美国文学知识美国文学教学教案.docx

美国文学知识美国文学教学教案.docx

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美国文学知识美国文学教学教案

AmericanLiterature

EarlyAmericanLiterature:

ColonialPeriodto1815

1.InNativeAmericanoralliterature,threemaintypesofstoriescouldbefound:

originstories,trickstertales,andhistoricalnarratives.

2.Conventionally,weviewthatCaptainJohnSmith（1580—1631）wasthefirstAmericanwriter,whowrotethe“FirstbookofAmerican”—ATrueRelationtoVirginia.

3.TheAmericandreamforthePuritans,astheMassachusettsPuritangovernorJohnWinthopputit,wastobuilda“cityonthehill.”

4.AnneBradstreetwasawomanpoetinthecolonialperiod.Her“domestic”poemsandtheContemplationsaretodayrecognizedasherbestliteraryachievement.

5.In1692,thebiggestwitchcrafthuntingtookplaceinSalem.OneoftheeightjudgeswasthegreatgrandfatherofNathanielHawthorne.Asanotorioushistoricalevent,theSalemtrialsalsoprovided,inthe20thcentury,thebasisandmaterialforArthurMiller’sdramaTheCrucibleandMaryseConde’snovelI,Tituba.

6.PoorRichard’sAlmanacwaswrittenbyBenjaminFranklin.“Earlytobedandearlytorise,makesamanhealthywealthyandwise,”proverbslikethisshowedFranklin’swisdom.HealsowroteTheWaytoWealthandAutobiography.

7.TheDeclarationofIndependencewasdraftedbyThomasJeffersoninJune,

1776.ItisanationalsymboloflibertyandamonumenttoJeffersonasastatesmanandauthor.

AmericanRomanticism:

1815-1865

8.TheAgeofAmericanRomanticismgenerallyreferredtothefifty-yearperiodfrom1815till1865.

9.“RipVanWinkle”and“TheLegendofSleepyHollow”aretodaytwoofWashingtonIrving’sbestknownstories.

10.JamesFenimoreCoopercreatedanenduringAmericanmythicheroinhisLeather-stockingnovels,writingonsuchsubjectsastheRevolution,thefrontier,andthewilderness.

11.“Thanatoposis（meditationondeath）,”wasapoemwrittenbyWilliamCullenByrant,aromanticpoetinhispassionforAmericanwildernessandforaculturallyindependentAmerica.

12.Transcendentalism,asawayofknowing（orepistemology）,believesthatindividualscanintuitivelyreceivehighertruthsotherwiseunavailablethroughcommonmethodsofknowing,thustranscendingthelimitsofrationalism.

13.RalphWaldoEmerson,theleadingspokesmanforTranscendentalism,istodayregardedasthe“Father”ofAmericanliterature.Hisfamousessaysinclude“Nature”,“TheAmericanScholar”,“Self-reliance”,“TheOver-Soul”,etc.“Self-Reliance”epitomizesEmerson’spracticalphilosophyandismostquoted.Theideaofnon-conformity—“Trustthyself”—iskeepingwith

Emerson’sPuritaninheritance.

14.HenryDavidThoreauisprimarilyrememberedbytwoofhisworks:

Walden（1854）andtheessay“CivilDisobedience”（1849）.Theywerewrittenasaresultoftwoofhismostextremeacts:

thathewenttoliveinahutinthewoodsbytheWaldenPond,andthatheoncerefusedtopaytaxtoprotestagainsttheMexicanWarandwasimprisonedforit.

15.LiteraryhistoriansbelievethatTheScarletLetterwasundoubtedlythefirstgreatAmericannovel.HawthorneisnotonlyconnectedwiththePuritanheritagesbutisambivalenttowardsit.Histruthisconveyedmainlythroughallegoryandsymbol.

16.HermanMelville’sMobyDicktellsthestrangestoryofthepossessedandimplacableCaptainriskinghislife,thoseofhiscrewandhisshipontheroughseasinsearchofamonstrouswhitewhale.

17.EdgarAllanPoeisacritic,poetandshortstorywriter.His“Ligeia”and“TheFalloftheHouseofUsher”aretwofamousGothictales.“TheRaven”isoneofhismostfamouspoems.

18.WaltWhitmanfirstpublishedLeavesofGrassin1855.Inthepoemswefindapoetwhoisaferventadvocateforequalityanddemocracy,apoetcelebratingthepeopleinvillagesandcitiesofAmerica,apoetinlovewithaNatureembodyingtheOver-soul,andapoetwhoexpressesthepleasuresofsexandthesexualityofthebody.Technicallyspeaking,Whitman’spoetryis“freeverse”inthatthelackofmeterandrhymeisknownashismajortechnical

innovation.“SongofMyself”isthelongestandoneofthebestinWhitman’scanon.“OCaptain!

MyCaptain!

”and“WhenLilacsLastintheDooryardBloom’d”wereoccasionedbyPresidentAbrahamLincoln’stragicdeathandthesubsequentnation-widemourning.

19.EmilyDickinsononcewroteinapoem:

“ThisismylettertotheWorld/ThatneverwrotetoMe.”Inherpoems,thereisaspiritualandemotionalintensityexpressedinuniqueimagery.Mostofherpoemswerepublishedafterherdeath.

AmericanRealism:

1865-1914

20.TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinnisMarkTwain’smasterwork,theonebookfromwhichasErnestHemingwaynoted,“allmodernAmericanliteraturecomes.”HisotherfictionalworksincludeTheAdventuresofTomSawyer,TheGildedAge,TheInnocentsAbroad,TheCelebratedJumpingFrogofCalaverasCounty.

21.HenryJames’famerestedlargelyuponhishandlingofhismajorfictionaltheme,“theinternationaltheme”,whichdefinesAmericancharactersintheEuropeancontextandcontraststhetwosocietiesandculturalforces.TheWingsofDove,TheAmbassadors,TheGoldenBowlarethreeofhisbestnovels.

22.MostofWilliamDeanHowell’sliterary-aestheticideasarebestelucidatedinhisCriticismandFiction.

23.TwoofStephenCrane’swell-knownshortnovelsareMaggie:

AGirloftheStreetsandTheRedBadgeofCourage.Bothareimpressionisticstudiesofelementalfear,oneassociatedwithshame,theotherwiththefailureofcourageinmilitarybattle.Eachportraysayoungpersonfacingacrisisinlife.

24.TheEpicoftheTrilogyoftheWheatbyFrankNorrisconsistsofTheOctopus,ThePitandTheWolf.

25.JackLondon’swroteTheCalloftheWild,TheSeaWolf,MartinEden,etc..

26.TheodoreDreiser’snovelsSisterCarrieandAnAmericanTragedyarewellknowntoreadersinChina.

Modernism:

1914-1945

27.Asthemostpopularmodernpoet,RobertFrostwrotepoemsthatshow,onthesurface,asimplicityofthought,butaccommodatesironyandambiguityinsuchawaythatreaderseventuallyrealizethatthereisaprofoundunderstandingoflifebeneaththesurfacesimplicity.Hismostanthologizedpoemsinclude“TheRoadNotTaken”and“StoppingbytheWoodsonaSnowyEvening”.

28.ForWillaCather,theworldofpioneeringandimmigrants’livesprovidedthematerialsforherfiction.OPioneers!

andMyAntoniaaretworepresentativenovelsexploringthepioneerexperience.

29.SherwoodAndersonisprimarilyrememberedastheauthorofWinesburg,Ohio.Inthiscollectionofstories,Andersondepicted“grotesque”characterswho

aresohandicappedbytheirabilitytocommunicatethattheirbehaviorseemsoddandtheirisolationbecomeshaunting.

30.Theterm“LostGeneration”wasfirstusedbyGertrudeStein,oneoftheAmericanexpatriatewriterswhostayedinEuropebeforeandafterWorldWarI.Shealsosaid,“AmericaismycountryandParisismyhometownanditisasithascometobe.”

31.EzraPound’s“InaStationoftheMetro”hasbeenregardedasaclassicspecimenofImagistpoetry.HedefinedImagismas“thatwhichpresentsanintellectualandemotionalcomplexinaninstantoftime”

32.YoknapatawphaSagareferstoaseriesoffictionswrittenbyWilliamFaulkner.HisTheSoundandtheFuryused“streamofconsciousness”inwhichthestorywastoldthroughthethoughtsofcharacters.OthermajorworksincludeAsILayDying,LightinAugustandAbsalom,Absalom.HismostanthologizeshortstoryARoseforEmilycompelsthereaderstopiecetogetherthefragmentsinordertofindoutwhyEmilyisthewaysheis.

33.ErnestHemingwayisconsideredoneofthefineststylistsofthe20thcentury,althoughwemustaddthathisstyleisnotjustamatterofwritingbutalsoawayoflivingwithcouragewhenfacedwithproblemsinthemodernworld.Hisstyleisnotedforitssimplicity,butthisstylisticsimplicitybestconveystheverycomplexemotionsinvolvedinHemingway’ssubjectmatters:

tragediesoflife,confrontationofreality,thedevastationsofwar,etc.HismajorworksincludeTheSunAlsoRises,AFarewelltoArms,ForWhomtheBellTolls.

34.F.ScottFitzgeraldisconsideredasthechroniclerofthe“roaring20s”whenAmericansocietywasmarkedbywildpursuitofmaterialofwealthandpoliticalignorance.HismostimportantnovelTheGreatGatsbyisacomplexstudyoftheAmericandream—aromanticmaterialism.

35.T.SEliotwasthedominantfigureinpoetryandincriticismfromtheendofWorldWarItilltheendofWorldWarII.His“TheWasteLand”echoedthefeelingofhopelessnesstheWesternworldexperiencedafterWorldWarIasitdefinedthepost-wareraasadispiritualizeddesert.

36.WallaceStevens’spoetrypredicatedonthethemethatrealityisanintegrationofimaginationandtheexternalworld.Hismostanthologizedpoemsinclude“AnecdoteoftheJar”“ThirteenWaysofLookingataBlackbird”“SnowMan”“TheIdeaofOrderatKeyWest”

37.“TheRedWheelbarrow”,oneoftheshortestseriouspoemsbyWilliamCarlosWilliams,exemplifiesthehard,stark,controlledqualityofhispoetry.Thepoetavoidedideasinordertohighlightimagesorthings.Headvocated“Noideasbutinthings.”

TheRedWheelbarrow

Somuchdepends

upon

aredwheel

barrow

glazedwithrain

water

besidethewhite

chickens.

38.Intheearly1920s,AfricanAmericanwriters,painters,photographers,musicianscongregatedinNewYorkCity,startedmagazines,publishedanthologies,andpromotedthecreativeworkofthe“NewNegro.”TheirworktransformedHarlem,anAfricanAmericanneighborhoodinNewYork,intoanintellectualandculturalcenter.Thismovementisknownasthe“HarlemRenaissance.”

39.LangstonHughes,RichardWright,JeanToomer,andZoraNealeHurstonwererepresentativewritersofHarlemRenaissance.

AmericanLit