' s poetic style can be summarized as follows: Robinson is not a nature poet.His poem are essential concerned with people who fail in a materialistic world.He was skillful in character sketches and he handled them with considerable humorous and psychological craftsmanship. Moreover, he used conventional poetic form, most frequently sonnet and blank verse. He was also in writing lyrics. Finally, his narrative is well managed and his diction was consist and easy but vigorous.Richard CoryRichard Cory is one of Robinson's best character sketches, well educated and rich, Richard Cory is a "gentlemen from sale" to a crown. The town people admired him for "everything" he has .But suddenly on one night he shot himself. Robinson seems to say that the appearance does not identify the inner reality one often judges his follow men by aaerance, thus being unable to know them.Q:1.healthy, vigorous, energetic2.not snobbish , practical3.spiritual supporting---mental problem4.5.Because he loses his mental spiritual support.6.A introverted person never shows his feelings on his face.Robert Frost(罗伯特.弗罗斯特)If the 20th century American had a natural poet it was Frost. He was the Pulizer Prize winner on four occasions , and was the US government awarded him a gold medal in 1960 for his contribution to American culture. The US senate passed resolutions honoring his birthdays, and when he was 87, he read his poetry at the night ration of President John.F.Kennedy.Mending wallQ:1.The neighbor: doubt, selfish, hostility while the speaker---trust2.Darkness:(1).the shade of the trees(2).Selfish needs others: indifference, suspension,alienation3.really does not love the wallSomething: narrow minded needs, precaution, selfish needs4.symbolic of the wall: selfish needs, suspension, hostility, inclement5.Stopping by woods on a snowy evening“stopping by woods on a snowy evening”it is iambic quarter-meter(tetrameter抑扬格四音步)and inter-locking enclosed rhyme is used ,that is ,the first, second and fourth line in each stanza are rhymed, the last sound of the third line is the rhyme of the nest stanza, all the four lines in the last stanza rhymed to give readers a complete by harmonious impression .Q:1.memories, recoding---maybe about childhood2.do not understand why the speaker stop in the woodsThe speaker knew what he want to do.3.the speaker leave the woods not willingly.Imply:the speaker is responsible for his carrier, ambition, task....The Autobiography Benjamin FranklinThe American Scholar Ralph Waldo EmersonThe Scarlet Letter Nathaniel HawthorneThe Adventure of Huckleberry Finn Mark TwinAn American Tragety The Odore DreiserThe Long Way Out F.Scott FitzgeraldDesire Under the Elms Long day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'NeilThe Sound and the Eury William FaulknerDeath of a Salesman Arthur MillerThe Grapes of Wrath John SteinbeckThe Joy Luck Club Amy TarThe Hairy Ape: Scene2 Eugene O'NeilHenry Wadsworth Longfellow （A Psalm of Life ；Excelsior ；The Quadroom Girl ）Edgar Allan Poe（Annabel Lee；To Helen）Emily Dickinson（Selected Poems: I Died for Beauty-But was Scarce;Because I Could Not Stop for Death）Mark Twain（The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; The Adventure of Tom Sawyer; The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County）\。
美国文学期末复习笔记 (1)
美国文学笔记III. The Romantic period （浪漫主义时期）: （1800-1865）American Transcendentalism(美国超验主义）（1830s- Civil War）Summit of Romanticism/ American Renaissance1. Appearance1836, ―Nature‖ by Emerson2. Features of Transcendentalism(1). Spirit(思想）/Oversoul（超灵）(2). importance of individualism(3). nature – symbol of spirit/God；garment of the oversoul(4). focus in intuition (irrationalism and subconsciousness)IV. The American Realism 现实主义时期(1865-1918)1. Three Giants in Realistic PeriodWilliam Dean Howells –―Dean of American Realism‖Henry JamesMark Twain2. Comparison:Theme:Howells –middle classJames –upper classTwain –lower classTechnique:Howells –smiling/genteel realismJames –psychological realismTwain –local colourism and colloquialismMark Twain (1835-1910):1. Summary:American writer, short story writer/Humorist2. Major works:The Celebrated jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865)《卡拉维拉县弛名的跳蛙》Innocents Abroad (1869) 《傻子国外旅行记》The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) 《汤姆.索亚历险记》Life on the Mississippi (1883) 《密西西比河上》The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1886)《哈克贝里.费恩历险记》: All modern American literature comes from his masterpiece ―The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.‖——Ernest Hemingway3. Style:(1). colloquial language（口语）, vernacular (本土的）language, dialects(2). local colour(3). syntactic feature: sentences are simple, brief, and sometimes ungrammatical(4). humour(5). tall tales (highly exaggerated) （荒诞不经的故事）(6). social criticism (satire on the different ugly things in society)4. ContributionOne of Mark Twain’s significant contributions to American literature lies in the fact that he made colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of the country.Henry James (1843-1916)1. Summary:An American and British novelist, literary criticFounder of psychological realismFirst of the modern psychological novelistInitiator of the international theme: American innocence in face of European sophistication2. Major works:Daisy Miller （1878）《戴茜·米勒》The Portrait of a Lady (1881) 《贵妇的肖像》The Wings of the Dove (1902)《鸽翼》The Ambassadors (1903)《专使》The Golden Bowl (1904)《金碗》The Art of Fiction(1884)《小说的艺术》3. His Point of view(1). Psychological analysis, forefather of stream of consciousness(2).Psychological realism(3). Highly-refined language4. Style –“stylist”(1). Language: highly-refined, polished, insightful, and accurate(2).V ocabulary: large(3). Construction: complicated, intricateNaturalism（自然主义）1. Background:(1). Dar win’s theory: ―natural selection‖(2).Spenser’s idea: ―social Darwinism‖(3). French Naturalism: Zora2. Features(1). environment and heredity(2). scientific accuracy and a lot of details(3). general tone: ironic and pessimistic, hopelessness, despair, gloom, ugly side of the societySt ephen Crane (1881-1900)1. Summary:Novelist, poetPioneer in the naturalistic traditionPrecursors（先驱）of Imagist poetry2. Major Works:Maggie: A Girl of the Streets 《街头女郎麦姬》: the first naturalistic novel in AmericaThe Red Badge of Courage 《红色英勇勋章》The Open Boat《海上扁舟》V. AMERICAN MODERNISM (1918-1945)（美国现代主义）F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)1. Summary:Famous American novelist, short story writer, and essayistthe representative of the 1920sthe spokesman for the Jazz Ageone of the“lost generation”writers2. Major WorksThis Side of Paradise (1920) 《人间天堂》Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) 《爵士乐时代的故事》Tender Is the Night (1934) 《夜色温柔》The Great Gatsby (1925) 《了不起的盖茨比》:Narrative point of view – Nick CarrawayTheme: The decline of the American Dream3. His Point of view(1). He expressed what the young people believed in the 1920s, the so-called ―American Dream‖ is false innature.(2). He had always been critical of the rich and tried to show the integrating effects of money on theemotional make-up of his character. He found that wealth altered people’s characters, making them mean and distrusted. He thinks money brought only tragedy and remorse.(3). His novels follow a pattern: dream – lack of attraction – failure and despair.4. His ideas of “American Dream”It is false to most young people. Only those who were dishonest could become rich.William Faulkner (1897-1962)1. Sumary:An American novelist and poetInitiator of American Southern RenaissanceOne of the most influential modern novelists of 20th centuryNobel Prize winner for literature in 19492. Major Works:The Sound and the Fury 《喧哗与骚动》As I Lay Dying 《在我弥留之际》Light in August 《八月之光》Absalom, Absalom 《押沙龙，押沙龙！》Go Down, Moses 《去吧，摩西》Barn Burning 《烧牲口棚》Yoknapatawpha County（约克纳帕塔法县）:--- A fictional county in northern Mississippi, the setting for most of William Faulkner’s novels and short stories, and patterned upon Faulkner’s actual home in Lafayette County, Mississippi.3. Major Themes of his Works(1). history and race(2). Deterioration(3). Conflicts between generations, classes, races, man and environment(4). Horror, violence and the abnormal4. Faulkner's narrative technique(1).Withdrawal of the author as a controlling narrator(2). Dislocation of the narrative time: The most characteristic way of structuring his stories is to fragment thechronological time.(3). the modern stream-of-consciousness（意识流）technique and the interior monologue（内心独白）：(4). Multiple points of view（多重视角）(5). symbolism and mythological and biblical（圣经的）allusionsErnest Hemingway (1899—1961)1. Summary:Novelist and short-story writerOne of the great American writers of the 20th centuryThe Spokesman of the ―Lost Generation‖Nobel Prize winner for literature in 19542. Major worksThe Sun Also Rises 《太阳照常升起》A Farewell to Arms《永别了，武器》For Whom the Bell Tolls 《丧钟为谁而鸣》/ 《战地钟声》The Old Man and the Sea 《老人与海》A Clean, Well-lighted Place 《一个干净，明亮的地方》3. Major Themes(1).The ―Nada‖(虚无) Concept(2).Grace under pressure(压力下的优雅）―Man is not made for defeats. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.‖------The Old Man and the Sea(3). Code Hero（准则英雄/ 硬汉）a. The Hemingway hero is not a thinker; he is a man of action.b.―Grace under pressure is their motto.c.The Hemingway code heroes are best remembered for their indestructible(不可毁灭的）spirit.4. Artistic features(1) .The iceberg（冰山）techniqueThe dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.(2). Language stylea. simple and naturalb.direct, clear and freshc. lean and economicald.simple, conversational, common found, fundamental wordse. simple sentencesf. Iceberg principle: understatement, implied thingsg.SymbolismEzra Pound (1885—1972)1. Summary:A leading spokesman of the ―Imagist Movement‖(意象主义运动）One of the most influential American poets and critic2. Major works:Cathay:《华夏集》《神州集》《中国诗章》Hugh Selwyn Mauberley《休·赛尔温·毛伯利》Cantos /《诗章》3. Imagism (1909-1917)(1) .Background:Imagism was influenced by French symbolism, ancient Chinese poetry and Japaneseliterature ―haiku‖(2). Defintion : The imagists, with Ezra Pound leading the way, hold that the most effective means to expressthe these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image.(3): Manifesto of Imagism:•Direct treatment•Economy of expression•New rhythmIn a station of the Metro《在一个地铁站》: a quintessential（典型的）imagist textRobert Frost（1847-1963）1. Summary:the most popular American poetWon Pulitzer Prize four timesReceived honorary degrees from forty-four colleges and universitiesRead ― The Gift Outright‖ at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 19612. Famous Poems:F ire and Ice《火与冰》The Road Not Taken 《未选择的路》Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 《雪夜伫立林边有感》Mending Wall《补墙》After Apple-Picking《摘罢苹果》3. Frost’s writing featureHis combination of the traditional verse pattern and a colloquial distinctive language (New England Speech)Eugene O’Neil (1888-1953)1. Summary:America's greatest playwrightWon the Pulitzer Prize four timesWon Nobel Prize in 1936Founder of the American drama2. Major WorksBeyond the Horizon (1920) 《天边外》The Emperor Jones(1920) 《琼斯皇帝》The Hairy Ape (1922)《毛猿》Desire under the Elms (1924) 《榆树下的欲望》美国文学笔记整理完整版18世纪末-19世纪中后浪漫主义时期Romanticism1. 早期浪漫主义华盛顿·欧文美国文学之父father of American Literature(为美国文学第一次赢得世界声誉)Washington Irving 以笔记小说和历史传厅闻名，humor1783-1859 The Sketch Book见闻札记（标志浪漫主义开始）A History of New York纽约史---美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作；----The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说---成为美国第1个获国际声誉作家-----Rip Van Winkle里普·万·温克尔(李伯大梦)The Alhambra阿尔罕伯拉2.超验主义New England Transcendentalism埃德加·爱伦·坡侦探小说之父Father of western detective stories and psychoanalytic criticism精神批Edgar Allan Poe 评，首开近代侦探小说先河，又是法国象征主义运动的源头1809-1849 Novelist小说家, poet, critic批评家good at writing Gothic(哥特式）and detective fictionPoetryThe Raven《乌鸦》To Helen《献给海伦》Short storiesHorror ( suspense, terror, Insanity, death，Revenge and rebirth）The Fall of the House of Usher《厄舍古屋的倒塌》The Masque of the Red Death 《红色死亡的化妆舞会》The Black Cat《黑猫》The Cask of Amontillado《一桶白葡萄酒》Ligeia《丽姬娅》Detective /ratiocinative(推理的）(originator)The Purloined Letter 《窃信案》The Muder in the Rue Morgue 《莫格街谋杀案》The Mystery of Marie Rog《玛丽.罗热疑案》The Gold Bug 《金甲虫》拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生Nature论自然-----新英格兰超验主义者的宣言书manifestoRalf Waldo Emerson The American Scholar论美国学者;American essayist,lecturer, poetThe Founder of Transcendentalism1803-1882 Self-reliance论自立The Transcendentalist超验主义者Representative Men代表人物School Address神学院演说Days日子-首开自由诗之先河free verseRalph Waldo Emerson was an American philosopher, essayist, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism个人主义.纳撒尼尔·霍桑subject: human soul first great American writer of fiction 虚构Nathaniel Hawthorne 象征主义大师American novelist and short story writer1804-1864 The Scarlet Letter红字Twice-told Tales尽人皆知的故事Mosses from an Old Manse古屋青苔The House of the Seven Gables有七个尖角阁的房子The Marble Faun玉石雕像The Blithedale Romance福谷传奇Young Goodman Brown年轻的布朗The Birthmark胎记His point of view : Hawthorne is influenced by Puritanism（清教主义）deeply.(1). Evil is at the core of human life 邪恶是人类生活的中心(2).whenever there is sin 罪恶, there is punishment 惩罚. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation 代代相传(3). Evil educates. 邪恶的教育(4). He has disgust in science科学. One source of evil is overweening (自负的) (too proud of oneself) intellect . His intellectual characters聪明的特征are villains反派角色, dreadful可怕的and cold-blooded冷血的赫尔曼·迈尔维尔擅长航海奇遇和异域风情Herman Melville Moby Dick/The White Whale白鲸（first American prose epic史诗）1819-1891 Main characters: Ishmael(以实玛利）: the narrator 叙述者Ahab（埃哈伯）: the protagonist 主要人物Moby DickTypee泰比Omoo奥穆Mardi玛地White Jacket白外衣Pierre皮尔埃; Billy Budd比利·巴德沃尔特·惠特曼Father of free verse自由诗之父Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass草叶集（the birth of truly American poetry and the1819-1892 end of romanticism）共和圣经Democratic Bible 美国史诗American EpicAmerican poet, essayist散文家, journalist新闻工作者, and humanist人道主义学家The father of free verse（自由诗）Song of Myself自我之歌Democratic Vistas 民主的前景One’s Self I Sing 《我歌唱一个人的自己》O Captain! My Captain! 《噢，我的船长！我的船长！》3.Writing themes (almost everything):equality of things and beings 平等的事情和人divinity 神学of everythingImmanence（无所不在）of GodDemocracy 民主evolution of cosmos（宇宙的演化）multiplicity 多样性of natureself-reliant spirit 自力更生的精神death, beauty of deathexpansion of America 美国的扩张brotherhood 手足情谊and social solidarity（社会团结）(unity of nations in the world世界统一的国家) pursuit 追求of love and happiness4.S tyle: “free verse（自由诗）: the verse that does not follow a fixed metrical pattern固定的韵律模式, the verse without a fixed beat 固定的节拍or regular rhyme scheme规律的格律.(1).Parallelism（排比）(2).phonetic recurrence（同字起句法）（the repetition重复of words or phrases at the beginning of the line, inthe middle or at the end)(3).the use of a certain pronoun ―I‖ (the first person narrator)(4).strong tendency to use oral English使用英语口语的强烈倾向(5).the habit of using snapshots 生活小照(6).a looser and more open-ended syntactic structure语法结构(7).use of conventional image 传统的想象(8).vocabulary – powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong(9). sentences – catalogue目录technique: long list of names, long poem lines5. Significance of Leaves of GrassLeaves of Gras s, either in content or in form, is an epoch-making work in American literature:无论是在内容还是在形式上,是一个划时代的作品在美国文学→Its democratic content marked the shift from Romanticism to Realism. 其民主内容标志着从浪漫主义到现实主义的转变→Its free-verse form broke from old poetic conventions to open a new way for American poetry.其生发的形式从旧的诗意的约定了打开新的思路对美国诗歌。
美国文学考试试题详解及笔记整理
1.What’s Washington Irving’s main contribution to American Literature?华盛顿·欧文对美国文学的主要贡献Washington Irving’s contribution to American literature is unique in more way than one. He did a number of things which have been regarded as the first of their kind in America. He was the first Am erican writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame:whe n he returned home in 1832, he was acclaimed as(被誉为) the one American author whom people in Europe knew about, and the Am ericans took as a sign that American literature was emerging as an independent entity（形成一个独立的实体）. To say that he was fa ther of American literature is not much exaggeration（夸大）. The short story as a genre（风格）in American literature probably bega n with Irving’s the sketch book（见闻札记）, a collection of essay s, sketches（草图）, and tales, of which the most famous and frequ ently anthologized are “Rip Van Winkle”and “The Legend of Sleep y Hollow”. The book touched the American imagination and fore shadowed（预示）the coming of Hawthorne霍桑, Melville,梅尔维尔, and Poe爱伦·坡, in whose hands the short story attained a degree of perfection as literary tradition. It also marked the beginning of Amercian Romanticism.2.What is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing style?纳撒尼尔·霍桑的写作风格Hawthorne’s vocabulary was wide and well-controlled. Writing is at the formal level. He chose his words with a sharp sense of precise meaning and a keen ear for pleasant sound. His style is also noteworthy for his frequent use of images. Metaphors and similes abound, most of them stirringly fresh and effective, he makes skillful use of colors as a means for conveying mood. His style is soft, flowing and almost feminine. His language is smooth, clear, beautiful in sound and meaning. He also frequently uses symbols and settings to reveal the psychology of the characters.3.Make a brief comment on symbolism in the novel Moby Dick. (Herman Melville赫尔曼·麦尔维尔)对《白鲸记》中的象征主义做出一个简短的评论There is symbolism in the book. The V oyage itself is a metaphor for "search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience." The Pequod is the ship of the American soul, and the endeavor of its crew represents "the maniacal fanaticism of our white mental consciousness". By far the most conspicuous symbol in the book is, of course, Moby Dick. The white whale is capable of many interpretations. It is a symbol of evil to some, readers of goodness to others, and of both to still others. He is "paradoxically benign and malevolent, nourishing and destructive,""massive, brutal, monolithic, but at the same time protean, erotically beautiful, infinitely variable." Its whiteness is a paradoxical color, too, signifying as it does death and corruption as well as purity, innocence, and youth. It represents the final mystery of the universe which man will do well to desist from pursuing. As Ahab and his crew do not leave it alone, it is only natural that they get drowned.4.Give a brief introduction about Uncle Tom’s Cabin.对《汤姆叔叔的小屋》做出一个简短的介绍The book opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farm because of debts. Even though he and his wife, Emily Shelby, believe that they have a benevolent relationship with their slaves, Shelby decides to raise the needed funds by selling two of them—Uncle Tom, a middle-aged man with a wife and children, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby’s maid Eliza—to a slave trader. Emily Shelby hates the idea of doing this because she had promised her maid that her child would never be sold; Emily's son, George Shelby, hates to see Tom go because he sees the man as his friend and mentor.When Eliza overhears Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discussing plans to sell Tom and Harry, Eliza determines to run away with her son. The novel states that Eliza made this decision because she fears losing her only surviving child (she had already miscarried two children). Eliza departs that night,leaving a note of apology to her mistress.While all of this is happening, Uncle Tom is sold and placed on a riverboat, which sets sail down the Mississippi River. While on board, Tom meets and befriends a young white girl named Eva. When Eva falls into the river, Tom saves her. In gratitude, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. During this time, Tom and Eva begin to relate to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share. During Eliza's escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who had run away previously. They decide to attempt to reach Canada. However, they are now being tracked by a slave hunter named Tom Loker. Eventually Loker and his men trap Eliza and her family, causing George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment.While all of this is happening, Uncle Tom is sold and placed on a riverboat, which sets sail down the Mississippi River. While on board, Tom meets and befriends a young white girl named Eva. When Eva falls into the river, Tom saves her. In gratitude, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. During this time, Tom and Eva begin to relate to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share.During Eliza's escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who had run away previously. They decide to attempt to reach Canada. However, they are now being tracked by a slave hunter named Tom Loker. Eventually Loker and his men trap Eliza and her family, causing George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment.Back in New Orleans, St. Clare debates slavery with his Northern cousin Ophelia who, while opposing slavery, is prejudiced against black people. St. Clare, however, believes he is not biased, even though he is a slave owner. In an attempt to show Ophelia that her views on blacks are wrong, St. Clare purchases Topsy, a young black slave. St. Clare then asks Ophelia to educate her.After Tom has lived with the St. Clares for two years, Eva grows very ill. Before she dies she experiences a vision of heaven, which she shares with the people around her. As a result of her death and vision, the other characters resolve to change their lives, with Ophelia promising to throw off her personal prejudices against blacks, Topsy saying she will better herself, and St. Clare pledging to free Uncle Tom.Before St. Clare can follow through on his pledge, however, he dies after being stabbed while entering a New Orleans tavern. His wife reneges on her late husband's vow and sells Tom at auction to a vicious plantationowner named Simon Legree. Legree (a transplanted northerner) takes Tom to rural Louisiana, where Tom meets Legree's other slaves, including Emmeline (whom Legree purchased at the same time).Legree begins to hate Tom when Tom refuses Legree's order to whip his fellow slave. Legree beats Tom viciously, and resolves to crush his new slave's faith in God. Despite Legree's cruelty, however, Tom refuses to stop reading his Bible and comforting the other slaves as best he can. While at the plantation, Tom meets Cassy, another of Legree's slaves. Cassy was previously separated from her son and daughter when they were sold; unable to endure the pain of seeing another child sold, she killed her third child.At this point Tom Loker returns to the story. Loker has changed as the result of being healed by the Quakers. George, Eliza, and Harry have also obtained their freedom after crossing into Canada. In Louisiana, Uncle Tom almost succumbs to hopelessness, as his faith in God is tested by the hardships of the plantation. However, he has two visions, one of Jesus and one of Eva, which renew his resolve to remain a faithful Christian, even unto death. He encourages Cassy to escape, which she does, taking Emmeline with her. When Tom refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline have gone, Legree orders his overseers to kill Tom. As Tom is dying, he forgives the overseers who savagely beat him. Humbled by the character of the man they have killed, both men become Christians. Veryshortly before Tom's death, George Shelby (Arthur Shelby's son) arrives to buy Tom’s freedom, but finds he is too late.On their boat ride to freedom, Cassy and Emmeline meet George Harris' sister and accompany her to Canada. Once there, Cassy discovers that Eliza is her long-lost daughter who was sold as a child. Now that their family is together again, they travel to France and eventually Liberia, the African nation created for former American slaves. There they meet Cassy's long-lost son. George Shelby returns to the Kentucky farm and frees all his slaves. George tells them to remember Tom's sacrifice and his belief in the true meaning of Christianity.Brief IntroductionThis book is about the early nineteenth century, Kentucky's farmer Shelby’s failed business, was forced to sell slaves to repay debts with Tom and little Harry. George Harris, his wife Eliza and his son Harry were fleeing to Northern Canada, twists and turns, and finally safely met each other and lived a truly free people’s lives. Honest, sincere Uncle Tom got a new owner St·Clare and his daughter Eva’s love, but unfortunately Eva was ill and died, and Mr. Clare was killed when he was going to give free to Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom died from abusing and beating by the devil incarnate of the farmer Legree.•5.According to Henry James’s viewpoint, what’s the conflict between theAmerican personalities and European personalities?根据亨利·詹姆斯的观点，在美国现实主义和欧洲现实主义之间有什么冲突？He saw that Europeans were often regarded as over-refined过度细致的, degenerate堕落的, and artificial虚伪的by Americans, and that Americans were considered native土著的, vulgar粗俗的, and i gnorant无知的by many Europeans. The misunderstanding caused p ersonality conflicts性格冲突, and even where the two races found e ach other agreeable 令人愉快的and the national difference provide d an opportunity for contrast of character相反的性格. The typical American in a James’ novel is fresh, enthusiastic and perhaps as cu ltured as he might be, but eager to le arn and basically “good” in s pite of his disregard忽视of the outworn conventions陈腐的约定an d social graces社交礼仪of Europe. The European, on the other ha nd, is highly cultivated, urban, sometimes boring, but always correc t.6.What’s the difference between Henry Jame’s realism and Mark Twain’s realism?亨利·詹姆斯的现实主义和马克·吐温的现实主义有什么不同？In thematic terms(在主题上), James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, whereas Mark Twain dealt largely with the lowerstrata(阶层) of society. Technically(在技术上), James pursued the Psychological realism, but Twain’s contribution to the development of realism was partly through local colorism(地方色彩) and colloquial(口语的) style. James believed that reality lies in the impressions(印象) made by life on the spectator(旁观者), and not in any facts of which the spectator is unaware. He shifted the ground of realistic art from the outer to the inner world. Mark Twain preferred to represent social life through portraits of local places that he knew best.7.What are the characteristics of O.Henr y’s writing?欧亨利的写作特点是什么？His stories are usually short. The plots are exceedingly clever and interesting, humor abounds, and the end is always surprising. Often there are two endings: first an unexpected ending, then another, which is quite a different one and a still better surprise. Many of his stories contain a great deal of slang and colloquial expressions that make them hard to be understood by people outside of America. Such forms of speech are used to give what is called local color, to make the stories fit in with the characters and scenes described. His own speech, both spoken and written, was always chaste and clear.8.Give a brief introduction about The Great Gatsby.对伟大的盖茨比做出一个简要的介绍(F.Scott Fitzgerald弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德)The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession for the beautiful former debutante Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.The Great Gatsby is the single most profound commentary in American fiction on American Dream. The novel deals symbolically with the frustration and despair resulting from the failure of the American dream. It is a story of an idealist who tries to recapture his lost love but in vain and is finally destroyed by the influence of the wealthy people around him. Gatsby is the true heir to the American dream. He fails to understand that he cannot recapture the past (his fresh new love for Daisy) no matter how much money he makes. Daisy refuses to leave the security of her established position for Gatsby’s adoration and precarious wealth.F. Scott Fitzgerald’s greatness lies in the fact that he found intuitivelyin his personal experience the embodiment of that of the nation and created a myth out of American life. Gatsby’s life follows a clear pattern: There is, at first, a dream, then disenchantment, and finally a sense of failure and despair. In this, Gatsby’s personal experience approximates the whole of the American experience up to the first few decades of this century. America had been “a fresh, green breast of the new world,” had “pandered to the last and greatest of all human dreams” and promised something like “the orgiastic future” for humanity.Now the virgin forests have vanished and made way for a modern civilization, the only fitting symbol of which is the “valley of ashes,” the living hell. Here modern men live in sterility and meaninglessness and futility as best illustrated by Gatsby’s essential ly pointless parties. The crowds hardly know their host; many come and go without invitation. The music, the laughter, and the faces, all blurred as one confused mass, signify the purposelessness and loneliness of the partygoers beneath their masks of relaxation and joviality.The shallowness of Daisy whose voice is “full of money”, the restless wickedness of Tom, the representative of the egocentric, careless rich, and Gatsby who is, on the one hand, charmingly innocent enough to believe that the past can be recovered and resurrected, but is on the other hand, both corrupt and corrupting, tragically convinced of the power of money, however it was made – the behavior of these and other peoplelike the Wilsons all clearly denote the vanishing of the great expectation which the first settlement of the American continent had inspired. The hope is gone; despair and doom have set in. Thus Gatsby’s personal life has assumed a magnitude as a “cultural-historical allegory” for the nation. Here, then, lies the greatest intellectual achievement that F. Scott Fitzgerald ever achieved.This novel is narrated by Nick, is a young bachelor who returns to the Midwest before setting to the New York City. Daisy, the heroine, is Nick’s second cousin once removed and Nick knows of her husband, Tom. With the development of the novel, Nick knows that his next-door neighbor, who always hosting lavish parties of hundreds of peoples, is the wealthy Gatsby. Jordon Baker, takes interests in Nick, reveals that Gatsby had fallen in love with Daisy in 1917 as Army Lieutenant stationed near Daisy’s hometown. But Gatsby had no money to married Daisy, so Daisy married to the wealthy Tom, after that Gatsby is aiming to be a millionaire. With few years of illegal traffic and smuggling, he accumulates a great amount of wealth. He would like Nick to arrange a meeting with Daisy, Nick agrees. And invite Gatsby and Daisy to his house, so they begin a love affair again. But actually, Daisy only treats this relationship as an exciting game. Daisy invites Gatsby and Nick to her mansion, where Tom finds that Gatsby loves Daisy. Tom knows Daisy’s superficial nature very well and by taking away Daisy’sfinancial security, with that Daisy is now beyond his reach. With the situation between them, Daisy runs out of the hotel and Gatsby follows her into his car, where she insists on driving because it will calm her nerves. But it fells that Daisy knocks down and kills Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Gatsby absolve Daisy from her guilty to protect her. After that Tom talks into Myrtle’s husband to shoot Gatsby dead. So the magic bubble of love and dreams broke up. Despite Nick’s efforts, only Gatsby’s father, an woman and Nick attends his funeral. Discussed with Tom and Daisy, Nick returns to his hometown, reflecting on Gatsby’s dreams and cyclical nature of the past.The Raven.乌鸦(爱伦·坡著)? 乌鸦? 从前一个阴郁的子夜，我独自沉思，慵懒疲竭，? 沉思许多古怪而离奇、早已被人遗忘的传闻——? 当我开始打盹，几乎入睡，突然传来一阵轻擂，? 仿佛有人在轻轻叩击，轻轻叩击我的房门。
美国文学期末复习知识点-第三部分
第三部分1.美国南北战争以北方的彻底胜利告终，蓄奴制瓦解了，为工业资本主义的大发展开辟了道路，标志着旧时代的结束和新时代的开始。
2.美国与欧洲的交往增多，英国查尔斯·达尔文的《物种的起源》和哲学家赫伯特·斯宾塞的“适者生存”理论传入美国，影响深远。
3.马克·吐温与查尔斯·华纳合著的《镀金时代》成了19世纪最后二十五年的简称。
4.宗教界的神学理论也出现了相应的变化。
神学家们指出财富是神圣的标志，根据上帝的旨意，政府的职责是保护私人财富。
哲学家和神学家顺应时势，力图证明自由竞争是合法的，政府应给予大力支持，让民众享受内战后重建时期带来的好处。
5.内战后的十年最突出的变化是商业成了全国实力和尊严的主要象征。
6.1899年，美国文学艺术院成立；1904年又建立美国文学艺术科学院，进一步从体制上巩固了严肃文学的地位。
7.来自欧洲的现实主义和自然主义思潮进一步推动了美国文学的发展。
8.批评家泰纳将孔德的实证主义理论引入文艺批评，提出文学本质上来说是观察和分析人的主要方法，小说是社会的科学实验室，可以观察各种复杂的社会因素。
他强调种族、环境和时代是文学创作的三要素，他的观点成了美国现实主义的理论基础。
9.法国的自然主义也受到美国作家重视，法国作家左拉认为社会像个生物的有机体，小说家应该收集事实，做个“人与人的情欲的审问官”。
10.20世纪初，法国巴黎出现了现代主义文学思潮，影响了不少英美青年作家。
斯坦因是美国现代主义小说的奠基人。
诗歌方面，诗人庞德等在欧洲倡导意象派诗歌运动，后来由艾米·洛厄尔引入美国诗坛，揭开了美国现代片诗歌的序幕。
11.马克·吐温是美国伟大的批判现实主义文学大师，其代表作是长篇小说《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》。
海明威曾评价该书：全部现代美国文学作品来自马克·吐温写的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》这本书。
12.威廉·迪恩·豪威尔斯的代表著作是《塞拉斯·拉法姆发家记》。
美国文学期末考试总结
Ⅰ. Write the author of each item. 10’1．Anne Bradstreet（The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America）①Contemplation②To My Dear and Loving Husband2. Benjamin Franklin①The Autobiography (early American Dream)3. Philip Freneau (Poet of American; The Father of American Poetry)①The Wild Honey Suckle②The Indian Burying Ground③To a Caty-Did4. Washington Irving(The Father of American Short Story; first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame; regarded as Father of American literature.)①The legend of Sleep Hollow②Rip Van Winkle③The Sketch Book(the beginning of American Romanticism)5. James Fennimore Cooper①The Last Mohicans②Leather Stocking Tales6. William Cullen Bryant① Thanatopsis② To a Water Fowl7. Edgar Allen Poe (Father of Modern Short Story; Father of Psychoanalysis criticism)①To Helen②The Raven③The Fall of the House of Usher④The Black Cat8. Ralph Waldo Emerson (leading new England transcendentalist)①Nature②Self-Reliance③The American Scholar9. Henry David Thoreau (an active transcendentalist)①Walden10. Nathaniel Hawthorne (a master of symbolism; first great American writer of fiction to work in moralistic tradition. combined the American romanticism with puritan moralism; created a new genre psychological romance)①The Scarlet Letter②Twice Told Tales③The Marble Faun④Blithedale Romance⑤The Minister’s Black Veil11. Herman Melville①Moby Dick12. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(the fireside poet; love of nature, love for the past)①A Psalm of Life②The Slav e’s Dream③My Lost Youth④The Song of Hiawatha13. Walt Whitman①Leaves of Grass(first genuine epic poem)②Song of Myself③I Sit and Look Out④ Beat！Beat！Drums！14. Emily Dickinson (the theme of her poetry concern religion, life, death, marriage, immorality, nature etc.)①I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed②I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain③A Bird Came Down the Walk④I Died for Beauty ___but Was Scarce⑤I Hear a Fly Buzz ___When I Died⑥Because I Could not Stop for DeathⅡ.True or False choice. 20’Ⅲ. Choose the best answer 10’Ⅳ. Appreciation 30’The Scarlet LetterAuthor: Nathaniel HawthorneSymbolism：The Scarlet Letter, A symbol of shame, but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity to Hester. The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes. Originally inte nded to mark Hester as an adulteress, the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.”Ralph Waldo Emerson1.NatureThe declaration of TranscendentalismAnalysis of “Nature”A long essay which has eight parts: the opening, commodity, beauty, language, discipline, Idealism, spirit and prospects. Our selection is taken from the opening. Taken as a whole, “Nature” expresses Emerson’s philosophy in a more systematic fashion than any other work of his.Meanings of natureI Beautynature is beautiful. : the complete, mysterious, useful and moral beauty of nature. First, nature’s beauty lies in its completeness. Second, nature’s beauty lies in its mystery. cannot be manipulated. Only when he holds a sincere respect for nature, can man feel the mysterious beauty of nature. Third, nature’s beauty lies in its usefulness. Nature provides man without any benefitII Nature Is Divine●Nature is divine and has the eternal order which should not be violated. Influenced in a way byChinese ancient philosophy, Emerson believes that all the things in the world come from the same root---the Oversoul.●Emerson believes that man can find God in his own heart by direct contact with nature●Nature has permeated (penetrate) all aspects of human life. Spirit embodied in nature hasinfluence upon us. Nature inspires man and gives him\her power. Man should find the truth,goodness and beauty in his own soul and bring into play his potentiality as human being. Then, he will become himself “All that Adam had, all that Caesar could, you have and c an do".For Emerson, the individual is potentially the most divine and any organization or existing idea can not limit the development of individual.III Nature Is ChangingEverything in nature is in a process---growing, withdrawing and falling into the ground. The flowing of nature comes from a force which impels it to develop. For instance, a river is always in constantly flowing. It originates from mountains, flows along great plains and ultimately converges into the sea. Transcendental philosophyNature symbolizes freedom, independence and change. These are Individualism elements which attend to significance of common life. Therefore Emerson's nature is the theoretical base of American Individualism---one of the characteristics of American culture. As the symbol of Spirit, nature helps to prove that man's soul is beautiful, divine and fluid. Man should pursue spiritual fulfillment2.Self-Reliance①“The Confidence”. a man must show his opinion confidently and bravely in spite of different ideas.②“The Independence”. A man should keep himself firmly ; not be easily influenced by environment.③Keep personality, which is closely related to the confidence and the independence. a man must keep his personality and conform to his own principles.④“Showing no Sympathy to the Poor” shows that why the poor are poor is mainly due to their backward thinking. Showing help to this kind of people means doing harm to them.Comment: In Self-reliance, Emerson expressed the romantic idea of individualism, with an emphasis on being self-sufficient. He promoted relying on oneself rather than on established society. Emerson was known for his repeated use of phrase “trust thyself”. “Self-reliance”is his explanation---both systematic and passionate of what he meant by this, and why he was moved to make it his catchphrase. Every individual possesses a unique genius, emerson argues, that can only be revealed when that individual has the courage to trust his or her own thoughts, attitudes, and inclinations against all public disapproval.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow1. A Psalm of Life①Love of nature, love for the past ②Trochaic tetrameter③constant theme for poets: The relationship of life and death. ④He expresses his pertinent interpretation to that by warning us that though life is hard and everybody must die, time flies and life is short, yet, human beings ought to be hold “to act,” to face the reality straightly so as to make otherwise meaningless life significant.2. My Lost YouthⅤ. Terms 10’New England PoetsThe new England poets were the representatives of imitation, authors like Irving, William Cullen Bryant, Henry wadsworth Longfellow etc. tried to imitate the forms and themes of their English brothers, such as Alexander Pope, Robert Burns, Thomas Gray, wordsworth and so on.Rip van winkleThis is one story in Washington Irving’s Sketch Book. It tells a story of a kind but hen-pecked man ripvan winkle. The protagonist does not take care of his own family very well and just wants to live idly. But his wife does not want him to live the life like that and keeps talking to him. Unhappy at home, he enters in the mountain with his gun and dog. One afternoon, he meets some strangers looking people playing at nine pins. Out of curiosity, he drinks the wine and falls into sleep. When he wakes up, he finds his dog missing and his gun rusted. He has to go back to the village again. But can not recognize the village and the folks. Later his surprise, he has been slept for 20 years. And his wife has been dead and his children grow up. At the end of story, his daughter takes him home and he still lives the life as he was used to.Ⅵ.Comment 20’1. Comment on Moby Dick:a. Although the narrator sees insanity in Ahab, Melville’s emotional sympathy is with the deficient Ahab. He begins with a noble intention to crush evil, but in taking this to the extreme, he becomes evil himself. He is destroyed by his consuming desire to root out evil.b. Moby Dick is a symbol to represent cruel, brutal, malicious powers of nature. Nature is capable of destroying the human world. Nature threatens humanity & thus calls out the heroic powers of the human beings. So the power of the universe is both of blessing and curse. In this way, the author constructs a complicated statement about American view of nature.2. Compare: Emily Dickinson with Walt Whitman in their writing style.Similarities①Along with Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman stands as one of the two giants of American ②poetry in the nineteenth century.③Pioneers of imagism④Part of American Renaissance⑤Influenced by transcendentalism⑥Thematically, they both extolled in their different ways and emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of “American Renaissance”⑦Technically, they both added to the literary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they are pioneers in American poetry.Differences①Whitman seems to keep his eyes on society at large; Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual.②Whereas Whitman is “national” in his outlook. Dickinson is “regional”③Whitman has the “catalogue techniques”, all-inclusive catalogue. Whereas Dickinson’s concise, direct, simple diction and syntax。
美国文学史考试总结
•Brief introduction of his life•Eliot（1888-1965）•American-born English poet，literary critic, and dramatist，who is best known for his poem The Waste Land. He was born in St. Louis，Missouri.•Features of his poetry••Eliot’s poetry was becoming noted for its fresh visual imagery视觉表象, its flexible 灵活tone语气音调and highly expressive rhythm.韵律•His famous principle “objective correlative”客观相关物i.e. using related有关联的objects, situations情境, events, all external外部的事实facts, to expressemotions.情感•His criticism他善于以精辟和富于权威性的语言表达其他人经常想到和提到，然而不能准确讲出的论点•Eliot was a distinguished literary critic. He became “a giver of laws and the arbiter of taste”in the new poetry and criticism.•His criticism possessed an air of authority and offered a measure of reassurance•The basic them of his criticism•the relationship of between tradition and individual talent, and between the past, the present and the future•His famous doctrine on poets and poetry•“impersonal theory" or the theory of impersonality and objectivity.•To Eliot, what the poet has to express, is not a “personality,个性”but a particular 方法medium in which impressions印象and experiences经历combine结合in 奇特peculiar and unexpected 出乎意料的ways.•Poetry is not a turning loose释放of emotion, but an escape from it; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from it.•The influence of his theory•Lead to the emergence of the New Criticism新批评主义in later years and influence a whole generation of poets.一代•His theory became something like a law for American poets for over two decades from mid 1920s through the 1950s.••The waste land is a reprehensive谴责work of the high modernism of 1920s, impersonal, 客观的discontinuous间断的with its fragments片段, full of literary allusions暗示and ancientmyths古代神话, measuring测量modern life against the historical past and finding itwanting不足in many ways.••The change of these five parts is abrupt 生硬and jerky, with no hint of logical order逻辑次序的暗示and causal relationship.因果关系•Through gaps, absence of connective tissues连接词, and discordant不和谐juxtapositions并列, the poet intends the reader to see and feel the 碎片agmentary nature of life.His influence on American literature•He was the most successful literary dictator独裁者in American literature history,one who wielded the most decisive influence over literary development for a long time.∙《普鲁弗洛克及其他》（Prufrock and Other Observations，1917年）∙《诗集》（Poems，1919年）∙《荒原》（The Waste Land，1922年）∙《诗集1909-1925》（Poems 1909-1925，1925年）∙《圣灰星期三》（Ash Wednesday，1930年）∙《老负鼠的猫经》（Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats，1939年）∙《焦灼的诺顿》（Burnt Norton，1941年）∙《四个四重奏》（Four Quartets，1943年）《诗集》（Collected Poems，1962∙《圣林》（The Sacred Wood，1920年）∙《安德鲁·马维尔》（Andrew Marvell，1922年）∙《但丁》（Dante，1929年）∙《当代文学的传统和尝试》（Tradition and Experimentation in Present-Day Literature，1929年）∙《朗伯斯后的沉思》（Thoughts After Lambeth，1931年）∙《约翰·德莱顿》（John Dryden，1932年）∙《古典与现代散文》（Essays Ancient and Modern，1936年）∙《诗与剧》（Poetry and Drama，1951年）∙∙《岩石》（The Rock，1934年）∙《大教堂中的谋杀》（Murder in the Cathedral，1935年）∙《家庭聚会》（The Family Reunion，1939年）∙《鸡尾酒会》（The Cocktail Party，1950年）∙《老政治家》（The Elder Statesman，1958年）托马斯·艾略特是英国20世纪影响最大的诗人。
美国文学史期末考试总结
Terms(取5个, 每个3分)Trickster talesNative American oral literature. People are in the form of animal or half human half animal. Trickster characters exist in the margins of social world, they are resourceful and clever. They attempt to violate established rules and engage in socially unacceptable acts.Origin storiesNative American oral literature. creator takes the animal form. Sun Father. Earth Mother. Historical narrativesNative American oral literature. A mix of legend and history. The line between actual event and tribal beliefs is blurred.PuritanismDuring the colonial period in America. Beliefs held by Puritans: original sin, elect group, receive God’s Grace, total depravity, a way of life that stresses hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety.TranscendentalismAmerican Romanticism’s mature period. It emphasized the significance of the individual. It stressed the power of intuition. Spirit transcended matter. Emerson’s Nature.AllegoryA tale in verse or prose in which characters, settings or actions represent abstract ideas or moral qualities. An allegory is a story with two meanings: a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Hawthorne’s Dr. Heidegger’s ExperimentFree verseOrigin: in the 19th century, a group of French poets intended to free French poetry from restrictions of formal pattern. It is a kind of poetry that lacks regular meter. It has repetition and parallel constructions. Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.RealismRealism(from the end of Civil War to the year before WWI)emphasizes fidelity and accurate observation to actuality of life(objectivity), thus against romanticism’s optimistic view. It insists on precise description to everyday scene of lives of common people and presents moral visions. It often has an open/surprising ending, for example, O Henry’s The Last Leaf.Local ColorismDominant in the late 1860s and early 1870s. Works could not be written in any other place or by anyone else than a native. The aim is to create an indigenous little world that differs from the world outside. Mark Twain’s Running for GovernorNaturalismNaturalism(late 19th c)tries to apply the determinism to fiction.It believes that a person is controlled by environment and heredity and the universe is cold, godless, indifferent and hostile to human desires. For example, Jack London’s Moon FaceLost generationApplied to US disillusioned intellectuals and artists after WWI. They were cut off from the old values and unable to adapt to the new era. It may also refer to the entire post-WWI American generation. Ernest Hemingway’s In another Country.ImagismA poetic movement in England and US flourishing from 1908 to 1917. Anti-Romantic, anti-Victorian. Dealing with single, concentrated moments of experience, using common speech and concise language, producing free verse without imposing a rhythmical pattern, recording objective observations.Ezra Pound’s In a Station of The MetroModernismModernism(1914~1945) emerged under the background of the Lost Generation and the Great Depression, influenced by Freud, Marxism and Nietzsche. 1. It indicates an impulse to “make it new”. 2. It leads to a greater awareness of internationality in American literature. 3. It has a more complex view of reality. For example: Ernest Hemingway’s In another Country. Fragmentationthe technique of pasting different fragments together in the text. a fragment is a broken piece. When dissociated fragments are put together, they present the effects ofjuxtaposition, and discontinuity. What the reader experiences is the sense of uncertainty or indeterminacy. Harlem RenaissanceIn the 1920s, a rebirth of African American arts, known as the “New Negro Movement”. In the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Open racial pride. Langston Hughes’Early AutumnSlave narrativeThe Afro-American literature in the middle of the 19th century. Fugitive slaves wrote the cruelties of their lives under slavery. It can be categorized into threeforms: tales of religious redemption, tales to inspire the abolitionist struggle, and tales of progress.Langston Hughes’s Early Autumn.一篇小essay, 两个题选一个1.Modernismvs. Post-modernismModernism and post-modernism have shared similarities and distinctions.Modernism (1914~1945) emerged under the background of the Lost Generation and the Great Depression, influenced by Freud, Marxism and Nietzsche.1. It indicates an impu lse to “make it new”.2. It leads to a greater awareness of internationality in American literature.3. It has a more complex view of reality. For example: Ernest Hemingway’s In another Country.Post-modernism(after WWII) has shared goals of breaking away from traditions through experimentation with new literary forms. However, it more emphasizes constructivism, idealism, pluralism. It includes genres as the Absurd, the Antinovel, the Beat Generation. For example: Allen Ginsberg’s A Supermarket in California.The novel of Modernism represents social reality. However, in Post-modernism, the literature is exhausted and dead. The novel favors “fiction” over “reality”. The time、structure of language are disjointed. Subject functions only as a symbol. The world is hopelessly dark.2.Realism vs. NaturalismRealism and Naturalism have shared similarities and distinctions.Realism(from the end of Civil War to the year before WWI)emphasizes fidelity and accurate observation to actuality of life(objectivity), thus against romanticism’s optimistic view. It insists on precise description to everyday scene of lives of common people and presents moral visions. It often has an open/surprising ending, for example, O Henry’s The Last Leaf.Naturalism(late 19th c)tries to apply the determinism to fiction.It believes that a person is controlled by environment and heredity and the universe is cold, godless, indifferent and hostile to human desires. For example, Jack London’s The Call of The Wild.There are many differences between Realism and Naturalism. Firstly, realism is mimesis while naturalism is reproduction. Secondly, realism has ethical choices while naturalism has no freedom of will, only uncontrollable forces. Thirdly, for realism, there are limited range of materials filtered by conventional standardswhile naturalism is less restrained in matters of sexuality.填空1.获得诺贝尔奖的作家：Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, TonyMorrison.2.Native American literature: the Maya and the Aztec. Native Oral Literature: speech,chant, song. performative dimension: ritual dances. Major Types: Origin stories, Trickster tales, Historical Narratives. (explore both their rich heritage and their tragic loss of identity; find themselves trapped between white culture and a culture that is vanishing).Literature of early settlements: travel accounts, utilitarian, fresh and simple, nobility.Puritan idealism: to build New England a new Garden of Eden. The first Americanliterature was neither American (immigrants from England) nor really literature (mixture of travel accounts and religious writings).3.The rise of national literature: the Great Awakening, Puritanism declines, Newton,Neoclassicism in arts, Deism and Unitarianism(come from the Enlightenment, simplify the Christian religion, antidote to Puritanism), American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin(individualism)/Thomas Paine/Thomas Jefferson.4.Romantics: against the objectivity of rationalism. Emphasizes feeling, intuition, emotion.Emphasizes individualism. Close relationship between man and nature. Favor the past and irregular. Washington Irving(Rip Van Wrinkle), James Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe(The Cask of Amontillado)5.Transcendentalism:sources: Neo-Platonism, Oriental mysticism, German Romanticism,Unitarianism(Channing). Represented by Emerson(Nature) and Thoreau(Walden).Also include Hawthorne(Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment), Melville(Moby Dick), Dickinson, Whitman(Leaves of Grass). Romanti cism’s mature period. Emphasizes the importance of individual. Individuals can intuitively receive higher truths. Emphasis on senses and intuition over reason and intellect. Spirit transcended matter. Nature symbolizes God.Religion is emotional communication between individual soul and the universal “over-soul”.6.Realism:against Romanticism. Fidelity to actuality, accurate observation of humanexperiences, everyday scenes, open ending, common people, objectivity, presents moral visions.Emphasizing pragmatic experience. Mimesis: literature imitates reality. O Henry(The Last Leaf)7.Local Color Fiction: a form of Regionalism. Locale, indigenous, exotic, picturesque,nostalgia. Distinctive setting, dialect, customs, dress, ways of thinking and feeling. Mark Twain.8.Naturalism: post-Darwinian movement. Darwin’s biological determinism; Marx’ssocio-economic determinism. Deterministic universe. Controlled by environment and heredity(instincts and passion). It stems from Zola in French literature. It aims at a detached, scientific objectivity in the treatment of natural man. Dark and pessimistic.Characters often at the lowest social class. Theodore Dreiser(Sister Carrie). Jack London.9.Women Writing: conventional attitude to women during Victorian Age(Victorianism).Women suffrage movement. (Amendment19: rights to vote; amendment13: abolished slavery; amendment15: made racial discrimination illegal). New women. Kate Chopin, Katherine Anne Porter.10.Imagism: inspired by Greek and Roman classics and Japanese and Chinese poets.Anti-Romantic, anti-Victorian. Express momentary impressions. Dealing with single, concentrated moments of experience, using common speech and concise language, producing free verse without imposing a rhythmical pattern, recording objective observations. Juxtapose with other images. Ezra Pound: In a Station of The Metro、E.E.Cumming: L(a)、Hilda Doolittle: Oread、William Carlos Williams: The RedWheelbarrow; The Great Figure 5、Carl Sandburg: The Harbor; Fog11.Modernism:To “make it new”. Internationality. More complex view of reality.Background: the lost generation, the Great Depression. influenced by Freud, Marxism and Nietzsche. Robert Frost: The Road Not Take. Earnest Hemingway.12.Afro-American literature: literary development: Oral traditions, Slave narratives,Spiritual narratives, Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes: Early Autumn.13.Post-Modernism: after WWII. it more emphasizes constructivism, idealism, pluralism. Itincludes genres as the Absurd, the Antinovel, the Beat Generation(in the late 1950s, A group of American poets and novelistspublicly advocated antiestablishment views), meta-fiction(novels that specifically and self-consciously examine the nature and the status of fiction itself; Fiction about fiction). For example: Allen Ginsberg’s A Supermarket in California.Identification(5个，每个4分，没有诗歌。
美国文学期末复习笔记
美文学美国部分——浪漫主义时期Part two: American LiteratureChapter 1 The Romantic Period浪漫主义时期1. From the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of he Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. It is also called “the American Renaissance”.浪漫主义时期开始于十八世纪末，到内战爆发为止，华盛顿.欧文出版的《见闻札记》标志着美国文学的开端，惠特曼的《草叶集》是浪漫主义时期文学的压卷之作。
（也可称为“美国德文艺复兴”）2. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature.对逃离社会，回归自然的渴求成为美国文学的一个永恒的话题。
3. The American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values.美国清教作为一种文化遗产，对美国人的道德观念产生了很大的影响。
4. Besides, a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of original sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne, Melville and a host of lesser writers. 在霍桑，麦尔维尔以及其他一些小作家的作品种加尔文主义的原罪思想和罪恶的神秘性都得到了充分的表现。
美国文学选读期末总结
美国文学选读期末总结美国文学是世界文学的重要组成部分，拥有悠久的历史和丰富的文化，它影响了世界各地的文学发展。
在这门选读课程中，我们从殖民地时期开始，一直到二十一世纪，学习了许多重要的美国文学作品。
通过阅读这些作品，我们不仅了解了美国文化和历史，也探讨了许多重要的主题和思想。
在殖民地时期，美国文学开始萌芽。
我们读到了威廉·布拉德福的《普利茅斯记》和詹姆斯教酋长的《联邦纲要》。
这些作品记录了最早的殖民地生活，揭示了殖民者面临的困难和对未来的希望。
通过阅读这些作品，我们了解到殖民地时期的美国社会是如何建立起来的，以及它对后世产生了怎样的影响。
在十九世纪，美国文学迎来了一个辉煌的时期。
我们阅读了许多重要的作品，如纳撒尼尔·霍桑的《红字》、赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的《白鲸》和马克·吐温的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》。
这些作品探讨了人性的复杂性、道德的问题和对社会的批判。
他们让我思考人类内心的冲突和道德选择的困难。
这些作品也在文学史上留下了深远的影响，对后来的作家和文学发展产生了重要的影响。
在二十世纪，美国文学经历了一系列重要的变革和创新。
我们读到了弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德的《了不起的盖茨比》、欧内斯特·海明威的《老人与海》和托尼·莫里森的《亲爱的》。
这些作品通过不同的风格和形式来探索一系列的主题，如美国梦、个体与社会的关系、种族和性别等。
它们展示了美国文学的多样性和丰富性，也反映了美国社会的变化和发展。
此外，我们还读到了一些二十一世纪的作品，如乔纳森·弗兰岑的《自由的哀思》和夏娃·芭比恩·鲍登的《女人的生活》，它们涉及了当代社会的问题和议题。
这些作品让我思考了现代社会的挑战和困境，也让我对未来的发展有了更深的思考。
通过这门选读课程，我对美国文学有了更深入的了解。
我认识到美国文学不仅仅是一堆经典的作品，更是一个反映社会和思想的镜子。
英美文学导论期末总结
英美文学导论期末总结Introduction:Throughout the semester, we have delved into the vast world of English and American literature, exploring various literary periods, genres, and renowned writers. This summary provides an overview of the key topics covered in this course and reflects upon the importance and impact of English and American literature on society.I. Ancient and Medieval Literature:We began our journey by examining literature from ancient and medieval times. We explored the epic poems of Homer, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the plays of ancient Greek playwrights like Sophocles and Aeschylus. We then shifted our focus to medieval literature, delving into the works of renowned authors like Geoffrey Chaucer and the anonymous poet of Beowulf. These works provide insights into the cultural, social, and religious values of ancient and medieval civilizations.II. Renaissance and Elizabethan Literature:Next, we transitioned into the Renaissance period, focusing on the works of William Shakespeare. We analyzed his famous plays, such as Hamlet and Macbeth, and explored his sonnets. We discussed the themes of love, power, and the human condition prevalent in his works. Additionally, we examined other prominent writers of this era, including Christopher Marlowe and Sir Philip Sidney. The Renaissance literature introduced new ideas, creativity, and humanism that paved the way for modern literature.III. Neoclassical and Victorian Literature:We then moved on to the neoclassical and Victorian periods. We explored the works of writers such as John Milton, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We discussed the importance of reason and logic in neoclassical literature and how it transitioned into the Romantic movement. Romanticism, characterized by emotion, imagination, and individuality, featured poets like William Wordsworth and John Keats. In the Victorian era, novelists like Charles Dickens and the Bronte sisters wrote about societal issues, emphasizing social reforms and gender equality.IV. Modernism and Post-Modernism:The twentieth century marked a significant shift in literature with the emergence of modernism and post-modernism. We studied writers like T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and Ernest Hemingway. Modernist literature embraced experimentation, fragmentation, and innovation, reflecting the uncertainties and disillusionment of the post-World War I era. Post-modernism, on the other hand, challenged traditional narratives, rejected absolute truth, and embraced irony and intertextuality. We explored the works of authors such asSamuel Beckett and Kurt Vonnegut. These movements revolutionized literature by questioning established norms and pushing boundaries.V. African-American Literature:Finally, we dedicated some time to the study of African-American literature, which played a crucial role in advocating for civil rights and combating racism. We explored the works of writers like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Maya Angelou. Their writings shed light on the African-American experience, addressing themes of identity, racial discrimination, and social injustice. African-American literature has contributed to the cultural and literary landscape, providing a platform for marginalized voices.Conclusion:Through the study of English and American literature, we have gained a comprehensive understanding of the historical, cultural, social, and political contexts in which these works were created. Literature serves as a mirror to society, reflecting the thoughts, experiences, and emotions of individuals and communities. It challenges conventional wisdom, promotes empathy, and encourages critical thinking. English and American literature have influenced and shaped the world, showcasing the power of words and storytelling. By studying literature, we not only appreciate the beauty of language but also gain insights into the human condition, fostering empathy and enriching our own lives.。
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1. A Psalm of Life
1.1Analysis:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow begins his poem "A Psalm of Life" with the same exuberance and enthusiasm that continues through most of the poem. He begs in the first stanza to be told "not in mournful numbers" about life. He states here that life doesn't abruptly end when one dies; rather, it extends into another after life. Longfellow values this dream of the afterlife immensely and seems to say that life can only be lived truly if one believes that the soul will continue to live long after the body dies.
The second stanza continues with the same belief in afterlife that is present in the first. Longfellow states this clearly when he writes, "And the grave is not its goal." Meaning that,
life doesn't end for people simply because they die; there is always something more to be hopeful and optimistic for. Longfellow begins discussing how humans must live their lives in constant anticipation for the next day under the belief that it will be better than each day before it: "But to act that each to-morrow / Find us farther than to-day."
In the subsequent stanza, Longfellow asserts that there is never an infinite amount of time to live, but art that is created during one's life can be preserved indefinitely and live on long after its creator dies.
In the following stanzas, Longfellow likens living in the world to fighting on a huge field of battle.
He believes that people should lead heroic and courageous lives and not sit idle and remain ineffectual while the world rapidly changes around them: "Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be
a hero in the strife!" His use of the word "strife" is especially interesting, since it clearly acknowledges that life is inherently difficult, is a constant struggle, and will never be easy. Longfellow then encourages everyone to have faith and trust the lord and not to rely on an unknown future to be stable and supportive.
2. Commentary for A Psalm of Life
Sensory language
Rhyme scheme
ABAB
Uses descriptive language
Uses similes
2. Excelsior
Summary: Excelsior is a poem about a traveler who had only one goal stuck into his head that was to get higher and nothing could make him stop, not even the warm light of houses, nor the warm welcome of a girl, nor the storm that will come at night, nor the avalanche could stop him. And in the end he died. He did what he determined to do and he ended up losing his life.
3. Sit and Look Out
Analysis:As the poet surveys the human world, he is struck by the numbers and variety of misfortunes to which mankind is subject and which are the causes of wide-spreading suffering in the world. He sees all this but he remains silent. His silence is of course due to the profundity of suffering in the world and his helplessness in the matter.
4. Mending Wall (from North of Boston)
Form and style: The poem is in blank verse—that is, unrhymed iambic pentameter. Its forty-five lines are in the form of a monologue, but quite different from the style of dramatic monologue
popularized by Robert Browning’s give a revelation of the speaker’s character, often unintentional, and are focused inward. Frost’s are directed outward, usually at some object that can serve: as a point of departure of general observations. The verse is largely monosyllabic, the language typically unpretentious. His Paleolithic savage, for example, is old-stone, a literal translation of the Greek word and much more effective. Simplicity and dignity set the tone.。