一些美国文学重要作品简答题汇总

Henry David ThoreauWalden:This book, entitled Walden (1854), explained his ideas about how a person should live, being consciously aware of his or her own nature and of the natural world itself.◆is a great Transcendentalist work超验主义作品that came out of the period under discussion. He took a more than usual interest in the natural world自然世界.and tried to seek a way to unlock the secrets of the spirit.◆it is a faithful record of his reflections when he was in solitary communion with nature, of how he tries to minimize his own needs on Walden Pond. It is an eloquent indication that he not only embraced Emerson’s Transcendentalist philosophy but went further to illustrate the pantheistic quality of nature.梭罗不仅吸收爱默生超验主义哲学，还进一步说明自然的泛神特性◆he was very critical of modern civilization, the book is full of people waking up批评现代文明唤醒人类.“Civilized man is the slave of matter,” As he saw it, modern civilized life has dehumanized man and placed him in a spiritual quandary: by trying to amass material possessions, man is not really living, he is digging his own grave.只是试图积累物质财富，人们不是真正在生活而是在自掘坟墓Nathaniel HawthorneThe Scarlet Letter: Both Hester and Dimmesdale are morally weak and deficient as we all are, according to Hawthorne, then Roger Chillingworth is guilty of the unpardonable sin: the invasion into another person’s soul in order to control the other’s will for a very selfish purpose. To him this is the worst sin and a person guilty of this sin is a completely corrupt.The Scarlet Letter, always regarded as the best of his works, tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a Puritan community are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways. In this novel , Hawthorne focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects or consequences of the sin on the people in general and those main charaters in particular, so as to show us the tension between society and individuals. “The Custom-House”（海关）as an introductory note to The Scarlet Letter proves fruitful to Hawthorne’s imagination. By relating his own experience, Hawthorne succeeds in giving his tale a sense of historical reality. By using Pearl as a thematic symbol, Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and the people. With the scarlet letter A as the biggest symbol of all, Hawthorne proves himself to be one of the best symbolists. As a key to the whole novel, the letter A takes on different layers of symbolic meanings as the plot develops.The scarlet letter A is ambiguous. And ambiguity is one of the most important characteristics of Hawthorne’s art.◆symbolism: It is rich in symbolism. The title, itself, keynotes the book.. “A” in the book represents the adultery, also symbolizes Able or Angel or Adamic or prehistoric, an archetypal vice suggestive of “original sin” or any other meaning a creative reader would suggest. Pearl, brilliantly dressed, is a living symbol of Hester’s sin.Herman MelvilleMoby Dick1. Characters:◆Ishmael: schoolteacher and part-time sailor; a Presbyterian, like Melville, he projects Calvinistic thinking tempered by his background in literature and philosophy. He discusses such issues as free will, predestination, necessity, and damnation. He is the sole survivor of the Pequod.◆Captain Ahab:A man who is obsessed with the killing of a white whale that has maimed him. He has a scar which extends from his head to his leg.◆Starbuck:He the first mate, is bold enough to criticize Ahab's vengeance, considers mutiny but fails.◆Stubb:He is the second mate who is carefree, indifferent, and fatalistic.◆Moby Dick:It is the White Whale; the world’s largest creature. It is powerful, legendary image of nature. It swims peacefully in the sea until disturbed by humans, then shows a terrible fury and anger. For Ahab, Moby Dick is the symbol of evil.2. Themes:◆Search for truth:the story deals with the human pursuit of truth and the meaning of existence.◆Conflict between Good and Evil.◆Conflict between Man and Nature.◆Isolation between man and man; man and nature; man and society.3.★Symbols:象征意义★(1)The Pequod: is a symbol of doom. It is painted a gloomy black and covered in whale teeth and bones, literally bristling with the mementos of violent death. It is, in fact, marked for death. Adorned like a primitive coffin, the Pequod becomes one.(2)Moby Dick:Moby Dick possesses various symbolic meanings for various individuals. Symbol of nature for human beings, because it is mysterious, powerful, unknown/ Symbol of evil for the Captain Ahab/ Symbol of good and purity because of its whiteness.自然;邪恶;纯洁.(3)V oyage of the Pequod:Symbol of the pursuit of ideals, adventure, and the hunt in the vast wilderness.Evaluation:(1)Moby Dick is, critics have agreed, one of the world’s greatest masterpieces. To get to know the 19th century American mind and America itself, one has to read this book.想了解19世纪的美国必须读(2)One of the classics of American Literature and even world literature. The main theme of it is about alienation between man and man, man and society, and man and nature人与人，人与社会，人与自然之间的疏远. This work also reveals the basic pattern of nineteenth century American life: loneliness and suicidal individualism in a self-styled democracy. 在自称的民主下的孤独和自杀式的个人主义(3)Moby Dick is an encyclopedia of everything, history, philosophy, religion, etc. in addition to a detailed account of the operations of the whaling industry.百科全书(4)In this work Melville shows that Man in this universe lives a meaningless and futile life, 没有意义无用的meaningless because futile. Man can observe and even manipulate in a prudent way, but he cannot influence and overcome nature at its source. He must, ultimately, place himself at the mercy of nature. Once he attempts to seek power over it he is doomed. It show us the “the absurdity of man’s attempts to attribute meaning and value to a world in wh ich these can have no ground or status.”（the main reason for Melville’s resurrection in the present century.）(5)Symbolism and ambiguity is the major characteristics of writing techniques. 象征主义和模糊是主要的写作技巧Mark TwainHe wrote his masterpiece, Huckleberry Finn, at a time when the light-hearted qualities ofhis earlier days were in balance with his later skepticism, and the novel has come to be recognized as one of the great works of American literature. It displayed the major achievements of his art: the carefully controlled point of view with its implicit ironies expressed through the voice of a semi-literate boy, the masterful use of dialects, the felicitous balancing of nostalgic romanticism and realism, humor and pathos, innocence and evil, all united fo r a journey down a river that serves as the novel’s mythic center.●Through such works as Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi Twain shaped theworld’s view of America and had a profound impact on the development of American writing.His presentation of native American material, his use of the vernacular idiom, his departures from the traditions of nineteenth-century gentility, and his sense of alienation influenced numerous American writers of the twentieth century, among them Ernest Hemingway, who acknowledged their common debt by writing, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn….”●He developed a clear, vigorous colloquial style which has great influence over later writers. Henry JamesThe Portrait of a LadyIsabel Archer:Intelligent and formidable, energetic, knowledgeable, inexperience, proud, love of independence, with a chance to develop, a girl of many theories,international themeThis novel deals with the author’s international theme. His fame generally rest upon his novels and stories with it. It is about the conflicts between American and European manners and customs, the simple-minded and kind-hearted innocent American individuals and those well-educated sophisticated Europeans with good taste for arts and culture. This novel is also set against a larger international background, in which most of the American characters are expatriates. The typical pattern of the conflict between the two cultures would be that of an American young man or an American girl who goes to Europe and affronts his or her destiny. The unsophisticated boy or girl would be beguiled, betrayed, cruelly wronged at the hands of those who pretend to stand for the highest possible civilization. Marriage and love are used by James as the focal point of the confrontation between the two value systems: American moral innocence and European decadence 衰落. The protagonist usually goes through a painful process of a spiritual growth, gaining knowledge of good and evil from the conflict.了不起的盖茨比The Great GatsbyThe theme of the novel: The Great Gatsby, by summarizing the experiences and attitudes of the glamorous and wild 1920s, deals with the bankruptcy of the American Dream, which is high1ighted by the disillusionment of the protagonist's personal dream due to the clashes between his romantic vision of life and the relentless reality. American Dream is a popular belief that people can achieve success, whether it is wealth, fame or love through honest hard working in a new world of liberty, equality, chances and promises. Yet in the 1920s, the American Dream was bankrupt in the sense that the wealthy people were spiritually disorientated and morally corrupted. The fact that the rich people turned to be more indifferent and careless brought forth the disillusionment of American Dream.The story of The Great Gatsby is a good illustration. At the beginning of the story, Gatsby, apoor young man from the Midwest, is in love with but rejected by an upper-class woman, Daisy. He later attains the wealth by bootlegging and other criminal activities. Yet his fascination with and pursuit of money is but the means of recapturing the past and regaining his lost love. And for him, Daisy is the representation of a kind of idealized happiness. So Gatsby's real dream is that of achieving a new status and a new essence, of rising to a loftier place in the mysterious hierarchy of human worth. That is why Daisy Buchanan seems so charming to Gatsby and that is why Gatsby has directed his who1e life to winning back her love. Yet his dream ended up with Daisy's indifference and carelessness. Under this thematic design, the novel displays some modern motifs like the Waste-land theme as symbolized by the Valley of Ashes and boredom as reflected in Daisy and Tom.Ernest Hemingway➢Works of Hemingway, portraying as they do the dilemma of modern manutterly thrown upon himself for survival in an indifferent world, reveal man'simpotence and his despairing courage to assert himself against overwhelming odds.To Hemingway, man's greatest achievement is to show grace under pressure, whichis a repeated theme in his novels.For him, in a world which is crazy and meaningless,there is nothing one can do but to be tough and fight against fate with dignity andcourage.The Sun Also Rises太阳照常升起The Sun Also Rises is about the disillusionment of the “lost generation”. In the book ,the panorama of the life of Jake Barnes and his group of expatriates in Paris is laid out scene by scene. There are innumerous parties on nearly each of which Hemingway lavishes detailed depiction of the sceneries and the environment, the word-to-word recording of the conversations and, occasionally, exhaustive presentation of people’s behaviors and even actions. By those scenes ful l of drinks, meaningless conversations and libertinism, Hemingway makes their lives smell of a tinge of corruption. This part also introduces the anguish of the main characters. Jake’s affliction explains itself in his sleepless nights, while Ashley tells all her agony in the simple confession: “Oh, darling, I’ve been so miserable.” Behind the faithfully documented facts, the emotions denoting idleness and suffering combine to settle the fundamental key of the book.Theodore Dreiser❖嘉莉妹妹The theme in Sister Carrie, a novel written by Theodore Dreiser, is materialism. The theme is primarily personified through Carrie with her desire for a fine home, clothes and everything else money can buy.❖美国悲剧An American TragedyIt’s a story about the tragic downfall of Clyde Griffiths, the son of poor street evangelist parents. Starting out as a door boy in a hotel later to a worker in a collar factory, Clyde dreamed of wealth and success. Then he met a rich girl Sondra with whom he hoped to marryso as to have a chance to climb into the upper class. For that purpose, he planned to murder his girl friend Roberta but was unable to act. Then by accident, Roberta got drowned and Clyde was sentenced to death.Clyde is a typical example of those who are destroyed by the environment, by the cruelty and callousness of a selfish capitalistic society. He commits his crime more out of a muddled desire to escape from his situation than out of ruthless ambition.。