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1、1. Transcendentalism is a group of ideas in literature and philosophy that developed in the 1830s and 1840s as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian church. They believe in a
2、n ideal spirituality that transcends the physical and empirical and is realized only through the individuals intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions. The major figures in the movement were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau Margaret Fuller.2. Modernism is a cultur
3、al movement that generally includes the progressive art of architecture, design, literature, music, dance, painting and other visual arts which emerged in the beginning of the 20th century, particularly in the years following World War I. It was a movement of artists and designers who rebelled again
4、st late 19th century academic and historic tradition, and embraced the new economic, social and political aspects of the emerging modern world. Among American writers, the best-known Modernists are T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and so on.3. Imagism
5、was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery, and clear, sharp language. The Imagists rejected the sentiment and artifice typical of much Romantic and Victorian poetry. This was in contrast to their contemporaries, the Georgian poets, who were by and l
6、arge content to work within that tradition.The most outstanding figures of the movement were Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell and Hilda Doolittle.4. Puritanism refers to the movement arising within the Church of England in the latter part of the 16th century that sought to purify, or reform, that church and e
7、stablish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant reformers. It remained the dominant religious force in New England throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The term Puritanism is also used in a broader sense to refer to attitudes and values considered characteristic
8、 of the Puritans. Its representative figures are Anna Bradstreet Franklin, Thomas Paine.5. Naturalism refers to the theory that literary composition should aim at a detached, scientific objectively in the treatment of natural man. The movement is an outgrowth of 19th century scientific thought. Arti
9、stically, naturalistic writings are usually unpolished in language, lacking in academic skills and unwieldy in structure. Philosophically, the naturalists believe that the real and true is always partially hidden from the eye of the individual.Notable writers were Frank Norris, Sherwood Anderson and
10、 Theodore Dreiser.6. Local colorism is a fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. It put emphasis on physical setting and those distinctive qualities of landscape which condition human thought and behavior. I
11、t started from1860s to the end of 19th century.Bret Hartes The Luck of Roaring Camp marked a significant development in the brief history of local color fiction. Another important figure was Mark Twain.7. The Lost Generation refers to a group of the disillusioned intellectuals and artists,who lived
12、in Paris and other parts of Europe from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. They rebelled against former ideals and values but could replace them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. 8.The Jazz
13、Age describes the period from 1918-1929,the years between the end of World War I and the start of the Roaring Twenties; ending with the rise of the Great Depression, the traditional values of this age saw great decline while the American stock market soared. The age takes its name from F. Scott Fitz
14、gerald and jazz music, which saw a tremendous surge in popularity among many segments of society. The dominant figure of this period was F. Scott Fitzgerald.9. The American Dream is the concept widely held in the United States of America, that through hard work, courage and determination one can ach
15、ieve prosperity (often associated with the protestant work ethic). Today, in America it generally refers to the idea that ones prosperity depends upon ones own abilities and hard work, not on a rigid class structure, though the meaning of the phrase has changed over Americas history. The course of C
16、linton was the classic example of “The American Dream”.10. Psychological realism is a kind of ideological trend of literature which appears in the traditional literature in the course from realism to modernism. It recognizes that what is real to the individual is that which he or she perceives. It is the ground for the use of the centered consciousness, or the first-person narrator, since both of these present reality only as something perceived by the focal character.Henry James was
