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1、Choose the best answer.(2*20=40)Match the author and the work.(1*10=10)Explain the literary terms.(2*5=10)Puritanism;transcendentalism;internal rhyme;assonance;free verse;oxymoron;anaphora;American naturalism;imagism;lost generation;local colorism;O.Henry ending;international theme;American realism;
2、Social Darwinism;iceberg theory;flashback;foreshadowing;Harlem Renaissance;jazz ageChoose one author from three and make comment on the author.(1*10=10)Choose three passages from six and write down the name of the author and the work,and make comment on the whole work.(3*10=30),The Literature of Col
3、onial America,Historical Introduction,1.colonial settlement(1607-1776)In 1492,Christopher Columbus discovered America and he mistook the native people on the new continent for Indians.2.character of colonial literaturecontent:religious,politicalform:diary,journal,letters,travel books,sermons,history
4、(personal literature)style:simple.direct,conciseout of humble origins,The first American writer,Captain John SmithThe General History of Virginia,Early New England Literature,1.New England:six states in North-east of America:Maine,New Hampshire,Vermont,Massachusetts,Rhode Island,Connecticut.2.Willia
5、m Bradford The History of Plymouth Plantation John Winthrop The History of New England,Puritan Thoughts,1.Gods chosen people They were meant to reestablish a commonwealth,based on the teachings of the Bible,restore the lost paradise and build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden.,2.John Calvin a
6、.predestination b.original sin and total depravity c.the salvation of a selected few,3.practical,optimistic，idealistic4.a doctrinaire opportunist5.American Puritans came under violent attacks for their killjoy way of life,religious intolerance,bigotry and austerity.6.American Puritanism and Chinese
7、Confucianism 7.Jonathan Edwards,Benjamin Franklin,the Influence of Puritanism to American Literature,The optimistic Puritan has exerted a great influence on American literature.The American Puritans metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly important in calling into being a literary symbolism whic
8、h is distinctly American.With regard to technique one naturally thinks of the simplicity which characterizes the Puritan style of writing.,John Cotton and Roger WilliamsAnne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor小虫小物尚扬声，难道吾便如哑子。造物主颂扬长空，不能唱得更动听？,Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790),Man of Action,Benjamin Franklin(1706
9、-1790),A.Status:one of the greatest founding fathers of the American Nationa rare genius in human history Jack of all trades:essayist,autobiographical writer,printer,scientist,postmaster,almanac maker,orator,statesman,philosopher,political economist,ambassador,parlor man,almost everything,B.Life and
10、 Career(Early Years):1.Calvinist background in Boston 2.Candle-makers family“poor and obscure”3.Little formal educationSelf-taught and self-made 4.Apprentice to his half brother A runaway boy from Boston to Philadelphia to make his own fortune,B.Life and Career(A Story of Success)5.A successful prin
11、ter who retired at 426.He founded the Pennsylvania Hospital,the University of Pennsylvania,the American Philosophical Society,a subscription library.7.He invented a musical instrument called glass harmonica,the effective street lighting,the Franklin stove,bifocal glasses,efficient heating system,and
12、 lightning-rod for which he was praised as“the new Prometheus who had stolen fire from heaven”.,B.Life and Career(Public Career),8.A member of the Pennsylvania AssemblyThe Deputy Postmaster-General for the coloniesRepresentative of the colonies in London for 18 years;Minister to France;Minister to S
13、weden A delegate to the Continental Congress9.Member of the Committee of Five to draft the Declaration of Independence10.A member to draft the documents that created the United States:the Declaration of Independence,the treaty of alliance with France,the constitution.,C.His Major Writings:Poor Richa
14、rds Almanac 1.Time:almost a quarter of century2.Content:Literary pieces such as poems and essays,a good many adages,common sense witticisms3.Sources:he borrowed them from famous writers such as Rabelais,Defoe,Swift and Pope and tried to simplify these quotations4.Examples:Famous sayings such as“Lost
15、 time is never found again”,“God help them that help themselves”,“Fish and visitors stink in three days”,etc.5.Function:practical,instructive,and amusing,The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin1.Nature:Probably the first of its kind in literature.A simple yet fascinating record of a mans success.A fa
16、ithful account of the colorful career of Americas first self-made man.2.Structure:The book consists of four parts,written at different times.Franklin was 65 when he began to write.3.Content:(a)Puritanism:It is first of all a Puritan document,a record of self-examination and self-improvement.(b)Enlig
17、htenment:It embodies the new order of the 18th century Enlightenment.(Order and Moderation),Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790),C.His Major Writings:The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin4.Style:This work is written in the pattern of Puritan simplicity,directness,and concision.The most salient features are
18、 such as the plainness of its style,the homeliness of imagery,the simplicity of diction,syntax,and expression.5.Tone:OptimismThe American dream began with the settlement of the American continent the promised land the Garden of Eden optimistic about the future,The Literature of Reason and Revolution
19、,Thomas Paine1737-1809,Common SenseAmerican CrisisRights of ManThe Age of Reason,Thomas Paine,Born in Britain,January 29 1737Self taughtImmigrated to America 1774Involved in American political life,“The bearer Mr Thomas Paine is very well recommended to me as an ingenious worthy young man.”-Benjamin
20、 Franklin.,“I offer nothing more than simple facts,plain arguments,and common sense,”Argued strongly for COMPLETE American Independence,Not just freedom from British Taxation,Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 The Declaration of Independence,Major events,1.main writer of The Declaration of Independence2.wri
21、ter of the law for religious freedom in Virginia founder of Virginia Universitythe third president of America purchase Louisiana,Philip Freneau1752-1832,“Father of American Poetry”,He is the most important poet in the 18th century.He was entitled“Father of American Poetry”.He was called“The poet of
22、the Revolution”He was born in New York and graduated from Princeton University.He wrote lots of poems supporting American Revolution and human liberty.He was the most notable representative of dawning American nationalism in literature.,The Wild Honey Suckle,The poem is an indication of the poets de
23、dication to American subject matter and the natural scenes on the new continent.Here in this poem Freneau deals with the themes of loveliness and the transience of life.This poem,well within the melancholy genre,consists of the poets pensive musings on the flowers story.,The first two stanzas pictur
24、e the advantages of the flowers country retreat.The next two stanzas unite the theme of the seasons with the thought that all must die.Death and decay,as well as creation,are so common,so much a part of the universal law.,野忍冬花,俏丽的花，你长得这样秀媚，潜立在此间幽静之地，你甜蜜的花无人抚摸仍开放，你细嫩的枝无人观赏也致意；在这里，无漫游者会践踏你，无忙碌人会为你落泪。,
25、造化为你穿素装，嘱你躲避庸俗的目光，在此铺下庇荫地，让小溪在身边潺潺流去；就这样，你的夏天静静消逝，你的生命渐趋安息。,你那必定凋敝的妩媚令我颠倒，遇见你未来的末日惹我悲凄；妩媚已去也-伊甸展开的群芳，那些并不比你更秀丽；无情的白霜，秋天的威力，不容此花遗足迹。,你细小的身躯最初，源于夜露与晨曦；既生自乌有，便一无所失，离世时也依然故你；生死之间，一个钟点而已，一枝脆嫩花朵的持续期。,陆游卜算子咏梅,驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主。已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨。无意苦争春，一任群芳妒。零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故。,American Romanticism*Irving*Cooper,I.American
26、 Romanticism1.Intellectual BackgroundThe Romantic period stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil War.Politically:Democracy and political equality became the ideal of the nation;and the two-party political system was in the making.,Economically:The spread of indus
27、trialism,the sudden influx of immigrants,and the pioneers pushing the frontier further west lead to an economic boom.Literarily:The new nation cried for newer literary expressions;magazines appeared in big numbers such as The American Quarterly Review,The Southern Review,The Atlantic Monthly,and Har
28、pers Magazine,facilitating literary expansion in this new country.,2.Foreign Influence(Derivative and Imitative)The Romantic movement,which had flourished earlier in the century both in England and Europe,proved to be a decisive influence without which the upsurge of American romanticism would hardl
29、y have been possible.The British romantic writers such as William Wordsworth,Taylor Coleridge,Byron,Robert Burns,Shelley and Sir Walter Scott exerted a great influence upon their American brothers.,The British Romantic literary pieces such as Lyrical Ballads(1798)by Wordsworth and Coleridge and Walt
30、er Scotts border tales were esp.prevalent in America.(Scotts Ivanhoe,Rob Roy,The Lady of the Lake,Waverley and The Heart of Midlothian),3.Native Factors(Different and Distinctive)Although the foreign influences were strong,American Romanticism exhibited from the very outset distinct features of its
31、English and European counterpart.American romanticism was in essence the expression of“a real new experience”and“a new sensibility”:new place;new faces;new sight,smells,and sounds;new cultural factor(American Indians).,American Puritanism as a cultural heritage rendered American moral values basical
32、ly puritan.Public atmosphere of the nation predominantly conditioned social life,cultural taste,and literary expression.One of its obvious manifestations is the fact that American Romantic writers tended more to moralize and use symbols than their English and European brothers.As a logical result of
33、 the foreign and native factors at work,American Romanticism was both imitative and distinctive,both derivative and independent.,the star spangled banner Oh,say can you see,by the dawns early lightWhat so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming?Whose broad stripes and bright stars,through t
34、he perilous fightOer the ramparts we watched,were so gallantly streaming?And the rockets red glare,the bombs bursting in airGave proof through the night that our flag was still thereO say,does that star-spangled banner yet waveOer the land of the free and the home of the brave?O say,does that star-s
35、pangled banner yet waveOer the land of the free and the home of the brave?,II.Washington Irving(1783-1859)1.Literary Status Father of American literature The first professional American writer The first American Romantic writer The first American short story writer The first American imaginative wri
36、ter to be recognized by the Europeans,2.Life Born into a wealthy New York merchant family Read widely from very early age studied law Cared for his family business in England Went bankrupt wrote to support himself,American Romanticism*Irving*Cooper,3.His Works:A History of New York(1809)纽约外史The Sket
37、ch Book(1819-20)见闻札记The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus(1828)The Alhambra(1832)阿尔罕伯拉Life of Goldsmith,Life of Washington,The short story as a genre in American literature probably began with Irvings The Sketch Book,a collection of essays,sketches,and tales,of which the most f
38、amous and frequently anthologized are“Rip Van Winkle”and“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.4.Division of his writings:Irvings career can be roughly divided into two important phases,the English period which span from his first book up to 1832 and the American period stretching over the remaining years of
39、 his life.,5.Writing StyleIrvings style can only be described as beautiful though imitative.A.Irving avoids moralizing as much as possible:he wrote to amuse and entertain.B.He was good at enveloping his stories in a rich atmosphere,which is often more than compensation for the slimness of plot.,C.Hi
40、s characters are vivid and true so that they tend to linger in the mind of the reader.D.He was such a humorous writer that it is difficult not to smile and occasionally even chuckle.E.His language was finished and musical.,6.His Masterpieces“Rip Van Winkle”got suggestions from a German source.Irving
41、 changed the setting of the original and added conflicts of his own to make it American.It is a fantasy tale about a man who somehow stepped outside the main stream of life.,Rip Van Winkle is a simple,good-natured,and hen-pecked man.He does everything except take care of his own farm and family.He h
42、elps everyone except his wife and his own folks.So he is welcome everywhere except at home.“He is one of those happy mortals,who take the world easy,eat white bread or brown,whichever can be got with least thought or trouble,and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.”,Plot Summery of“
43、Rip Van Winkle”,The story of Rip Van Winkle is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War.Rip Van Winkle,a villager of Dutch descent,lives in a nice village at the foot of New Yorks Catskill Mountains.An amiable man whose home and farm suffer from his lazy neglect,he is loved b
44、y all but his wife.One autumn day he escapes his nagging wife by wandering up the mountains.After encountering strangely dressed men,rumored to be the ghosts of Henry Hudsons crew,who are playing nine-pin,and after drinking some of their liquor,he settles down under a shady tree and falls asleep.,He
45、 wakes up twenty years later and returns to his village.He finds out that his wife is dead and his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else.He immediately gets into trouble when he hails himself a loyal subject of King George III,not knowing that in the meantime the American Revolutio
46、n has taken place.An old local recognizes him,however,and Rips now grown daughter eventually puts him up.As Rip resumes his habit of idleness in the village,and his tale is solemnly believed by the old Dutch settlers,certain hen-pecked husbands especially wish they shared Rips luck.,“The Legend of S
47、leepy Hollow”narrates the memorable event of an apparently headless horseman throwing his head at his rival in love,and the memorable character of Ichabod.,Plot Summery of“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”,The story is set about 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town，New York，in a secluded glen calle
48、d Sleepy Hollow.It tells the story of Ichabod Crane,a lean,lanky,and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut who competes with Abraham Brom Bones Van Brunt,the town rowdy,for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel,the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer.,As Crane leaves a p
49、arty he attended at the Van Tassel home on an autumn night,he is pursued by the Headless Horseman，who is supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during some nameless battle of the American Revolution War,and who rides forth to the scene of battle in
50、nightly quest of his head.Ichabod mysteriously disappears from town,leaving Katrina to marry Brom Bones,who was to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related.,III.James Fenimore Cooper(1789-1851)1.Literary Status:The first American Frontier novelThe first American Sea novelTh
