美国浪漫主义Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman
艾米丽和惠特曼
A contrast between Emily Dickenson and Walt WhitmanAbstract: Being the America’s great poets, Emily Dickenson and Walt Whitman are both familiar to us. It is obvious to us that they are different in their thinking, faiths and writing styles. I will make a contrast of the two poets in this paper, meanwhile explore that the living environment really has a great influence on people.Key words: education religion writing style themeEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, where her father was a prominent lawyer and politician and where her grandfather had established an academy and college. Being the daughter of a prominent politician, Emily had the benefit of a good education and attended the Amherst Academy. Although she was successful at college, Emily returned after only one year at the seminary in 1848 to Amherst where she began her life of seclusion.In Emily's entire life, she took one trip to Philadelphia (due to eye problems), one to Washington, and a few trips to Boston. Other than those occasional ventures, Emily had no extended exposure to the world outside her home town. During this time, her early twenties, Emily began to write poetry seriously. Since she had her own belief in God and heaven, which was different from the views held by her peers, she refused to sign an oath to dedicate her life to Jesus Christ. Though she didn’t believe in the conventional religion of her family, she had studied Bible, and many of her poems resemble hymns in form.Because of the unconventional form of her poems, the press refused to publish her poems, but in the 1920s, the poems were rediscovered by the literary world. Her poems are short, and most of them based on a single image or symbol. But within her little lyrics Miss Dickinson writes about some of the most important things in life. She writes about mature, mortality and immortality, love and lover, whom she either never really found or else gave up. She writes about success, which she thought she never achieved, and about failure, which she considered her constant companion. She writes of these things so brilliantly that she is now ranked as one of America’s great poets.If Emily Dickenson is one of America’s great poets, she has to share the spotlight with Walt Whitman. Unlike Emily Dickenson, Walt Whitman was born in1819, in a poor family where his father was a carpenter and builder of houses. He was the second child of the nine children in his family, and in order to support his ever-growing family of nine children, four of whom were handicapped, Whitman had to withdrawn from public school at the age of eleven to help support the family. So he was not so high educated as Dickenson. He had done a lot of jobs to make money such as a carpenter, a printer, a journalist, and even a school teacher.Thought Whitman stopped going to school at an early age, he was bookish and almost interested in everything. He read voraciously and was mainly self-taught, and became acquainted with Homer, Dante, Shakespeare and Scott early in life, which was superior to Dickenson, since when Dickenson began writing poetry, she didn’t know Shakespeare and classical mythology. And he knew the Bible thoroughly, and as a God-intoxicated poet, desired to inaugurate a religion uniting all of humanity in bonds of friendship.Walt Whitman’s first book of poems was entitled “Leaves of Grass”. In which, most of the poems were written in free verse—that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme, which was invented by Whitman. He thought that the voice of democracy should not be haltered by traditional forms of verse. However, until Whitman, poetry had always had rhythm and rhyme. Most people who saw his poetry found it too weird, and many would not even consider it poetry.So Whitman paid for it entirely by hims elf because, like Dickinson’s poems, publishers thought they were too odd to take a costly chance on.Whitman needed a boost—a way of getting his work recognized. So he sent a free copy to Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was luckier than Dickinson, because Emerson was entranced by the poems and responded with a five-page reply. It became the most famous piece of literary sponsorship in American history. Emerson’s support then caused others to rethink and revisit Whitman’s poems.To sum up, Emily Dickenson and Walt Whitman are different in many aspects, such as family background, education level, religion and their pomes’ themes. It is the products of different living environments. Just as it mentioned above, Dickenson’s themes are about love, nature, immortality and so on, which are all based on her own experiences, while Whitman’s poems are more national. He writes about democracy, equality of things and beings and expansion of America. However, just as the saying goes, “every coin has two sides”, they also has something in common, for example, thematically, they both extolled, in their different ways, an emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of “American Renaissance”. Technically, they both added to the lit erary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they were pioneers in American poetry.References: (1)赵彤. 华尔特·惠特曼:美国诗歌史上的一盏明灯[J]. 西华师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2006,(06) .(2)王光碧,杨康昀. 寻找美国精神——浅析惠特曼的《自我之歌》[J]. 安徽文学(下半月), 2010,(05) .(3)黄修齐. 狄金森诗歌的现代感及死亡主题[J]. 福建师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 1994,(03) .(4) 张涛. 艾米莉·狄金森:探寻自我灵魂的诗人[J]. 中国科教创新导刊, 2008,(17) .。
美国浪漫主义
Major y Wordsworth Long Fellow, Edgar Ellen Poe, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson • • • • • Fiction: Washington Irving-- comic fables James Fenimore Cooper -- frontier adventures Nathaniel Hawthorne -- psychological romances Edgar Allen Poe -- Gothic tales
Cullen Bryant, Henry Wordsworth LongFellow, James Russel Lowell, John Greenleaf Whitter, Edgar Ellen Poe, and, especially, Walt Whitman, whose Leaves Of Grass established him as the most popular American poet of the 19th century.
Major writers of the romantic period
• There emerged a great host of men of letters
during this period, among whom the better-
known are poets such as Philip Freneau, William
7
Distinct Feature of American Romanticism
• Themes: home, family and children, nature, idealized love; Apathy to major problems of American life • Technique: Traditional meters and stanza forms, British English, stereotyped metaphors, explicit and superficial symbolism
Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
Comparing Emily Dickinson and Walt WhitmanBeing the America’s great poets, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are both familiar to us. It is obvious that they are different in their whole lives and writing styles. I will make a contrast of the two poets in this paper.Their lives are like chalk and cheese.Emily Dickinson was born in a wealthy family,so that she had the benefit of a good education and attended the Amherst Academy. Although she was successful at college, Emily returned after only one year at the seminary in 1848 to Amherst where she began h er life of seclusion.After 1872,she scarcely ever left her own house and yard.She kept in touch with her friends through letters,short poems,and small gifts.Though she didn’t believe in the conventional religion of her family, she had studied Bible and many of her poems resemble hymns in form. Because of the unconventional form of her poems, the press refused to publish her poems. But in the 1920s, the poems were rediscovered by the literary world. She never married,and died in 1886.Unlike Emily Dickinson,Walt Whitman was born in a poorfamily.In order to support his impecunious and miserable family,Whitman had to withdrawn from public school at the age of eleven. So he was not so high educated as Dickinson. He had done a lot of jobs to make money such as a carpenter, a printer, a journalist, and even a school teacher.But he was bookish and almost interested in everything. He read voraciously and was mainly self-taught.After doing various jobs,he began his literary career.But most people who saw his poetry found it too weird, and many would not even consider it poetry. Like Dickinson’s poems, publishers thought they were too odd to take a costly chance on.He didn’t give up.Then he sent a free copy to Ralp h Waldo Emerson. He was luckier than Dickinson, because Emerson was entranced by the poems and responded with a five-page reply. It became the most famous piece of literary sponsorship in American history. Emerson’s support caused others to rethink and rev isit Whitman’s poems.After 1880,he gained his recognition as a poet.He was poor all his life and never married.There are some similarities and differences between Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman’s poems.Firstly,they both are interest in self-expression,loving nature and seeing nature as a symbol for what is going on inside human heart.Walt Whitman seems to keep his eyes on society at large, while Emily Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual.Secondly, they praise a rising America, its individualism and Americanism.Whitman is national in his outlook, yet Emily Dickinson is regional.Thirdly,both of them break free of the traditional poetry form.Whitman employs free verse as the form of his poetry.His lines are comparatively long and complex. His language is direct, plain and even vulgar. However, Dickinson prefers off-rhythm. Her poetry is short, concise, simple and pr ecise. She is idiosyncratic in her frequent use of dashes and unique use of capitals. What’s more,Whitman shows great optimism and confidence towards the future of America, while Emily Dickinson is tragic in tone.。
美国浪漫主义文学
美国浪漫主义文学(1820-1860)：小说类2008.05.03埃德加•艾伦•坡(Edgar Allan Poe，1809-1849)(© AP Images)(此为《美国文学纲要》（Outline of American Literature）修订本第四章，由美国国务院国际信息局翻译。
)作者：凯瑟琳·文斯潘克仁（Kathryn VanSpanckeren）沃尔特∙惠特曼（Walt Whitman）、纳撒尼尔∙霍桑（Nathaniel Hawthorne）、赫尔曼∙麦尔维尔（Herman Melville）、埃德加∙爱伦∙坡（Edgar Allan Poe）、艾米莉∙狄更生（Emily Dickinson）以及超验主义作家代表了美国本土涌现的第一代文学大师。
就小说家而言，浪漫主义流派大多采取霍桑所说的―浪漫文学‖(Romance)手法，以笔触激昂、情感浓郁和饱含象征性见长，成为小说创作的一种样式。
浪漫主义作品不同于爱情小说，属利用特殊的技巧表达复杂、细腻的意蕴的严肃小说。
大多数英国或欧洲大陆小说家一般通过大量的细节刻划现实人物，但霍桑、麦尔维尔、爱伦∙坡反其道而行之，塑造的是超于生活的神异人物，不时爆发出神秘主义的火花。
美国浪漫主义作品中的典型人物往往神魂颠倒、情态恍惚。
例如霍桑作品《红字》（The Scarlet Letter）中的亚瑟∙丁梅斯代尔(Dimmesdale)和海斯特·白兰(Hester Prynne)、麦尔维尔作品《白鲸》(Moby-Dick)中的亚哈（Ahab）及爱伦∙坡小说中许多性情乖戾和心神不定的人物，均作为孤独的主人公与不可知的、暗淡的命运进行抗争，其行为方式带有某种神秘性，发自于内心最深层的下意识。
这些象征性的情节揭示了痛苦的精神背后隐藏的种种行为。
这类作品以小说的形式探索隐蔽的灵魂深处，原因之一是因为美国缺乏根深蒂固的传统社区生活。
英国小说家──简∙奥斯汀（Jane Austen）、狄更斯（Charles Dickens ）(享有盛誉的作家)、安东尼∙特罗洛普（Anthony Trollope）、乔治∙艾略特（George Eliot）、威廉∙萨克雷（William Thackeray）──都生活在纷扰繁杂、具有鲜明特色的传统社会，与读者有共同的喜怒哀乐，可从中为他们的现实主义小说汲取素材。
Emily-Dickinson-and-Walt-Whitman
“Because I could not stop for Death”
Because I could not stop for Death – 因为我不能停步等候死神
He kindly stopped for me –
他便停车来接我——
The Carriage
held
but
just
Ourselves –
Her seclusion was not the result of a failed love affair, but rather a part of a more general pattern of renunciation through which she, in her quest for self-sovereignty, carried on an argument with the puritan fathers, attacking with wit and irony their cheerless Calvinist doctrine, their stern patriarchal God, and their rigid notions of “true womanhood”.
四轮马车里只有我们俩—— 还有永生伴征程。
And Immortality.
We slowly drove – He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility –
我们缓缓而行，他显得格外 从容—— 我也抛开 劳作和闲暇，因为 他是如此殷情陪送——
technicallyFra bibliotekadded to the literary independence
美国文学史及选读考研复习笔记6.
History And Anthology of American Literature （6）附：作者及作品一、殖民主义时期The Literature of Colonial America1．船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith《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”《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country”《弗吉尼亚通史》“General History of Virginia”2．威廉·布拉德福德William Bradford《普利茅斯开发历史》“The History of Plymouth Plantation”3．约翰·温思罗普John Winthrop《新英格兰历史》“The History of New England”4．罗杰·威廉姆斯Roger Williams《开启美国语言的钥匙》”A Key into the Language of America”或叫《美洲新英格兰部分土著居民语言指南》Or “A Help to the Language of the Natives in That Part of America Called New England ”5．安妮·布莱德斯特Anne Bradstreet《在美洲诞生的第十个谬斯》”The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America”二、理性和革命时期文学The Literature of Reason and Revolution 1。
陶洁美国文学第三版选择题复习资料
Test 1一、单选题（共2题，10分）1、Which of the following values doesn't belong to that of Puritans'?A、hard workB、thriftC、self-relianceD、Patriotism正确答案： D解析：Patriotism指爱国主义，早期清教徒初到北美时，当地并不是一个国家，同时，当时人们的宗教信仰更强烈2、________ is a book written by Benjamin Franklin to recollect his life and encourage young people to strive for a better life.A、Poor Richards AlmanacB、The AutobiographyC、The Arrival in PhiladelphiaD、The Way to Wealth正确答案：B二、多选题（共3题，15分）1、How much do you know about Benjamin Franklin?A、He is one of the founding fathers of America.B、He is a self-made man and set a good example for American Dream.C、He made a lot of contributions to America and has a colorful life.D、He is very proud of his achievements and shows his pride in his work The Autobiography.正确答案：ABC解析：Franklin 一直很谦虚，他写的《自传》全文语气温和，平易近人，死后墓碑上的铭文也只留下简单的一个身份词：A Printer。
Part III (6) Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson 美国文学
rank and hierarchy
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
one of America’s greatest poets born into a Calvinist family of Amherst,
Major Works
Leaves of Grass (first edition, 1855; fifth edition, 1871): collection of poetry “Song of Myself” “I Hear America Singing” “O Captain, My Captain” “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” “A Noiseless Patient Spider” …
Influence
“the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that an American has yet contributed” a mountain in American literary history; common property of Western culture
It was divided into fifty-two numberenticism (Transcedentalism) and realism
first-person narration: “I” in the poem → nature and common people
admires the crusading liberal Republicanism
美国文学中的几个主义
美国文学中的几个主义清教主义： Puritanism 代表人物： Anna Bradstreet ，Benjamin Franklin ，Thomas Paine ，Thomas Jefferson浪漫主义： Romanticism 代表人物：Washington Irving ，Edgar Allan PoeA超验主义：Transcendentalism ；代表人物：Ralph Waldo Emerson ，Emily Dickinson ，Walt Whitman自然主义：Naturalism ；代表人物：Henry D. Thoreau意向主义：Imagism ；代表人物：Ezra Pound心理现实主义：psychological realism ；代表人物：Henry James一清教主义对美国文学的影响清教徒文学传统形成于17世纪，清教主义与其它宗教相比,包含三个层面的价值体系,并对不同时期的美国文学产生了不同的影响,表现出不同时代特征,以清教主义作为参照系,可以说17世纪美国文学是“信仰时代的文学”,18世纪美国文学是“世俗时代的文学”,19世纪美国文学则可称为“宗教批判与宗教道德时代的文学”。
发端于英国的清教主义对美国社会有着更大的影响,“英格兰有过清教革命,却没有创建清教社会;美国没有经历清教革命,却创建了清教社会”①。
并且这种影响以其持久深厚而铸就了美利坚民族的灵魂。
正如朱世达先生所言:“清教传统像一条红线规范了从殖民时代到如今的美国的政治文化与社会文化”②。
作为美国文化一个独特的源头,清教主义在美国经历了由表及里、由明转暗的曲折发展,最终形成有美国特色的清教价值体系,从某种意义上说,文学是这一发展历程的最好见证。
一般而言,宗教都包含信仰与道德两个层面的价值体系。
清教主义的传播和渗入伴随着早期的移民拓荒、定居北美的整个过程。
作为一种教义 ,清教主义不再具有原有的意义 ,但它对新英格兰乃至整个美国由来已久的影响 ,却在美国形成了一种特殊的文化氛围 ,不仅与美国人性格中的个人主义有联系 ,对美国文学的发展和特点也起着重要作用。
美国文学 Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson艾米莉·狄金森(1830 - 1886)1.The usual beginning : her life1) Born to religious, well-to-do New England family•Well-behaved, well-educated, obedient•Expected to become a graceful woman, marry well, and settle into a life of church service2) Heartbreak :•Heartbreak At 24, travels with her father to Washington D.C. Escaping her love of an older lawyer, who was married, and would die of tuberculosis that same year•On the journey, falls in love with Charles Wadsworth, a married pastor of a church in Philadelphia In 1862, Wadsworth leaves for San Francisco, and Emily falls into despair3) The Nun of Amherst : 阿默斯特的女尼•Emily withdraws from social life – except for immediate family gatherings•Dresses all in white – like the wedding gown she would never wear •Communicates mostly through notes4) A Published Poet :•During her period of recluse, Emily send a few poems to be published.•Her poetry was never widely admired during her lifetime•and she assumed her audience would only be her family and few close friends. •Dickinson asked that upon her death, all of her poems be destroyed.5) After her death :•She wrote altogether 1775 poems, of which only seven appeared in print in her lifetime. •These were eventually published and Dickinson has become one of the most widely known of the American poets.2. Themes in her poetry1). The largest poetry concerns death and immortality.For Dickinson, death leads to immortality.•E. g: ―Because I could not Stop for Death‖因为我不能为死神止步Because I could Not Stop For Death因为我不能为死神止步•Beause I could not stop for Death—因为我不能为死神止步•He kindly stopped for me—他却慈祥地为我驻足.•The Carriage held but just Ourselves—那辆马车只能容下我们两个•And Immortality.还有不朽.•We slowly drove— He knew no haste,我们徐徐而行—他不慌不忙. •And I had put away•My labor and my leisure too我也把我的劳与闲统统丢掉一边，•For His Civility —为了他的礼让—•We passed the School where Children strove 我们路过学校,孩子们你推我搡，•At Recess —in the Ring —在休息时间，在圆形广场•We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—我们走过在田间凝眸的麦田—. •We passed the Setting Sun—我们路过夕阳-•Or rather— He passed Us—或毋宁说，他走过我们身旁•The Dews drew quivering and chill—寒露降，身子冻得打颤•For only Gossamer, my Gown—因为我只披着薄纱长袍—•my Tippet —only Tulle—我的披肩如丝网•We paused before a House that seemed 我们停步在一所房子前•A swelling of the Ground—那是隆起的土地一片—•The Roof was scarcely visible—屋顶几乎看不见—•The Cornice —in the Ground—屋檐—在地里—•Since then — `tis Centuries— and yet离那时—已是几个世纪—然而•Feels shorter than the Day感觉却比一天还短•I first surmised the Horses' Heads•我开始猜想着马车•Were toward Eternity—•正驶向永恒—该诗的核心意象是通向永恒的生命旅程.Journey of life：•the School--childhood•the Field --adult/maturity•the Setting Sun - old age•the grave - end of life’s journey-death--EternityDetailed analysis of the poem•The first line hints that death is not the final stopping place or terminus of existence.•i had...too:figuratively I put behind me the labour and toil of worldly existence. Literally, as a courteous passenger she puts aside her work, possibly her knitting ("labour") and gives all her attention to the coach driver (Death).•where...ring: they pass children at playtime ("recess") actively engaged in playing a game (symbolic of the world, and/or of meaningless worldly striving).•fileds of gazing grain: cornfields,perhaps suggestive of harvest, or the cycle of the seasons, the natural world she is leaving behind. ("Gazing" is nicely alliterative but difficult to explain to expain-may mean simply something gazed at through the carriage window).•The dews: in the English culture, drew is traditionally associated with transience and also, because of a dew-drop's pearl like shape, with the soul.•My tippet only tulle:my fur was only soft fine silk (I wore little to protect me from the cold). •We...ground: a grave or tomb. ("paused"implies that burial in a grave signfied no more than a temporary restinplace before the soul attends to heaven).•Since then 'tis centuries:time is meaningless in terms of eternity,and therefore it seems no time at all since she first suspected("surmised")that the horse drawing Death's carriage were heading for Eternity. •"Surmised"is a beautifully apt word in this context because it tactfully suggeste something less than a certitude, but someting more than guess or conjecture-the sound of the word with its long drawn out second syllable counts for a good deal here(possibly about Cortez the explorer first viewing the continent of South America:"...and all his men Look'd at each other with a wild surmise..."). •Other poems dealing with death:•My life closed twice before its close在我生命结束之前已经结束过两次•I heard a fly buzz—when I died我死时听到了苍蝇的嗡嗡声She began to conceive of the process of dying.2). She regards nature as both kind and cruel•Extol the magnificence of sunrise in ―I’ll tell you how sun rise‖我将告诉你太阳如何升起,•In the meantime, reveal the cold indifference of nature.•In ―Apparently with no surprise‖显然地并无伴随惊讶, Frost kills a happy flower without being punished while both the sun and God look on.3). On the ethical level she emphasizes free-will and human responsibility.•In ―To fight aloud‖•The individual’s highest duty is to resist anything that will do harm to man’s self-respect and spiritual heritage.4). Like Emerson, she holds that beauty, truth and goodness are ultimately one.•In ―I died for beauty‖(我为美而死), discusses beauty and truth, concludes that the two are one.I Died for Beauty— But was scarce•I died for Beauty — but was scarce我为美而死—但还不怎么•Adjusted in the Tomb适应坟墓里的生活，•When One who died for Truth , was lain这时一位为真理而死的人被安放在•In an adjoining Room —隔壁墓室里—•He questioned softly"Why I failed?―他柔声问：―我为什么而亡？‖•"For Beauty ",I replied —―为了美‖，我回答说—•"And I — for Truth — Themself are One —―我—为了真理—美和真是一样的—•We Bretheren, are", He said —我们两是兄弟‖，他说•And so, as Kinsmen, met a Night —就这样，像亲人在夜里相遇。
美国文学 Emily Dickinson
美国文学__选择题__诗歌分析题 前4章
American LiteratureChapter 1 The Romantic PeriodI. Choose the right answer:1. Of all the following issues, _____is definitely NOT the focus of the Romantic writers in the American literary history.A. Puritan moralityB. Human bestialityC. Noble savagesD. Divinity of man2. Henry David Thoreau’s work, ________, has always been regarded as a masterpiece of the New England Transcendental Movement.A. WaldenB. The PioneersC. NatureD. "Song of Myself"3. "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind" is a famous quote from______’s writings.A. Walt WhitmanB. Henry David ThoreauC. Herman MelvilleD. Ralph Waldo Emerson4. ’Leaves of Grass’ commands great attention because of its uniquely poetic embodiment of________, which are written in the founding documents of both the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War.A. the democratic idealsB. the romantic idealsC. the self-reliance spiritsD. the religious ideals5. According to Whitman, the genuine participation of a poet in a common cultural effort was to behave as a supreme_________.A. democratB. individualistC. romanticistD. leader6. The period before the American Civil War is generally referred to as ___________.A. The Naturalist PeriodB. The Modern PeriodC. The Romantic PeriodD. The Realistic Period7. In the following works, which sign the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leather Stocking TalesD. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn8. _____is the author of the work ’The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’.A. Washington IrvingB. James JoyceC. Walt WhitmanD. William Butler Yeats9. Washington Irving’s ’Rip Van Winkle’ is famous for_________.A. Rip’s escape into a mysteriousB. The story’s German legendary source materialC. Rip’s seeki ng for happinessD. Rip’s 20-years sleep10. Which of the following statement is not true about Washington Irving?A. Washington Irving is regarded as Father of the American short stories.B. Irving’s relationship with the Old World in terms of his literar y imagination can hardly be ignored considering his success both abroad and at home.C. I rving’s taste was essentially progressive or radical.D. Washington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who "perfected the best classic style that American literature ever produced."11. The Publication of ______established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over-Soul12. The phrase "a transparent eye-ball’ compares philosophical mentation of Emerson’s. It appears in_________.A. The American ScholarB. NatureC. The over SoulD. Essays: Second Series13. In 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson made a speech entitled _______at Harvard, which was hailed by Oliver Wendell Holmeasas :Our Intellectual Declaration of Independence".A. "Self-Reliance"B. "Divinity School Address"C. "The American Scholar"D. "Nature"14. _____is the most ambivalent (有争议的) writers in the American literary history.A. Nathaniel HawthorneB. Walt WhitmanC. Ralph Waldo EmersonD. Mark Twain15. "There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, through the whole life; but circumstances may rouse it to activity", which author of the following authors does the mention belong to________.A. Washington IrvingB. Ralph Waldo EmersonC. Nathaniel HawthorneD. Walt Whitman16. In Hawthorne’s novels and short stories, intellectuals usually appear as________.A. saviorsB. villainsC. commentatorsD. observers17. All of the following are works by Nathaniel Hawthorne except_______.A. The House of the Seven GablesB. White JacketC. The Marble FaunD. The Blithedale Romance18. Walt Whitman is radically innovative in the form of his poetry. What he prefers for his new subject is__________.A. free verseB. blank verseC. lyric poemD. heroic couplet19. Which of the following features cannot characterize poems by Walt Whitman?A. Lyrical and well-structuredB. Free-flowingC. Simple and rather crudeD. Conversational and casual20. " The horizon’s edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud. These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day." The two lines are taken from____________.A. "There Was a Child Went Forth" by Walt WhitmanB. "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra PoundC. "Cavalry Crossing a Ford" by Walt WhitmanD. "Ulysses" by JoyceAnswer: A (P454)21. "Moby Dick" is regarded as the first American_________.A. Prose epicB. Comic epicC. Dramatic fictionD. Poetic fictionAnswer: A (P460)22. The giant Moby Dick may symbolize all EXCEPT________.A. mystery of the universeB. sin of the whaleC. power of the great NatureD. evil of the worldAnswer: B (P461)23. Which of the following comments on the writings by Herman Melville is not true?A. "Bartleby, the Scrivener" is a short story.B. "Benito Cereno" is a novella.C. The Confidence---Man has something to do with the sea and sailors.D. Moby-Dick is regarded as the first American prose epic.Answer: C (P459---460)24. The Transcendentalists believe that, first, nature is ennobling, and second, the individual is____, therefore, self-reliant.A. insignificantB. vicious by natureC. divineD. forward-looking10. It is on his____________ that Washingt on Irving’s fame mainly rested.A. childhood recollectionsB. sketches about his European toursC. early poetryD. tales about America12. As a philosophical and literary movement, the main issues involved in the debate of Transcendentalism are generally concerning ____________________.A. nature, man and the universeB. the relationship between man and womanC. the development of Romanticism in American literatureD. the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism13. About the novel The Scarlet Letter, which of the following statements is NOT right?A. It’s very hard to say that it is a love story or a story of sin.B. It’s a highly symbolic story and the author is a master of symbolism.C. It’s mainly about the moral, emotional and psychological effects of the sin upon the maincharacters and the people in general.D. In it the letter A takes the same symbolic meaning throughout the novel.15. In his poems, Walt Whitman is innovative in the terms of the form of his poetry, which is called “____________________.”A. free verseB. blank verseC. alliterationD. end rhyming21. More than five hundred poems Dickinson wrote are about nature, in which her general Skepticismabout the relationship between ______ is well-expressed.A. man and manB. men and womenC. man and natureD. men and God22. Which of the following is right about Emily Dickinson’s poems about nature?A. In them, she expressed her general affirmation about the relationship between man and nature.B. Some of them showed her disbelief that there existed a mythical bond between man and nature.C. Her poems reflected her feeling that nature is restorative to human beings.D.Many of them showed her feeling of nature’s inscrutability and indifference to the life andinterests of human beings.23. As a great innovator in American literature, Walt Whitman wrote his poetry in an unconventionalstyle which is now called free verse, that is _________.A. lyrical poetry with chanting refrainsB. poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme schemeC. poetry without rhymes at the end of the lines but with a fixed beatD. poetry in an irregular metric form and expressing noble feelings31. Which of the following statements can be said about the works of Scott Fitzgerald, a spokesman of the “Roaring 20s”?38. In Hawthorne’s novels and short stories, intellectuals usually appear as ______________.A. commentatorsB. observersC. villainsD. saviors39. Besides sketches, tales and essays, Washington Irving also published a book on ______, which is also considered an important part of his creative writing.A. poetic theoryB. French artC. history of New YorkD. life of George Washington43. Emily Dickinson wrote many short poems on various aspects of life. Which of the following is nota usual subject of her poetic expression?A. Religion.B. Life and death.C. Love and marriage.D. War and peace.44. In 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson made a speech entitled _______ at Harvard, which was hailed by Oliver Wendell Holmes as "Our intellectual Declaration of Independence."A. "Nature"B. "Self-Reliance"C. "Divinity School Address"D. "The American Scholar"46. In American literature the first important writer who earned an international fameon both sides of the Atlantic Ocean is_______________.A. Washington IrvingB. Ralph Waldo EmersonC. Nathaniel HawthorneD. Walt Whitman47. The American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne is known for his“black vision．”TheTerm “black vision” refers to______________.A. Hawthorne's observation that every man faces a black WallB. Hawthorne's belief that all men are by nature evilC. that Hawthorne employed a dream vision to tell his storyD. that Puritans of Hawthorne's time usually wore black clothes52. Though Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were romantic poets in theme and technique, they differ from each other in a variety of ways. For one thing, whereasWhitman likes to keep his eye on human Society at large, Dickinson often addresses such issues as_______, immortality, religion, love and nature.A. progressB. freedomC. beautyD. death53. The Romantic writers would focus on all the following issues EXCEPT the_______in the American literary history．A. individual feelingB. survival of the fittestC. strong imaginationD. return to nature61. American Romanticism stretches from the end of the ________ century through the outbreak of ______.A. 18th, the Civil WarB. 18th, the War of IndependenceC. 19th, WWID. 19th, WWII62. _________ believes that the chief aim of literary creation is beauty, and “the death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.”A. Walt WhitmanB. Edgar Allen PoeC. Anne BradstreetD. Ralph Waldo Emerson63. In Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for Death, ______________.A. death is personified as a devilB. death is described as the tragic end of a person’s lifeC. death is a stage of life and it leads people to the Heaven of immortalityD. death is described as a beautiful girl who couldn’t find her final destination64. Which is generally regarded as the manifesto and the Bible of American Transcendentalism?A. Thoreau’s WaldenB.Emerson’s NatureC. Poe’s Poetic PrincipleD. Thoreau’s Nature65. Henry David Thoreau’s work, ________, has always been regarded as a masterpiece of the NewEngland Transcendental Movement.A. WaldenB. The PioneersC. NatureD. "Song of Myself"66. ‘Leaves of Grass’ commands great attention because of its uniquely poetic embodimentof________, which are written in the founding documents of both the Revolutionary War and theAmerican Civil War.A. the democratic idealsB. the romantic idealsC. the self-reliance spiritsD. the religious ideals67. ________is the author of the work “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.A. Washington IrvingB. James JoyceC. Walt WhitmanD. William Butler Yeats70. We can perhaps summarize that Walt Whitman’s poems are characterized by all the following features except that they are _______________.A. conversational and crudeB. lyrical and well-structuredC. simple and rather crudeD. free-flowing77. The Transcendentalists believe that, first, nature is ennobling, and second, the individual is ____________.A. insignificantB. vicious by natureC. divineD. forward-looking78. The Publication of ______established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over-SoulAnswer: C (P402)II. Read the quoted part and answer the questions:1. "T ime grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on: a tart temper mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener by constant use. For a long while he used to perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle personages of the village.Questions:1) Please identify the author and the title of the work.2) What’s the meaning of this passage?参考答案:1) This is an excerpt from "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving. (P408)2) With his wife’s dominance at home, the situation became harder and harder for Rip Van Winkle. His wife’s temper became worse and she scolded him for more often. He had to stay in the club with idle people. (P407)附:Question: Please describe the changes Rip Van Winkle experienced.Answer: 1) Rip Van Winkle was the hero in Irving’s works. He was a good-natured man, a henpecked (惧内的，妻管严的) husband.2) Because his wife’s shrewish (泼妇一样的) treatment, Rip had to escape from his home to the little inn in the village. When it failed to give him some restful air, he had to go hunting in the high mountain, where Rip met a stranger, and the man asked Rip to carry keg for him. Then Rip reached the place in the valley, where many strangers were playing nine-pins. Later Rip got drunk after drinking the liquor, which made him sleep for 20 years.3) Rip woke up as an old man, entering the village learned that his wife had died, he got the freedom of his own,; and the American had been dependent from the control of Britain, he had changed from a subject ofthe King (George III) into a citizen of the independent new U.S.....2. " I celebrated myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you"Questions:1) Please identify the author and the title of the poem that had used when published. 2) What is the theme of this poem?参考答案:1) In the 1856, the title was "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American", then it became "Walt Whitman" in 1860, until 1881, it finally became "Song of Myself". The author is Walt Whitman. (P456--457)2) In this poem Whitman sets forth two principle beliefs:A. The theory of universality (普遍性), which is illustrated by lengthy catalogues of people and things;B. The belief in the singularity (个别性) and equality(平等性) of all beings in value. (P457)3. "Standing on the bare ground, ----my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -----all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all."Questions:1) Please identify the author and the title of the work.2) Please briefly interpret this passage.3). What rhetorical device of "transparent eye-ball".4) Emerson said he want to become a transparent eye-ball, what king idea did he want to express?参考答案:1) This selection is from "Nature" by Emerson. (P427)2) In the essay Emerson clearly expresses the main principles of his Transcendentalist pursuit and his love for nature. Emerson develops his concept of "Over-Soul" Or "Universal Mind". Last but not the leas, it affirms the divinity of the human beings. (P423)3) It used the device of metaphor. (P423) 4) He wanted to tell us: Nature can purify (净化) our quality and let us get comfort. (P243)III. Questions and answers:1. The Romantic Period was called "The American Renaissance". Discuss the background of the Romantic Period, and compare it with the Romanticism of Britain.Answer:1) The two Romanticism both stress the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature;2) They all pay attention to psychic states of the characters and exalt the individual and common man;3) American Romanticism revealed unique characteristics: (difference)<1> American authors describe their native land,, especially the spirit of the pioneering into the west, the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature;<2> American writers use local dialect in language;<3> Puritanism has great influence over American Romantics;<4> Calvinism of original sin is obvious in their works;<5> Transcendentalism is very important theory in American Romanticism;<6> The important setting in American Romanticism are: ①the early puritan settlement; ②the confrontation with the Indians; ③ the frontiersmen’s life; ④ the wild west; ⑤ imagination. (P399—402)2. Analyze the themes and characteristic of Hawthorne.Answer:Hawthorne was a man with inquiring imagination, meditative mind and dark vision to life.His themes in writing are:1) Man was born with evil and sin, one source of them is over-reaching intellect, whose image was always villain; (Chllingworth e.g.)2) Hawthorne was influenced greatly by Puritanism, while he criticized it bitterly;3) He believed Calvinistic ideas, thinking man was depraved and corrupted; they should obey God for saving the spirits;4) He concerned the moral life of man and human history;5) He was keen on the description of man’s development of psychology. (P432—433)3. Explain the theory of Transcendentalism, then list its important author and works.Answer:Transcendentalism is a very important theory in American Romanticism, its main ideas are:1) Man has the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or the ability of getting knowledge transcending the senses;2) Nature is ennobling and individual is divine, therefore, man should be self-reliant.3) Man is divine/holy and perfectible and man can trust himself to decide what is right and act accordingly; (but to Hawthorne and Melville man is a sinner);4) Universe is over-soul -a symbol of the spirit, God or the universe, there is an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal "over-soul" -unity of Nature.5) The important authors are: Emerson (The American Scholar) and Thoreau.6) "Nature", Emerson’s works, is called the unofficial manifesto fo r the club. (P421—P422)4. Hawthorne was a master in using symbol and allegory; cite some example to analyze it.Answer:1) Allegorically, Young Goodman Brown becomes an Everyman called Brown, who will be aged in one night by an evil adventure, and the evilness makes everyone a fallen idol in the world.2) In the angle of Symbol: "Brown look up to the Heaven and resist the wicked one" symbols Brown has the force to resist the evilness of the Nature and he still has the faith to God; but "he is alone in the forest" symbols the society is the place full of sins and evilness, Brown’s strength is not enough at all; then after returning, he lives a dismal and gloomy life symbols he has been crushed down by the social evilness and lost his belief in goodness and piety. (P434—435)5. Washington Irving was called "Father of the American short stories" and "the American Goldsmith". What characteristics did he have?Answer:1) He was nostalgic author, and he always juxtaposing the Old and the New world;2) He remained a conservative and always exalted a disappearing past, and he prefer the past to present, prefer a dream-like world to a real one;3) His stories were always from legend, especially German legends, showing best classic style. (P405—406)6. Sea adventure s are Melville’s favorite subject; "Moby-Dick" is a great novel in the theme, which is alsonoted for its symbolism, please analyze it in detail.Answer:1) About the sea adventure: it symbols the voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe; a spirit exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology;2) About the boat; it symbols the society, and the crew symbol all kinds of people with different social and ethnic ideas;3) About the white whale: To the author, it symbols nature, it is a complex, unfathomable and beautiful; To the captain Ahab, it is evilness, is a wall. So he will lead all his crew to cut through the wall to dig out all the unknown, mysterious things behind it. To the narrator, Ishmael, it is a mystery. (P460—461)7. Walt Whitman is a unique poet. Can you explain what make him unique?Answer:1) His themes are: Democracy; the Revolutionary War and the Civil War; freedom; openness; brotherhood; individualism; the growth of industry and the wealth of the cities; universality.2) His styles are special: "free verse"; "catalogue"; simple and even crude language. (P448-551)PART TWO: AMERICAN LITERATUREChapter 2 The Realistic PeriodI. Choose the right answer:1. Emily Dickinson was sometimes curious about the feeling of speech of death and in one of her poems she wrote about the______of death, the title of the poem is "I heard a Fly buzz when I died".A. momentB. sufferingC. happinessD. meaningAnswer: A (P518)2. Theodore Dreiser belonged to the school of literary ______which emphasized heredity and environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances.A. naturalismB. realismC. determinismD. humanismAnswer: A (P524)3. More than five hundred poems that Dickinson wrote are about nature, in which her general _____about the relationship between man and nature is well expressed.A. skepticismB. eulogyC. happinessD. denialAnswer: A (P518)4. "This is my letter to the World" is a poem expressing Emily Dickinson’s _____about her communication with the outside world.A. happinessB. angerC. AnxietyD. sorrowAnswer: C (P520)5. Though secluded herself in her own house, Emily Dickinson was never really indifferent of the outside world, as could be seen in her poems such as "I like to see it lap the Miles", which describes a(n) ______, an embodiment of modern civilization.A. snakeB. animalC. the roadD. trainAnswer: D (P521)6. After "The Adventure of Tom Sawyer", Twain gives a literary independence to Tom’s buddy Huck in a book called_____, and the book from which "all modern American literature comes".A. Life on the Mississippi RiverB. The Gilded AgeC. Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. The Sun Also RisesAnswer: C (P479---480)7. Winterbourne is used as a ______in Henry James’s "Daisy Miller".A. ProtagonistB. Narrator of the eventsC. A character of central consciousnessD. PersonaAnswer: C (P499)8. Emily Dickinson’s verse is most aptly characterized as ___________.A. exposing the evils of the societyB. paving the way for the following generation of free verse poetsC. sharing the same poetic conventions as Walt WhitmanD. exhibiting sensitiveness to the symbolic implications of experience, such as love, death, immortality and etc.Answer: D (P518)9. The author of "The Portrait of a Lady" is best at_______.A. probing into the unsearched secret part of human lifeB. a truthful delineation of the motives, the impulses, the principles that shape the lives of actual men and women.C. a dramatizing the collisions between two very different cultural systems on an international sceneD. disclosing the social injustices and evils of a civilized society after the Civil War.Answer: C (P496)10. The period ranging from 1865 to 1914 has been referred to as _____________.A. the Age of RealismB. the Age of ModernismC. the Age of RomanticismD. the Age of Colonicalism Answer: A (P471)18. Which of the following is NOT a usual subject of poetic expression of Emily Dickinson’s?A. War and peaceB. Love and marriageC. Life and deathD. ReligionAnswer: A (P517)3. "We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess---in the Ring---We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain----We passed the Setting Sun---”Questions:1) Please identify the poem and the poet;2) What does "the School, the Fields of Gazing Grain and the Setting Sun" stands for?Answers:1) The lines are from "Because I could not stop fro Death", Emily Dickinson. (P523)2) It stands for three stages of life: the School----youth;the Fields of Gazing Grain----mature period;the Setting Sun------end of life. (P523)4. "The Eyes around---had wrung them dry---And breaths were gathering firmFor that last Onset----when the KingBe witnessed---in the Room----"Questions:1) What is the meaning of the first line? 2) What does "the King" refer to? 3) What idea does the poem fromwhich this stanza is taken express?Answers:1) It means the relatives and friends had cried and cried so that there were no tears any more. (P521)2) "The King" refers to the God of death. (P521) 3) The poem expresses that the author even imagined her own death, the loss of her own body, and the journey of her soul to the unknown. (P518)6. Please analyze the characteristics of Emily Dickinso n’s poems.Answer:1) Dickinson’s poems are usually based on her own experiences, her sorrows and joys. But within her little lyrics Dickinson addresses those issues that concern the whole human beings, which include religion, death, immortality, love, and nature. (theme)2) Her masterpiece -----"I heard a Fly buzz---when I died", she looked at death from the point of view of both the living and the dying. She even imagined her own death, the loss of her own body, and the journey of her soul to the unknown.3) The style of Dickinson:A: A particular stress pattern: dash“-------”B: Capital letters as a means of emphasis;C: Language: brief, direct, and plain;D: Poem: short, always on single image or symbol (e.g. "I like to see it lap the miles"---------describe a train in the personification of the literary device)E: Her poems tend to be personal and meditative (e.g. “Because I could not stop for Death”).(P517---519)。
美国诗人介绍英文作文简短
美国诗人介绍英文作文简短American poets have left an indelible mark on literature, capturing the essence of the nation's spirit, struggles, and aspirations through their words. From the early pioneers like Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to contemporary voices like Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes, American poetry spans a rich tapestry of themes, styles, and emotions.One of the most iconic American poets is Emily Dickinson. Born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, Dickinson's poetry is known for its brevity, unconventional punctuation, and profound exploration of themes such as death, nature, and the human psyche. Despite living a reclusive life, Dickinson's poetic genius shines through in works like "Because I could not stop for Death" and "Hopeis the thing with feathers," earning her a place as one of America's greatest literary figures.Another titan of American poetry is Walt Whitman, oftenhailed as the father of free verse. Whitman's seminal work, "Leaves of Grass," revolutionized American poetry with its celebration of democracy, individualism, and the beauty of the American landscape. Through poems like "Song of Myself" and "I Hear America Singing," Whitman articulated a vision of America as a diverse and vibrant tapestry of voices.Moving into the 20th century, the Harlem Renaissance brought forth a flowering of African American poetry, with luminaries like Langston Hughes leading the way. Hughes's poetry captured the joys and struggles of Black life in America, addressing themes of identity, racism, and the quest for equality. Works like "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "Harlem" resonate with powerful imagery and a deep sense of pride in African American culture.Maya Angelou stands as another towering figure in American literature, renowned for her autobiographical works as well as her poetry. Angelou's poetry is characterized by its raw honesty, resilience, and celebration of the human spirit. In poems like "Still I Rise" and "Phenomenal Woman," she confronts themes ofoppression and discrimination with unwavering confidence and grace, inspiring generations with her words.Contemporary American poetry continues to evolve, with poets like Billy Collins, Rita Dove, and Tracy K. Smith exploring diverse themes and forms. Collins, known for his accessible style and wry wit, often finds beauty in the mundane aspects of everyday life. Dove, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, tackles themes of history, race, and identity with lyrical grace and emotional depth. Smith, another Poet Laureate, delves into personal and political landscapes with a keen eye for detail and metaphor.In conclusion, American poetry is a vibrant tapestry woven with the threads of diverse voices, experiences, and perspectives. From the transcendentalism of Emily Dickinson to the social consciousness of Langston Hughes and the contemporary innovations of poets like Tracy K. Smith, American poetry continues to inspire, challenge, and illuminate the human experience.。
Emily Dickinson
Powerful rhetoric of Whitman’s poetry
He wrote in peculiarly American speech patterns – He speaks for the common American people. He embodies Emerson’s ideal of selfreliance. He wrote in a style of rare freshness and vividness, of delicacy and wonder.
Longfellow’s Styles
Longfellow’s poems are noted for their Gentleness and sweetness Treat traditional poetic themes as family, children, idealized love and friendship, with traditional poetic techniques – regular meters and feet, regular rhyming scheme, and traditional symbols and metaphors.
Publication of Poems
After her death in 1886, her sister Lavinia brought out her poems. She engaged Mabel Loomis Todd, a family friend, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a personal correspondent and early literary advisor of Dickinson’s, to edit the poems and see to their publication. The first poem collection, which contains 450 poems, was published in 1890
美国文学史概论之三：浪漫主义时期文学
4. Other Romantic poets: a. W.C. Bryant (Thanatopsis, The Yellow Violet, To a waterfoul) b. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (A Psalm of Life; The Song of Hiawatha; Evangeline; The Courtship of Miles Standish) c. John Greenleaf Whittier, New England Laureate, (Snow-Bound) d. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston Brahmin (Old Ironsides, The last Leaf) e. James Russell Lowell, Boston Brahmin (A Year’s Life, Biglow Papers) f. Frederick Goddard Tuckerman, poet of forest (Poems, Sonnets, “A Cricket”)
III. American Romantic Period (1820-1865)
I. Romantic Fathers: Washington Irving and J. F. Cooper II. New England Transcendentalists (1836-1855): Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau III. The First Literary Renaissance 1. Two novelists: Hawthorne and Melville 2. A Controversial man of letters: E. A. Poe 3. The Epitomes of American Poetry: Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
美国文学浪漫主义重要作家
美国文学浪漫主义重要作家James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty BumppoNathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)Hawthorne is best known for his short stories and four romances, including The Scarlet Letter(1850)Hawthorne’s themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexityHerman Melville (1819-1891)Melville was critical of the optimistic trend of his times, and was often classified as a Dark Romantic. Moby-Dick, Melville’s masterpiece and a highly symbolic work, tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ultimately the white whale and the crew of the ship perish together, except Ishmael the narratorWalt Whitman (1819-1892)Whitman was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism. He is among America’s most influential poets, often called the father of free verse. He has also been claimed as America’s first “poet of democracy,” because he captured the spirit of his time and wrote about the common American people. Leaves of Grass is notable for its delight in and praise of the senses during a time when such candid displays were considered immoral.Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)Dickinson lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life and d id not seem to aspire to fame. She was a prolific poet, yet fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime. Her poems are unique. They contain short lines, typically lack titles, and often utilize slant rhyme as well as unconventional capitalization and punctuation. Many of her poems deal with themes of death and immortality。
Walt Whitman and Emily Dickenson
American Realism
Painting by George Bellows, Dempsey and Firpo (1924)
What are we going to do today?
I. II. III. IV. Class News Realism Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson (continued)
• After 1862, Emily became a total recluse and did not leave her house for many years, but she began writing poetry. • She had read Shakespeare, the Bible, and some classical authors, but had not read Walt Whitman. • The American Civil War did not effect her, but during the conflict she sent several poems to a publisher named Thomas Higginson. • Higginson asked Dickinson to revise the grammar of her poems, but she refused. • Emily Dickinson died in 1895, but when she died her family found 1,800 poems or “fascicles” as they were called. • She did not become popular until the 1920s, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the pages of her poems were put in specific order.
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The author implies that many people attribute Emily Dickinson’s seclusion to ____.
– – – – A.physical illness B.a failed love affair C.religious fervor D.her dislike of people
It can be inferred from the passage that Emily Dickinson lived in a society that was characterized by ____.
– – – – A.strong Puritan beliefs B.equality of men and women C.the encouragement of nonconformity D.the appreciation of poetic creativity
What’s the author’s main purpose in the passage?
– – – – A. To interpret Emily Dickinson’s eccentric behavior. B. To promote the popular myth of Emily Dickinson. C. To discuss Emily Dickinson’s failed love affair. D. To describe the religious climate in Emily Dickinson’s time.
“If I read a book [and] it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” -Emily Dickinson
B. Thematic Concerns of Dickinson:
A. Death and Immortality 712, ―Because I could not stop for Death‖ 465, ―I Heard a Fly buzz—when I died—‖ B. Nature 986, ―A narrow Fellow in the Grass‖ C. Unity of Goodness, Truth and Beauty
Dickinson’s Poetry, Reflecting Her Experience, Education, Society and Her Age a. She had a tendency to look inwardly.
b. She had an uneasy balance of faith and skepticism. c. She has a sense of both the inherent beauty and the frightening coldness of the world. d. She believes in the unity of beauty, truth and goodness.
According to the passage, biographers of Emily Dickinson have traditionally ____.
– – – – A. criticized most of her poems B. ignored her innocence and emotional fragility C. seen her life in romantic terms D. blaming her parents for restricting her activities
This is my letter to the world, That never wrote to me,-The simple news that Nature told, With tender majesty. Her message is committed To hands I cannot see; For love of her, sweet countrymen, Judge tenderly of me! --- Emily Dickson
449, ―I died for Beauty—but was scarce‖
D. Other Subjects
249 “Wild Nights --- Wild Nights”
Dickinson’s Legacy
Dickinson is considered influential to poets such as Adrienne Rich, Richard Wilbur, Archibald MacLeish, and William Stafford. Along with Walt Whitman, Dickinson is one of the two giants of American poetry of the 19th century.
American Romanticism
Emily Dickinson Walt Whitman
American Romanticism
The Belle of Amherst
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
I. Biography
Born December 10, 1830 in Amherst, MA. Educated at Amherst Academy. At 17, began college at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary; she became ill the spring of her first year and did not return. She would leave home only for short trips for the remainder of her life, leading scholars to speculate she may have been agoraphobic.
Emily Dickinson
Dickinson was not the innocent, lovelorn and emotionally fragile girl sentimentalized by the Dickinson myth and popularized by William Luce’s 1976 play, the Belle of Amherst. Her decision to shut the door on Amherst society in the 1850’s transformed her house into a kind of magical realm in which she was free to engage her poetic genius. Her seclusion was not the result of a failed love affair, but rather a part of a more general pattern of renunciation through which she, in her quest for self-sovereignty, carried on an argument with the puritan fathers, attacking with wit and irony their cheerless Calvinist doctrine, their stern patriarchal God, and their rigid notions of “true womanhood”.
Major Works
Because I Could Not Stop for Death I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died My Life Closed Twice before Its Close I Died for Beauty-but Was Scarce I’m Nobody!
Which of the following is not mentioned as being one of Emily Dickinson’s eccentricities?
– A. Refusing to eat. – C. Avoiding visitors. B. Wearing only whiteቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ D. Staying in her room.
Emily Dickinson
Born in 1830 in rural Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson spent her entire life in the household of her parents. Between 1858 and 1862, it was later discovered, she wrote like a person possessed, often producing a poem a day. It was also during this period that her life was transformed into the myth of Amherst. Withdrawing more and more, keeping to her room, sometimes even refusing to see visitors who called, she began to dress only in white—a habit that added to her reputation as an eccentric. In their determination to read Dickinson’s life in terms of a traditional romantic plot, biographers have missed the unique pattern of her life—her struggle to create a female life not yet imagined by the culture in which she lived.