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1、i. The Colonial Period1. 关键词: America Puritanism2. Calvinism特点: total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, Perseverance of the saints3. Anne Bradstreet( P17 ): a Puritan poet be known as “The Muse”4. Thomas Paine: one of continual, unswerving fight for the rights
2、 of man.works: “Common Sense” “American Crisis” “The Rights of Man” “The Age of Reason”理性时代5. Phillip Freneau(P22): 美国文学史上的重要人物dawning nationalism 代表人物Poems: The Wild Honeysuckle野生的金银花first modern American & the last medieval man6. Jonathan Edwards( Calvinism ) a critical role in shaping the First G
3、reat Awakeningworks: “The Freedom of the Will” 自由意志论 “The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended” 伟哉原罪论辩 “The Nature of True Virtue” “American Dream” “Self-made”7. Benjamin Franklin(puritanism)“Poor Richards Almance” “autobiography”新文学形式“18th century enlightenment”ii. Romanticism1. Washington Irvin
4、g（1783-1859）titles: “the father of American literature” “the American Goldsmith”works: The Sketch Book (marked the beginning of American Romanticism and the beginning of short stories as a genre in American literature) Rip Van Winkle (P47P48)The Legend of Sleepy Hollow2. James Fenimore Cooper（1789-1
5、851）One of the first writer to write American Westward movement “The Leatherstocking Tales” (novel) first is “The Pioneers”-Plot:-theme conflict between Natty Bumppo and Judge Temple- -character: Natty Bumppo-innocent, simple, honest and generous, for freedom, against civilization, wilderness is goo
6、dJudge Temple-just, reasonable, for civilization and lawWriting style:intriguing plotmajestic landscape descriptionsrich imaginationwooden characterizationnot authentic dialectiii. New England Transcendentalism-the culmination of American RomanticismBeginning of the Transcendentalism-1836, Nature, E
7、merson (1830s the Civil War)Features：a:emphasizing on spirit or the Over-soul；b:stressing the importance of the individual；c:offering a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God.1. Ralph Waldo Emerson：The founder of the Transcendentalist club and the editor for a time of the journa
8、l the DialWorks: Nature - “the Manifesto of American Transcendentalism” “the Bible of New England”: The Poet (from Nature) The American Scholar - “Intellectual Declaration of Independence”2. Henry David ThoreauMasterpiece: Walden (Failure first, success in the 20th century)Content-a faithful record
9、of his reflection in communicating with nature3. Nathaniel Hawthorne“The Scarlet Letter” Plot(P74)Theme: -(general theme) evil and sin exist in human heart and will be punished one day moral, emotional and psychological effect of the sin on the people in general-(specific theme) a hymn on the moral
10、growth of the woman Hester when sinned againstsymbolism象征主义: “A”Adulteryableangel “pearl”treasure 4. Herman Melvilleworks: Moby Dick (1851)-little response, famous until the 20th centuryContent: -(general content) an encyclopedia of everything-(specific content) a tragedy of man fighting against ove
11、rwhelming power in an indifferent even hostile world5. Edgar Allan PoeTheme: The death of beautySense of lossWorks:Poem- “The Raven” “To Helen” “Annabel Lee”Writing style:MusicalRepetition of wordsParalleled structureMelancholy atmosphere(tone)Short story-The Fall of the House of UsherPlot: (P112)Th
12、eme: the fall of the house-the annihilation (disintegration) and of person6. Emily DickinsonSubject and theme: (almost one third) Death and immortality “My life closed twice before its close” “Because I could not stop for death”theme: Everyone cant live forever. Only after death can we get immortali
13、ty (immortality of soul)“ I heard a Fly Buzz- When I died”theme: skeptical & ambivalent about death reluctance to death Love“Wild Nights-Wild nights” (P99) nature (both benevolent and cruel)“Ill tell you how the sun rose” emphasis of free will and human responsibility“To fight aloud” “A triumph may
14、be” soul ( conviction of her sovereignty)“I know that He exists”“The Brain is wider than the sky”Theme: influence of TranscendentalismHuman beings mind (soul) is as divine as God beauty, truth and goodness are ultimately one“ I died for beauty-but was scare” “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” (P
15、102)Writing style: emotional, original, against traditionChoice of words, verbal construction (capitalized and dash), spelling, full of fresh images, brief, direct, plain words but not easy to readInfluence: precursor to the Imagist movement7. Walt WhitmanWorks: “Leaves of Grass”草叶集(9 editions from 1855 to 1892, Famous until the 5th edition)Poems in Leaves of Grass: “Song of Myself” (most famous one)“Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” (1859)“When Lilacs紫丁香 Last in the Dooryard Bl
