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1、American literature,Lecture one,Introduction Part one Colonial Period and Early American Literature (1620-1800),Introduction,English Department 英语系 英文系 To study English language is to study English literature. To appreciate English literature is to better our English language.,English Majors,Non-Eng
2、lish majors,Why do people read literature?,Reading for Pleasure and Relaxation,Reading to acquire Knowledge; improving language proficiency, artistic appreciation,Reading to understand human nature, to stay human, to Confront Experience, to learn from predecessors,More knowledgeable,Happier,Maturer,
3、What literature can be called classics? Good literature can reveal human nature in the historical development. E.g.人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月 天生我才必有用，千金散尽还复来 “I kiss you ere I kill you.” (Othello) Thus literature offers both pleasure and illumination. It enriches our lives and increases our capacities for unde
4、rstanding and comprehension.,Pleasure-seeking Self-conceited Sad for the transient life,Conflict between love and hatred as a result of Jealousy, betrayal, suspicion, inferiority,Brief Introduction,Has a very short history Ten (among 76) American Writers winning the Nobel Prize for Literature Sincla
5、ir Lewis (1930) Eugene ONeill(1936) Pearl Buck(1938) T.S.Eliot (1948) William Faulkner (1949) Ernest Hemingway (1954) John Steinbeck (1962) Saul Bellow (1976) Isaac Bashevis Singer( 1978) Tony Morrison (1993) Why the young country can produce so many world-famous writers and produce so many first-cl
6、ass literary works?,Course Objectives,Enable the Ss to get a general knowledge about the history of America; Enable the Ss to know the four literary periods and literary movements in American literary history; Enable the Ss to know the background, representative writers and their works of each perio
7、d in American literary history,The classification of different periods,Colonial Period Franklin The Romantic Age Irving, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne The Age of Realism Whitman, Dickinson, Twain, H.James, Dreiser The Modern Age Pound, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, ONeil, Heller, Hughes,The war of
8、independence: 1776-1783 The civil war: 1861-1865 The first world war: The second world war: 1914-1918, 1939-1945,How to study literature?,Historical Approach Aims at illustrating the historical development of literature. Thematic Approach “What is the story, the poem, the play or the essay about?” A
9、nalytical Approach Be familiar with the elements of a literary work, eg: plot, characterization, setting, subject matter, writing style, point of view, etc; answer some basic questions about the text itself.,Course Requirements,in-class performance Attendance 20% mid-term test 20% Close-book test 60
10、%,Part One COLONIAL PERIOD AND EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE (1620-1800),Chapter 1 The Planters and Puritans History Religion: Puritanism Literature,Historical Introduction 1)The native American and their culture Indians 2)The historical background of the colonial Time Christopher Columbus discovered th
11、e American continent in 1492. 1497, John Cabot claimed it for England Immigrants from European: Spanish, Dutch, French, mostly English.,Why travel all the way across the ocean to the New World?,History: Settlement of planter and puritans,Profit motive 1st Group 1580-1600 led by John Smith Jamestown
12、in Virginia in 1607 Plantation way of life, aiming at rich and happier life Planter in the south Religious motive 2nd Group-Pilgrims/prepuritans:1610-1620 as radical members of Church of England; May flower. Plymouth in Massachusetts in 1620; Bradford as governor After 1620, puritans; most influenti
13、al immigration Education, bible Puritans in the north; called “First Americans”,A code of value A philosophy of life A point of view,Enter to grow in wisdom, Depart to serve better thy country and thy kind.,On the threshold of Harvard Yard,The first view of America,Being thus passed the vast ocean,
14、and a sea of troublesthey had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weatherbeaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succour援助者savage barbarians were readier to fill their sides with arrows than otherwise. And for the reason it was winter,
15、and they that know the winters of that country , know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wide and savage hue. -from William Bradfords History of Plimmoth Plantation,A Wealth of Natural Resources,He is a ba
16、d fisher who cannot kill on one day with his hook and line, one, two, or three hundred Cods. -John Smith, A Description of New England A sup of New Englands air is better than a whole draft of old Englands ale淡色啤酒. -Francis Higginson, New-Englands Planatation,PURITANISM Aim, source, doctrine, creed, influence,Aims of Puritanism,(Why did Puritans come to America?) : - to reform and purify the Church of England - to escape religious persecution - to b
