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1、Introduction to American Literature教学内容:American literature is one lf the youngest national literature in the world. It became a colony of Britain in the early 17th century. And the American Independence War stretched from 1776 to 1783. The short history can be divided into several stages:The coloni
2、al periodIt stretched roughly from the settlement of Am in the early 17th C through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607.(A group of people was sent by the English king James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607.They named
3、the James River and build the James town.) Here the major topic will be about Am Puritanism .The Romantic Period It covers the first half of the 19th C, which is a period following the national political independence. Around 1840s arose the culmination of the Romantic Period-New England Transcendent
4、alism(1836-1855) . The Age of RealismIt was after the civil war (1861-1865) till the end of the 19th century, covering the latter half of the 19th C. The civil war brought the Romantic period to an end.Naturalism(the last decade of the 19th c)In the last decade of the 19thc, the age of naturalism ca
5、me into being. Naturalists saw mans life as governed by two forces- heredity & environment.ModernismIn the decade of the 1920s,there came the age of modernism. (here are many eminent writers in this period, such as T.S Eliot, Earnest Hemingway, William Faulkner, etc.)Assignment：简介美国文学史1.Catch-22 Set
6、ting Joseph Hellers Catch-22 is set against the background of World War II. The American forces came to the aid of the Allies-England, France, and Russia-after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941. Ranged against them were the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The time
7、period of the novel is roughly 1942-45. The geographical locale of Catch-22 is the island of Pianosa which lies eight miles south of Elba, off the Italian coast. But as Heller notes in the preface, the setting is fictitious. There was no real American base on Pianosa during the war, the island being
8、 too small. The fictitious air force base at Pianosa is a microcosm of the world at large. Between bombing missions, the airmen make frequent trips to enjoy the pleasures of Rome. There are brief references also to Yossarians training at the American armed forces base in Santa Ana, California. Sever
9、al key episodes are set in the army hospital at Pianosa. This hospital set-up is associated positively with escape from the bombing missions, and negatively with various types of illness and insanity. At another, somewhat less-obvious level, the action of the novel unfolds largely in the mind of its
10、 central character, Yossarian. Like Orr before him, Yossarian aims to escape to Sweden, a haven of peace, freedom, and neutrality during the nightmarish years of World War II. Some of the action takes place in Yossarians airplane during missions over Italy. Milo Minderbinders business deals take him
11、 to the Middle East, North Africa (especially Egypt), and some cities in Mediterranean Europe.CHARACTERS Major characters Colonel Cathcart The successor to Major Duluth as the Squadron commander. He constantly increases the number of missions that his men must fly. Doc Daneeka The chief medical offi
12、cer at the Pianosa air base. He is mortally afraid of flying. He is taken for dead, although he is actually alive, because the records show that he was in McWatts plane when it crashed. Major Major Rises to the position of a Major chiefly due to an error committed by an IBM computer. He reads his na
13、me as his rank. He becomes squadron commander and jumps out of his office window to avoid meeting the men who come to see him. Chaplain A.T.Tappman The kind and compassionate clergyman who is Yossarians friend . He helps Yossarian prepare for his escape to Sweden. Captain John Yossarian A bombardier
14、 with the 256th Squadron stationed in Pianosa and is the central figure of Catch-22. He feigns illness and insanity to avoid flying more missions, before openly protesting against the authorities. He finally attempts to escape to Sweden.CONFLICT Protagonist Yossarian is a bombardier of the 256th squ
15、adron stationed on the island of Pianosa. Through the novel, he struggles to survive in the nightmarish world of war with its stupidity, illogic, violence, and death. Antagonist The military bureaucracy in Yossarians squadron, represented by Colonel Cathcart and other commanding officers, who consta
16、ntly jeopardize the lives of the men under their command by raising the number of missions they have to fly before going home. They frame the unwritten rules of Catch-22, an illogical law which leaves the airmen in a no-win situation. The law is maddening and devastating in its effect on the morale of the enlisted men. Climax Following the deaths of Dobbs and Nately in the mission to La Spezia (Chap
