美国文学史复习整理.docx

1、美国文学史复习整理American literature History1607-1775 Colonial Period1775-1865 the Early National Period1828-1865 Romantic Period in American1865-1914 Realistic Period1914-1939 Modern Literature1939- Contemporary PeriodChapter 1 Colonial America(1607-1775)The first permanent English settlement in North Amer

2、ica was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. It endured starvation, brutality, and misrule. However, the literature of the period paints America in glowing colors as the land of riches and opportunity. Among the members of the small band of Jamestown settlers was Captain John Smith, an Englis

3、h soldier of fortune. His reports of exploration, published in the early 1600s, have been described as the first distinct American literature written in English.Mayflower, 1620 ,brought the Pilgrims from England to New England. Christopher JonesPlymouthBefore landing, an agreement for the temporary

4、government of the colony by the will of the majority was drawn up in the famous Mayflower Compact. Harvard, the first college in the colonies, was founded near Boston in 1636 in order to train new Puritan ministers. The first printing press in America was started there in 1638, and Americas first ne

5、wspaper , The Boston Newsletter, appeared in 1704.They did not draw lines of distinction between the secular and religious spheres: All of life was an expression of the divine will-a belief that later resurfaces in Transcendentalism.Captain John SmithWilliam BradfordJohn WinthropCotton MatherAnne Br

6、adstreetEdward TaylorAmerican Puritanism They stressed predestination, original sin, total depravity, and limited atonement from Gods grace. They went to America to prove that they were Gods chosen people who would enjoy Gods blessings on earth and in Heaven. Finally, they built a way of life that s

7、tressed hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety. Both doctrinaire and an opportunist.Literary Influence: American Literature is based on a myth - the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. The American Puritans metaphorical made of perception - symbolism.Chapter 2 EdwardsFranklinCrevecoeur Jonathan Edw

8、ards and Benjamin Franklin shared the 18th century between them. They embodied Puritan nave idealism and crude materialism. Deism They were not interested in theology but in mans own nature.Jonathan Edward(1703-1758)Edwards embodied the spirit of revivalism (Great Awakening)He has 2 goals: a. to evo

9、ke the original sense of religious commitment.b. b. speak about the difference between head thinking and heart feelingMajor works:The Freedom of the Will (1754)The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended (1758)The Nature of True Virtue (1765)Comments:Edwards was, probably, at once the first modern A

10、merican and the countrys last medieval man. Edwards was obviously grappling in all his intellectual life with the knotty problem of reconciling Puritan ideas with the new rationalism of Locke and Newton. Edwards represents the element of piety, the religious passion, the aspect of emotion and ecstas

11、y, of the New England tradition, a tradition that he did his best but failed to revitalize复活. 和discovered, beneath the dogmas of the old theology, a dynamic world filled with the presence of God.Edwards extends typology beyond the strict limits of the Bible, anticipated the nature symbolism of the n

12、ineteenth-century Transcendentalism.Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)Life story: Born in 1706 into a poor candle-makers family in Boston. At 17 he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune. His entrance onto the city marked the beginning of a long success story of an archetypal kind. He helped fo

13、und the Pennsylvania Hospital, an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania, and the American Philosophical Society. During the War of Independence, he was made a delegate to the Continental Congress and a member of the committee to write the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Am

14、erican to sign the four documents that created the United States including the Declaration of Independence. He was regarded as the father of the country.Literary Achievement Almanac autobiography (Poor Richards Almanac, Autobiography )His Style Clear, plain, formal (the organization of his material

15、is informal)Major Works:1) Poor Richards Almanac2) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin On the art of self-improvement The first of its kind in literature- An account of a poor boys rise to wealth and fame and the fulfillment of the American dream A Puritan document-a self-examination and self-imp

16、rovement. The book is a convincing illustration of the Puritan ethic that, in order to get on in the word, one has to be industrious, frugal, and prudent. An eloquent elucidation说明 of the fact that Franklin was the spokesman of American enlightenment, and he represented in America all its ideas. The

17、 book celebrates the fulfillment of the American dream.Hector St. John de CrevecoeurWork: Letters from an American Farmer (1775)The first eight of the twelve letters reveal the pride of a man being an American. It is evident that, to Crevecoeur, the American is a new man acting on principles: He is

18、self-sufficient, self-reliant, and essentially self-made. Crevecoeur saw and spoke of the hope of a new Garden of Eden materializing in America.Crevecoeur also saw and spoke of the illusory nature of that dream. Starting from the ninth letter, he began to speak with a voice of a definitely disillusi

19、oned man. There in the same New World, he became aware of the existence of slavery, avarice, violence, famine and disease, and all other forms of the Atlantic.Chapter 3 American RomanticismIrvingCooperAmerican Romanticism1.Characteristics of Romanticism:v Romanticism was a rebellion against the obje

20、ctivity of rationalism. (subjectivity)v For romantics, the feelings, intuitions and emotions were more important than reason and common sense.v They emphasized individualism, placing the individual against the group, against authority.v The affirmed the inner life of the self, and wanted to be free

21、to develop and express his own inner thoughts.v Typical literary forms of romanticism include ballad, lyric, sentimental comedy, problem novel, historical novel , gothic romance, metrical romance, sonnet. 2. Distinctive features of American Romanticism the end of the 18th century through the out bre

22、ak of the Civil War. strongly influenced by European culture American romantics tended to moralize3. Main contents: the exotic landscape , the frontier life, the westward expansion, the myth of a New Garden Eden in America (the native materials) New England Poems It produced a feeling of “Newness” w

23、hich inspired the romantic imagination.4. Representatives: New England Poets: William Cullen Bryant; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; Writers: James Fenimaore Cooper, Washington IrvingElements of Romanticism Frontier: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic limitations. Optimism: greater than in Europe beca

24、use of the presence of frontier. Experimentation: in science, in institutions. Mingling of races: immigrants in large numbers arrive to the US. Growth of industrialization: polarization of north and south; north becomes industrialized, south remains agriculturalRomantic Subject Matter 1.The quest fo

25、r beauty: non-didactic, “pure beauty” 2.The use of the far-away and non-normal-antique and fanciful: a.In historical perspective: antiquarianism; antiquing or artificially aging; interest in the past. b.Characterization and mood: grotesque, Gothicism, sense of terror, fear; use of the odd and queer.

26、 3.Escapism-from American problems 4.Interest in external nature: for itself, for beauty a. Nature as source for the knowledge of primitive. b.Nature as refuge. c.Nature as revelation of God to the individual.Romantic Attitude Appeals to imagination; use of the “willing suspension of disbelief.” Str

27、ess on emotion rather than reason; optimism, geniality. Subjectivity: in form and meaning.Romantic Techniques 1. Remoteness of settings in time and space. 2. Improbable plots. 3. Inadequate or unlikely characterization. 4. Authorial subjectivity. 5. Socially “harmful morality”, a world of “lies” 6.

28、Organic principle in writing: form rises out of content, non-formal. 7. Experimentation in new forms: picking up and using obsolete patterns. 8. Cultivation of the individualized, subjective form of writing.Washington Irving (1783-1859)1. Masterpieces: “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Grayon” (1819-1820

29、) “Bracebridge Hall” “Tales of a Traveller” “The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus ”The Sketch Book (1819), contains two most enduring stories “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. In both these stories, Irving aims at creating a past in which history and myth ble

30、nd into each other, providing for a rapidly changing American society kind of historical tradition so apparent in England and so apparently absent in the new nation. The plots of both stories are based on old German folk tales. However, Irving fills them with the “local color” of New Yorks Hudson Ri

31、ver Valley. In “The Legend”, Irving tells of a Connecticut schoolmaster plying his trade near Tarrytown, New York, among the Dutch families there. A fervent believer in witchcraft and the spirit world, Ichabod Crane is also one of the few educated men in the community, and as such is a notable figure in the area. In all, The Sketch Book contains thirty-two stories. The majority are on European subjects, mostly English. Like many important American writers after him, Irving found that the rich, older culture of the Old World gave him a lot