美国文学——独立革命时期
美国文学
美国文学一、殖民地时期1607-17651607年，captain john smith 带领第一批移民在北美大陆建立第一个英国殖民地--詹姆斯敦。
1765年，殖民地人民奋起抗议英国政府颁布的印花税。
文学特点：宗教色彩，讲经布道向欧洲读者或亲友介绍新大陆的小册子和游记书信著名作家：Captain john smith,Anne Bradstreet, 以夫妻恩爱家庭美满为题材Edward Taylor，清教徒，牧师，讲道二、启蒙时期&独立战争时期1765-18世纪1730s，爱德华兹（Johnathan Edwards）为首的清教徒掀起“大觉醒”运动，企图恢复清教主义的统治，失败。
启蒙运动代表人物Benjamin Franklin(文学家科学家政治家):《格言历书》poor richard's almanac,通过格言警句宣传创业持家，待人处事的道德原则和勤奋致富的生活道路《自传》Autobiography，开创了美国名人写传记的风气独立战争时期文学以理性的散文为主，主要是各派政治力量对于革命的必要性、革命的前途与方向、政府的形式与性质等重大问题展开讨论时产生的杂文、政论文和演讲词，即便诗歌也以政治为内容。
代表作家：潘恩Thomas paine 的《常识》commom senseThomas Jefferson Declaration of Independence汉密尔顿、麦迪逊、杰伊合写的《论联邦》The Federalist Papers威廉-希尔-布朗william hill brawn,第一部美国小说《同情的力量》三、浪漫主义时期1800-1865作家们强调文学的想象力和感情色彩，反对古典主义的形式与观点，歌颂大自然，崇尚个人和普通人的思想感情，并且寻根问祖，发幽古之思情。
素材完全取自美国现实，如西部开发和拓荒经历。
他们赞美美国山水，讴歌美国生活，反映美国人民的乐观与热情。
现实主义在各国的发展
现实主义文学在各国的发展六、美国文学1、独立战争前后的文学：1750-1810美国民族文学形成于独立战争时期。
这场斗争产生了大量的革命诗歌和“传单文学”，并且造就了美国头一批重要的散文家和诗人。
政治上的独立促进文化上的独立。
战争结束后，美国作家的作品陆续增多，逐步摆脱英国文学的垄断局面。
年轻的民主共和国使人们满怀信心，导致19世纪上半叶的文学创作具有浪漫主义的色彩。
作家们吸取欧洲浪漫派文学的精神，对美国的历史、传说和现实生活进行描绘，美利坚民族的内容逐渐丰富和充实起来。
民族文学的诞生：独立战争是美国文学诞生的背景。
本杰明·富兰克林(Benjamin Franklin,1706-1790)务实主义的代表、成功故事的原型。
“他的国家的典型和天才”。
1730年主办《宾西法尼亚报》，美国新闻和广告事业的真正先驱，更是美国政治和文化的奠基人，他的报纸宣扬民主主义观点。
1731年在费城设立图书馆。
1733年开始刊行《穷理查历表》，教育和启迪民众。
1743年又组织美洲哲学会。
后组织自卫民兵。
他不断宣扬民族主权原则，号召北美13个殖民地联合起来，建立共和政体，进行普选、呼吁废奴。
1776年出使法国。
他的世俗格言影响广泛。
在他的书信体散文里，反讽升华为奇想，对于生活喜剧式的钟爱成为深邃智慧的源泉。
富兰克林是美国第一位真正伟大的作家。
布朗(Charles Brockden Brown,1771-1810)小说之父。
布朗的《韦兰德》则是第一部美国小说，1798年出版，“人的心理小说”，复杂的变态心理，为霍桑和坡指明了方向。
缺点在于充满闹剧式的情节和哥特式氛围。
朗费罗(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,1807-1882)19世纪美国最受欢迎的诗人之一，婆罗门派代表。
婆罗门是指这一时期新英格兰地区一批有高度文化教养的作家，或称“绅士派诗人”。
出于资产阶级民主主义和人道主义，歌颂爱国主义精神，反对蓄奴制，同情印第安人。
美国文学作家以及作品总汇
美国文学部分(American Literature)一．独立革命前后的文学（The Literature Around the Revolution of Independence）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．殖民地时期的文学的特点2)．主要的作家、其概况及其代表作品2．独立革命前后时期的主要作家本杰明·富兰克林Benjamin Franklin本杰明·富兰克林，散文家、科学家、社会活动家，曾参与起草―独立宣言。
《穷查理历书》Poor Richard’s Almanack《致富之道》The Way to Wealth《自传》The Autobiography托马斯·潘恩Thomas Paine托马斯·潘恩，散文家、政治家、报刊撰稿人。
《税务员问题》The Case of the Officers of Excise《常识》Common Sense《美国危机》American Crisis《人的权利》Rights of Man《专制体制的崩溃》Downfall of Despotism《理性时代》The Age of Reason菲利普·弗伦诺Philip Freneau菲利普·弗伦诺，著名的―革命诗人‖。
《蒸蒸日上的美洲》―The Rising Glory of America‖《英国囚船》―The British Prison Ship‖《纪念美国勇士》同类诗中最佳―To the Memory of the Brave Americans‖《野生的金银花》―The Wild Honeysuckle‖《印第安人殡葬地》―The Indian Burying Ground‖1二．美国浪漫主义文学（American Romanticism）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景2)．主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画和语言风格3)．清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家华盛顿·欧文Washington Irving华盛顿·欧文，美国著名小说家，被称为―美国文学之父‖.《瑞普·凡·温可尔》Rip Van Winkle《纽约外史》A History of New York《见闻札记》The Sketch Book《睡谷的传说》The Legend of Sleepy Hollow詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀James Fenimore Cooper詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀开创了以《皮裹腿故事集》为代表的边疆传奇小说，其中最为重要的一部是《最后的莫西干人》。
美国文学史
美国文学史梗概一、殖民地时代和美国建国初期最早来自这片新大陆的欧洲移民主要是定居在新英格兰的清教徒和马萨诸塞的罗马天主教徒，二者虽然在教义上有很多不同之处，但他们都信奉加尔文主义：人生在世只是为了受苦受难，而他们唯一的希望是争做上帝的“选民”，死后进天国，相信“原罪”。
这时的文学作品也主要反映了这些思想，和欧洲文学一脉相承。
代表作家：考顿·马瑟，乔纳森·爱德华兹，安妮·布拉兹特里特，爱德华·泰勒。
二、18世纪独立战争胜利后，美国经济社会进入稳步发展时期这一时期是启蒙运动时期（the Enlightenment）,从字面上讲，启蒙运动就是启迪蒙昧，反对愚昧主义，提倡普及文化教育的运动。
但就其精神实质上看，它是宣扬资产阶级政治思想体系的运动，并非单纯是文学运动。
它是文艺复兴时期资产阶级反封建、反禁欲、反教会斗争的继续和发展，直接为一七八九年的法国大革命奠定了思想基础。
启蒙思想家们从人文主义者手里进一步从理论上证明封建制度的不合理，从而提出一整套哲学理论，政治纲领和社会改革方案，要求建立一个以“理性”为基础的社会。
他们用政治自由对抗专制暴政，用信仰自由对抗宗教压迫，用自然神论和无神论来摧毁天主教权威和宗教偶像，用“天赋人权”的口号来反对“君权神授”的观点，用“人人在法律面前平等”来反对贵族的等级特权，进而建立资产阶级的政权。
是欧洲第二次思想解放运动。
）主要文学指导思想是“自然神论”（Deism），这个思想认为虽然上帝创造了宇宙和它存在的规则，但是在此之后上帝并不再对这个世界的发展产生影响。
自然神论反对蒙昧主义和神秘主义，否定迷信和各种违反自然规律的“奇迹”；认为上帝不过是“世界理性”或“有智慧的意志”；上帝作为世界的“始因”或“造物主”，它在创世之后就不再干预世界事务，而让世界按照它本身的规律存在和发展下去；主张用“理性宗教”代替“天启宗教”。
人生在世，不再是受苦受难以换取来世的新生，而是要消灭种族、性别和信仰的不平等，建立自己的“人间乐园”。
美国文学教学大纲
海南师范学院本科英语专业理论课教学大纲：美国文学课程编号：03101026 学时：36 学分：2一、课程的性质和任务《美国文学史及选读》是英语语言文学专业（本科）的一门专业知识必修课。
它简要介绍了美国文学从十七世纪殖民时期到二十世纪的发展历史及其主要作品。
本课程是英语专业的专业基础课，目标是：通过文学史的教学拓宽学生的知识面，提高学生的文学修养，使学生了解英美文学各个历史时期的文艺思潮、文学流派、主要作家和作品；通过美国文学作品的教学，提高学生对英文原著的理解能力、鉴赏能力，培养学生发现问题、分析问题和解决问题的能力；通过课外实践活动，激发学生的文学兴趣，培养学生的文学鉴赏和批评能力及论文写作能力二、相关课程的衔接本课程是为英语专业高年级学生开设的，学生必须具有良好的英语阅读和理解基本功方能顺利地学习该课程，与此同时，它与美国历史、文化、社会背景等关系密切，因此，学生先期完成英语听说读写等技能训练基本课程，相关衔接课程有《英国文学》，《英语国家概况》《跨文化交际》等课程。
三、教学的基本要求1．了解美国文学发展史上的重要时期和阶段，包括殖民地时期、独立战争时期、浪漫主义时代、南北战争时期和两次世界大战前后文学现象及特征。
2．了解各个重要发展阶段的代表作家及作品，熟知其内容、风格和艺术价值及其在世界文学史上的重要地位。
3．了解伴随美国文学各个阶段产生的文艺批评思潮，提高学生的文艺理论水平。
四、教学方法与重点、难点教学方法：教学方法以课堂讲授为主，辅以讨论，并要求学生在课外大量阅读参考书，撰写读书报告及评论课上充分利用网络资源及现代化教学手段，使学生能够积极主动地进行学习本课程的重点与难点相对来说是一致的从时段上来说，19世纪20年代以后的美国文学由于处于第二次繁荣时期，对于美国文学的历史走向曾发生了相当重要的影响，自然是本课程的重点而这一阶段的文学语言丰富、色彩各异，且与哲学、史学、艺术学等结合得比较紧密，所以这一时期的文学作品在语言上和思想上都具备一定的难度，是本课程的难点所在另外，后现代文学作品的出现也增加了学生阅读的难度，因此了解后现代作品的创作手法，写作动机也是本科的一个难点解决的办法主要是在专业基础课之外，定期安排专家讲学，题目多涉及与课程难度相关的内容，旨在拓宽学生的知识面，使学生对特定时期的美国文学有一个历史层面上的深刻把握，从而有助于理解作品的语言和思想另外，课程组加强“英美文化”的教学力度和课外阅读的范围，在教学框架中将文学和文化结合起来，使学生在浓厚的异域文化氛围中感受美国文学，从而对深化对文学作品的理解从流派上说，《美国文学》课程的重点和难点都集中在流派嬗变的历史规律、流派与流派之间的关系、各流派的形成背景、形成历史以及体制特点美国文学各流派的继承性从总体上来说表现得相当明显，但对具体的继承与创造的关系尚缺乏充分的整理和研究我们的解决办法是：在分阶段的文学史教学过程中，充分梳理各文学流派的历史，从中概括流派的特性和历史以及与其他流派的区别我们开设有多门分阶段文学史的课程，目的就是在目前“横”的文学史的基础上，加强“纵”的线索，使学生形成纵横兼备的知识体系。
英语八级英美文学整理
美国文学第一阶段独立革命之前（十七世纪中期之前）（before the revolution of independence）第一节美国本土文学（美国印第安传统文学）印第安传统文学的主要内容和形式：在各种典仪上咏颂的祝词，在劳作中吟唱的歌曲，时代交口相传的部落神话故事和英雄故事，刻写在山河岩壁上的象形史诗。
第二节北美殖民时期文学（十六世纪末-----十七世纪中）（colonial settlement）这一时期的文学作品主要是一些英国的殖民地官员或者传道士、冒险家们以日记或游记等形式记录的新大陆的风土人情、自然景色和民间生活等。
John Smith 约翰·史密斯《关于弗吉尼亚的真实叙述》A True Relation of Virginia（被认为是美国文学史上的“第一部作品”）第三节请教思想的表述（Puritanism）他们的作品主要是以传布清教主义思想的布道文为主第二阶段独立革命时期（十七世纪中期-------十八世纪末）（around the revolution of independence）独立革命前后的美国文学，标志着北美文学产生后的第一次大转折该期文学特色：充满浓烈的政治性和思辨性。
主题多为爱国主义及对于独立民主自由的热切呼唤。
Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林《穷查理历书》Poor Richard’s Almanac《自传》The AutobiographyThomas Paine 托马斯·潘恩《常识》Common Sense 《美国危机》The America Crisis《人的权利》Rights of Human《理性时代》The Age of ReasonPhilip Freneau 菲利普·弗伦诺（18世纪最杰出的美国诗人，被誉为“the poet of the American revolution）《英国囚船》The British Prison Ship 《美国的荣耀蒸蒸日上》The Rising Glory of America《印第安人殡葬地》（lyric）The Indian Burying Ground 《野金银花》The Wild Honey Suckle第三阶段浪漫主义时期（18世纪末---19世纪中后期）（American Romanticism）该时期主题多为传统文化与现代文明之间的冲突、“对久远与遥远故事的兴趣”以及对死亡、潜意识的剖析等。
美国文学作家作品
美国文学部分(American Literature)一．独立革命前后的文学（The Literature Around the Revolution of Independence）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．殖民地时期的文学的特点2)．主要的作家、其概况及其代表作品2．独立革命前后时期的主要作家本杰明·富兰克林Benjamin Franklin本杰明·富兰克林，散文家、科学家、社会活动家，曾参与起草“独立宣言”。
《穷查理历书》Poor Richard’s Almanack《致富之道》The Way to Wealth《自传》The Autobiography托马斯·潘恩Thomas Paine托马斯·潘恩，散文家、政治家、报刊撰稿人。
《税务员问题》The Case of the Officers of Excise《常识》Common Sense《美国危机》American Crisis《人的权利》Rights of Man《专制体制的崩溃》Downfall of Despotism《理性时代》The Age of Reason菲利普·弗伦诺Philip Freneau菲利普·弗伦诺，著名的“革命诗人”。
《蒸蒸日上的美洲》“The Rising Glory of America”《英国囚船》“The British Prison Ship”《纪念美国勇士》同类诗中最佳“To the Memory of the Brave Americans”《野生的金银花》“The Wild Honeysuckle”《印第安人殡葬地》“The Indian Burying Ground”二．美国浪漫主义文学（American Romanticism）1．本章考核知识点和考核要求：1)．美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景2)．主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画和语言风格3)．清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家华盛顿·欧文Washington Irving华盛顿·欧文，美国著名小说家，被称为“美国文学之父”.《瑞普·凡·温可尔》Rip Van Winkle《纽约外史》A History of New York《见闻札记》The Sketch Book《睡谷的传说》The Legend of Sleepy Hollow詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀James Fenimore Cooper詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀开创了以《皮裹腿故事集》为代表的边疆传奇小说，其中最为重要的一部是《最后的莫西干人》。
美国文学考试,10页轻松搞定
三、浪漫主义时期1800-1865
作家们强调文学的想象力和感情色彩，反对古典主义的形式与观点，歌颂大自然，崇尚个人和普通人的思想感情，并且寻根问祖，发幽古之思情。素材完全取自美国现实，如西部开发和拓荒经历。他们赞美美国山水，讴歌美国生活，反映美国人民的乐观与热情。
废奴文学：
爱默生，梭罗，惠蒂埃
影响最大的是斯托夫人harriet beecher stowe,《汤姆叔叔的小屋》uncle tom's cabin
四、现实主义文学1865-1918
乡土文学：朱厄特sarah orne jewett, 短篇小说集《迪普黑文》deephaven and other stories,长篇小说《尖枞树之乡》the country of pointed firs
爱默生ralph waldo emerson, <论自然>nature（被称为超验主义的圣经），《论自立》self reliance，对打破神学统治，摒弃请教教义，强调人的地位，确立民主思想和发展民族文化起了极大作用。
梭罗henry david thoreau,emerson的朋友和门徒。《沃尔登》walden。《论公民的不服从》civil disobedience,主张用和平斗争的方式反对战争和奴隶制，对甘地、马丁路德金起过积极影响。
詹姆斯，被称为心理分析小说家，他晦涩的文体、开放性结局和内心独白等手法大大影响了后世的现代派，尤其是意识流文学。他的作品属于世态小说novel of manners，代表作《一位女士的肖像》the portrait of a lady's,《鸽翼》the wings of the dove,《专使》the ambassadors, 《金碗》the golden bowl.
英美文学时期划分
美国文学
北美殖民地时期文学
一、科顿•马瑟（1663-1728）
二、乔纳森•爱德华兹（1703-1758）
三、安妮•布拉德斯特里特（1612-1672）
独立革命前后的文学
一、托马斯•潘恩（1737-1809）
二、本杰明•富兰克林（1706-7190）
三、菲力浦•弗瑞诺（1752-1832）
浪漫主义时期
一、华盛顿•欧文（1783-1859）
二、詹姆斯•费尼莫尔•库柏（1789-1851）
三、拉尔夫•华尔多•爱默生（1803-1882）超验主义Transcendentalism
四、纳森尼尔•霍桑（1804-1864）象征主义（Symbolism）
五、亨利•大卫•梭罗（1817-1862）超验主义Transcendentalism
六、埃德加•爱伦•坡（1808-1849）象征主义（Symbolism）
七、赫尔曼•梅尔维尔（1819-1891）象征主义（Symbolism）
八、华尔特•惠特曼（1819-1892）象征主义（Symbolism）
九、爱米莉•狄金森（1830-1886）
十、亨利•沃兹沃斯•朗费罗（1807-1882）
十一、约翰•格林利夫•惠蒂埃（1807-1896）十二、哈丽特•比彻•斯托（1811-1896）
十三、弗雷德里克•道格拉斯（1817-1895
现实主义时期
现代时期。
美国文学-名词解释
美国文学1.殖民地时期及独立革命战争时期的美国文学Philip Freneau（菲利普﹒弗瑞诺）(1)He was considered as the “Poet of the American revolution” as the most outstanding poet in America of the 18th century. (2)He was a satirist, a bitter polemicist. (3)He wrote many poems encouraging revolution and encouraging the glory that would be won by overcoming the British.The Wild Honey Suckle 《野金银花》The Indian Burying Ground 《印第安人的殡葬地》The British Ship《英国囚船》The Rising Glory of America 《美洲光辉的兴起》(1)The Wild Honey Suckle is Freneau’s best lyric (2)It anticipated the 19th—century use of simple nature imagery.The Indian Burying Ground anticipated romantic primitivism and the celebration of the “Noble Savage”.Thomas Jefferson（托马斯﹒杰弗逊）The Declaration of Independence《独立宣言》(1)The Declaration of Independence was adopted July 4, 1776. (2)It not only announced the birth of a new nation, but also expounded a philosophy of human freedom. (3)It lists 13 cruelties committed by the King of Britain. (4)The famous lines are: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”(5) Thomas Jefferson’s thought was inspired by the thoughts of John Locke.浪漫主义时期的美国文学Calvinism（加尔文主义）(1)Calvinism refers to the religious teachings of John Calvin and his followers. (2) Calvin taught that only certain persons, the elect, were chosen by God to be saved, and these could be saved only by God’s grace. (3) Calvinism forms the basis for the doctrines and practices of the Huguenots, Puritans, Presbyterians, and the Reformed churches.American Romanticism（美国浪漫主义）(1) American Romanticism is one of the most important periods in the history of American literature.(2) It was a rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism. For romantics, the feelings ,intuitions and emotions were more important than reason and common sense. They emphasized individualism, placing the individual against the group. They affirmed the inner life of the self, and cherished strong interest in the past, the wild, the remote, the mysterious and the strange. They stressed the element “Americanness” in their works.(3)It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Gra ss. (4) Being a period of the great flowering of American literature, it is also called “the American Renaissance.” (5) American Romantici sts include such literary figures as Washington Irving, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, WilliamCullen Bryant, Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman and some others.Transcendentalism（超验主义）(1) Transcendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the middle 1800’s, which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition, the Over—soul, and Nature. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self—reliant. (2)New England Transcendentalism is the product of a combination of native American Puritanism and European Romanticism.Free verse（自由体诗歌）(1)Free verse means the rhymed or unrhymed poetry composed without paying attention to conventional rules of meter.(2) Free verse was originated by a group of French poets of the late 19th century. (3)Their purpose was to free themselves from the restrictions of formal metrical patterns and to recreate instead the free rhythms of natural speech. (4)Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is, perhaps, the most notable example.Symbol（象征）(1) Symbol means an act, a person, a thing, or a spectacle that stands for something else, usually something less palpable than the named symbol. (2) The relationship between the symbol and its referent is not often one of simple equivalence. Allegorical symbols usually express a neater equivalence with what they stand for than the symbols found in modern realistic fiction.Theme（主题）(1) Theme means the unifying point or general idea of a literary work. (2) It provides an answer to such questions as “What is the work about”(3)Each literary work carries its own theme or themes. For example, King Lear has many themes, among which are blindness and madness.现实主义与自然主义时期的美国文学American Naturalism(美国自然主义)The American Naturalists accepted the more negative interpretation of Darwin’s evolutionary theory and used it to account for the behavior of those characters in literary works who were regarded as more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes, their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.American Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pessimistic. It is no more than a gloomy philosophical approach to reality, or to human existence.Dreiser is a leading figure of his school.Darwinism(达尔文主义)Darwinism is a term that comes from Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory.Darwinist think that those who survive in the world are the fittest and those who fail to adapt themselves to the environment will perish. They believe that man has evolved from lower forms of life. Humans are special not because God created them in His image, but because they have successfully adapted to changing environmental conditions and have passed on their survival-making characteristics genetically.Influenced by this theory, some American naturalist writers apply Darwinism as an explanation of human nature and social reality.Local Colorists(乡土作家)Generally speaking, the writing of local colorists are concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region or province. The characteristic setting is the isolated small town.Local colorists were consciously nostalgic historian of a vanishing way of life, recorders of a present that faded before their eyes. Yet for all their sentimentality, they dedicated themselves to minutely accurate descriptions of the life of their regions. They worked from personal experience to record the facts of a local environment and suggested that the native life was shaped by the curious conditions of the locale.Major local colorists include Hamlin Garland, Mark Twain , Kate Chopin, etc.Theodore Dreiser(西奥多·德莱塞)He is generally acknowledged as one of America’s literary naturalists.Works Sister Carrie《嘉莉妹妹》(1) Sister Carrie tells about a poor country girl (Carrie Meeber) who goesto Chicago to pursue the American Dream.(2) The novel shows Dreiser’s naturalistic view about life by illustratingthe purposelessness of life.(3) The dominant symbol of the novel is the rocking chair that is the rocking chair that is indicative of the uncertainty of life.Jennie Gerhardt《珍妮姑娘》Trilogy of Desire《欲望》三部曲a. The Financier《金融家》b. The Titan《巨人》c. The Stoic《斯多葛》The Genius 《天才》An American Tragedy 《美国的悲剧》(1) An American Tragedy is Dreiser’s greatest work and the title of theBook implies Dreiser intention to tell us that it is the social pressurethat makes Clyde’s downfall inevitable.(2) Clyde’s tragedy is a tragedy that depends upon the American socialsystem which encouraged people to pursue the “dream of success ” atall costs.Sherwood Anderson (舍伍德·安德森)He has been called the first of America’s “psychological writers” because he first explored the motivations and frustrations of his fictional characters in terms of Sigmund Freud’s theories of psychology.He tremendously influenced such writers as Hemingway and Faulkner.Works Winesburg, Ohio《小镇畸人》(1) Winesburg, Ohio is a collection of 23 interrelated stories ofsamll-town life. These stories sound morbid and grotesque, butUnderneath them runs a strong desire to communicate, and love andbe loved.(2) It won the author a foremost position in contemporary Americanliterary.现代时期的美国文学The Lost Generation (迷惘的一代)The Lost Generation is a term first used by Gertrude Stein to describe the post-World War I generation of American writers: men and women haunted by a sense of betrayal and emptiness brought about by the destructiveness of the war.Full of youthful idealism, these individuals sought the meaning of life, drank excessively, had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to date.The three best-know representatives of Lost Generation are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos.Others usually included among the list are Sherwood Anderson, Kay Boyle, Hart Crane, Ford Maddox Ford and Zelda Fitzgerald.Imagism (意象派诗歌)Imagism came into being in Britain ans U.S. around 1910 as a reaction to the traditional English poetry to express the sense of fragmentation and dislocation.The imagists, with Ezra Pound leading the way, hold that the most effective means to express these momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image.Imagism is characterized by the following three poetic principles:i) direct treatment of subject matter;ii) economy of expression;iii) as regards rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of metronome.Ezra Pound’s In a Station of the Metro is a well-known imagist poem.The Beat Generation (垮掉的一代)The members of the Beat Generation were new bohemian libertines, who engaged in a spontaneous, sometimes messy, creativity.The beat writers produced a body of written work controversial both for its advocacy ofnon-conformity and for its non-conforming style.The major beat writings are Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and Allen Ginsberg’s Howl. Howl became the manifesto of the Beat Generation.American Dream (美国梦)American Dream refers to the dream of material success, in which one, regardless of social status, acquires wealth and gains success by working hard and good luck.In literature, the theme of American Dream recurs. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby comes from the west to the east with the dream of material success. By bootlegging and other illegal means he fulfilled his dream but ended up being killed. The novel tells the shattering of American Dream rather than its success.Expressionism (表现主义)Expressionism refers to a movement in Germany early in the 20th century, in which a number of painters sought to avoid the representation of external reality and, instead, to project a highly personal or subjective vision of the world.Expressionism is a reaction against realism or naturalism, aiming at presenting a post-war world violently distorted.Works noted for expressionism include: Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones, James Joyce’s Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, and T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, etc..In a further sense, the term is sometimes applied to the belief that literary works are essentially expressions of their own authors’ moods and thoughts; this has been the dominant assumption about literature since the rise of Romanticism.Feminism (女权主义)(1) Feminism incorporates both a doctrine of equal rights for women and an ideology of social transformation aiming to create a world for women beyond simple social equality.(2) In general, feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation based on the belief that women suffer injustice because of their sex. Under this broad umbrella various feminists offer differing analyses of the causes, or agents, of female oppression.(3) Definitions of feminism by feminists tend to be shaped by their training, ideology or race. So, for example, Marxist and Socialist feminists stress the interaction within feminism of class with gender and focus on social distinctions between men and women. Black feminists argue much more for an integrated analysis which can unlock the multiple systems of oppression.Hemingway Code Hero (海明威式英雄)Hemingway Hero, also called code hero, is one who, wounded but strong, more sensitive, enjoys the pleasures of life (sex, alcohol, sport) in face of ruin and death, and maintains, through some notion of a code, an ideal of himself.Barnes in The Sun Also Rises, Henry in A Farewell to Arms and Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea are typical of Hemingway Hero.Harlem Renaissance (哈莱姆文艺复兴)（1）Harlem Renaissance refers to a period of outstanding literary vigor and creativity that occurred in the United States during the 1920s.（2）The Harlem Renaissance changed the images of literature created by many black and white American writers. New black images were no longer obedient and docile, instead they showed a new confidence and racial pride.(3) The leading figures are Langston Hughs, James Weldon Johnson, Wallace Thurman, etc.. Impressionism (印象主义)Impressionism is a style of painting that gives the impression made by the subject on the artist without much attention to details. Writers accepted the same conviction that the personal attitudes and moods of the writer were legitimate elements in depicting character or setting or action. Briefly, it is a style of literature characterized by the creation of general impressions and moods rather than realistic moods.现代时期的美国文学Ezra Pound(1) He was identified as the father of modern American poetry and the most influential leader of the Imagist Movement.(2) He had an enormous influence on the modernist writers in Britain and America after WWII.Works The Cantos《诗章》In a Station of the Metro 《在地铁站里》(1) In a Station of the Metro serves as a typical example of the Imagist ideas.(2) The one-image poem is an observation of the poet of the human faces seen in a Paris subway station.(3) “Apparition” suggests a visible appearance of something not present, and especially of a dead person. Here the faces of people in the subway station are compared to petals on a wet, black bough.A Pact 《盟约》(1) A Pact is a poem in which Pound started to find some agreement between “Whitmanesque” free verse, which he had attacked for its carelessness in composition.(2) In the poem “broke the new wood” means that Whitman made experiments with the conventions of traditional poetry. “commerce” means the exchange of views or attitudes. The poem indicates that Pound would like to learn from the free verse and show respect to Whitman.。
独立革命至南北战争时期的美国文学
美国民族⽂学形成于独⽴⾰命时期。
这场⽃争产⽣⼤量的⾰命诗歌，并且造就了美国头⼀批重要的散⽂家和诗⼈。
政治上的独⽴促进⽂化上的独⽴。
战争结束之后，美国作家的作品陆续增多，逐渐摆脱英国⽂学的垄断局⾯。
年轻的民主共和国使⼈们满怀信⼼，并吸引着旧世界更多的⼈们奔向新的⼤陆。
这样的社会条件促使19世纪上半叶的⽂学创作具有浪漫主义的⾊彩。
作家们吸取欧洲浪漫派⽂学的精神，对美国的历史、传说和现实⽣活进⾏描绘，美利坚民族内容逐渐丰富和充实起来。
从20、30年代到南北战争前⼣，是浪漫主义运动的全盛时期，各种不同风格的作家泉涌⽽出，作品从内容到形式都具有鲜明的民族特⾊。
批评家们称这⼀时期为美国⽂学“第⼀次繁荣”。
到了世纪中叶，浪漫主义⽂学的基调由乐观⾛向疑虑，迫切的社会⽭盾，如蓄奴制，⼜使某些作家采取现实主义的创作⽅法。
民族⽂学的诞⽣独⽴⾰命是美国民族⽂学诞⽣的背景。
早在战争爆发之前，美国殖民地⼈民在欧洲启蒙主义学说影响之下，已经具有民族独⽴的意识。
富兰克林世俗的格⾔⽐爱德华兹清教，主义的教诲更能吸引⼴⼤群众。
富兰克林⽤清晰、幽默的⽂体传播了科学⽂化，激发⾃⼒更⽣的精神，他的爱国热情和关于⾃学、创业的⾔论，对于美国⼈民的⼈⽣观、事业观和道德观产⽣了深远的影响。
独⽴⾰命期间充满反抗与妥协之间的尖锐⽃争，迫使作家们采取政论、演讲、散⽂等简便⽽⼜犀利的形式投⼊战⽃。
发表“不⾃由⽏宁死”这⼀名⾔的演说家舶特⾥克。
亨利，象战⿎那样⿎动战⼠奋勇杀敌的托马斯。
潘恩，⾏⽂朴质⽆华却字字击中要害的托马斯。
杰斐逊，都是⽆畏的战⼠，他们为了战⽃的需要锤炼⾃⼰的语⾔艺术。
那个时期的诗歌也具有强烈的政治性，⼤量的⾰命歌谣出⾃民间。
菲利普。
弗瑞诺是当时的⾰命诗⼈，他的创作开创了美国诗歌的优秀传统。
早期浪漫主义⽂学 19世纪初，⼀些以美国为背景、美国⼈为主⼈公的作品开始出现，初具美利坚民族的特⾊。
欧⽂致⼒发掘北美早期移民的传说故事，他的《见闻札记》开创了美国短篇⼩说的传统。
殖民地时期及独立革命时期的美国文学
第一章殖民地时期及独立革命时期的美国文学I.知识结构：见笔记II. 知识点精讲1.时代背景1)The Native American and their culture---Indians. Before Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent, there was no real literature.2)Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent in 1492.3)Captain Christopher Newport reached Virginia in 1607.4)Puritans came to the New England area, by Mayflower（五月花号）in 1620. (In 1629, the puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.（马萨诸塞湾）Puritans came to America out of various reasons, but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles. It is true that they wished to escape religious persecution—and the English government regarded its American colony as an ideal dumping ground for the undesirables, but they were also determined to find a place where they could worship in the way they thought true Christians should. They regarded themselves as God's chosen people, they were meant to reestablish a commonwealth based on the teachings of the Bible, restore the lost paradise, and build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden.)5)The puritan migration began. (The settlement of the North American continent by the English began in the early part of the seventeenth century. The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They carried with them to America a code of values, a philosophy of life, and a point of view, which, in time, took root in the New World and became what is popularly known as American Puritanism.)6)The British Industrial revolution (1750-1830) spurred the economy in American colonies; in American, there was War of Independence (1776-1783); the spiritual life of the colonies----Enlightenment began toappear. Thus, this period was the literature of reason and revolution (1781-1815).2. 名词解释1）Puritans（清教徒）: They are one division of English Protestant. They regarded the reformation of the church under Elizabeth as incomplete, and called for further purification.The 17th century American Puritans included two parts: Separatists and Massachusetts Bay Group. Their religious doctrines are original sin, total depravity, predestination and limited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few) through a special infusion of grace from God. They regardedthemselves as chosen people of God. They were meant to reestablish a commonwealth based on the teachings of the Bible, restore the lost paradise, and build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. They opposed arts and pleasure. They suspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin. They are opposed to mysticism and pantheism because these tended to destroy the transcendence of God.They embraced hardships, industry and frugality. They favored a disciplined, hard, somber, ascetic and harsh life. Their attitudes toward work: work itself is good in addition to what it achieves, that time saved by efficiency or good fortune should be spent in doing further work. Pushing the frontiers with them as they moved further and further westward, they became more practical, as indeed they had to be. "A doctrinaire opportunist" came perhaps closest to the American Puritan ideal for man.2) American Puritanism(美国清教主义): It is a religious and political movement.Through it, one sees emerging the right of the individual to political and religious independence. It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe, that we may state with a degree of safety that, without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American culture and literature. American Puritanism has been, by and large, a healthy legacy to the Americans.3) American Dream(美国梦):The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. (These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. Nowadays the American Dream has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and/or happiness.)4) Great Awakening(宗教大觉醒): Great Awakening is a series of religious revivals that swept over the American colonies about the middle of the 18th century. It resulted in doctrinal changes and influenced social and political thought. In New England it was started (1734) by the rousing preaching of Jonathan Edwards.3.作家作品1）Captain John Smith(1580-1631)（约翰·史密斯）---first American writer Captain John Smith was one of the first early 17th-century British settlers in North America. He was one of the founders of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. His writings about North America became the source of information about the New World for later settlers. One of the things he wrote about that has become an American legend was his capture by the Indians and his rescue by the famous Indian Princess, Pocahontas. Anotherthing he wrote about that became historically important is his description of the fertile and vast new continent in his A Description of New England. His narrative reveals the early settlers' vision of the new land as something capable of being built into a new Garden of Eden.His contributions: There was the famous John Smith's description of New England as a promising virgin land, which came to the attention of many people in England and Europe and drew many of them over to the New World.His description of American was filled with themes, myths, images,scenes, characters and events that were a foundation for the nation’s literature. He lured the Pilgrims into fleeing here and creating a new land.2) William Bradford (1590-1657)（威廉·布拉德福德）---- the first governor of the PlymouthWilliam Bradford led the Mayflower endeavor and became the first governor of the Plymouth Plantation that he established with his group of Pilgrim Fathers. His Of Plymouth Plantation（《普利茅斯殖民史》）records, along with other things of a historic nature, the deliberations that the first settlers of North America had regarding their colonizing undertaking. In chapter IV, "Showing the Reasons and Causes of their Removal," Bradford states the fourth reason for their departure for the new world when he saysthat his people had "a great hope and inward zeal" to do the spadework for disseminating "the gospel of the kingdom of Christ" in the new world and they were even willing to be stepping-stones for others in doing this great work. The religious and idealistic nature of their adventure into the unknown world is self-evident.The characteristics of the Of Plymouth Plantation （《普利茅斯殖民史》）are simplicity, full of earnestness, direct reporting. It is readable and moving.3) John Winthrop 温斯罗普(1588-1649) ---- The first governor of theMassachusetts Bay ColonyJohn Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, states in this speech of his that there was the cause between God and his people who entered into a covenant with God for this work of building a new garden of Eden in the new worldJohn Wi nthrop’s works are A Model of Christian Charity（《基督教仁爱的典范》）, which is a speech, and The History of New England（《新英格兰的历史》）.4) Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)（安妮·布雷兹特里特）----- a Puritan poet The American poets who emerged in the 17th century adapted the style ofestablished European poets to the subject matter confronted in a strange, new environment. Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) was one such poet.The argument of most of Anne Bradstreet’s poems is essentially about the justice of God’s ways with His Puritan floc k. Her works search for a sense of man’s nature and destiny and his mission in the new world. One more thing to note about Anne Bradstreet is her description of the early settlers’ life in the new world. For example, “As Weary Pilgrim,”（《疲倦的朝圣者》）one devoted to God as much as any of her other poems, offers some hints of the hardships that they suffered in their first days there.Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet who wrote “ponderous Verses ofinterminable, inter-locking poems” on the four elements, the constitutions and ages of man, the seasons of the year, and the chief empires of the ancient world. Her poems made such a stir in England that she became known as the “Tenth Muse” who appeared in America. Most of other verses (have fallen into the obscurity of time, but her gentle “Contemplations”（《沉思》）are still read today.The ninth offers the reader an insight into the mentality of the early Puritans pioneering in a new world. When the poet heard the grasshopper and the cricket sing, she thought of this as their praising their Creator and searched her own soul accordingly. It is evident that she saw somethingmetaphysical inhering in the physical, a mode of perception that was singularly Puritan.Her other poems such as “To My Dear and Loving Husband” （《致我亲爱的丈夫》）and “In Reference to Her Children,” however, denote the human side of her being clearly. Take “To My Dear and Loving Husband” for instance:Coming from a devout Puritan, these lines are surprising because they reveal the inner “soul-scape” of the “Puritans” so graphically. Read Anne Bradstreet’s poems on her children and grandchildren, and it will be clear that the love, the care, and the happiness that comes from family life are all the important to her indeed.“The Flesh and the Spirit”（《灵魂和肉体》）: The struggle between the two impulses (spiritual and material) is perennial and constitutes the basic texture of the Puritan mind. Her poem, “The Flesh and the Spirit,” depicting as it does two sisters arguing about their values, is a good illustration. The Flesh, one of the twin sisters, is forthright with her assertion of her views about the importance of this world while the Spirit, the other, tries to convince her of the greatness of the Kingdom of God. The Spirit seems to be winning as she has a much longer and more final argument to offer. The twin sisters are evidently the integral parts of one Puritan mind.5）Edward Taylor (1642-1729)（爱德华·泰勒）Edward Taylor (1642-1729) was a meditative poet. In his splendid, exotic images, Taylor came nearest to the English baroque poets. For all his indulgence in his “un-Puritan” imagery, however, he was, first and last, a Puritan poet, concerned about how his images speak for God.A good example is his poem, “Huswifery,” (《家务》)which indicates that he saw religious significance in a simple daily incident like a housewife spinning：The spinning wheel, the distaff, the flyers, the spool, the reel and the yarn have all acquired a metaphysical significance in the symbolic, Puritan eyes of Edward Taylor.In his interesting poem “Upon a Spider Catching a Fly”（《蜘蛛捕捉苍蝇之遐想》）, Taylor sees the spider as a symbol of Hell with its traps.It is obvious that Taylor has faith in God who can save the erring, or possibly sinful, humankind from the evil designs of Hell.6) Roger Williams (1603-1683) （罗杰·威廉斯）Roger Williams was one of the greatest Puritan dissenters in the early days of Puritan theocracy in New England. He came to America in 1630 and began to preach for civil and religious liberty and against the Puritanoligarchy of Boston. His call for democratic government and his opposition to the eviction of the Indians from their ancestral properties incurred the wrath and hatred of such “orthodox” Puritans as John Cotton (1584-1652), who banished him from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. He lived for a while with the Indians before immigrating to Rhode Island, where he established the “Rhode Island Way” to encourage religious toleration, and protect Indian rights.Williams published his “The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for the Cause o f Conscience”（《血腥的迫害教义》）(1644), furiously attacking the “soul-killing” requirement of religious conformity and vigorously upholding the spiritual freedom of the individual.7) John Woolman (1720-1772)（约翰·伍尔曼）Born into a pious Quaker family in New Jersey, John Woolman was early convinced that true religion consisted in an inward life in which the heart loved and respected God and learned to exercise true justice and goodness toward men and brutes alike.His Journal (1774) veritably notes down his experience and feeling during witnessing the slave trade, revealing the cruel truth of black slave selling. Besides he has the courage to criticize himself and pursue self-perfection, which is consequently consideration as a “Quaker classic of the inner Light,”and countless non-Quaker readers have been touched by its “exquisite purity and grace.”His essays are "Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes" and "A Plea for the Poor," in which he tried to plead for the rights of all men and for the abolition of the slavery system. He also kept a Journal for the most part of his life, recording his spiritual experiences of inward communication with God.8) Thomas Paine (1737-1809)(托马斯·潘恩)The life of Thomas Paine was one of continual, unswerving fight for the rights of man. He was a propagandist and a major influence in the American Revolution. He wrote a number of works of such a revolutionary and inflammatory character that it is no exaggeration to state that he helped to spur and inspire two greatest revolutions that his age witnessed.His main works were a series of pamphlets. His Common Sense（《常识》）, declaring as it did that "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; In its worst state an intolerable one," attacked British monarchy and added fuel to the fire which was soon to bring the colossusof its colonial rule down in flames. The booklet was warmly received in the colonies both as a justification for their cause of independence and as anencouragement to the painfully fighting people. Paine became a major influence in the American Revolution.His American Crisis （《美国危机》）series of pamphlets came out at one of the darkest moments of the revolution when Washington's troops had just suffered one of the worst defeats in the war and were in the process of retreating. "These are the times that try men's souls," it declared. "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Here the word “try” was in a sense of “test to the limit” and “subject to great hardships”.Later he participated in the French Revolution, and wrote The Rights of Man（《人权》）and The Age of Reason《(理性的时代》), spreading the ideals of the French Revolution among the people.9) Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)（托马斯·杰弗逊）Thomas Jefferson was a resourceful and intelligent man. He played different roles in his life. He was an enlightener, an aristocrat, a lawyer, scientist, inventor, musician, linguist, architect, diplomat and a writer.He was one of the men who drafted The Declaration of Independence （《独立宣言》）. It was adopted on July 4, 1776, announcing the birth of a new nation and a philosophy of human freedom. It was a statement of American principles and a review of the Causes of thequarrel with Britain. In The Declaration of Independence, people instilled a sense of their ownimportance and inspired struggle for personal freedom, self government and a dignified place in society.10) Philip Freneau (1752-1832) （菲利普·弗瑞诺）---- “poet of the revolution” and “Father of American Poetry”Philip Freneau was important in American literary history in a number of ways.a.He used his poetic talents in the service of a nation struggling for independence, writing verses for the righteous cause of his people and exposing British colonial savageries.b. He was a most notable representative of dawning nationalism in American literature.c. Almost alone of his generation, Freneau managed to peer through the pervasive atmosphere of imitativeness, see life around directly, and appreciate the natural scenes on the new continent and the native Indian civilization.His main works were "The Rising Glory of America," (《美国荣誉的崛起》1772)"The Wild Honey Suckle,"（《野忍冬花》1786）"The Indian Burying Ground"（《印第安墓地》1788）and "The Dying Indian: Tomo Chequi". Take "The Wild Honey Suckle," for instance.Stanza 1: the flowers hidden in the retreat;SStanza 3&4: reinforce the message.The lyric beauty, the heartfelt pathos, and the multiple emotional responses and echoes that, the sight described can awaken in the bosoms of the readers —all these are simply amazing. Through the poetic image, the poet describes the beauty of nature."The Indian Burying Ground"In this poem, Philip Freneau gave recognition to the Native American culture as a potential indigenous subject for American writers---- another potential subject for them; he revealed not only his tolerance of a different way of life, but also his admiration for it.11) Charles Brockden Brown（查尔斯·布洛克登·布朗）Charles Brockden Brown is one of the most prominent among these writers.a. His first novel, Wieland(《威兰》); or, The Transformation: An American Tale (1798) has been regarded as the first American novel.b. Basically, Brown was an imitator. The Gothic features of his works are a good illustration.c. He awared that his inspiration was rooted in his own land, its new life and energy which, he felt, offered the writers with areas of exploration different from European subjects. Brown believed that his novels were all about his country and histanza 2: Nature makes their beauty;people and that he employed new narrative techniques hitherto unheeded by his predecessors.d. Another thing of historic significance that Brown did was his description of his characters' inner world.e. His four major novels—Edgar huntly (1799), Ormond (1799), Arthur Mervyn (1800), as well as Weland—are all solid evidence of his literary beliefs put into practice.f. Brown began to explore the emotional world of his characters and found that man is not always controlled by reason and that sensual experiences, passion and illusion could all impact human thinking and emotional responses. He became aware that the subconscious is mystic and unfathomable and that art is a necessary medium to externalize the deeper impulses of the human psyche. In a manner of speaking, Brown's works can be read as psychological novels. His protagonists—Wieland or Huntly or Ormond—all exhibit the essential characteristics of a neurotic.12）Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)（乔纳森·爱德华兹）Edwards was born into a very religious New England family. He preached with horrific vividness in order to make religious ideas felt along the senses. His sermons taught the power of God and the depravity of man and man's need to communicate with the Holy Spirit to receive God's grace. What he was trying to do was to reinstate these Calvinist ideas in ways acceptable to an audience already becoming susceptible to the ideas of Enlightenment. Jonathan Edwards was probably the last great voice that was ever heard in America to reassert the Calvinist stance so as to bring the people back to its fold.His greatest works that have made people remember him even today. These include The Freedom of the Will (1754)（《论意志自由》）, The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended (1758)（《论原罪》）, and The Nature of True Virtue (1765)（《论真实德行的本源》）；His sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,"（《愤怒的上帝手中之罪人》）.He was the first modern American and the country’s last medieval man. In his works, he represents the element of piety, the religious passion, the aspect of emotion and ecstasy, of the New England tradition, a tradition that he did his best but failed torevitalize. He discovered, beneath the dogmas of the old theology, a dynamic world filled with the presence of God. Edwards believes in the regeneration of man. He urges his people toenjoy the sweetness of "conversion," the change of heart with the help of the grace of God. When Edwards saw the sun rise out of darkness and from under the earth, raising the whole world with it, raising mankind out of their beds and brightening up everything, he thought of Jesus Christ rising from His grave and from a state of death and bringing happiness, life and light to the world of man. His Images or Shadows of Divine Things （《圣灵的影像》）contains a great many instances of this kind which were part of the Puritan typological tradition and, in the way that Edwards extends typology beyond the strict limits of the Bible, the work anticipated the nature symbolism of nineteenth-century Transcendentalism. In his doctrines of inward communication of God and man, and of the immanence of God in nature, and in his literary expression of all these ideas, Edwards was, in the words of F. I. Carpenter, a good deal of a transcendentalist.13）Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)(本杰明·富兰克林)Franklin came from a very simple Calvinist background. Born in 1706 into a candle-maker's family—"poor and obscure" as he says of himself in his Autobiography（《自传》）, he had very little formal education. When still very young he was apprenticed to his olderhalf-brother, a printer, and began at 16, to publish essays under the pseudonym, Silence Dogood, essays commenting on social life in Boston. At 17 he ran away toPhiladelphia to make his own fortune. His entrance into the city marked the beginning of a long success story of an archetypal kind. He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher, founded the Junto Club (a society meeting regularly for informal discussions of good books, business ethics etc.) and a subscription library, issued the immensely popular Poor Richard's Almanac（《穷理查年鉴》）and retired around forty-two years of age, soon after he became financially independent. He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital, an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania, and the American Philosophical Society. Among the things which he started and for which he is still remembered today were volunteer fire departments, effective street lighting, the Franklin Stove, bifocal glasses, and efficient heating devices. His research on electricity, his famous experiment with his kite line, the experiment that won Immanuel Kant's admiration when the German philosopher called him "the new Prometheus who had stolen fire[electricity in this case] from heaven," his lightning-rod, the recognition he won from the Royal Society of London—all these made him one of the preeminent scientists of his day.His major works: Poor Richard's Almanac and Autobiography.In Poor Richard's Almanac, sayings like "Lost time is never found again,""A penny saved is a penny earned,""God help them that helpthemselves,""Fish and visitors stink in three days" and "Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"—these and many other similar statements filled the almanac, and taught as much as amused. The practical wisdom of Franklin shone forth rays of grandeur from its pages.AutobiographyThe book consists of four parts, written at different times. Franklin was 65 when he first wrote it.It is an inspiring account of a poor boy’s rise to a high position. It is a how-to-do-it book, one on the art of self-improvement. It covered Franklin’s life only until 1757 when he was 51 years old. It described his life as a shrewd and industrious businessman. He narrated how he owned the constant felicity of his life, his long-continued health and acquisition of fortune.The whole book is an impressive record of a man trying to be of value to mankind: Franklin spent his whole life doing all kinds of things for the welfare of the world, as indeed we have noted a moment earlier. Creating as it does the image of a boy's rise from rags to riches, the book demonstrates Franklin's confident belief that the new world of America was a land of opportunities which might be met through hard work andwisemanagement, and that "one man of tolerable abilities will work great changes and accomplish great affairs among mankind." Thus through telling a success story of self-reliance, the book celebrates, in fact, the fulfillment of the American dream.（14）Hector St. John de Crevecoeur (克雷福科)Crevecoeur was a French settler. He wrote letters back to Europe, explaining the meaning of America to the outside world. The first eight of Crevecoeur's twelve letters reveal the pride of a man being an American, the "new man," planted in a new world, who left behind him the old world with its oppression and servility, working and getting "rewards of his industry" and acquiring the dignity and self-confidence of a true human being in what he called "the most perfect society now existing in the world." In his letters we hear the note of pride in democratic equality and abundance of opportunity, a note we are to hear over and again in the writings of later American authors.The note of pessimism began to vibrate in Letters from an American Farmer (1775)（《美国农民的来信》）. In his lifetime, Crevecoeur also saw and spoke of the illusory nature of that dream. In fact, starting from his ninth letter, he began to speak with a different voice, the voice of a definitely disillusioned man. There in the same New World, he became aware of the existence of slavery, avarice, violence, famine and disease, and all other forms of evilthat hethought the American had left behind with his migration to this side of the Atlantic.4. 重点难点Puritanism’s influence on American literature 清教主义对美国的影响（1）American literature—or Anglo-American literature—is based on a myth, that is, the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. This literature is in good measure a literary expression of the pious idealism of the American Puritan bequest.(2) The American Puritan's metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American. To the pious Puritan the physical, phenomenal world was nothing but a symbol of God. Physical life was simultaneously spiritual; every passage of life, en-meshed in the vast context of God's plan, possessed a delegated meaning. The world was, in a word, one of multiple significance.(3) Style: With regard to technique one naturally thinks of the simplicity, which characterizes the Puritan style of writing. With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; the structure is tight and logic; it adopts a lot of homely imagery; the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible.(4) A dominant factor in American life, American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature. It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe, that we may state with a degree of safety that, without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no real understanding of American culture and literature.All this has left an indelible imprint on American writing. Thus American Puritanism has been, by and large, a healthy legacy to the Americans. General features of Colonial American literature殖民时期美国文学特征(1) 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.(2) In content these early writings served either God or colonial expansion or both. Most of them were practical matter-of-fact accounts of life in the new world; there were highly theoretical discussions of religious questions.(3) In form, English literary traditions were faithfully imitated and transplanted.(4) The purpose of these writings was pragmatic.。
美国各文学时期重要作家及其主要作品
美国各文学时期重要作家及其主要作品美国文学的发展历史虽然只有200多年，但是它在这段时间里所取得的成就却是十分辉煌的。
美国文学业已形成的民族性、时代性和社会性，使它成为世界文学的重要组成部分。
美国文学的发展和美国历史的发展几乎是平行的。
美国殖民主义时期三个代表诗人1.安妮·布雷兹特里特AnneBradst reet（1612-1672）美国第一位作品得以发表的女诗人。
她出生于英格兰，1630年时随父亲和丈夫来到北美马萨诸塞湾殖民地。
诗的风格与同时代的英国诗人Joh n Donne、Edward Taylor有相似之处。
她最著名的诗集是《第十位缪斯》(The TenthMuse Lately Sprung up in Americ a,1650)，这也是她生前出版的唯一诗集。
一般认为，她最优秀的诗作，主要收录于她去世后由罗杰斯选编的《布雷兹特里特诗集》(Severa l Poems1678)。
《写在我家失火之际》On the Burnin g of Our House）反映出殖民时期生活的侧面，《灵与肉》（The Fleshand the Spirit）向读者展示了作为一名虔诚的清教徒，在面临新大陆恶劣的生存环境时，诗人内心深处肉体与灵魂、世俗与信仰之间的斗争。
2.爱德华·泰勒(Edward Taylor，1644?-1729年)美国清教派牧师和诗人。
他被公认为美国19世纪前最重要的诗人。
在他有生之年仅发表过两首诗歌，直到1937年人们研究他的手稿时才认识到他那虔诚的诗歌的优美绝伦。
像约翰·多恩和乔治·赫伯特以及其他英国玄学派诗人一样，泰勒擅长运用精心选择的暗喻和丰富而唯美的比喻，也采用日常生活中的寻常措辞和比喻。
考研专用 美国文学整理
The Celebrated Jumping Frog ofCalaverasCounty
《卡拉维拉斯县驰名的跳蛙》
The Gilded Age《镀金时代》
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer《汤姆.索亚历险记》
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Purloined Letter《被窃的信件》
The Gold Bud《金甲虫》
The Murders in the Rue Morque《莫格街凶杀案》
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
《怪诞和阿拉伯风格的故事》
8、Harriet Beecher Stowe哈里特.比彻.斯托夫人
A Psalm of Life《人生颂》
10、Walt Whitman沃尔特.惠特曼
Leaves of Grass《草叶集》
Song of Myself《自我之歌》
I hear America singing《我听见美国在歌唱》
Out of Cradle Endlessly Rocking《从永不休止地摆动着的摇篮里》
The age of reason《理性时代》
The rights of man《人的权利》
The Case of the Officers of Excise税务员问题；
Downfall of Despotism专制体制的崩溃；
三、American Romanticism浪漫主义文学
1、Washington Irving华盛顿.欧文
Contemplation《沉思》
Upon the Burning of our House《火烧房子》
美国文学
目录目录 (1)美国文学（第一部分）1607-1776北美殖民时期Colonial Settlements约翰·史密斯美国文学史上第一个作家John Smith A Ture Relation of Virginia《关于费吉尼亚的真实叙述》（美国文学第一本书）乔纳森·爱德华兹清教徒主义作家（Puritanism）Jonathan Edwards1776-1783独立革命时期Revolution of Independence （启蒙运动）本杰明·富兰克林Poor Richard’s Almana c穷查理历书；Benjamin Franklin The Way to Wealth致富之道；1706-1790 The Autobiography自传(记录作者从穷到成功的经历，“美国梦”反映，体现启蒙倡导的理性主义和有序、教育的观点)托马斯·潘恩美国独立之父the father of American revolutionThomas Paine Common Sense常识（独立战争宣传册revolutionary pamphlets）1737-1809American Crisis美国危机（鼓励人民抵抗英军，共16小册）Rights of Man人的权利（支持法国革命）The Age of Reason理性时代（基督给他名誉带来的影响）菲利普·弗伦诺独立诗人a poet of the American Revolution，美国诗歌之父Philip Freneau The Rising Glory of America蒸蒸日上的美洲1752-1832 The British Prison Ship英国囚船The Wild Honey suckle野生的金银花The Indian Burying Ground印第安人殡葬地To the Memory of the Brave Americans纪念美国勇士--同类诗中最佳托马斯·杰斐逊独立宣言Declaration of IndependenceThomas Jefferson18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瑞普·凡·温克尔(李伯大梦)《睡谷的传说》The Alhambra阿尔罕伯拉詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀frontier novel边疆传奇小说sea novelJames Fenimore Cooper The Spy间谍（独立战争间谍对抗英国）1789-1851 The Pilot领航者（sea novel）Leatherstocking Tales皮袜子五步曲（frontier novel）The Pioneer拓荒者（the first true romance of the frontier in American literatureThe Last of Mohicans最后的莫希干人（主角：Natty Bumppo纳蒂班波）The Prairie大草原The Pathfinder探路者The Deerslayer杀鹿者2. 超验主义New England Transcendentalism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manifesto Ralf Waldo Emerson The American Scholar论美国学者;1803-1882 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 verse亨利·大卫·梭罗Walden瓦尔登湖Henry David Thoreau A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers在康科德河和梅里麦克河上的一周1817-1862 Civil Disobedience论公民之不服从纳撒尼尔·霍桑subject: human soul first great American writer of fiction 象征主义大师Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter红字1804-1864 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 Typee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 the endof romanticism）(共和圣经Democratic Bible美国史诗American Epic)1819-1892 Song of Myself自我之歌Democratic Vistas民主的前景埃米莉·迪金森她的诗大量破折号dash,主题love, nature, death, immortality; 语言plain, brevity, directEmily Dickinson This is My Letter to the World这是我给世界的一封信1830-1886I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died我死时听到一只苍蝇叫Because I could not Stop for Death因为我不能等待死神I’m Nobody. Who Are You?我是无名小卒。
美国文学简述
序言（一）美国文学的历史不长，但发展较快，20世纪以来，在世界上的影响越来越大。
我国早在19世纪70年代就翻译了朗费罗的《人生颂》（A Psalm of Life）.1901年，林抒翻译出版了第一部美国小说--斯托夫人的《黑奴吁天录》（Uncle Tom's Cabin，今译《汤姆叔叔的小屋》），在读者中引起极大的震动，使他们从黑奴身上看到自己亡国灭种的危险。
根据小说改编的话剧对我们的话剧运动的发展起很大的作用。
五四运动前后，惠特曼对郭沫若等诗人、奥尼尔对曹禺、洪深等戏剧家都产生过影响。
马克·吐温、辛克莱、德莱塞等人都曾受到鲁迅等左翼作家的好评。
改革开放以来，美国文学对我国新时期的作家们有着巨大的吸引力。
盛行一时的朦胧诗恐怕就是在美国及西方现代派诗歌的影响下产生的。
海明威、福克纳及塞林格等人几乎成为我们年轻一代作家文学创作的楷模。
至于在世界上，埃德加·爱伦·坡曾被法国象征派诗人称为他们的诗歌之父，福克纳对法国的萨特和加级以及拉丁美洲的加西亚·马尔克斯的影响也是有目共睹的事实。
美国作家喜爱的描写少年初涉人世，寻求生活道路和人生真谛的"成长小说"形式受到加拿大女作家的欣赏，也正在被我国的儿童文学作家所采用。
美国作家的探索、试验、创新的精神也激励着世界各国的作家不断革新，超越前人。
今天，在改革开放的时代，在我们加强跟美国的交往的时候，我们有必要学一点美国文学，了解他们的文化以促进与美国人民的交流、沟通和理解，同时也借以丰富我们的知识，充实我们的文化修养，提高我们的精神素质。
（二）严格地说，美国文学的形成应从美国立国开始。
但实际上，在此以前一二百年的殖民时期的文学虽然并不发达，主要以模仿为主，没有自己鲜明的特色，但那时的政治、经济和社会的发展对美国文学的形成还是有很大的影响。
例如，由于殖民者大量屠杀原来居住在北美大陆的印第安人，使他们的文化和民间口头文学的传统受到致命的摧残，因此美国文学没有英国《贝奥武甫》那样的口头文学遗产。
了解美国文学史分期,简述各期 文学创作特点 (120字左右
了解美国文学史分期,简述各期文学创作特点(120字左右1、第一阶段：殖民时期（约1607-1765）这一时期大约从1607年JohnSmith船长带领第一批移民在北美大陆建立第一个英国殖民地Jamestown到1765殖民地人们愤怒抗议英国政府颁布的印花税法。
2、第二阶段：启蒙时期与独立战争时期（1765-18世纪末）这是北美人民争取独立、建立美利坚和中和国的时期。
18世纪30年代，在欧洲启蒙主义和自然神论等哲学思潮的影响下，上帝的作用大大削弱，清教徒们掀起一场“大觉醒”运动。
18世纪末期，北美大陆的政治形势发展很快，从1765年英国殖民者第一次反对英国政府的印花税到1789年美国联邦政府成立，文学作品主要围绕着革命的必要性、革命的前途和方向、政府的形式与性质等问题。
3、浪漫主义时期（1800-1865）19世纪初，美国完全摆脱了对英国的依赖，以独立国家的身份进入世界政治舞台。
民族文学开始全面繁荣，逐渐打破英国文学在美国的垄断局面。
这时期作家们跟英国浪漫主义作家一样，强调文学的想象力和感情色彩，反对古典主义的形式和观点，歌颂大自然，崇尚个人和普通人的思想感情，并且寻根问祖，发幽古之思情。
特别是以爱默生为代表的超验主义（Transcendentalism）的倡导, 这些作家们主张人能超越感觉和理性而直接认识真理，摒弃以神为中心的清教教义。
4、现实主义时期（1865-1918）南北战争（1861-1865）以后到第一次世界大战爆发，美国完成了从农业社会到工业社会的转化，社会面貌和经济生活开始发生急剧的变化。
工业化带来了蓬勃兴旺的发展，同时也带来了政治日趋腐败，政界丑闻屡见不鲜，是人们重新认识新的生活和新开发的土地。
于是乡土文学得到了很大的发展。
5、现代主义时期（1918-1945）自20世纪开始，美国文学进入新的时代。
第一次世界大战对美国人的思想和精神面貌产生极大的影响。
人们对于自由民主的信念开始动摇，普遍感到迷茫，甚至绝望。
美国概况
英语国家概况美国文学主要分为四个时期：1. The Literature Around the Revolution of Independence（独立革命前后的文学）。
2. American Romanticism（美国浪漫主义文学）。
3. American Realism（美国现实主义文学）。
4. American Modernism（美国现代主义文学）。
Geography美国地理概况本文针对英语专业八级考试的人文知识部分，总结了美国国家的主要地理概况，希望对同学们有所帮助。
The Fall Line瀑布线：A point where water-falls or rapids suddenly drop from a higher level to the lower one.瀑布线指的是瀑布急速地从高处向低处流泻的点。
The Appalachian Range阿巴拉契亚山脉：1200 miles long，consists of the Piedmont Plateau, Appalachian Plateaus and Appalachian Range.阿巴拉契亚山脉全场1200英里，由皮德蒙特高原、阿巴拉契亚高原及阿巴拉契亚山脉组成。
The Cordillera Range科迪勒拉山脉：Composed of the Coast Range, the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains.科迪勒拉山脉由海岸山脉、卡斯卡德山以及洛基山组成。
The Great Basin大盆地：The Part between the Colorado and Columbia Plateaus.指的是科罗拉多和哥伦比亚高地之间的部分。
The Great Central Plain中部大平原：The land mass between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians.指的是洛基山和阿巴拉伊亚山之间的平原。
美国文学——独立革命时期
美国(měi ɡuó)文学——独立革命时期美国文学(wénxué)——独立革命时期美国独立革命时期(shíqī)的文学（一）独立(dúlì)革命时期的历史背景18世纪的美国经历了两场革命：一场是独立战争，这场革命诞生了一个新的国家，它对美国社会的影响超过了在此之前的任何事件(shìjiàn)；另一场革命就是启蒙运动。
这是一场知识革命，其理智精神激励着美国的知识界，将他们带入了一个新的思想境界，超越在此之前的清教主义的局限。
这两场运动产生(chǎnshēng)了一大批政治和文学人物，如：本杰明·富兰克林、托马斯·潘恩、托马斯·杰弗逊等，他们(tā men)的文学天赋使他们成为了政治领袖，也让文学成为了革命的一部分。
随着殖民地的不断扩大，欧洲各国在北美殖民地的矛盾冲突进一步激化。
哥伦布发现“新大陆”后，西班牙人首先在北美站稳了脚跟，进而占领了西印度群岛，1565年在弗罗里达建立了第一个殖民地。
法国占领了奎北克地区。
到了17世纪，法国人逐步深入到了大湖区和密西西比地区。
欧洲各国在商贸、交通等活动中矛盾重重，战争不可避免。
欧洲殖民者在新大陆的战争于17世纪末开始，经历了英法1689年的奥哥斯伯格联盟战争；1702—1713年的英国和西法联军的战争；1745—1748年间的奥地利继承权战争等一系列的战争，英国殖民者最终大获全胜。
战争的胜利使得英属北美殖民地的经济和军事实力进一步加强。
到了18世纪殖民地的人们纷纷提出要进一步团结起来的主张。
到1760—1776年间革命的团结的思想逐渐形成。
美国革命的原因即有政治方面的，也有经济方面的。
为进一步掠夺殖民地的资源，英国政府先后(xiānhòu)颁发了一系列有损于殖民地人民利益的法案。
航海和商业法伤害了北方殖民者的感情；1763年的山禁政策使广大殖民地人民感到不可容忍；1765年的印花税法更加激怒了十三个殖民地的人民；1767年的宅地法引起了人民的公开抵制。
美国文学史选择题
美国文学史选择题●美国文学主要分为四个时期：●I. The Literature Around the Revolution of Independence（独立革命前后的文学）。
●一、殖民地时期（The Literature of Colonial American) (Colonial Period 1607--1775[独立战争1775-1783]）●其他：●major topic: American Puritanism●起源（关键概括）：●是English Protestant的一个分支、Martin Luther(1517)、JohnCalvin、因他们认为伊丽莎白教会改革不彻底、unscriptural不根据基督教《圣经》来--而called for further purification、"would bepurifier"●清教主义信仰（关键内容概括）：●purify the English Church让宗教崇拜重返早期"pure and unspotted"condition、反教会的繁杂仪式rituals、人们要根据《圣经》行事●教条学说：●把宗教当成最重要的事●为了光辉上帝活着●相信：●predestination预言天数上帝拯救、拯救少数●limited atonement赎罪耶稣死亡是上帝选择、不是为了大家●oringinal sin & total depravity堕落每个人生来有原罪、应该努力工作●清教主义表现/影响：●道德卓越moral excellence与良知conscience●重教育●努力、节俭thrifty、独立●有上帝选民chosen people意识●实践理想主义、教条机会主义●欢愉是罪●文学贡献：促进了象征主义的发展--Puritans 认为任何一个简单的东西都有深意connoted deep meaning.●印第安文学Native American Literature●major forms: legends, folktales, battle songs and poems●早期来美洲的目的：金子、土地、宗教迫害persecution、政治观念错误、穷人、罪犯、经商●美洲殖民地：●第一个：1607 英国人建立Jamestown--现在的Virginia●第二个：1620 William Bradford领导的清教徒，乘坐May Flower号船，到今天的Massachusetts●人物集：●1、约翰•史密斯（John Smith）：早期英国殖民者、探险家，在弗吉尼亚建立了第一个永久英国殖民地。
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美国独立革命时期的文学（一）独立革命时期的历史背景18世纪的美国经历了两场革命：一场是独立战争，这场革命诞生了一个新的国家，它对美国社会的影响超过了在此之前的任何事件；另一场革命就是启蒙运动。
这是一场知识革命，其理智精神激励着美国的知识界，将他们带入了一个新的思想境界，超越在此之前的清教主义的局限。
这两场运动产生了一大批政治和文学人物，如：本杰明·富兰克林、托马斯·潘恩、托马斯·杰弗逊等，他们的文学天赋使他们成为了政治领袖，也让文学成为了革命的一部分。
随着殖民地的不断扩大，欧洲各国在北美殖民地的矛盾冲突进一步激化。
哥伦布发现“新大陆”后，西班牙人首先在北美站稳了脚跟，进而占领了西印度群岛，1565年在弗罗里达建立了第一个殖民地。
法国占领了奎北克地区。
到了17世纪，法国人逐步深入到了大湖区和密西西比地区。
欧洲各国在商贸、交通等活动中矛盾重重，战争不可避免。
欧洲殖民者在新大陆的战争于17世纪末开始，经历了英法1689年的奥哥斯伯格联盟战争；1702—1713年的英国和西法联军的战争；1745—1748年间的奥地利继承权战争等一系列的战争，英国殖民者最终大获全胜。
战争的胜利使得英属北美殖民地的经济和军事实力进一步加强。
到了18世纪殖民地的人们纷纷提出要进一步团结起来的主张。
到1760—1776年间革命的团结的思想逐渐形成。
美国革命的原因即有政治方面的，也有经济方面的。
为进一步掠夺殖民地的资源，英国政府先后颁发了一系列有损于殖民地人民利益的法案。
航海和商业法伤害了北方殖民者的感情；1763年的山禁政策使广大殖民地人民感到不可容忍；1765年的印花税法更加激怒了十三个殖民地的人民；1767年的宅地法引起了人民的公开抵制。
1773年爆发了波士顿革命事件；1775年列克星敦的枪声标志着美国革命的开始。
美国人民向英国统治者打响了第一枪。
战争持续了6年，在华盛顿将军的带领下，在经历了一系列的挫折和失败之后，殖民地人民最终迎来了美国的独立。
1776年7月4日通过的“独立宣言”宣布了一个新的国家的诞生。
遵循这一思想所建立的是一个政治上民主的，由人民所选举产生的国家，而不是君主统治的国家。
1788年美国宪法得到批准，三权分离的政治体制得以建立。
1789年华盛顿被选为美国第一任总统。
从此，历史翻开了新的一页。
18世纪的美国殖民地人们在进行独立革命的同时，也经历着启蒙主义的洗礼。
这一时期的思想家们认为：理智是判断一切存在的标准。
他们要求建立更加民主的政府。
他们开始重新审视人与自然和上帝的关系，要求实行平等和社会公正。
对美国知识分子影响最大的欧洲哲学家有约翰·洛克和卢索、贝克利等，在他们的思想影响下，本杰明·富兰克林在其著作和政治活动中代表了美国的启蒙主义理想，托马斯·潘恩和查弗逊则积极推行人类平等和政治的自由化。
启蒙主义运动在美国产生了深远的影响，其主要贡献在三个方面。
首先，它引导美国人从清教思想的束缚中解放出来，激励着他们为建立独立和民治的国家而奋斗。
其次，美国和欧洲的启蒙主义家们坚信社会的进步是靠人的努力而取得的。
要靠教育、靠科学技术的发展。
大批的科学家、发明家积极从事科学发展。
出现了大量的新机器、新发明，推动了工业革命的发展。
同时，启蒙运动也推动了文学的发展。
（二）独立革命时期文学的发展18世纪美国文学的潮流呈现出现明显的从清教向启蒙的转化。
尽管清教在新英格兰的意识形态中仍然非常强大，但18世纪以后欧洲启蒙文学占据了主导地位。
以开创了美国文学而自居的清教徒们纷纷退出了文学阵地，取而代之的是富兰克林和潘恩这样新的文学家。
18世纪美国文学的主要特点是“实利主义”。
正如富兰克林所归纳的：“实用的才是最美最好的”。
因此，政论作品构成了这一时期的主要文学形式。
政论文章是最终导致美国政治和民族独立的重要力量，美国政治独立又为日后独立的美国文学的发展创造了最基本的前提。
北美启蒙运动最杰出的代表人物本杰明·富兰克林曾作为殖民地的代表，为争取殖民地人民的权利在国会和国王面前据理争辩，后参与起草了《独立宣言》(The Declaration of Independence)，并担任驻欧洲的大使，参加了宪法制定工作。
他以其幽默和尖刻的文笔，写下了大量的政论文稿无情地鞭苔了英国殖民统治。
伟大的爱国者汉密尔顿在20岁时就写出《为国会议案的全面辩护》、《被驳倒的农夫》等文章，给予保皇分子强有力的抨击。
弗吉尼亚的革命领袖帕特里克·亨利发表了《不自由，勿宁死》的文章，发出了：“给我自由，否则让我去死！”的口号，激励着革命者去为赢得自由而浴血奋战。
托马斯、潘恩在他的《常识》(Common Sense)里提出了独立的口号。
他的小册子《美洲危机》(American Crisis)中的16篇战斗檄文更是为激励着美国人民为赢得战争的胜利起到了极大的鼓励作用。
托马斯·杰弗逊在1774年就写出《英属美洲权利概述》(A Summary View of the Rights of British America)的文章，抨击英国国会为美洲制定法律的武断行为。
他的《独立宣言》更是一篇优秀的政论散文。
在独立革命时期，美国的小说创作正处在起步阶段。
威廉·希尔·布朗（William Hill Brown,1765-1793的《同情的力量》(The Power of Sympathy)于1784年发表，这部小说被认为是美国的第一部伦理和感情类小说。
第二年，苏珊娜·罗森(Susannah Rowson)出版了《查洛特·坦普尔》（Charlott Temple）。
这两部小说打开了美国文学界小说创作的闸门。
从此，不同体裁的小说纷纷见诸报刊杂志，相继出现了罗亚尔·泰勒(Royall Tyler,1757-1826)的《阿尔及利亚俘虏》(The Algerine Captive,1797)和休·亨利·布拉肯里奇(Hugh Henry Brackenridge)的《现代骑士团》(Modern Chivalry,1792-1797)等讽刺小说；查尔斯·布朗Charles Brown,1771-1810）的《威兰》(Weiland,1798)和《奥尔蒙德》(Ormond,1799)的哥特式描写边地生活的小说。
美国的自然风光，印第安人，边疆生活等为即将登台的浪漫主义小说家们奠定了基础。
诗歌在美国革命期间发挥着重要的作用。
几位有才华的诗人，如：特朗布里(John Trumbull,1750-1832)和霍普金森(Francis Hopkinson,1737-1791的讽刺诗产生了很大的影响。
菲力普·弗瑞诺(Philip Freneau,1750-1831)的慷慨激昂的爱国诗激励着大批爱国之士，他的爱国主义和充满战斗精神的诗篇，集中反映了独立革命时期的美国诗歌特征，他的许多歌咏自然的作品，也是美国浪漫主义的诗歌的组成部分。
戏剧在美国发展较慢。
这与美国的清教主义传统有着很大的关系。
托马斯·戈弗雷(Thomas Godfrey,1736-1763)在1767年写出《安息王》(The Prince of Parthia,1767)被誉为美国第一剧。
而独立革命以后的两位剧作家罗亚多·泰勒(Royall Tyler,1757-1826)和威廉·邓拉普(William Dunlap,1766-1839)的出现却使美国的戏剧步入成熟。
泰勒在1787年推出的《对比》(The Contrast)是一出令人耳目一新的美国喜剧；邓拉普的《安德烈》（Andre,1798）被认为是这一时期的最优秀的悲剧。
然而，美国戏剧要想真正成为一支有影响力的文学分支还需要一个漫长的发展时期。
（三）独立革命时期的重要作家及作品1、本杰明·富兰克林和他的《自传》本杰明·富兰克林(Benjamin Franklin,1706-1790)是一位杰出、勤奋又多才多艺的人，他出身于一个贫穷的有着十七个孩子的大家庭，成为名扬欧美的政治家、科学家和作家。
成名之后，他仍然保持着简朴、勤奋的本色。
富兰克林的作品范围很广，包含有劝人勤俭的布道文，还有大量的政论文章。
他的文笔简洁、优雅，他的《自传》(Autobiography,1818)是他的名作。
在《自传》之前，他的《穷人理查历书》(Poor Richard Almanac,1733-1758)成为了当时最流行的书。
富兰克林的《自传》具有丰富的历史意义。
首先，它是记述一个穷孩子通过努力而获得成功的故事。
富兰克林真诚地讲述自己的故事，他将自己的成功经验告诉世人，以此来激励读者生活得更有意义。
它是一本劝人行善，劝人向上的书。
1771年，富兰克林正在英国都怀福德镇圣阿萨夫教堂主教家中做客度假，他以写给儿子的信的形式开始了自己的自传，在70余页的篇幅内，富兰克林讲述了他的一生前24年的经历和体会。
由于公务以及国内革命的爆发他停了笔，直到1784年，在法国巴黎担任德法大使时，他才得以继续写下去，也只写到1731年的生活经历。
最后一部分是在他去世前完成，叙述了他1759年退休前两年的生活状况，这后两部着重讲述了他在公共事业和科学实验方面取得的成就。
虽然在他去世之后不久，前两部分就被译成法语出版，后又被他儿子译成英语在伦敦出版，完整的版本直至1868年才根据富兰克林家族提供的手稿由约翰·比格多编辑出版。
《自传》的文字简洁，清新流畅，句子结构简短，很少拖泥带水。
富兰克林的语言真诚幽默，能用一个字的决不用二个字，他的这种文风对后世作家产生了深刻的影响。
富兰克林以他自己的亲身经历，反映出他所生活的时代的特征。
他的毕生经历和他的民族的一切风土人情与景况紧密地联系在一起。
他的《自传》成为他们时代的最佳写照，成为美国文学上的一个里程碑。
2、托马斯·潘恩和托马斯·杰弗逊托马斯·潘恩(Thomas Pain,1737-1806)是美国革命时期最有影响的思想家和作家。
他带着富兰克林的介绍信于1774年离开英国来到费城，帮助编辑《宾西法尼尼亚杂志》。
1776年元月，他出版了《常识》(Common Sense)。
不到三个月，这本书就售出了十万册。
在这部小册子中，他歌颂殖民地人民的斗争，提出这是场将载名历史的争取独立的斗争。
这部作品为殖民地人民的独立事业进行了强有力的辩护，增强了他们为独立而斗争的信念。
也为“独立宣言”的通过辅平了道路。
美国革命爆发后，潘恩便参加了大陆军，为了鼓舞军队的士气，他利用战争的间隙，先后发表了16篇评论文章。