美国文学史(1)所学知识点总结
(完整版)美国文学史-知识点梳理
Part I The Literature of Colonial AmericaI.Historical IntroductionThe colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607. ( A group of people was sent by the English King James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607. They named the James River and build the James town.)II.The pre-revolutionary writing in the colonies was essentially of two kinds:1) Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc. designed to inform people "at home" what life was like in the new world, and, often, to induce their immigration2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions. III.The First American WriterThe first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, their lives in the new land, their dealings with Indians.Captain John Smith is the first American writer.A True Relation of such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608)A Map of Virginia: A Description of the Country (1612)General History of Virgini a (1624): the Indian princess PocahontasCaptain 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. IV.Early New England LiteratureWilliam Bradford and John WinthropJohn Cotton and Roger WilliamsAnne Bradstreet and Edward TaylorV.Puritan Thoughts1. The origin of puritanIn the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th Century, the English King Henry VIII (At that time, the Catholics were not allowed to divorce unless they have the Pope's permission. Henry VIII wanted to divorce hiswife because she couldn't bear him a son. But the Pope didn't allow him to divorce, so he) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church ofEngland. But there was no radical difference between the doctrines of the Church of England and the Catholic Church. A group of people thought the Church of England was too Catholic and wanted to purify the church. Then came the name Puritans.2. Puritanism -- based on Calvinism(1) predestination: God's electPuritans believed they are predestined before they were born.Nothing or no good work can change their fate.They believed the success of one's business is the sign to show he is the God's elect. So the Puritans works very hard, spend very little and invest more for the future business. They lived a very frugal life. This is their ethics.(2) Origianl sin and total depravityMan is born sinful. This determines some puritans pessimistic attitude towards life.(3) Limited atonement (the salvation of a selected few)(4) theocracyThey combined state with religion. Their government is at least not a liberal one.The Puritans established American tradition -- intolerant moralism. They strictly punished drunks, adultery & heretics.Puritans changed gradually due to the severity of frontier environment3. Influence on American Literature(1) Its optimismAmerican literature was from the outset conditioned by the Puritan heritage. It can be said American literature is based on the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. After that, man have an illusion to restore the paradise. The puritans, after arriving at America, believing that God must have sent them to this new land to restore the lost paradise, to build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. Fired with such a strong sense of mission, they treated life with a tremendous amount of optimism. The optimistic Puritan has exerted a great influence on American literature.(2) Puritan's metaphorical mode of perception changed gradually into a literary symbolism.Part II The Literature of Reason And RevolutionI.Historical IntroductionWith the growth, especially of industry, there appeared the intense strain with England. The British government did not want colonial industries competing with those in England. The British wanted the colonies to remain politically and economically dependent on the mother country. They took a series of measures to insure this dependence. They prevented colonial economy by requiring Americans to ship raw materials abroad and to import finished goods at prices higher than the cost of making them in this country. Politically, the British government forced dependenceby ruling the colonies from overseas and by taxing the colonies without giving them representation in Parliament.However, by the mid-eighteenth century, freedom was won as much by the fiery rhetoric of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the eloquence of the Declaration of Independence as by the weapons of Washington. In the seventies of the 18th century, the English colonies in North America rose in arms against their mother country. The War for Independence lasted for 8 years (1776-1783) and ended in the formation of a federative bourgeois democratic republic -- the United States of America. II.American EnlightenmentIt was supported by all progressive forces of the country which opposed themselves to the old colonial order and religious obscurantism.It dealt a decisive blow upon the puritan traditions and brought to life secular education and literature. The spiritual life during that period was to a great degree moulded by it.The representatives set themselves the task of disseminating knowledge among the people and advocating revolutionary ideas.The writers injected an invigorating vein into the English language in America as they aimed at clarity and precision of their writings.At the initial period the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment was largely due to journalism. Writings of Europe were widely read in America. The secular ideals of the American Enlightenment were exemplified in the life and career of Benjamin Franklin.III.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)The AutobiographyPoor Richard’s AlmanacLifeBenjamin Franklin came from a Calvinist background.He was born into a poor candle-maker’s family. He had very little education. He learned in school only for two years, but he was a voracious reader.At 12, he was apprenticed to his elder half-brother, a printer.At 16, he began to publish essays under the pseudonym “Silence Do good” .At 17, he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune.He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher. In 1727 he founded the Junto club.Multiple identities:a printera leading authora politiciana scientista inventora diplomata civic activistFranklin’s Contributions to SocietyHe helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital.He founded an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania.And he helped found the American Philosophical Society.Franklin’s Contributions to ScienceHe was also remembered for volunteer fire departments, effective street lighting, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses and efficient heating devices.And for his lightning-rod, he was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire from heaven.”Franklin’s Contributions to the U.S.He was the only American to sign the four documents that created the United States:The Declaration of Independence,The Treaty of Alliance with France,The Treaty of Peace with England,The ConstitutionThe AutobiographyThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was probably the first of its kind in literature. It is 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.The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is Puritan because it is a record of self-examination and self-improvement. The meticulous chart of 13 virtues he set for himself to cultivate to combat the tempting vices, the stupendous effort he made to improve his own person, the belief that God helps those who helps themselves and that every calling is a service to God – all these indicate that Franklin was intensely Puritan. Then, the book is also a convincing illustration of the Puritan ethic that, in order to get on in the world, one has to be industrious, frugal, and prudent.The Autobiography is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Franklin was spokesman for the new order of eighteenth-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.A look at the style of The Autobiography will readily reveal that 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 salient features we cannot mistake. The lucidity of the narrative, the absence ofornaments in wording and of complex, involved structures in syntax, and the Puritan abhorrence of paradox are all graphically demonstrated in the whole of the book. Taken as a whole, it is safe to say that the book is an exemplary illustration of the American style of writing.IV.Thomas Paine (1737-1809)Common SenseAmerican CrisisV.Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)The Declaration of IndependenceVI.Philip Freneau (1752-1832)“Poet of the American Revolution”“Father of American Poetry”“Pioneer of the New Romanticism”“A gifted and versatile lyric poet”Works“The Wild Honey Suckle”“The Indian Burying Ground”“To a Caty-Did”Freneau 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.Life Experience►He was born in New York.►At 16, he entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He decided to do a postgraduate study in theology. But two years later he gave it up. While still an undergraduate, he wrote in collaboration with one of his friends (H. H. Brackenridge) a poem entitled “The Rising Glory of America”.►Later he attended the War of Independence, and he was captured by British army in 1780.►After being released, he published “The British Prison Ship” in 1781.►In the same year, he published “To the Memory of the Brave Americans”.►After war, he supported Jefferson, and contributed greatly to American government.►But after 50 years old, he lived in poverty. And at last he died in a blizzard.Main Works►“The Rising Glory of America” (1772) 《美洲光辉的兴起》►“The House of Night” (1779,1786) 《夜之屋》►“The British Prison Ship” (1781) 《英国囚船》►“To the Memory of the Brave Americans” (1781) 《纪念美国勇士》►“”The Wild Honey Suckle” (1786) 《野忍冬花》►“The Indian Burying Ground” (1788) 《印第安人墓地》野忍冬花(黄杲炘译)►美好的花呀,你长得:这么秀丽,却藏身在这僻静沉闷的地方——甜美的花儿开了却没人亲昵,招展的小小枝梢也没人观赏;没游来荡去的脚来把你踩碎,没东攀西摘的手来催你落泪。
美国文学史及选读1复习笔记
History And Anthology of American Literature (Volume Ⅰ) 美国文学史及选读1 Part ⅠThe Literature of Colonial America 殖民主义时期的文学1. 17世纪早期English and European explorers 开始登陆美洲。
开始登陆美洲。
开始登陆美洲。
在他们之前在他们之前100多年Caribbean Islands, Mexico and other Parts of South America 已被the Spanish 占领。
占领。
2. 17th 早期English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts(弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞)开始了美国历史开始了美国历史3. 美国最早殖民者(earliest (earliest settlers)included settlers)included settlers)included Dutch Dutch Dutch ,Swedes ,Swedes ,Swedes ,Germans ,Germans ,Germans ,Freunch ,Freunch ,Freunch ,Spaniards ,Spaniards ,Spaniards ,Italians ,Italians ,Italians and and and Portugueses Portugueses (荷兰人,瑞典人,德国人,法国人,西班牙人,意大利人及葡萄牙人等)。
4. 美国早期文学主要为the narratives and journals of these settlements 采用in diaries and in journals(日记和日志),他们写关于the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil. 5. 第一批美国永久居民:the first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown,Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)。
美国文学史复习资料大全--最全必考考点集结
美国文学史复习资料大全--最全必考考点集结本页仅作为文档页封面,使用时可以删除This document is for reference only-rar21year.MarchL e c t u r eⅠA B r i e f I n t r o d u c t i o n t o A m e r i c a nL i t e r a t u r efeatures of American writersIndependent, Individualistic, Critical, Innovative, HumorousI The Literature of Colonial and American PuritanismThe first American writer: Capitan John Smith.Philip Freneau:( Father of American Poetry)I I T h e L i t e r a t u r e o f R e a s o n a n d R e v o l u t i o n,E n l i g h t e n m e n t Jonathan Edwards: First modern American and the country’s last medieval manBenjamin Franklin: The AutobiographyThomas Paine :The American CrisisThomas Jefferson (“The Declaration of Independence” first established the identity of American people)John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and JeffersonI I I T h e L i t e r a t u r e o f R o m a n t i c i s mWashing Irving欧文: His first book was “A History of New York ”.“The Sketch Book 美国信札” made him international famousJames Fenimore Cooper: 库伯“Leatherstocking Tales”, 皮袜子故事集a series of five novels about the frontier life of American settlers.Deerslayer (1843), Pathfinder (1841), Last of the Mohicans (1825), The Pioneer (1823),The Prairie ( 1827),Edgar Allan Poe艾伦·坡: Poe was sensitive enough to feel the pressure of a world where science and reason reign supreme, and one where there is neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor peace, nor help from God.“The Raven”, “Israfel”, “Sonnet—to Science” and “To Hellen”.His short stories: “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Purloined Letter”, “The Gold Bug” and “The Mystery of Marie Roget”o f T r a n s c e n d e n t a l i s m先验主义A. Emphasis on Spirit (Oversoul)B. Emphasis on individualsC. Taking nature as the symbol of the Spirit (Oversoul)D. Brotherhood of man (equal and liberty)Ralph Waldo Emerson爱默生: Emerson created the school of transcendentalism. His famous essay “American Scholar” established the independence of A merican intellectual.“Nature”Henry David Thoreau梭罗: Walden瓦尔登湖Nathaniel Hawthorne 藿桑Twice-Told Tales ; Moses from an Old Manse, Scarlet Letter红字; The House of Seven Gables; The Blithedale Romance; The Marble FaunHerman Melville麦尔维尔:Moby Dick大白鲸Walt Whitman惠特曼: leaves of grass草叶集, song of myselfEmily Dickinson狄金森I V T h e L i t e r a t u r e o f R e a l i s mBeecher Stowe斯托夫人: “Uncle Tom’s Cabin汤姆叔叔的小屋”Henry James 詹姆斯and international theme: The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl,5: American NaturalismStephen Crane克兰: Maggie: A Girl of the StreetsTheodore Dreiser德莱塞: Sister CarrieJack London杰克·伦敦: The Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Sea Wolf Martin Eden O. Henry欧·亨利 The Gift of the Magi, The Cop and the Athem6T w e n t i e t h-C e n t u r y L i t e r a t u r eEzra Pound庞德: In a Station of the MetroRobert Frost弗罗斯特: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningScott Fitzgerald菲茨杰拉德 and The American Dream: The Great GatsbyErnest Hemingway海明威 and Iceberg Principle: The Sun Also Rises. A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the SeaSteinbeck斯坦贝克: The Grape of WrathWilliam Faulkner福克纳: The Sound and the Fury ,Light in AugustSherwood Anderson安德森: Winesburg, OhioSinclair Lewis路易斯: Main StreetP u r i t a n i s m(清教主义)Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. Puritans wanted to purity their religious beliefs and practices. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. predestination(命运天定), original sin(原罪), total depravity(人类是完全堕落的,所以人要处处小心自己的行为,要尽可能做到最好以取悦上帝),limited atonement(有限救赎,只有被上帝选中的人才能得到上帝的拯救)(启蒙运动)an intellectual movement in the seventeenth century and eighteenth. The common element was a trust in human reason as adequate to solve the crucial problems and to establish the essential norms in life, together with the belief that the application of reason was rapidly dissipating the remaining feudal traditions.(意象派)1912 and 1917. The typical Imagist poetry is written in free verse and undertakes to be as precisely and tersely as possible. Meanwhile, the Imagist poetry likes toexpress the writers’ momentary impression of a visual object or scene and often the impression is rendered by means of metaphor without indicating a relation.C o l o r i s m地方色彩文学a literary trend belonging to Realism. It refers to the detailed representation in prose fiction of the setting, dialect, customs, dress and ways of thinking and feeling which are distinctive of a particular region.the literature and art after WWII. Postmodernism involves not only a continuation, sometimes carried to an extreme, of the countertraditional experiments of modernism, but also diverse attempts to break away from modernist forms which had, inevitably, become in their turn conventional, as well as to overthrow the elitism of modernist “high art” by recourse to the models of “mass art”.(超验主义)in 1830s in US;emphasis on spirit or oversoul and stressing importance of the individual;regarding nature as symbols of the spirit or God and emphasis on brotherhood of man;representatives: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David ThoreauG e n e r a t i o n(迷惘的一代)American writers of the decade following the end of WWI, disillusioned by their war experience and alienated by what they perceived as the crassness of American culture are often tagged as Lost Generation. Their representatives are F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.(自然主义)Naturalists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity. Inpresenting the extremes of life, the naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity and environment, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death.Lecture 2 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)1.The theme in the scarlet letterThe sin of Puritanism on human nature(1)Sin: Hawthorne is haunted by his sense of sin and evil in life. Evil seems to be man’s birthmark. Sin will be punished. Hawthorne was predominantly concerned with the moral, emotional, and psychological effect of the sin on people in general. The story of Adam and Eve; Dimmesdale’s "Fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; Chillingworth's misshapen body reflects the anger in his soul Pearl embodies the poison of her parents' guilt(2)Puritan legalism: Another theme is the extreme legalism of the Puritans and how Hester chooses not to conform to their rules and beliefs Because they rejected Hester, she spent her life mostly in solitude, and wouldn't go to church. As a result, She still sees her sin, but begins to believe that a person's earthly sins don't necessarily condemn them. She even thinks that their sin has been paid for by their daily penance and that their sin won't keep them from getting to heaven, however, the Puritans believed that such a sin surely condemns.When Dimmesdale dies, she knows she has to move on because she can no longer conform to the Puritan's strictness.Her thinking is free from religious bounds and she has established her own, different moral standards and beliefs(3)Past and present: Sins of Hawthorne’s ancestors. The wrong-doing of one generation lives into the successive ones.2.The symbolism in scarlet letter“A”-----adultery, able, angelPearl-----the unique pure person in the puritan communityChillingworth----a bad guyDimmesdale---someone who should be condemned for his evil and sinsLecture 3 Herman Melville 1819-18911. Themes in Moby-Dick:The world is Godless and purposelessThe loss of faith and the sense of futility and meaninglessnessAlienation between man and man, man and society, man and natureDeath-spiritual, emotional and physicalThis work also reveals the basic pattern of nineteenth century American life: loneliness and suicidal individualism in a self-styled democracy.2. Symbolism in Moby DickAhab(圣经中的异教徒国王,昏庸暴虐,在小说中过分自信,在船上如同一个独裁的暴君)and Ishmael (圣经中被抛弃的人,是一个流浪者,在小说里他也是一个被社会所抛弃的人)the voyage: the search for the ultimate truth of experienceMoby Dick: evil or goodness; corruption, purity, innocence, youth, the final mystery of the universePequod: the American soulLecture 4 Walt Whitman (The father of Free Verse) (1819-1892) 1. The definition of Free Verse:Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme,or any other musical pattern What is the difference between free verse and blank verse(blank verse has no rhyme, but it should be iambic pentameter)2. The theme of Leaves of GrassIn spite of the unconventionality of his poetic form and ideas, Whitman is related to the past in many ways. Whitman embraces idealism. Whitman extols the ideals of equality and democracy and celebrates the dignity, the self-reliant spirit and the joy of the common man. Parallelism.3. The features of Leaves of GrassA. He extols the ideals of equality and democracy and celebrates the dignity, the self-reliant spirit and the joy of the common man.B. employing “free verse” as the form of his poems with two characteristics: parallelism; phonetic recurrenceC. frankness of the commonplace and the ugly sides in human lifeD. direct, plain and even vulgar languageE. “untold latencies” (his poetry suggests rather than tell)F. great influence on the 20th century American poetsEmily Dickinson (1830-1886)4. The themes in Emily DickinsonFlowers and gardensThe Master , Jesus or Godillness, dying and death, immortalitythe mind and spiritA religious certainty, God’s help and good lifeNature, both kind and cruelIndividuality, free will, human responsibilitySympathy for the poor and the weakBeauty, truth and goodnessLecture5 Edgar Allan Poe (1819-1849)1. IntroductionThe father of detective fiction. He is the first professional writer.Poems:“The Raven”, “Annabel Lee”, “To Helen”Lecture 6 American realism (the late 19th century, esp. 1870s, 1880s)1. Features of American RealismA. reaction aga inst “the lie” of Romanticism (considering Romanticism made people escape from the social realities)B. theme: the world of experience of the commonplace and the familiar and the lowC. style: genteel, graceful prose by Howells and Henry James; plain and rough by Mark TwainD. vivid description of details from observation of actual lifeE. a reliance on the representative characterF. trying to hold an objective view of human nature and society2. Father of American realism:William Dean Howells (1837 – 1920)3. Features of Henry James’s workThe international theme:“the international theme”: the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadence, and its moral and psychological complications.Special point of view: internal monologue (illumination of the situation and characters through one or several minds)Lecture 7 Local Colorism1. Mark Twain’s real nameSamuel Langhorne Clemens2. 4 classical novels:The Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Man that Corrupted HadleyburgRoughing It3. Trilogy of MississippiLife on the mississippiThe Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn4. The features of Mark Twain’s languageAnglo-Saxon in origin, short, concrete and direct in effect;sentence structure is mostly simple or compound;repetition of words;ungrammatical elementsMark Twain made the colloquial speech an accepted, respectable literary medium in the literary history of America.Lecture 8 Ernest Hemingway1. 4 novels of Ernest Hemingway:The Sun Also RisesFor Whom the Bell TollsThe Old Man and the SeaA Farewell to Arms2. The symbolism of The old man and the sea:Santiago – mankind;sea – nature and environment;marlin – purpose of life;shark – the evil force which control human’s fate3. The features in Ernest Hemingway:Hemingway situation: characterized by chaos and brutality and violence, by crime and death, by sports and sexHemingway theme: “grace under pressure”Lecture 9 American Naturalism1. Major feature of Naturalism godlessDeterminismThe universe is cold, indifferent, godless and hostile to human desires; life becomes a struggle for survivalThemes: social systems that destroy and dehumanize; individual experience of loss and failure3.differences between Realism and Naturalism4. The trilogy of fate:The FinancierThe TitanThe Stoic5. Masterpiece of Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie6. The real name of Jack London:John Ariffith London7. The masterpiece ofThe Gift of the MagiLecture 10 The southern renaissance1. 4 novels of William Faulkner:The Sound and the FuryLight in AugustAbsalom! Absalom!Go Down, MosesAs I lay Dyingthe Marble Faun2. The features of his novels:Theme: in praise of eternal virtues in human history, love, pity, honor and self-sacrifice (despair and destruction)multiple points of viewdislocation of timethe modern stream of consciousnesswords are often run together, with no capitalization and no proper punctuation interior monologuescolloquial and regional dialectsone fragment runs into another without proper noticeLecture 11 American Drama1. 4 novels of E ugene O’Neill:Beyond the HorizonLong Day’s Journey into NightThe Emperor JonesThe Hairy Ape2. Themes of The Hairy Ape:The industrial environment is presented as toxic and dehumanizing; the world of the rich, superficial and dehumanized. Yank has also been interpreted as representative of the human condition, alienated from nature by his isolated consciousness, unable to find belonging in any social group or environment.3. Major themes in A Streetcar Named Desire:Fantasy/IllusionBlanche dwells in illusion; fantasy is her primary means of self-defense.Fantasy has a liberating magic that protects her from the tragedies she has had to endure.Blanche's dependence on illusion is contrasted with Stanley's steadfast realism, and in the end it is Stanley and his worldview that win.To survive, Stella must also resort to a kind of illusion, forcing herself to believe that Blanche's accusations against Stanley are false so that she can continue living with her husband.4. Themes in Death of a Salesman:The American DreamAbandonmentBetrayalLecture 12 Postwar American Literature1. The definition of black humor:Black humor is a way to criticize the army, the bureaucracy and government. Humor—deep, strong, melancholy, self-mocking; to express the most helpless feeling by using seemingly light-hearted treatment;2. Features of the beat generation:free from all formalitiesanti-reasonbreaking down the limitations between poetry and proseThey shock their listeners by reading their works aloud in coffee houses and bars. They lived in a wild way, anti-traditional and rebellious.They cherished a rebellious attitude toward sex, living in groups and engaging themselves in homosexual activities.3. Definition of postmodernism:In general, the postmodern view is cool, ironic, and accepting of the fragmentation of contemporary existence. It tends to concentrate on surfaces rather than depths, to blur the distinctions between high and low culture, and as a whole to challenge a wide variety of traditional cultural values.4. Features of the confessional school:They wrote about themselves, cultivating the inner world of each private individual and challenging the traditional values.They describe personal experience and family problems.A ruthless, excruciating self-analysis of one’s own background and heritage, one’s own most private desires and fantasies etc., and the urgent “I’ll-tell-it-all-to-you” impulse.5. Postwar novels;Saul Bellow : Henderson the Rain King, More Die of Heartbreak;. Salinger : The Catcher in the Rye;John Updike: Rabbit pentalogy,Flannery O'Connor.Joseph Heller: Catch-22Alice Walker 艾丽斯.沃克 :The Color Purple 《紫色》Martin Luther King :I Have a DreamAmy Tan :The Joy Luck Club (1989) 《欣幸俱乐部》。
(完整word版)美国文学史复习要点整理【手动】
(完整word版)美国文学史复习要点整理【手动】美国文学史整理一、Colonial America 殖民时期1、New England:Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, andConnecticut.2、Doctrines of Puritanism清教American Puritanism stressed predestination(命运神定), original sin(原罪), total depravity (彻底的堕落), and limited atonement (有限的赎罪)from God’s grace.3、Writing style:fresh, simple and direct and with a touch of nobility;the rhetoric is plain andhonest.4、Life style:hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety.5、Main writer:①Thomas Paine 托马斯·潘恩work:Common Sense (1776) 《常识》American Crisis (1776-1783)《美国危机》The Rights of Man《人权》The Age of Reason《理性时代》②Benjamin Franklin(本杰明·富兰克林)Poor Richard’s Almanac《穷查理历书》Autobiography 《富兰克林自传》③Thomas Jefferson 托马斯·杰弗逊Declaration of Independence (1776)《独立宣言》二、American Romanticism (early period) 浪漫主义前期1、Characteristics:①A rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism.反对理性主义的客观性。
美国文学史复习资料
美国文学史复习(colonialism)第一部分殖民主义时期的文学2、Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest American writing.4、The earliest settlers included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards Italian, and Portuguese.美国文学史复习2(reasoning and revolution)二、代表作家:1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林 1706-1790"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴 annual collection of proverbs 流行谚语集The Way to Wealth致富之道The Autobiography自传 18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传3、Thomas Jefferson 托马斯·杰弗逊1)drafted the Declaration of Independence.起草了独立宣言美国文学史复习3(Romanticisms)一、文学特征:3、Romanticism的特点:frequently shared certain general characteristics, moral enthusiasm, faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that he natural world was a source of corruption.浪漫主义之间大多是相通的,都注重道德,强调个人主义价值观和直觉感受,并且认为自然是美的源头,人类社会是腐败之源。
美国文学史及选读第一册复习摘要
美文学摘要Puritanism(清教,清教徒主义): doctrines (dɔktrin n. 教条, 教义, 学说), values, features of Am. Puritans, influence on Am. Literature,Features of colonial poetsThe 1st Am. Writer:Captain John SmithKey Points of Enlightenment movement●Originated in Europe in the 17th century●Basic principles: Stressing education; Stressing Reason; Concerns for civil rights●Significance: Accelerating加速social progress; freeing people from the limitations set by prevailing(1.占优势的;主要的2.流行的;普遍的 )Puritanism; Making spiritual preparation for American Revolution Influence on literature:In form: imitating English classical writersIn content: utilitarian ([ju:ˌtɪlɪˌteəri:ən] adj. 1.有效用的;实用的 2.功利(主义)的 n. 功利主义者;实用主义者) tendency (for political or educational purpose)What lessons can we d raw from the poem “the wild honeysuckle”(野金银花)?The wild can also be beautiful. Everyone should take an active attitude toward life. Never avoid challenges for fear of losing something. One can’t achieve anything under the shelter(shelter -简明英汉词典D.J.[ˌʃeltə]n. 1.遮蔽; 保护 2.避难所; 庇护所vt. 掩蔽; 庇护, 保护vi. 躲避, 避难)and protection.Features of American Romanticisma. 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(陈列,展览;显示,显出;展览品,陈列品,在法庭提出的证物)distinct(截然不同的,完全分开的;清晰的,明白的,明显的)features of its own. It originated from(来自,源于…)a mixture of factors which were altogether American rather than anything else. American Romanticism was in essence(本质上,大体上,事实)the expression of a real new experience and contained “an alien(外国的,外国人的,陌生的,性质不同的)quality”. E.g., the American national experience of pioneering(开发,创始)into the west is a rich fund of material for American writers. It is these Romanticism writers that created an indigenous(土生土长的,生来的,固有的)American literature.c. Puritan influence over American Romanticism was clearly noticeable. E.g., the author tended more to moralize(vi论道德,说教)than writers in England.American Transcendentalism(超验主义,先验论;顿悟)Background:In 1836 a little book Nature came out. It was written by Emerson. It was considered “the Manifesto (ˌmænəˌfestəʊ宣言)of Transcendentalism(ˌtrænsenˌdentl超验主义)”.It started with Emerson’s Nature and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass (1855) The Transcendentalists set up a club called “Transcendentalist(trænsen'dentlist] adj. 先验论者的,超越论者的)Club”. They expressed their views published their journal Dial. The center place is New England and Concord( concord -简明英汉词典D.J.[ˌkɔnˌkɔ:d, ˌkɔŋ-]n. 和谐, 一致, 和睦).Major features1) Emphasis on spirit or the Oversoul as the most important thing in the universe2) The individual as the most important element of society3) Nature as symbolic of the Spirit or GodLimitations:1) The shallow (shallow [ˌʃæləu] adj. 1.浅的2.肤浅的) optimism(n. 乐观, 乐观主义) made itimpossible for them to understand human suffering.2) They cut themselves from life and were trapped by empty talk. They stressed too much on human intuition (in tuition [ˌɪntjuˌiʃən] n.1.直觉2.凭直觉感知的知识).3) They failed to provide solution to problem they found.课后部分习题1. Early in the 17th century, the England settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history.settlers in America included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards, Italians, and3. The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.4. There was little of the religious ferment(骚乱,动荡)and zeal(热心,热忱,热情)that inspired such a tide of literature to flow Puritan New England.5. The Puritans had come to New England for the sake of religious freedom, while Virginia had been planted mainly as a commercial venture.6.Hard work,thrift(节约,节俭),piety(虔诚,虔敬)and sobriety(清醒,未醉,严肃,节制)were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest American writing, including the sermons(布道,说教),books , and letters of such noted Puritan clergymen as John Cotton and Cotton Mather.True or false: The first American literature was neither American nor really literature.(T)It was not American because it was the work mainly of immigrants from England. It was not literature as we know it---in the form of poetry, essays, or fiction---but rather an interesting mixture of travel accounts and religious writings. The earliest colonial travel accounts are records of the perils(极大危险;危险的事或环境)and frustrations that challenged the courage of America’s first settlers. (P2)1. What are the influences of American Puritanism on American Literature?①Basis of American literaturedreamed of living under a perfect order;worked with courage;hoped to build an Eden of Garden on earth;faced the worst of life with optimism--went into the making of American literatureAll literature is based on a myth--Garden of Eden②Contributing to the development of Symbolism(象征主义): a technique, widely used。
美国文学史总结
Part I The Literature of Colonial America(殖民地时期的文学)Chapter 1→John Smith 约翰.史密斯1. A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Sincethe First Planting of That Colony 《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》(1608)2. A Map of Virginia with a Description of the Country 《弗吉尼亚地图,附:一个乡村的描述》(1612)3.The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles 《弗吉尼亚通史》(1624)Chapter 2→William Bradford (威廉.布拉德福德)→Of Plymouth Plantation 《普利茅斯开发史》(1826)→John Winthrop (约翰.温思罗普)→The History of New England from 1630 to 1649 《新英格兰史》(1856)Chapter 3→John Cotton (约翰.科登)→Roger Williams (罗杰.威廉姆斯)→ A Key into the Language of America 《开启美国语言的钥匙》/《美国新英格兰地区土著居民语言指南》Chapter 4→Anne Bradstreet(安妮.布雷兹特里特)(女性作家)→The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America 《在美洲诞生的第十位缪斯》→Edward Taylor (爱德华.泰勒)(女性作家)→Psalms 《诗篇》Part II The Literature of Reason and Revolution(理性和革命时期文学)Chapter 5→Benjamin Franklin (本杰明.富兰克林)1.Poor Richard ’s Almanac 《穷理查德年鉴》(1732-1758,1729年正式出版)2.The Declaration of Independence 《独立宣言》(Franklin & Jefferson 杰弗逊)3.The Autobiography 《自传》4.Collect Works 《作品选集》Chapter 6→Thomas Paine (托马斯.佩因)1.The Case of the Officers of the Excise 《收税官的案子》(1772)(his first pamphlet)mon Sense 《常识》(1776)3.The America Crisis 《美国危机》(1776-1883)(a series of sixteen pamphlets)(signed “CommonSense” )4.Rights of Man 《人权》(I 1791年,II 1792年)5.The Age of Reason 《理性时代》6.Agrarian Justice 《土地公平》(his last important treatise 他最后一部重要著作)Chapter 7→Thomas Jefferson (托马斯.杰弗逊)The Declaration of Independence 《独立宣言》(Benjamin Franklin & Jefferson 杰弗逊)(1776)Chapter 8→Philip Freneau (菲利普.弗瑞诺)1.The Power of Fancy 《想象的力量》(1770)2.The House of Night 《英国囚船》(1781)His earlier poems were collected in The Poems of Philip Freneau Written Chiefly During the Late War这些早期作品后来于1786年一起被收录在《战争后期弗洛诺主要诗歌集》中。
《美国文学简史》考研常耀信版考研复习笔记和考研真题
《美国文学简史》考研常耀信版考研复习笔记和考研真题第1章殖民地时期的美国1.1 复习笔记I. American Puritanism(美国清教主义)The settlement of North American continent by the English began in the early part of the seventeenth century. The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. In 1620, the ship Mayflower carried about one hundred Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The first settlers in America were quite a few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons. They carried with them American Puritanism which took root in the New World and became the most enduring shaping influence in American thought and American literature.英国向北美的移民活动开始于17世纪上半叶。
英国于1607年在北美建立了第一个永久性海外殖民区:弗吉尼亚州的詹姆斯敦。
1620年“五月花”号载运100余名移民抵达马萨诸塞州的普利茅斯。
很多美国早期的移民是清教徒,他们出于多种原因来到美国。
他们信奉的清教主义后来在新大陆生根发芽,并对美国思想和美国文学产生了根深蒂固的影响。
(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。
(完整word版)美国文学史-知识点梳理(word文档良心出品)
Part I The Literature of Colonial AmericaI.Historical IntroductionThe colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607. ( A group of people was sent by the English King James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607. They named the James River and build the James town.)II.The pre-revolutionary writing in the colonies was essentially of two kinds:1) Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc. designed to inform people "at home" what life was like in the new world, and, often, to induce their immigration2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions. III.The First American WriterThe first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, their lives in the new land, their dealings with Indians.Captain John Smith is the first American writer.A True Relation of such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608)A Map of Virginia: A Description of the Country (1612)General History of Virgini a (1624): the Indian princess PocahontasCaptain 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. IV.Early New England LiteratureWilliam Bradford and John WinthropJohn Cotton and Roger WilliamsAnne Bradstreet and Edward TaylorV.Puritan Thoughts1. The origin of puritanIn the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th Century, the English King Henry VIII (At that time, the Catholics were not allowed to divorce unless they have the Pope's permission. Henry VIII wanted to divorce hiswife because she couldn't bear him a son. But the Pope didn't allow him to divorce, so he) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church ofEngland. But there was no radical difference between the doctrines of the Church of England and the Catholic Church. A group of people thought the Church of England was too Catholic and wanted to purify the church. Then came the name Puritans.2. Puritanism -- based on Calvinism(1) predestination: God's electPuritans believed they are predestined before they were born.Nothing or no good work can change their fate.They believed the success of one's business is the sign to show he is the God's elect. So the Puritans works very hard, spend very little and invest more for the future business. They lived a very frugal life. This is their ethics.(2) Origianl sin and total depravityMan is born sinful. This determines some puritans pessimistic attitude towards life.(3) Limited atonement (the salvation of a selected few)(4) theocracyThey combined state with religion. Their government is at least not a liberal one.The Puritans established American tradition -- intolerant moralism. They strictly punished drunks, adultery & heretics.Puritans changed gradually due to the severity of frontier environment3. Influence on American Literature(1) Its optimismAmerican literature was from the outset conditioned by the Puritan heritage. It can be said American literature is based on the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. After that, man have an illusion to restore the paradise. The puritans, after arriving at America, believing that God must have sent them to this new land to restore the lost paradise, to build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. Fired with such a strong sense of mission, they treated life with a tremendous amount of optimism. The optimistic Puritan has exerted a great influence on American literature.(2) Puritan's metaphorical mode of perception changed gradually into a literary symbolism.Part II The Literature of Reason And RevolutionI.Historical IntroductionWith the growth, especially of industry, there appeared the intense strain with England. The British government did not want colonial industries competing with those in England. The British wanted the colonies to remain politically and economically dependent on the mother country. They took a series of measures to insure this dependence. They prevented colonial economy by requiring Americans to ship raw materials abroad and to import finished goods at prices higher than the cost of making them in this country. Politically, the British government forced dependenceby ruling the colonies from overseas and by taxing the colonies without giving them representation in Parliament.However, by the mid-eighteenth century, freedom was won as much by the fiery rhetoric of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the eloquence of the Declaration of Independence as by the weapons of Washington. In the seventies of the 18th century, the English colonies in North America rose in arms against their mother country. The War for Independence lasted for 8 years (1776-1783) and ended in the formation of a federative bourgeois democratic republic -- the United States of America. II.American EnlightenmentIt was supported by all progressive forces of the country which opposed themselves to the old colonial order and religious obscurantism.It dealt a decisive blow upon the puritan traditions and brought to life secular education and literature. The spiritual life during that period was to a great degree moulded by it.The representatives set themselves the task of disseminating knowledge among the people and advocating revolutionary ideas.The writers injected an invigorating vein into the English language in America as they aimed at clarity and precision of their writings.At the initial period the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment was largely due to journalism. Writings of Europe were widely read in America. The secular ideals of the American Enlightenment were exemplified in the life and career of Benjamin Franklin.III.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)The AutobiographyPoor Richard’s AlmanacLifeBenjamin Franklin came from a Calvinist background.He was born into a poor candle-maker’s family. He had very little education. He learned in school only for two years, but he was a voracious reader.At 12, he was apprenticed to his elder half-brother, a printer.At 16, he began to publish essays under the pseudonym “Silence Do good” .At 17, he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune.He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher. In 1727 he founded the Junto club.Multiple identities:a printera leading authora politiciana scientista inventora diplomata civic activistFranklin’s Contributions to SocietyHe helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital.He founded an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania.And he helped found the American Philosophical Society.Franklin’s Contributions to ScienceHe was also remembered for volunteer fire departments, effective street lighting, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses and efficient heating devices.And for his lightning-rod, he was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire from heaven.”Franklin’s Contributions to the U.S.He was the only American to sign the four documents that created the United States:The Declaration of Independence,The Treaty of Alliance with France,The Treaty of Peace with England,The ConstitutionThe AutobiographyThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was probably the first of its kind in literature. It is 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.The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is Puritan because it is a record of self-examination and self-improvement. The meticulous chart of 13 virtues he set for himself to cultivate to combat the tempting vices, the stupendous effort he made to improve his own person, the belief that God helps those who helps themselves and that every calling is a service to God – all these indicate that Franklin was intensely Puritan. Then, the book is also a convincing illustration of the Puritan ethic that, in order to get on in the world, one has to be industrious, frugal, and prudent.The Autobiography is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Franklin was spokesman for the new order of eighteenth-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.A look at the style of The Autobiography will readily reveal that 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 salient features we cannot mistake. The lucidity of the narrative, the absence ofornaments in wording and of complex, involved structures in syntax, and the Puritan abhorrence of paradox are all graphically demonstrated in the whole of the book. Taken as a whole, it is safe to say that the book is an exemplary illustration of the American style of writing.IV.Thomas Paine (1737-1809)Common SenseAmerican CrisisV.Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)The Declaration of IndependenceVI.Philip Freneau (1752-1832)“Poet of the American Revolution”“Father of American Poetry”“Pioneer of the New Romanticism”“A gifted and versatile lyric poet”Works“The Wild Honey Suckle”“The Indian Burying Ground”“To a Caty-Did”Freneau 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.Life Experience►He was born in New York.►At 16, he entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He decided to do a postgraduate study in theology. But two years later he gave it up. While still an undergraduate, he wrote in collaboration with one of his friends (H. H. Brackenridge) a poem entitled “The Rising Glory of America”.►Later he attended the War of Independence, and he was captured by British army in 1780.►After being released, he published “The British Prison Ship” in 1781.►In the same year, he published “To the Memory of the Brave Americans”.►After war, he supported Jefferson, and contributed greatly to American government.►But after 50 years old, he lived in poverty. And at last he died in a blizzard.Main Works►“The Rising Glory of America” (1772) 《美洲光辉的兴起》►“The House of Night” (1779,1786) 《夜之屋》►“The British Prison Ship” (1781) 《英国囚船》►“To the Memory of the Brave Americans” (1781) 《纪念美国勇士》►“”The Wild Honey Suckle” (1786) 《野忍冬花》►“The Indian Burying Ground” (1788) 《印第安人墓地》野忍冬花(黄杲炘译)►美好的花呀,你长得:这么秀丽,却藏身在这僻静沉闷的地方——甜美的花儿开了却没人亲昵,招展的小小枝梢也没人观赏;没游来荡去的脚来把你踩碎,没东攀西摘的手来催你落泪。
美国文学史总结
美国文学史总结Part I The Literature of Colonial America(殖民地时期的文学)Chapter 1→John Smith 约翰.史密斯1. A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened inVirginia Since the First Planting of That Colony 《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》(1608)2. A Map of Virginia with a Description of the Country 《弗吉尼亚地图,附:一个乡村的描述》(1612)3.The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles 《弗吉尼亚通史》(1624)Chapter 2→William Bradford (威廉.布拉德福德)→Of Plymouth Plantation 《普利茅斯开发史》(1826)→John Winthrop (约翰.温思罗普)→The History of New England from 1630 to 1649 《新英格兰史》(1856)Chapter 3→John Cotton (约翰.科登)→Roger Williams (罗杰.威廉姆斯)→ A Key into the Language of America 《开启美国语言的钥匙》/《美国新英格兰地区土著居民语言指南》Chapter 4→Anne Bradstreet(安妮.布雷兹特里特)(女性作家)→The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America 《在美洲诞生的第十位缪斯》→Edward Taylor (爱德华.泰勒)(女性作家)→Psalms 《诗篇》Part II The Literature of Reason and Revolution(理性和革命时期文学)Chapter 5→Benjamin Franklin (本杰明.富兰克林)1.Poor Richard ’s Almanac 《穷理查德年鉴》(1732-1758,1729年正式出版)2.The Declaration of Independence 《独立宣言》(Franklin & Jefferson 杰弗逊)3.The Autobiography 《自传》4.Collect Works 《作品选集》Chapter 6→Thomas Paine (托马斯.佩因)1.The Case of the Officers of the Excise 《收税官的案子》(1772)(his first pamphlet)mon Sense 《常识》(1776)3.The America Crisis 《美国危机》(1776-1883)(a series of sixteen pamphlets)(signed“Common Sense” )4.Rights of Man 《人权》(I 1791年, II 1792年)5.The Age of Reason 《理性时代》6.Agrarian Justice 《土地公平》(his last important treatise 他最后一部重要著作)Chapter 7→Thomas Jefferson (托马斯.杰弗逊)The Declaration of Independence 《独立宣言》(Benjamin Franklin & Jefferson 杰弗1.该集子并不是按写作顺序来安排的,而是按事件发展的先后顺序重新编排,即:TheDeerslayer(《杀鹿者》);The Last of the Mohicans《最后的莫希干人》;The Pathfinder 《探路人》;The Pioneers《拓荒者》;The Prairie《大草原》}Chapter 11→William Cullen Bryant (威廉.卡伦.布莱恩特)1.Thanatopsis《死亡思考/死之思考》(1817)2.To a Waterfowl《致水鸟》(is perhaps the peak of his work 是其巅峰之作)Chapter 12→Edgar Allan Poe (埃德加.艾伦.坡)1.MS. Found in a Bottle 《金瓶子城的方德先生》2.The Fall of the House of Usher《鄂榭府崩溃记》3.Tales Of the Grotesque and Arabesque《述异集》(1840)4.The Raven《乌鸦》(1845)5.To Helen《给海伦》6.Annabel Lee《安娜贝尔.李》Chapter 13→Ralph Waldo Emerson(拉尔夫.沃尔多.爱默生)1.Nature《论自然》(1836)2.Two speeches(正真让他功成名就的是两次演讲):The American Scholar《美国学者》(a great statements 一篇优秀的论说文)& Divinity School Address《神学院致辞》3.Poem《诗集》(1847)4.Essay《随笔录》5.Representative Men《代表》(1850)6.English Traits《英国人》(1856)7.Nature《论自然》8.Self-Reliance《论自助》Chapter 14→Henry David Thoreau(亨利.戴维.梭罗)1.Walden《沃尔登》(1854)Chapter 15→Nathaniel Hawthorne (纳撒尼尔.霍桑)1.The House of the Seven Gables《七个尖角阁的房子》2.Mosses from an Old Manse《古厦青苔》(1846)3.The Scarlet Letter 《红字》(1850)The Scarlet Letter is the introductory chapter of The Scarlet Letter. 《海关》是《红字》的前言。
美国文学史
美国文学史一.知识点1.清教主义代表人物:Edwards Franklin2.富兰克林的作品:《Poor Richard’s Almanac》《Autobiography》3.富兰克林自传中的十三个美德:Temperance(节制)silence (少言)order(秩序)frugality (节俭)Industry(勤勉)sincerity (真诚)resolution(决心)justice (公正)moderation (中庸)cleanliness(整洁)chastity(镇定) tranquility(节欲)humility(谦逊)This work is a puritan document. It is puritan because it is a record of self-examination and self-improvement.4.富兰克林作品中的谚语:lost time is never found again. A penny saved is a penny earned. God help them that help themselves. Fish and visitors stink in three days. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.5.美国浪漫主义代表人物:Irving Cooper6.Irving was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame.His works are《The Sketch Book》《Rip Van Winkle》《The Legend of Sleepy Hollow》7. Cooper’s claim to greatness in American literature lies in the fact that he created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. “Leatherstocking tales” is a series of five novels described the frontier life of American settlers, that is, 《The Pioneers》《The Last of the Mohicans》《The Prairie》《The pathfinder》《The Deerslayer》8. Emerson 的代表作《Nature》. “The American Scholar” has been regarded as the American’s declaration of intellectual independence.9.Thoreau的代表作《Walden》10.美国黑色浪漫主义代表人物:Hawthorne Melville Allan Poe11.Whitman的作品《Leaves of Grass》《Song of Myself》. 用来赞扬林肯的诗歌“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”“Captain, My Captain”12.Dickinson的诗歌“My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close”“Wild Nights”. Dickinson was original. She sees nature as both gaily benevolent and cruel. On the ethical level she emphasizes free will and human responsibility. Like Emerson, she holds that beauty, goodness, truth are the ultimately one. She is good at catching the charm of something but dropping the thing itself. 13. Allan Poe: Father of modern short story;Father of detective story;Father of psychoanalytic criticism;Father of mental analytic theory.14. Local Colorism的代表人物:Mark Twain15.Naturalism 时期:Crane的作品:《Maggie:A Girl of the Street》《The Red Badge of Courage》Dreiser的作品:《Sister Carrie》Jack London;O’Henry16. Imagism 的代表人物:Pound他的作品“In a Station of the Metro”(has been regarded asa classic specimen of imagist poetry) “Cantos”(has been called his intellectual diary since1915).17. Eliot 的作品《The Waste Land》18. Robert Frost的作品“Mending Wall”这里的名言是good fences make good neighbors. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”“The Road not Taken”19. Fitzgerald的作品《This Side of Paradise》《Tender is the Night》《The Last Tycoon》《The GreatGatsby》(代表作)二.名词解释1. American puritanism: Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of puritans. The puritans areoriginally members of a division of the protestant church who wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin, total depravity and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from god. It had become, to some extent, so much a sense of mind, so much a part of national cultural background, rather than a set of tenets.2. Transcendentalism: it was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture and philosophythat emerged in newEngland in the early middle 19th century. Transcendentalists spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism in American society. It place emphasis on spirit, or the over soul as the most important thing in the world. It stressed the importance of the individual and offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit or god.Prominent transcendentalists included Edwards and Thoreau.3. Local Colorism: Mark Twain was the representative of local colorism. It as a trend becamedominant in American literature in the late 1860s and early 1870s, it is defined by Hamlin Garland as having such quality of texture and background that it could not have been written in any other place or by anyone else than a native, as local colorists tried to immortalize the distinctive natural, social and linguistic features. It is characteristic of vernacular language and satirical humor. Generally speaking, the writings of local colorists are concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region or province. The characteristic setting is the isolated small town.4. Imagism: the 1920s saw a vigorous literary activity in America. In poetry there appeared astrong reaction against Victorian poetry. Imagists placed primary reliance on the use of precise, sharp images as a means of poetic expression and stressed precision in the choice of words, freedom in the choice of subject matter and form, and the use of oral language. Most of the imagist poets wrote in free verse, using such devices as assonance and alliteration rather than formal metrical schemes to give structure to their poetry. Its representative was Pound.5. Modernsim: American modernism was the phenomenon of international modernismtransplanted in the American context. The modernists have a more complex view of reality.They believe that reality is experienced from different perspectives and at different levels.Modernism is pluralistic in styles and inclusive of diverse responses to the human condition in the modern world.6. The Lost Generation: it is a term used to characterize a general feeling of disillusionment ofAmerican literary notables who lived in Europe, most notably Paris, after the First World War.Figures identified with the lost generation included authors and artists such as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Pound and SherwoodAnderson.三.解答题1.超验主义三大特点。
《美国文学史及选读》考研吴伟仁版考研复习笔记和真题
《美国文学史及选读》考研吴伟仁版考研复习笔记和真题第一部分殖民地时期的美国文学第1章约翰·史密斯1.1 复习笔记I. Historical Introduction (历史背景)(1) At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the vast continental area that was to become the United States had been probed only slightly by English and European explorers. At last early in the seventeenth century, the English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history.(2) The colonies that became the first United States were for the most part sustained by English traditions, ruled by English laws, supported by English commerce, and named after English monarchs and English lands.(3) The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of the settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, about adapting to new life and dealing with Indians; they wrote letters, contracts, government charters, religious and political statements.(4) The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Among the members of the small band of Jamestown settlers was Captain John Smith, an English soldier of fortune.His reports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English. (1) 直到17世纪初,美国所在的广袤大陆才被英国及少数几个欧洲国家的探险家涉足。
美国文学简史复习资料[1]
美国文学美国文学Part 1. Colonial AmericaPhilip Freneau Philip Freneau菲菲利普·弗伦诺1752-1832The Wild Honeysuckle野生的金银花;The Indian Burying Ground 印第安人殡葬地印第安人殡葬地 Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards The Freedom of the Will The Great Doctrine of Original Sin The Freedom of the Will The Great Doctrine of Original Sindefended T he The Nature of True VirtueBenjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林本杰明·富兰克林Poor Richard’s Almanack 穷查理历书;The Autobiography 自传Part 2. A merican American Romanticism It is one of the most important periods in the history of American literature ,t Romantic Period ,which stretches from the end of the 18th century through the out breakof Civil War.It started with the publication of Washington Irving's The Sketch bookand ended with Whitman's Leave of Grass .American Romanticism was in essence the expression of "a real new experience "and contained "an alien quality "for the simplereason that "the spirit of the place" was radically new and alien.And it was bo imitative and independent.Washington Irving 华盛顿·欧文1783-1859 A History of New York 纽约的历史纽约的历史---------------美国人写的第一部诙谐文学美国人写的第一部诙谐文学杰作;杰作;The The Sketch Book 见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 睡谷的传说的传说---------------使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家;使之成为美国第一个获得国际声誉的作家;Rip Van Winkle -------short storyJames Fenimore Cooper 詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库珀1789-1851The Spy 间谍;The Pioneer 拓荒者;;The Prairie 大草原;ThePathfinder 探路者;The Deerslayer 杀鹿者Part 3.New England TranscendentalismRalf Waldo Emerson 拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生1803-1882Essays 散文集散文集::Nature 论自然-----新英格兰超验主义者的宣言书;TheAmerican Scholar 论美国学者;Henry David Threau 亨利·大卫·梭罗1817-1862W adden,or Life in the Woods 华腾湖或林中生活Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ·朗费罗 An April Day 四月的一天/A Psalm of Life 人生礼物(poem )/PNathaniel Hawthorne 纳撒尼尔·霍桑1804-1864 Twice-told Tales 尽人皆知的故事尽人皆知的故事;Mosses from an Old Manse ;Mosses from an Old Manse 古屋青苔:Young Goodman Brown 年轻的古德曼·布朗年轻的古德曼·布朗年轻的古德曼·布朗;The Scarlet Letter ;The Scarlet Letter红字红字;The House of the Seven Gables ;The House of the Seven Gables 有七个尖角阁的房子有七个尖角阁的房子----------------心理若们罗曼史心理若们罗曼史;The Blithedale Romance ;The Blithedale Romance 福谷传奇福谷传奇;The Marble Faun ;The Marble Faun玉石雕像玉石雕像Herman Melville Moby Dick/The White Whale 莫比·迪克/白鲸;Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass 草叶集:Song of Myself 自我之歌Emily Dickinson ; “Because I could not stop for death ” “I 'm no body... ”poemEdgar Allan Poe 埃德加·爱伦·坡1809-18491809-1849(以诗为(以诗为诗;永为世人共赏的伟大抒情诗人伟大抒情诗人----------叶芝)叶芝)The Fall of the House of Usher 厄舍古屋的倒塌;Annabel Lee 安娜贝尔·李Poem-----歌特风格;首开近代侦探小说先河,又是法国象征主义运动的源头T 诗:The Raven 乌鸦;To Hellen 致海伦 Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin 汤姆叔叔的小屋;Part 4. The age of RealismWilliam Dean Howells 威廉·狄恩·豪威尔斯恩·豪威尔斯The Rise of Silas Lapham 赛拉斯·拉帕姆的发迹;A Hazard of Now Fortunes 时来运转;2323、、Henry James 小说:Daisy Miller苔瑟·米乐;The Portrait of a Lady 贵妇人画像;Part 5. Local ColorismMark Twain 马克·吐温(Samuel Longhorne Clemens Clemens))------美国文美国文学的一大里程碑学的一大里程碑The Gilded Age 镀金时代 -----------novel;The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 哈克贝利·费恩历险记How to Tell a Story 怎样讲故事怎样讲故事---------对美国早期幽默文学的总结对美国早期幽默文学的总结对美国早期幽默文学的总结 O. Henry short story 短篇小说 The Four Million ”《四百万》”《四百万》 小说集小说集、“The Gift of the Magi ”《麦琪的礼物》《麦琪的礼物》Part 6. American NaturalismFrank Norris The Octopus 章鱼,The Pit 小麦交易所);4040、、JackLondon 杰克·伦敦1876-1916T he Call of the Wild 野性的呼唤----novel ;The Sea-wolf 海狼;White Fang 白獠牙;T ;Martin Eden 马丁·伊登;Part 7. The 1920s ImagismEzra Pound 艾兹拉·庞德1885-1972美国现代诗歌之父美国现代诗歌之父Cathay 华夏(英译中国诗The Cantos of Ezra Pound 庞德诗章(109首及8首未完成稿)《In a station of the Metro 》----在地铁站里 Thomas Stearns Eliot The Waste Land 荒原;名诗:名诗:Ash Ash Wednesday 圣灰星期三圣灰星期三;;FourQuarters 四个四重奏Robert Frost 罗伯特·弗罗斯特1874-1963 After Apple-picking 摘苹果之后)(The Road Not taken 没有选择的道路)----poem---------Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening <雪夜林畔>F Scott Fitzgerald 弗朗西斯·菲茨杰拉德1896-1940(迷惘的一代一代) )The Side of Paradise 人间天堂;The Beautiful and the Damned 美丽的和倒霉;The Great Gatsby 了不起的盖茨比;Tender in the Night 夜色温柔Ernest Ernest Hemingway Hemingway 欧内斯特·海明威1899-19611899-1961(“迷惘(“迷惘的一代”的代表人物)物)The Sun Also Rises 太阳照样升起太阳照样升起;;Farewellto Arms 永别了,武器;For Whom the Bell Tolls 丧钟为谁而鸣William William Faulkner Faulkner威廉·福克纳1897-1962短篇小说:;The Sound and the Fury 愤怒与喧嚣;;Short story ------A Rose For Emily 《给艾米丽小姐的玫瑰》 Theodore Dreiser西奥多·德莱塞1871-1945Sister Carrie 嘉莉姐妹----Novel ;Trilogy of Desire 欲望三部曲(Financer 金融家,The Titan 巨人,The Stoic);An American Tragedy 美国的悲剧(被称为美国最伟大的小说) Arthur Miller ;The Death of a Salesman 推销员--------Play ;1.《了不起的盖茨比》表现了“美国梦”的幻灭,这部小说谴责以托姆为代表的美国特权阶级自私专横,为所欲为,以同情的态度描写了盖茨比的悲剧,并指出他的悲剧来自他对生活和爱情的幻想,对上层社会缺乏认识。
《美国文学史》各章节知识点指南
《美国文学史》各章节知识点指南时间:2011年2月使用教材:《美国文学史》(第二版)常耀信著Chapter 1 Colonial America★1607 Jamestown, Virginia:the first permanent English settlement in America★1620 Plymouth, Massachusetts: the second permanent English settlement in America★Captain John Smith: the first American writer writing in English★Anne Bradstreet: the first American woman poetMajor work: The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung up in America (1650)Contemplations (9) on P. 17 (熟悉这首诗歌)To My Dear and Loving Husband《致我亲爱的丈夫》★Philis Wheatley: the first black woman poet in American literature★Edward Taylor: the most famous poet in the colonial periodHuswifery on P. 19 (熟悉这首诗歌)★Roger Williams: The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience (1644)Translated the Bible into the Indian tongue★John Winthrop: ―Model of Christian Charity‖(〈基督慈善之典范〉)The History of New England (two volumes, 1825, 1826)(〈新英格兰史〉) 1630 --- 1649 in diary★Thomas Paine: Common Sense, The American Crisis, The Rights of Man, The Age of Reason ★Philip Freneau: Poet of the American RevolutionThe Wild Honeysuckle, The Indian Burying Ground, The Dying Indian: TomoChequi★Charles Brockden Brown: the first important American novelistWieland, Edgar Huntly, Ormond, Aurthur MervynChapter 2 Edwards, Franklin, Crevecoeur★the 18th century: Age of Reason and Enlightenment★Jonathan Edwards: America’s first systematic philosopherThe Freedom of the Will, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God★Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac熟悉37页的引文★Hector St. John de Crevecoeur: Letters from an American FarmerChapter 3 American Romanticism, Irving, Cooper★Washington Irving: the first American writer to win international acclaimThe Sketch Book: Rip V an Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow★James Fenimore Cooper: Leatherstocking Tales (五个故事的题目)Natty Bumpo (人物形象)Chapter 4 New England Transcendentalism, Emerson, Thoreau★Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature (the Bible and manifesto of New England Transcendentalism)The American Scholar (America’s Declaration of IntellectualIndependence)★Henry David Thoreau: Walden, or Life in the WoodsChapter 5 Hawthorne, Melville★Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter, Twice-Told Tales, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, The Marble Faun, Young Goodman Brown★Herman Melville: Moby Dick, Omoo, Mardi, Redburn, White Jacket, PierreChapter 6 Whitman, Dickinson★Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass; free verse; Song of Myself★Emily Dickinson: Of the 1775 poems, only 7 poems were published in her lifetime.熟悉教材中98至102页所选的诗歌Chapter 7 Edgar Allan Poe★Edgar Allan Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher, The Philosophy of Composition, The Poetic Principle, The Raven,To Helen熟悉教材中107页所选的The Raven中的部分诗行Chapter 8 The Age of Realism, Howells, James★William Dean Howells: The Rise of Silas Lapham, Criticism and Fiction★Henry James: important writings listed on P. 125the international themeChapter 9 Local Colorism, Mark Twain★Hamlin Garland: Crumbling Idols, Veritism (真实主义)★Bret Harte: The Luck of Roaring Camp★Mark Twain: 主要作品, vernacular literature, colloquial style★Harriet Beecher Stowe 斯托夫人& her Uncle Tom’s Cabin《汤姆叔叔的小屋》★Louisa May Alcott 路易莎·梅·奥尔科特& her Little Women 《小妇人》★Kate Chopin 凯特·肖班& her The Awakening 《觉醒》Chapter 10 American Naturalism, Crane, Norris, Dreiser, Robinson★Stephen Crane: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (the first naturalistic novel in American literature), The Red Badge of Courage (the first anti-war novel in American literature),Famous short stories: The Open Boat, The Bride Comes to the Yellow Sky★Frank Norris: The Octopus, McTeague★Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie, Jennie Gerhardt, the Desire Trilogy, The Genius★Edwin Arlington Robinson: Richard Cory★Jack London: The Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Sea Wolf, Martin Eden★O. Henry (William Sidney Porter): famous for his short stories such as The Gift of the Magi★Upton Sinclair: The Jungle, the Muckraking MovementChapter 11 The 1920s, Imagism, Pound★The first American Renaissance: the first half of the 19th century★The second Renaissance: the 1920s★The three principles of the Imagist Poetry★熟悉四首意象派诗歌:In a Station of the Metro, Oread, The Red Wheelbarrow, Fog, 并会分析其中的第一和第四首★Ezra Pound: The Cantos, Hugh Selwyn MauberleyChapter 12 T. S. Eliot, Stevens, Williams★T. S. Eliot: The Waste Land (五个部分的题目), The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 其他主要作品founder of New Criticism: depersonalization, objective correlative★William Carlos Williams: PatersonChapter 13 Frost, Sandburg, Cummings, Hart Crane, Moore★Robert Frost: New England poet, lyrical poet, the unofficial poet laureate, won the Pulitzer Prize four timesThe Road Not Taken (熟悉此诗), Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,Mending Wall, Apple-picking <<摘苹果>>★Carl Sandburg: Fog, The Harbor (two famous Imagist poems)★ E. E. Cummings: the most interesting experimentalist in modern American poetry★Hart Crane: The BridgeChapter 14 Fitzgerald, Hemingway★F. Scott Fitzgerald: the spokesman of the Jazz AgeThe Great Gatsby★Ernest Hemingway: Hemingway hero with ―grace under pressure‖, the iceberg principle“I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eights of it under water for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that doesn’t show. ”冰山运动之雄伟壮观,是因为它只有八分之一在水面上。
(完整word版)美国文学史-知识点梳理
Part I The Literature of Colonial AmericaI.Historical IntroductionThe colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607. ( A group of people was sent by the English King James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607. They named the James River and build the James town.)II.The pre-revolutionary writing in the colonies was essentially of two kinds:1) Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc. designed to inform people "at home" what life was like in the new world, and, often, to induce their immigration2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions. III.The First American WriterThe first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, their lives in the new land, their dealings with Indians.Captain John Smith is the first American writer.A True Relation of such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608)A Map of Virginia: A Description of the Country (1612)General History of Virgini a (1624): the Indian princess PocahontasCaptain 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. IV.Early New England LiteratureWilliam Bradford and John WinthropJohn Cotton and Roger WilliamsAnne Bradstreet and Edward TaylorV.Puritan Thoughts1. The origin of puritanIn the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th Century, the English King Henry VIII (At that time, the Catholics were not allowed to divorce unless they have the Pope's permission. Henry VIII wanted to divorce hiswife because she couldn't bear him a son. But the Pope didn't allow him to divorce, so he) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church ofEngland. But there was no radical difference between the doctrines of the Church of England and the Catholic Church. A group of people thought the Church of England was too Catholic and wanted to purify the church. Then came the name Puritans.2. Puritanism -- based on Calvinism(1) predestination: God's electPuritans believed they are predestined before they were born.Nothing or no good work can change their fate.They believed the success of one's business is the sign to show he is the God's elect. So the Puritans works very hard, spend very little and invest more for the future business. They lived a very frugal life. This is their ethics.(2) Origianl sin and total depravityMan is born sinful. This determines some puritans pessimistic attitude towards life.(3) Limited atonement (the salvation of a selected few)(4) theocracyThey combined state with religion. Their government is at least not a liberal one.The Puritans established American tradition -- intolerant moralism. They strictly punished drunks, adultery & heretics.Puritans changed gradually due to the severity of frontier environment3. Influence on American Literature(1) Its optimismAmerican literature was from the outset conditioned by the Puritan heritage. It can be said American literature is based on the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. After that, man have an illusion to restore the paradise. The puritans, after arriving at America, believing that God must have sent them to this new land to restore the lost paradise, to build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. Fired with such a strong sense of mission, they treated life with a tremendous amount of optimism. The optimistic Puritan has exerted a great influence on American literature.(2) Puritan's metaphorical mode of perception changed gradually into a literary symbolism.Part II The Literature of Reason And RevolutionI.Historical IntroductionWith the growth, especially of industry, there appeared the intense strain with England. The British government did not want colonial industries competing with those in England. The British wanted the colonies to remain politically and economically dependent on the mother country. They took a series of measures to insure this dependence. They prevented colonial economy by requiring Americans to ship raw materials abroad and to import finished goods at prices higher than the cost of making them in this country. Politically, the British government forced dependenceby ruling the colonies from overseas and by taxing the colonies without giving them representation in Parliament.However, by the mid-eighteenth century, freedom was won as much by the fiery rhetoric of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the eloquence of the Declaration of Independence as by the weapons of Washington. In the seventies of the 18th century, the English colonies in North America rose in arms against their mother country. The War for Independence lasted for 8 years (1776-1783) and ended in the formation of a federative bourgeois democratic republic -- the United States of America. II.American EnlightenmentIt was supported by all progressive forces of the country which opposed themselves to the old colonial order and religious obscurantism.It dealt a decisive blow upon the puritan traditions and brought to life secular education and literature. The spiritual life during that period was to a great degree moulded by it.The representatives set themselves the task of disseminating knowledge among the people and advocating revolutionary ideas.The writers injected an invigorating vein into the English language in America as they aimed at clarity and precision of their writings.At the initial period the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment was largely due to journalism. Writings of Europe were widely read in America. The secular ideals of the American Enlightenment were exemplified in the life and career of Benjamin Franklin.III.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)The AutobiographyPoor Richard’s AlmanacLifeBenjamin Franklin came from a Calvinist background.He was born into a poor candle-maker’s family. He had very little education. He learned in school only for two years, but he was a voracious reader.At 12, he was apprenticed to his elder half-brother, a printer.At 16, he began to publish essays under the pseudonym “Silence Do good” .At 17, he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune.He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher. In 1727 he founded the Junto club.Multiple identities:a printera leading authora politiciana scientista inventora diplomata civic activistFranklin’s Contributions to SocietyHe helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital.He founded an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania.And he helped found the American Philosophical Society.Franklin’s Contributions to ScienceHe was also remembered for volunteer fire departments, effective street lighting, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses and efficient heating devices.And for his lightning-rod, he was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire from heaven.”Franklin’s Contributions to the U.S.He was the only American to sign the four documents that created the United States:The Declaration of Independence,The Treaty of Alliance with France,The Treaty of Peace with England,The ConstitutionThe AutobiographyThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was probably the first of its kind in literature. It is 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.The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is Puritan because it is a record of self-examination and self-improvement. The meticulous chart of 13 virtues he set for himself to cultivate to combat the tempting vices, the stupendous effort he made to improve his own person, the belief that God helps those who helps themselves and that every calling is a service to God – all these indicate that Franklin was intensely Puritan. Then, the book is also a convincing illustration of the Puritan ethic that, in order to get on in the world, one has to be industrious, frugal, and prudent.The Autobiography is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Franklin was spokesman for the new order of eighteenth-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.A look at the style of The Autobiography will readily reveal that 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 salient features we cannot mistake. The lucidity of the narrative, the absence ofornaments in wording and of complex, involved structures in syntax, and the Puritan abhorrence of paradox are all graphically demonstrated in the whole of the book. Taken as a whole, it is safe to say that the book is an exemplary illustration of the American style of writing.IV.Thomas Paine (1737-1809)Common SenseAmerican CrisisV.Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)The Declaration of IndependenceVI.Philip Freneau (1752-1832)“Poet of the American Revolution”“Father of American Poetry”“Pioneer of the New Romanticism”“A gifted and versatile lyric poet”Works“The Wild Honey Suckle”“The Indian Burying Ground”“To a Caty-Did”Freneau 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.Life Experience►He was born in New York.►At 16, he entered the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He decided to do a postgraduate study in theology. But two years later he gave it up. While still an undergraduate, he wrote in collaboration with one of his friends (H. H. Brackenridge) a poem entitled “The Rising Glory of America”.►Later he attended the War of Independence, and he was captured by British army in 1780.►After being released, he published “The British Prison Ship” in 1781.►In the same year, he published “To the Memory of the Brave Americans”.►After war, he supported Jefferson, and contributed greatly to American government.►But after 50 years old, he lived in poverty. And at last he died in a blizzard.Main Works►“The Rising Glory of America” (1772) 《美洲光辉的兴起》►“The House of Night” (1779,1786) 《夜之屋》►“The British Prison Ship” (1781) 《英国囚船》►“To the Memory of the Brave Americans” (1781) 《纪念美国勇士》►“”The Wild Honey Suckle” (1786) 《野忍冬花》►“The Indian Burying Ground” (1788) 《印第安人墓地》野忍冬花(黄杲炘译)►美好的花呀,你长得:这么秀丽,却藏身在这僻静沉闷的地方——甜美的花儿开了却没人亲昵,招展的小小枝梢也没人观赏;没游来荡去的脚来把你踩碎,没东攀西摘的手来催你落泪。
美国文学史及选读复习笔记
History And Anthology of American Literature (VolumeⅠⅡ)美国文学史及选读1、2PartⅠThe Literature of Colonial America殖民主义时期的文学1.17世纪早期English and European explorers开始登陆美洲。
在他们之前100多年Caribbean Islands, Mexico andother Parts of South America已被the Spanish占领。
2.17th早期English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts(弗吉尼亚和马萨诸塞)开始了美国历史3.美国最早殖民者(earliest settlers)included Dutch ,Swedes ,Germans ,French ,Spaniards ,Italians and Portuguese(荷兰人,瑞典人,德国人,法国人,西班牙人,意大利人及葡萄牙人等)。
4.美国早期文学主要为the narratives and journals of these settlements采用in diaries and in journals(日记和日志),他们写关于the land with dense forests and deep-blue lakes and rich soil.5.第一批美国永久居民:the first permanent English settlement in North America was established atJamestown,Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿)。
6.船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith他的作品(reports of exploration)17th早期出版,被认为是美国第一部真正意义上的文学作品in the early 1600s,have been described as the first distinctly American literature written in English.他讲述了filled with themes, myths, images, scenes, character and events,吸引了朝圣者和清教徒前往lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans.7.美国第一位作家:1608年Captain John Smith写了封信《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”.8.他的第二本书1612年《弗吉尼亚地图,附:一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of theCountry”.9.他一共出版了八本书,其中有关于新英格兰的历史及描述。
(完整word版)美国文学史-知识点梳理
Part I The Literature of Colonial AmericaI.Historical IntroductionThe colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607. (A group of people was sent by the English King James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607. They named the James River and build the James town。
)II.The pre-revolutionary writing in the colonies was essentially of two kinds: 1)Practical matter—of—fact accounts of farming,hunting, travel,etc。
designed to inform people ”at home” what life was like in the new world,and,often, to induce their immigration2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical,discussions of religious questions.III.The First American WriterThe first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements。
美国文学史考点整理
美国文学研究一、作者及其主要作品梭罗《瓦尔登,或林中生活》霍桑《红字》短篇小说如《教长的黑面纱》《小伙子布朗》等麦尔维尔《白鲸》爱伦·坡《怪诞故事集》惠特曼《草叶集》亨利·詹姆斯《一位女士的画像》马克·吐温《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》《神秘的陌生人》德莱塞《美国的悲剧》杰克·伦敦《马丁·伊登》、《野性的呼唤》、《海狼》、《白牙》T·S·艾略特《荒原》(诗歌)菲茨杰拉德《了不起的盖茨比》海明威《太阳照常升起》福克纳《喧哗与骚动》尤今·奥尼尔《毛猿》《琼斯皇》《进入黑夜的漫长旅程》(戏剧)斯坦贝克《愤怒的葡萄》索尔·贝娄《洪堡的礼物》、《挂起来的人》诺曼·梅勒《裸者与死者》塞林格《麦田里的守望者》厄普代克《兔子,跑吧》(“兔子四部曲”)海勒《第二十二条军规》纳博科夫《洛丽塔》凯鲁亚克《在路上》威廉斯《玻璃动物园》(戏剧)米勒《推销员之死》(戏剧)拉尔夫·埃里森《看不见的人》托尼·莫里森《所罗门之歌》爱丽丝·沃克《紫色》谭恩美《喜福会》独立战争前后的文学富兰克林《自传》《穷查理历书》《致富之路》托马斯·潘恩《常识》《人的权利》《理性的时代》托马斯·杰弗逊《独立宣言》克里夫古尔《一个美国农夫的信》弗瑞诺《野忍冬花》《印第安人墓地》《纪念英勇的美国人》查尔斯·布罗克丹·布朗《韦兰德》二、简答题+论述题1.美国文学的诞生及一般特色1)历史背景:1775-81年的北美独立战争;1783年美利坚合众国的成立;1861-65年的南北战争。
独立战争以后,特别是进入19世纪之后,独立的美国文学开始诞生。
2)美国文学的一般特色:A.早期人少地多,为个人理想的实现提供了很大的空间和可能性,因此美国文学富于民主自由精神,个人主义、个性解放的观念较为强烈;B.这是一个由各国移民组成的国家,所以文学的内容、思想倾向和艺术风格都呈现出多样性、庞杂性;C.许多作家直接来自社会下层,使得文学的生活气息浓郁,平民色彩鲜明,具有开朗、豪放的特点;D.由于美国作家的敏感、好奇,使得美国文学浪潮迭起,日新月异,瞬息万变。
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美国文学史(1)所学知识点总结
I The Colonial Period
Captain John Smith
American Puritanism
II The Age of Enlightenment
“Reason ”
1. Benjamin Franklin
1)Aotubiography;
2)Poor Richard’s Almanac
2. Thomas Paine:
Common Sense
III Romantic Period
1. Washington Irving “Father of American Literature”
1)“Rip Van Winkle”
2)“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
2. James Fennimore Cooper
“frontier, wilderness”
Leatherstocking Tales : a series of 5 novels:
The Deerslayer; The Last of the Mohicans; The Pathfinder;
The Pioneers; The Prarie
3. Nathaniel Hawthonre
The Scaletter Letter
(Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingwoth, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl,) 4. Herman Melville:
Moby Dick (symbols, major themes, characters: Ishmael . Ahab) 5: Two transcendentalists:
New England Transcendentalism (major features;)
Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nature”
Henry David Thoreau: Waldon and “Civel Disobedience”
6. Edgar Allan Poe
Gothic Tales : Major features
a short story: “The Fall of the House of Usher”;
Poems: “The Raven”; “To Helen”
7. Two Greatest poets in 19th century America
Walt Whitman : Free verse ; Leaves of Grass
“O Captain! My Captain!”
“Song of Myself”
Emily Dickinson:
“Because I could not stop for Death”
“Wild Nights, Wild Nights ”
IV. American Realism
(Definition; fidelity, actuality, truthful dipiction of life)
1. Willam Dean Howells
2. Mark Twain (Local Colorism)
3. Henry James (international theme) American Naturalism :
(3 major ideas; mood:pessimistic Stephne Crane :
The Red Badge of Courage (war) Maggie, A Girl of Streets
Frank Norris:
The Octopus
Theodore Dreiser:
Sister Carrie。