函授本科英语专业

函授本科英语专业 《美国文学史及作品选读》自学指导 教学班: 学 号: 姓 名: 时 间: 运城学院成人教育学院编制 自 学 进 度 表 周 次 学 习 内 容 自学学时72 第一周 4 第一章:殖民地时期及独立战争时期文学 第二周 6 第二章:Washington Irving; James Cooper 第二章: Nathaniel Hawthorne; 第三周 4 Edgar Allan Poe 第二章: Henry David Thoreau; 第四周 6 Walt Whitman; Herman Melville 第三章: 现实主义与自然主义文学 第五周 4 Mark Twain 第三章: Henry James; 第六周 4 Theodore Dreiser 第四章: 二十世纪战前文学 第七周 6 Robert Frost; Ezra Pound; T.S. Eliot 第四章: F. Scott Fitzgerald; 第八周 4 William Faulker 第四章: Ernest Hemingway; 第九周 4 John Steinbeck 第五章:二十世纪黑人文学 第十周 6 William Edward Burghardt Dubois; Langston Hughes 第五章:Ralph Ellison; 第十一周 6 James Baldwin; Toni Morrison 第六章:美国戏剧的兴盛 第十二周 4 Eugene O’Neill 第六章:Tennessee Williams; 第十三周 5 Arthur Miller 第七章:战后文学 第十四周 5 Saul Bellow; J. D. Salinger 第七章:Joseph Heller; 第十五周 4 John Updike 使用教材:《英美文学史及作品选读》(美国部分)刘洊波编，高教出版社，2001.6 参考目:《美国文学选读》 李公昭主编，西安交通大学出版社，2003 《美国文学教程》 胡荫桐、刘树森主编，南开大学出版社，2006 第一章:殖民地时期以及独立战争时期文学 一、主要内容 1. Background of this period After Christopher Columbus discovered America, European explorers came to the vast continental area to seek fortune. The earlies settlers were Dutch, Swedish, thFrench, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. It was not until early in the 17 century that the English began their settlement of the North American continet. All the setters made their contribution to the forming of an American civilization by establising colonies. Of the colonies that flourished, the clear majority were English. Later, as Colonial America successfully forged its way through the initial hardships of colonization, a change began to emerge: people’s appeal for an independence America began to rise, which aroused the independence war. Upon their arrival, the colonists began to write about their experiences. 2. Characteristics of the literature The literature experienced two stages: the colonial stage and the stage in fighting for independence. (1) Features of literature in colonial stage Strongly influenced by Puritanism, most of the writing during this stage was somewhat personal, serious and religious. And sermon was considered as one of its highest writing forms. (2) Features in the second period The literature in this period began to have utilitarian tendency, that is, nothing is good or beautiful but in the measure that is usefull. 3. Representative Writer: Benjamin Frankin (1) His life and major works Benjamin Franklin was born on Milk Street, in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706 and died in 1790. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat. As a scientist he was a major figure in the Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and a musical instrument. He formed both the first public lending library in America and first fire department in Pennsylvania. He was an early proponent of colonial unity and as a political writer and activist he, more than anyone, invented the idea of an American nation and as a diplomat during the American . His major works: Poor Richard's Almanack under In 1733, Franklin began to publish the famous the pseudonym Richard Saunders, on which much of his popular reputation is based. In 1758, the year in which he ceased writing for the Almanack, he printed Father Abraham's Sermon, also known as The Way to Wealth. Franklin's Autobiography, published after his death, has become one of the classics of the genre. He had trenmendous influence on the subsequent development of American literature. 二、重点与难点 Franklin’s work: The Way to Wealth (致富之路) 理解文章的内涵: how to succeed in acquiring wealth and how to get along with people. 三、自学要求 1. 了解这个时期文学的特征 2. 认真阅读富兰克林的《致富之路》，从中总结出写作特色。 四、自学作业 (一)回答问题 1. What are the basic qualities a person should have in order to succeed according to The Way to Wealth? 2. What are the features of the literature works in the colonial period of America? 第二章:浪漫主义以及新英格兰时期文学 一、主要内容 1.美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景 The development of the American society nurtured “the literature of a great nation.” America was flourishing into a politically，economically and culturally independent country. Historically， it was the time of westward expansion in America economically，the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation. Politically，democracy and equa1ity became the ideal of the new nation， and the two-party system came into being. Worthy of mention is the literary and cultural life of the country. With the founding of the American Independent Government，the nation felt an urge to have its own literary expression，to make known its new experience that other nations did not have:the early Puritan settlement，the confrontation with the Indians，the frontiersmen''''''''s life，and the wild west. Besides， the nation’s literary milieu was ready for the Romantic movement as we11. Thus，with a strong sense of optimism，a spectacular outburst of romantic feeling was brought about in the first ha1f of the 19th century. 2.美国浪漫主义在文学上的表现 a.欧洲浪漫主义文学的影响 The impact of European Romanticism on American Romanticism Foreign literary masters，especially the English counterparts exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the new world. Born of one common cultural heritage， the American writers shared some common features with the English Romanticists. They revolted against the literary forms and ideas of the period of classicism by developing some relatively new forms of fiction or poetry. (1) They put emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature，which included a liking for the picturesque，the exotic，the sensuous，the sensational，and the supernatural. (2) The Americans also placed an increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions and disp1ayed an increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters. Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement. (3) The strong tendency to exalt the individual and the common man was almost a national religion in America. Writers like Freneau，Bryant，and Cooper showed a great interest in external nature in their respective works. (4) The literary use of the more colorfu1 aspects of the past was also to be found in Irving’s effort to exploit the legends of the Hudson River region, and in Cooper’s long series of historical tales. (5) In short，American Romanticism is, in a certain way, derivative. b.美国本土文学的崛起及其特证 The origin of Romantic American literature The Romantic Period， one of the most important periods in the history of American literature， stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. The American Renaissance or New England Renaissance is a period of the great flowering of American literature， from the i830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War. It came of age as an expression of a national spirit. One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists， including Ralph Waldo Emerson， Henry David Thoreau. The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. Apart from the Transcendentalists, there emerged during this period great imaginative writers ——Nathaniel Hawthorne，Herman Melville，and Walt Whitman——whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature. The unique characteristics of American Romanticism Although greatly influenced by their English counterparts， the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，(1) the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America’s landscape with its virgin forests， meadows，groves，endless prairies，streams，and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. (2)The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales，in Thoreau’s Walden and，later，in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (3)With the growth of American national consciousness， American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. (4)Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. (5)Besides，a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne，Melville and a host of lesser writers. 3. 名词解释 (1). American Puritanism Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans.(The Puritans were who came into existence originally members of a division of the Protestant Church， in the reigns Queen Elizabeth and King James ?.The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons，but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious， religious people， advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints，Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Church of Rome in doctrine form of worship，and organization of authority.)The American Puritans，like their brothers back in England，were idealists，believing that the church should be restored to complete “purity”. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity，and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. But in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America，they became more and more practical，as indeed they had to be. Puritans were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinated their whole way of life. Puritans’ lives were extremely disciplined and hard. They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them, and history has criticized their actions. Yet in the persecution of what they considered error，the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history. As a culture heritage， Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind and American values. American Puritanism also had a conspicuously noticeable and an enduring influence on American literature. It had become， to some extent， so much a state of mind， so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere， rather than a set of tenets. (2). New England Transcendentalism New England Transcendentalism is the mot clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period. It was started in the area around Concord， Mass. by a group of intellectual and the literary men of the United States such as Emerson，Henry David Thoreau who were members of an informal club， i. e. the Transcendental Club in New England in the l830s. The transcendentalists reacted against the cold，rigid rationalism of Unitarianism in Boston. They adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation，the innate goodness of man，and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The writings of the transcendentalists prepared the ground of their contemporaries such as Walt Whitman，Herman Melville，and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main issues involved in the debate were generally philosophical， concerning nature，man and the universe. Basically，Transcendentalism has been defined philosophical1y as “the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively， or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses.” Emerson once proclaimed in a speech，“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism inc1ude the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and，therefore， self-re1iant. 4. 主要作家作品 A. Washington Irving (1783-1859) 华盛顿?欧文 Irving's position in American literature Washington Irving was one of the first American writers to earn an international reputation， and regarded as an early Romantic writer in the merican literary history and Father of the American short stories. (1) His life and major works Washington Irving was born in New York City in a wealthy family. From a very early age he began to read widely and write juvenile poems，essays，and plays. In l798， he conc1uded his education at private schools and entered a law office， but he loved writing more. His first successful work is A History Of New York from the Beginning Of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty，which，written under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker，won him wide popularity after it came out in 1809. With the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon，Gent. in serials between 1819 and 1820，Irving won a measure of international fame on both sides of the Atlantic. The book contains familiar essays on the Eng1ish life and Americanized versions of European folk tales like “Rip Van Winkle”，and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Geoffrey Crayon is a carefully contrived persona and behind Crayon stands Irving， juxtaposing the Old World and the New， nd manipulating his own antiquarian interest with artistic perspectives. The major work of his later years was The Life of George Washington. (2) Irving’s contribution to the American literature Irving’s contribution to American literature is unique in more than one way. He was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame. Although greatly influenced by European literature， Irving gave his works distinctive American flavor. “Rip Van Winkle” or “The Legend of Sleepy Hol1ow”，however exotic these stories are，are among the treasures of the American language and culture. These two stories easily trigger off American imagination with their focus on American subjects， American landscape，and，in Irving’s case，the legends of the Hudson River region of the fresh young 1and. It is not the sketches about the Old World but the tales about America that made Washington Irving a household word and his fame enduring. He was father of American short stories. And later in the hands of Hawthorne and Melville the short story attained a degree of perfection. (3) Rip Van Winkle 瑞普?凡?温克尔 a. The story of Rip Van Winkle Rip～an indolent good-natured Dutch-American～lives with his shrewish wife in a village on the Hudson during the years before the Revolution. One day while hunting in the Catskills with his dog Wolf～he meets a dwarflike stranger dressed in the ancient Dutch fashion. He helps him to carry a keg～and with him joins a party silently playing a game of ninepins. After drinking of the liquor they provide～Rip falls into a sleep which lasts 20 years～during which the Revolutionary War takes place. He awakes as an old man and returns to his home village that has greatly altered. Upon entering the village～he is greeted by his old dog～which dies of the excitement and then learns that his wife has long been dead. Rip is almost forgotten but he goes to live with his daughter～now the mother of a family～and is soon befriended with his generosity and cheerfulness. b. The theme of the work Irving’s taste was essentia1ly conservative and always exa1ted a disappearing past. This socia1 conservatism and literary preference for the past is revea1ed， to some extent，in his famous story “Rip Van Winkle”. The story is a tale remembered mostly for Rip’s 20-year s1eep，set against the background of the inevitably changing America. Rip went to sleep before the War of Independence and woke up after it. The change that had occurred in the 20 years he slept was to him not always for the better. The revolution upset the natural order of things. In the story Irving ski1lfu1ly presents to us paralleled juxtapositions of two totally different worlds before and after Rip’s 20 years’ s1eep. By moving Rip back and forth from a noisy world with his wife on the farm to a wild but peaceful natural world in the mountains，and from a pre-Revolution village to a George Washington era，lrving describes Rip’s response and reaction in a dramatic way，so that we see clearly both the narrator and Irving agree on the preferabi1ity of the past to the present，and the preferability of a dream-like world to the real one. Irving never seemed to accept a modern democratic America. c. The artistic features “Rip Van Winkle” is not only well-known for Rip’s 20-year sleep but also considered a model of perfect English in American Literature and in the English language as well. Washington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who “perfected the best easy style. classic style that American Literature ever produced.” He has a clear， ? We get a strong sense impression as we read him along，since the language he used best reveals what a Romantic writer can do with words. We hear rather than read，for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose. ? We seldom learn a mora1 lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed. So we often find ourselves lost in a world that is permeated with a dreaming quality. He uses genial humor to exaggerate the seriousness of situation. He uses dignified words to produce a half-mocking effect. ? The Gothic elements and the supernatural atmosphere are manipulated in such a way that we could become so engaged and involved in what is happening in a seemingly exotic place.( Rip Van Winkle was overwhelmed by the magic power of the drink and fell into sleep for 20 years.) ? Yet Irving never forgets to associate a certain place with the inward movement of a person and to charge his sentences with emotion so as to create a true and vivid character. He is worth the honor of being "the American Goldsmith" for his literary craftsmanship. B. James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) 库珀 (1) His life and main works James Cooper was born into a rich family in New Jersey. He was one of the few American writers who did not have to worry about money because he had a rich and influential father. He was sent to Yale at 13 but he was expelled because of improper conduct at school. He then spent five years at sea and , upon his return to America, received his commission in the Navy. His career as a writer began by accident. His first novel Precaution was published in 1820 and proved to be quite successful. Then his second one The Spy also enjoyed great success and immense popularity. In the following years, he wrote many works which are mainly sea adventures and frontier sagas. Among his works, “Leather-Stocking Tales” remembered by many people till today. It is a series of five novels including The Deerslayer (1841), The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Pioneers (1823), The Pathfinder (1840) and The Prairie (1827). (2) Cooper’s achievement to the American literature He created a myth about the formative period of American nation in his tales. Natty’s life story resembles the American’s national experience of adventure into the west. He represents the ideal American, living a free life in God’ world. He is the symbol of human virtues like innocence, honesty and generosity. He is born with a pure sense of good and evil, right and wrong, finds “civilization” both corrupt and corrupting. (3) The Last of the Mohicans 最后的莫西干人 a. The story 课本29页 b. The theme of the work It creats an American hero-myth by the name of Hawk-eye, who proves himself a perfect example of the western man, shaped by the forest in which he lives, and who has broke away from the falsity of civilization and demonstrates basic human virtues like kindness, wisdom, bravery and rustic chivalry. In fact, it is a serious social political novel which reflectes the bloody robbery that British and French colonists did to the American continent and the American indians, and the conflict between civilization and barbarousness. C. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) 霍桑 Imbued with an inquiring imagination，an intense1y meditative mind， and unceasing interest in the "interior of the heart" of man's being，Nathaniel Hawthorne remains one of the most interesting，yet most ambiva1ent writers in the American literary history. (1) His life and main works His life story is tota1ly without the exciting events which characterize the lives of so many American writers. He was born on the Fourth of July，l804 in Salem， Massachusetts，into a prominent Puritan family. His first American ancestor， William Hawthorne，as a magistrate of the Bay Colony，was active in the 1650's in persecution of the Quakers，while William's son，John，was a judge at the Salem witchcraft trials. However，the 17th century prominence of his family dec1ined during the century that followed. Nathaniel's father，a sea captain，died of yellow fever in 1808 leaving at Salem a widow and three children in genteel poverty. With the financial support from his more prosperous maternal relations，Hawthorne passed a serene childhood in spite of his father's death and spent his adolescence reading some books of those literary master minds，especially Bunyan，Spenser and Shakespeare，which were essential for his formation as a writer. After 1837， a series of salient events of Hawthorne’s life happened that mattered a lot to his literary imagination and creation. He met Sophia Peabody，whom he married later and with whom he had three children:he worked in the United States Custom House in Boston and later in Salem，which definitely provided some authentic he also stayed for some time at Concord and Lenox，materials for his long works; where he met the principal literary figures of the time，Emerson and Thoreau and Melville. He was affected by the former's transcendentalist theory and struck up a very intimate relationship with the latter，and all the three people had played an indispensable role in Hawthorne's literary career. Hawthorne’s major works: Hawthorne wrote and published many good works，which have doubtlessly become part of the American literary heritage. Among them，the tales collected in Moses from an Old Manse(1846) and The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales (1851) best demonstrate Hawthorn’s early obsession with the moral and psychological consequences of pride，selfishness，and secret guilt that manifest themselves in human beings;The Scarlet Letter(1850)，always regarded as the best of his works，tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a Puritan community are invo1ved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways;The House of the Seven Gables(1851 ) was based on the tradition of a curse pronounced on the author’s family when his great-grandfather was a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials; The Blithedale Romance (l852) is a novel he wrote to reveal his own experiences on the Brook Farm and his own methods as a psychological novelist. The Marble Faun(1860)is a romance set in Italy， concerned about the dark aberrations of the human spirit. (2) His writing styles a. The structure and the form of his writings are always carefully worked out to cater for the thematic concern. b. With his specia1 interest in the psychologica1 aspect of human beings， there isn't much action， or physical movement going on in his works and he is good at exploring the complexity of human psychology. So his drama is Thought， full of mental activities. c. The use of allegory and symbolism. He is a great allegorist and almost every story can be read allegorically. (3) The Scarlet Letter红字 a. The story 课本38-39页 b. The symbolism and ambiguity in The Scarlet Letter The scarlet letter “A” is the central symbol of The Scarlet Letter，with which Hawthorne proves himself to be one of the best symbolists. As a key to the whole novel，the letter A takes on different layers of symbolic meanings as the plot develops. At the beginning of the novel Hester was discovered to have committed adultery and was punished to wear a scarlet letter “A” made of cloth at her bosom and the letter symbolized her sin-"adultery". Then when Hester became gradually accepted by the community through her honesty and hard work，it stands for Hester's intelligence and hard work-“able”. At the end of the novel the symbol has evolved to represent the high virtues of Hester-“angelic”. So the letter changes from a symbol of sin to a symbol of ability and at last of the high human virtue. By using Pearl as a thematic symbo1，Hawthorne emphasizes the consequence the sin of adultery has brought to the community and people living in that community. D. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) 爱伦坡 (1) His life and main works Poe’s whole life is short and tragic. He was born in Boston in 1809 as the second child of two poor traveling actors. His childhood was not happy. He was orphaned at the age of two and was taken care by John Allan, a childless, wealthy merchant of Virginia, whose name Poe later added tohis own. For a short period, Poe was happy with the Allans, but soon friction soon to develop between his and his foster fatehr. Later, when his foster father had his own son, he treated Poe even worse. His literature achievement included poems, novels and reviews. In all his life, he wrote altogether 48 poems, in which The City in the Sea (1831), To Helen (1831), The Raven (1845) and The Bells (1849) are considered as his representative works. “death” never disappear in his poems. His achievement mainly focused on his short novels. He wrote 68 short novels in total. Such as A Predicament, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Tell-Tale Heart. (2) Poe’s view on writing As a creative writer, Poe emphasized the significance of art and he thought that works of art should be created for the sake of beauty. He insisted that the creation of a work of art require the utmost concentration and unity, as well as the most careful use of words. (3) To Raven 乌鸦 It is a verse-narrative and has 108 lines. It portrays a young man grieving over his lost love. His grief is turning to madness under the steady one-word repetition of talking bird. The poem’s dominating mood is melancholy though it is characterized by its dramatic variation of tone, which begins from sorrow, and proceeds to trepidation and jocularity, and eventually to despair through hysterial selftorture. In this poem, the main feature is repetition. E. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) 亨利?大卫梭罗 (1) His life and main works Born in Concord as a son of an unsuccessful storekeeper and a maker of lead pencils, Thoreau was educated at Harvard and graduated in 1837 when Emerson’s famous address “ The American Scholar” was made. Upon graduation, he first stayed with his family, helping his father make pencils and then, for a time, ran a private school. Under the influence of Emerson, Thoreau came and live in his house, doing house chores, and most important of all, embracing and sharing his ideas. In 1845. with the permission of Emerson, Thoreau built a hut on a piece of Emerson’s property at Walden Pond and began his two-year residence there. He was single all his life without marriage. His literary creation mainly includes essays, prose, verses and journals. Such as:A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River (1849), Civil Dispbediance (1849), Walden (1854), Slavery in Massachusetts (1854) and so on. Among them, Walden received great reputation in the world. (2) Walden 瓦尔登湖 Walden is based on Thoreau’s life experience on Walden Pond. It is a faithful and beautiful record of Thoreau’s reflections when he was in solitary communication with nature. It best represents his economic and social individualism, his faith in the values of the inner life of man, and his feeling for the unity of man and nature. F. Walt Whitman 惠特曼 Whitman is a giant of American letters. His Leaves of Grass has always been considered a monumental work which commands great attention because of its uniquely poetic embodiment of American democratic ideals. He is the poet of the common people and the prophet and singer of democracy. (1) His life and main works He was born in 1819 into a working-c1ass family and grew up in Brook1yn， New York，Son of a carpenter，Whitman left his schooling for good at eleven，and became an office boy. Later on he changed several jobs，one of which was in the printing office of a newspaper，which would be of great he1p in his literary career. By this early age he had a1ready shown his strong love for literature，reading a great deal on his own，especially the works of Shakespeare and Milton，and developed his potential for the writing career in the future. Before he was 17 years o1d he had already had his poems printed on a paper，although these early works were not comparable to his later and mature ones. However，Whitman did not become a professional writer directly until an opportunity came up which sent him back to New York City，henceforth， where he formal1y took up journalism and indulged himself in the excitement of the fast-growing metropolis. Feeling compe1led to speak up for something new and vital he found in the air of the nation，Whitman turned to the manual work of carpentry around 1851 or 1852，as an experiment to familiarize himself with the reality and essence of the life of the nation. At the same time，he widened his reading to a new scale and made it more systematic. After enriching himself simultaneously by these two very different，approaches，Whitman was ab1e to put forward his own set of aesthetic princip1es. Leaves of Grass was just the expression of these principles. (2) Whitman’s democratic ideas Whitman’s democratic ideas govern his poetry-writing. In his famous poetry， openness，freedom，and above all，individua1ism(the belief that the rights and freedom of individual people are most important)are all that concerned him. Whitman brings the hard-working farmers and laborers into American literature，attack the slavery system and racial discrimination. In this book he also extols nature， democracy，labor and creation，and sings of man's dignity and equality，and of the brightest future of mankind. Whitman believed that poetry could play a vital part in the process of creating a new nation. It could enable Americans to celebrate their release from the Old World and the colonia1 rule. And it could also help them understand their new status and to define themse1ves in the new wor1d of possibi1ities. (3) The theme in Whitman’s poetry His poetry is filled with optimistic expectation and enthusiasm about new things and new epoch. (1) He shows concern for the whole hard-working people and the burgeoning life of cities. To Whitman， the fast growth of industry and wealth in cities indicated a lively future of the nation，despite the crowded，noisy，and squalid conditions and the slackness in morality. (2) He advocates the realization of the individua1 value. (3) Pursuit of love and happiness is approved of repeatedly and affectionately in his lines. Sexual 1ove，a rather taboo topic of the time，is displayed candidly as something adorable. The individual person and his desires must be respected. (4) Some of Whitman’s poems are politically committed. (4) Leaves of Grass 草叶集 Walt Whitman is a poet with a strong sense of mission，having devoted all his life to Leaves of Grass. the creation of the “single” poem， a. the title :It is significant that Whitman entitled his book Leaves of Grass . He said that where there is earth， where there is water， there is grass. Grass， the most common thing with the greatest vitality， is an image of the poet himself， a symbol of the then rising American nation and an embodiment of his ideals about democracy and freedom. b. His essential purpose His aim was nothing less than to express some new poetica1 feelings and to initiate a poetic tradition in which difference shou1d be recognized. The genuine participation of a poet in a common cultural effort was，according to Whitman，to behave as a supreme individualist;however，the poet's essentia1 purpose was to identify his ego with the world，and more specifically with the democratic "en-masse" of America， which is established in the opening lines of “Song of Myself”. c. Poetic style ? His poetic style is marked, first of all, by the use of the poetic “I”. ? Whitman is also radically innovative in terms of the form of his poetry. He adopted “free verse”. ? Whitman is conversational and causal, in the fluid, expansive, and unstructured style of talking. d. Whitman’s language Contrary to the rhetoric of traditional poetry, Whitman’s language is relatively simple and even rather crude. ? Most of the pictures he painted with words are honest, undistorted images of different aspects of America of the day. One of the most often-used is to make colors and images fleet past the mind’s eye of the reader. ? His strong tendency to use oral English. ? Whitman’s vocabulary is amazing. He would use powerful, colorful, as well as rarely-used words, words of foreign origin and sometimes even wrong words. e. Song of Myself The two principal beliefs embodied in this poem: In this poem Whitman sets forth two principal beliefs:the theory of universality， which is illustrated by lengthy catalogues of people and things，and the belief in the singularity and equality of all beings in value. He extols whole universe and the world. He is thinking of the self as a powerful and sensitive instrument for receiving and expressing. He moves from himself to you to others，to all humanity all together about him. G. Herman Melville (1819-1891) 梅尔维尔 (1) His life and main works Herman Melville was born in 1819 in Lansingburgh， New York. The early sailing experiences were rewarding，for they gave him a love of the sea， and aroused his desire for adventure. In 1841，Melvile went to the South Seas on a whaling ship， where he gained the first-hand information about whaling that he used later in Moby Dick. In the following three years，Melville served on three different whalers， finally served for a year in the regular navy. Working as a sailor，he had experienced the most brutalizing life in his time for a man， yet years of adventures also furnished him with abundant raw materials for most of his major fictions and his imaginative visions of life. In 1850，Melville and Hawthorne became very good friends. Hawthorne's black vision regarding the evil of human beings had in some way changed Melville's outlook on life and the world and his allegorical way of exposition had affected his writing technique. Shakespearean tragic vision and Emersonian Transcendentalism also produced some positive effects on his writing. His early works were sea adventures，condidered to be the best. Among them are Typee(1846)，Omoo(1847)，and Mardi(1849)，Redburn(1849) is a semi-autobiographical novel，concerning the sufferings of a genteel youth among brutal sailors;in White Jacket(1850)Melville relates his life on a United States man-of-war. Of all these sea adventure stories，Moby-Dick (1851) proves to be the best. By writing such a book Melville reached the most flourishing stage of his literary creativity. (2) Moby Dick 白鲸 Moby-dick is regarded as the Great American Novel， the first American prose epic (散文史诗: a long narrative poem telling of heroic deeds of reflecting the values of the society from which it originated)，though it is presented in the form of a novel. a. its surface meaning and deep meaning Surface meaning: It is a whaling tale or sea adventure，dealing with Ahab，a man with an overwhelming obsession to kill the whale which has crippled him，on board his ship Pequod in the chase of the big whale. The dramatic description of the hazards of whaling makes the book a very exciting sea narrative and builds a literary monument to an era of whaling industry in the nineteenth century. Deep symbolic theme: Moby-Dick is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure，considering that Melville is a great symbolist. It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe，a spiritual exploration into man's deep reality and psychology. This is shown in Captain Ahab's rebellious struggle against the overwhelming mysterious vastness of the universe and its awesome sometimes merciless forces. b. It is a mixture of romanticism and realism Romantic features: Ahab is a Byronic hero，a man with an overwhelming obsession or consuming desire to take revenge against the whale which has crippled him. His revenge ends in tragedy and he，who burns with a baleful fire，becomes evil himself in his thirst to destroy evil. Moby Dick，for the writer，symbolizes the unknown， mysterious natural force，an unreal world of speculation and mystery which is very hard for man to manipulate. Realistic features: The dramatic description of the hazards of whaling makes the book a very exciting sea narrative and builds a literary monument to an era of whaling industry in the nineteenth century. d. Allegory and symbolism Moby-Dick is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure，it is also a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe，a spiritual exploration into man's deep reality and psychology. Like Hawthorne，Melville is a master of allegory and symbolism. He uses allegory and symbolism in Moby-Dick to present its mighty theme. Instead of putting the battle between Ahab and the big whale into simple statements，he used symbols， that is， objects or persons who represent something else. Different people on board the ship are representations of different ideas and different social and ethnic groups; facts become symbols and incidents acquire universal meanings;the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. The white whale，Moby Dick，symbolizes nature for Melville，for it is complex， unfathomable， malignant，and beautiful as well. For the character Ahab，however，the whale represents only evil. Moby Dick is like a wall，hiding some unknown，mysterious things behind. Ahab wills the whole crew on the Pequod to join him in the pursuit of the big whale so as to pierce the wall，to root out the evil，but only to be destroyed by evil，in this case，by his own consuming desire，his madness. For the author，as well as for the reader and Ishmael，the narrator，Moby Dick is still a mystery，an ultimate mystery of the universe，inscrutable and ambivalent，and the voyage of the mind will forever remain a search，not a discovery，of the truth. 二、重点与难点 1.浪漫主义时期美国文学的特点 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风 格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 三、自学要求 通过本章学习，了解19世纪初期至中叶美国文学产生的历史、文化背景;认识 该时期文学创作的基本待征、基本主张，及其对同时代和后期美国文学的影响; 了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题 思想、人物刻画、语言风格等;同时结合注释，读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容 和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 四、自学作业 (一)选择: 1. Irving was best know for his famous short stories such as __________ . A. Rip Van Winkle B. Young Goodman Brown C. Life of Goldsmith D. Life of Washington 2. Melville’s ___________ is an encycolopedia of everything，history，philosophy， religion, etc . A. The Old Man and the Sea B.Moby - Dick C. White Jacket D. Billy Budd 3 . In early nineteenth century ， Washington Irving wrote _____ which became the first work by an American writer to earn an interantional reputation . A. Nature B. The Sketch Book C. The Scalet Letter D. Leaves of Grass 4. The Aemrican Transcendalists formed a club called “____________” . A. the Transcendental Club B. the Sentimental Club C. the Romantic Club 5. _____________ tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a Puritan community are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways . A. Young Goodman Brown B. Moby Dick C. The Scarlet Letter D. Daisy Miller 6. The famous 20 -year sleep in “ Rip Van Winkle ” helps to construct the story in such a way that we are greatly affected by Irving's _______ . A. involvement with the passage of time B. transient beauty C. laziness and corruptibility of human beings . D. supernatural manipulation of man's life 7. Moby Dick ， the big white whale ， is possibly read as symbolic of all the following EXCEPT _________ . A. malignancy B. beauty C.adultery D. God 8. Walt Whitman was a founding figure of American poetry . His innovation first of all lies in his use of _____ ， poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme . A. blank verse B. heroic couplet C. free verse D. iambic pentameter 9. Hester Prynne is the heroine in Hawthorne ''s novel _______________ . A. The House of the Seven Gables B. The Scarlet Letter C. Moby Dick D. Daisy Milly 10. In ______ ， Hawthorne discusses sin and evil and sets out to prove that everyone posesses some evil secret . A. The Scarlet Letter B. Young Goodman Brown C. Sister Carrie D. Daisy Milly (二)回答问题 11. What are the surface meaning and deep meaning of Moby Dick? 12. What is the theme is Whitman’s poetry? 13. Explain Poe’s view on writing, and talk about your own ideas. 14. What’s Irving’s main contribution on American Literature? 第三章: 现实主义及自然主义文学 一、主要内容 1. Background of this period In the Civil War (1861-1865), the industry North defeated the agrarian South. After the war, a new society came into being. Industry developed at an unprecedented rate. The telephone and telegraph linked the United States to the outside world. Railroads were built, with which came vast commercial development and mobility. Many farmers, attracted by the peopect of factory work and higher pay, flocked to the industrial cities, causing an oversupply of labor. However, the wealth was more than ever in the possession of the few. Bussiness and financial tycoons were honored natioanl heroes and as models for youth. It was the beginning of what Mark Twain called “The Gilded Age”, an age of extremes: of decline and progress, of poverty and dazzling wealth, of gloom and buoyant hope. 2. American Realism and Naturalism American Realism: is a movement or trend that dominated American literature form the 1860s to the 1910s. It is a revolution against its predecessor, Romanticism. It is the result of social, political, economic and cultural changes. The realists sought to portray American life as it really was, insisting that the ordinary and the local were as suitable for artistic portrayal as the magnificent and the remote. thNaturalism: It is literary trend at the end of the 19 century. A generation of writers who attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were dominated by their enviroment and heredity. And these writers were sometimes called “naturalists”. 3. 主要作家作品 A. Mark Twain (1835-1910) 马克?吐温 (1) His life and main works Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was born in 1835 in the viliage of Florida, Missouri. After his father’s death in 1847, the 12-yeal-old Twain had to quite school to help support the family. He worked as a printer’s apprentice, a travelling printer, a silver miner, a steamboat pilot on the Missisippi River, a frontier journalist in Nevada and California. Mark Twain began his literary career by writing humorous sketches for newspapers. In all his life, he wrote many works including sketches, travel accounts, adventures. Such as: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country (1865), A Tramp Abroad (1880), Life on the Mississipi (1883), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1844), The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1900), What is Man? (1906), The Mysterious Stranger (1916) and some others. He was considered as “the Lincoln of American literature” by William Dean Howells. (2) His writing features His vernacular language, colloquial style, humor and satire are all characteristically American. Besides, his employment of the first person narration is also a unique feature of his writing. (3) The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn a. The story 课本87-88页 Set mainly on the Mississippi River, the novel recounts the story of Jim’s fighting from slavery and, more importantly, how Huck Finn, floating along with him and helping him battle with his conscience about befriending Nigger Him. b. The subject of the story It is Twain’s celebration of simplicity, innocence, freedom, nature, wilderness, peace, generosity, companionship, humanity, and a vanished way of living. It is also a condemnation or ridicule of slavery, civilization, discrimination, tyranny, violence, greed, hypocrisy and corruption. B. Henry James (1843-1916) 亨利?詹姆士 (1) His life and main works Henry James was born into a wealthy and talented New York City family on April 15, 1843. As a youth, he lived in New York, London, Paris and Rhode Island, and received a remarkably cosmopolitan and eclectic education. He was greatly attracted by art and architecture of European cities and gallaries. After 1866, he lived mostly in Europe. In 1875, he settled in Paris and lived in literary circles. The next year, he moved to London and lived there for the rest of his life. His works include Roderick Hudson (1875), The American (1877), Daisy Miller (1878), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Spoils of Poynton (1897), The Wings of Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904). (2) Subject of writing James represents the psychological realists who explore the psychology of their characters. His literary technique was maily concerned with “point of view”. His stories were usually told from the viewpoint of one or several characters. James brought a new aristry and system to the English novel. (3) Daisy Miller 黛西?米勒 a. The story 课本97页 b. The subject of the story It focused on the conflict between the two different cultures: the American culture and the European culture. Besides, it also involved the contradictions in people’s mind. C. Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) 西奥多?德莱赛 (1) His life and main works He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on August 27, 1871. At fifteen, he fled to Chicago and began making a living on his own. When he was eighteen, a teacher recognized his talent and lent him money to attend Indiana University. However, he quit school one year later. He began his career as a novelist with the publication in 1900 of Sister Carrie. And then he wrote many other works such as: Jenny Gerhardt (1911), a triology including The Financier (1912), The Titan (1914), and The Stoic (1947), Twelve Men (1919), Tragic America (1932) and many others. (2) Sister Carrie 嘉莉妹妹 The heroine, Carrie Meeber, leaves her rural home to try her fortune in Chicago. She meets Charles Drouet, a travelling salesman, on train. After arriving in Chicago, she finds a job in s shoe factory, but the poor income and hard work oppress her imagination. She quits the job. Lonely and distressed, she becomes Drouet’s mistress.when Drouet is away on a business trip, Carrie falls in love with George Hustwood, a married manager. Hurstwood and Carrie elope and live together for more than three years. In these three years, Carrie becomes more and more popular while Hurstwood declines. Carrie walks out on him. Hurstwood becomes a beggar, sinks lower and lower, and finally commits suicide. Carrie becomes a popular star of musical comedies. However, in her massive success, she still lonely and empty. 二、重点与难点 1.了解这一时期文学的特点， 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风 格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 三、自学要求 通过本章学习，了解这一时期美国的政治经济状况;认识该时期文学创作的基本 待征、基本主张;了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及 其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等;读懂所选作品并了解其思想内 容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 四、自学作业 (一)选译题 1. Mark Twain created ， in ____________ ，a masterpiece of American realism that is also one of the great books of world literature . A. Huckleberry Finn B. Tom Sowyer C. The Gilded Age D. The Mysterious Stranger 2. “ The Way of the Beaten : A Harp in the Wind ，” this is the title of one chapter in Dreiser’ s novel _______ . A. An American Tragedy B. Sister Carrie C. Dreiser Looks at Russia D. Jannie Gerhardt (二)名词解释 3.American Realism: 4.Naturalism: (三)回答问题 5.Who was considered as “ the Lincoln of our literarure” in American literature? 第四章: 20世纪美国文学 一、主要内容 1. Historial background After the World War I, the whole wor1d had undergone a dramatic social change，a transformation from order to disorder. America in this period was characterized by economic boom and material prosperity but social chaos，spiritual waste and and moral decay. Economically，with America's participation in Wor1d War I and the technological revolution，the United States had its booming industry and material prosperity. Socially，the world was disorderly and turbulent. There was a sense of unease and restlessness underneath. Spiritually and morally，there was a decline in moral standard and the first few decades of the twentieth century was best described as a spiritual wasteland. The censor of a great civilization being destroyed or destroying itself，social breakdown，and individual powerlessness and hopelessness became part of the American experience as a result of the First World War，with resulting feelings of fear，loss，disorientation and disillusionment. 2. American literature in this period (1) The Imagist Movement and the artistic characteristics of imagist poems: Led by the American poet Ezra Pound，Imagist Movement is a poetic movement that flourished in the U.S. and England between 1909-1917. It advances modernism in arts which concentrates on reforming the medium of poetry as opposed to Romanticism， especially Tennyson's worldliness and high-flown language in poetry. Pound endorsed three main principles as guidelines for Imagism，including direct treatment of poetic elimination of merely ornamental or superfluous words， and rhythmical subjects， composition should be composed with the phrasing of music，not a metronome. The primary Imagist objective is to avoid rhetoric and moralizing，to stick closely to the object or experience being described，and to move from explicit generalization. The leading poets are Ezra Pound，Wallace Stevens，D.H.Lawrence，etc. The characteristic products of the movement are more easily recognized than its theories defined;they tend to be short，composed of short lines of musical cadence rather than metrical regularity，to avoid abstraction，and to treat the image with a hard，clear precision rather than with overt symbolic intent. The influence of Japanese forms，tanka and haiku，is obvious in many. Most of the imagist poets wrote in free verse and they like to emply common speech. They stressed the freedom in the choice of subject matter and form. (2) The Lost Generation 迷惘的一代 It refers to, in general，the post-World War generation，but specifically a group of expatriate disillusioned intellectuals and artists，who experimented on new modes of thought and expression by rebelling against former ideals and values and replacing them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. The remark of Gertrude Stein， “You are all a lost generation” addressed to Hemingway，was used as an epigraph to the latter's novel The Sun Also Rises，which brilliantly describes those expatriates who had cut themselves off from their past in America in order to create new types of writing. The generation was “lost” in the sense that its inherited values were no longer relevant in the postwar world and because of its spiritual alienation from a U.S. that seemed to its members to be hopelessly provincial，materialistic，and emotional barren. The term embraces Hemingway，F. Scott Fitzgerald，Ezra Pound，E.E.Cummings，and many other writers who made Paris the center of their literary activities in the 1920s. (3) Expressionism Expressionism is used to describe the works of art and literature in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate an inner vision，transforming nature rather than imitating it. In literature it is often considered a revolt against realism and naturalism，a seeking to achieve a psychological or spiritual reality rather than to record external events. (4) The literary characteristics ? Theme: In general terms，much serious literature written from 1912 onwards attempted to convey a vision of social breakdown and mora1 decay and the writer's task was to develop techniques that could represent a break with the past. Thus，the defining formal characteristics of the modernistic works are discontinuity and fragmentation. ? Technically，modernism was marked by a persistent experimentalism. It rejected description，and rational exposition in poetry the traditional framework of narrative， and prose，in favor of a stream of consciousness presentation of personality，a dependence on the poetic image as the essential vehicle of aesthetic communication， and upon myth as a characteristic structural principle. Compared with earlier writings， modern American writings are notable for what they omit —— the explanations，interpretations，connections，and summaries. There are shifts in perspective，voice，and tone，but the biggest shift is from the external to the internal，from the public to the private，from the chronological to the psychic， from the objective description to the subjective projection. Modern American writers in general emphasize the concrete sensory images or details as the direct conveyer of experience. They strive for directness，compression，and vividness and are sparing of words. 3. 主要作家作品 A. Robert Frost (1874-1963) 罗伯特?弗洛斯特 (1) His life and major works Frost is an important poet in the 20th century. He won the Pulitzer Prize four times and read poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. He spent his early childhood in the Far West and later the family moved to New Hampshire. He went to Harvard but left in the middle because of his tuberculosis. When he was 28，he began to venture on writing. His first book A Boy's Will(1913)，whose lyrics trace a boy’s development from self-centered idealism to maturity，is marked by an intense but restrained emotion and the characteristic flavor of New Eng1and life. His second book，a volume of poems North of Boston(1914)，is described by the author as “a book of people”，which shows a brilliant insight into New England character and the background that formed it. Many of his major poems are collected in this volume. Mountain Interval(19l6) contains such characteristic poems as “The Road Not Taken”, “Birches”. New Hampshire(1923) that won Frost the first of four Pulitzer Prizes includes “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”，which stems from the ambiguity of the speaker's choice between safety and the unknown. The collection West-Running Brook(1928) poses disturbing uncertainties about man’s prowess and importance. Collected Poems (l930) and A Further Range(1935) gathered Frost’s second and third Pulitzer Prizes. Both translate modern upheaval into poetic materia1 the poet could skillfully control. Frost’s fourth Pulitzer Prize was awarded for A Witness Tree(l942) which includes “The Gift Outright”, the poem he later recited at President Kennedy’s inauguration. Frost took up a religious question most notably in “After Apple-Picking”: can a mans best efforts ever satisfy God, A Masque of Reason(l945) and A Masque of Mercy(1947) are comic-serious dramatic narratives，in both of which biblical characters in modern settings discuss ethics and man’s re1ations to God. (2) The theme in his works Generally Frost is considered a regional poet whose subject matters mainly focus on the landscape and people in New England. These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature，as well as its beauty，and the 1oneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. But first and foremost Frost is concerned with his love of life and his belief in a serenity that only came from working usefully，which he practiced himself throughout his life. (3) Frost’s style in lanauage By using simple spoken language and conversational rhythms，Frost achieved an effortless grace in his style. He combined traditiona1 verse forms —— the sonnet， rhyming coup1ets，blank verse with a clear American local speech rhythm，the speech of New England farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. In verse form he was assorted; he wrote in both the metrical forms and the free verse，and sometimes he wrote in a form that borrows freely from the merits of both，in a form that might be called semi-free or semi-conventional. (4) “The Road Not Taken” ? The theme: This poem seems to be about the poet，walking in the woods in autumn，hesitating for a long time and wondering which road he should take since they are both pretty. In reality，this is a meditative poem symbolically written. It concerns the important decisions which one must take in the course of life，when one must give up one desirable thing in order to possess another. Then，whatever the outcome，one must accept the consequences of one’s choice for it is not possible to go back and have another chance to choose differently. In the poem，he followed the one which was not frequently travelled by. Symbolically，he chose to follow an unusual， solitary life;perhaps he was speaking of his choice to become a poet rather than some common profession. But he always remembered the road which he might have taken， and which would have given him a different kind of life. ? Language: This poem is written in classic five-line stanzas，with the rhyme scheme a-b-a-a-b and conversational rhythm. The poet uses “the road” to symbolize life’s journey. (5) “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” The theme:This is a deceptively simple poem in which the speaker literally stops ? his horse in the winter twilight to observe the beauty of the forest scene，and then is moved to continue his journey. Philosophically and symbolically，it stems from the ambiguity of the speaker’s choice between safety and the unknown. ? This poem suggests deep thought about death and about life. The strange attraction of death to man is symbolized by the dark woods silently filled up with the coldness of snow. Frost frequently uses the technique of symbolism in his poetry. Some critics think that the “village” stands for the human world，“woods” for nature， “horse” for the animal world，and "promises" for obligations. The poem represents a moment of relaxation from the burdensome journey of life，an almost aesthetic enjoyment and appreciation of natural beauty which is wholesome and restorative against the chaotic existence of modern man. ? The last stanza shows a kind of sad，sentimental but also strong and responsible feeling. The attraction of the beauty of the nature makes the speaker stop in the journey. He finally turns away from it，with a certain weariness and yet with quiet determination，to face the needs of life. This stresses the central conflict of the poem between man’s enjoyment of nature’s beauty and his responsibility in society. This shows a man's despairing courage to seek out the meaning of life. In the last stanza， the three adjectives “lovely” “dark” “deep” reinforce one another. Not only do they represent beauty and terror of nature symbolized by the dark woods， but they also reveal the speaker's love for nature and human isolation from it. Besides，the word “sleep” here means “die” symbolically. B. Ezra Pound (1885-1972) 埃兹拉?庞德 (1) His life and major works Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho and brought up in Pennsylvania. In high school, the study of Latin inspired him to be a poet. Pound was quite gifted at language. Before he graduated from the university of Pennsylvania, he had studied French, Italian, Old English, and Latin. Ezra Pound’s contribution to American literature:Pound was one of the most important poets and critics of his time and he was regarded as the father of modern American poetry. He is a leading spokesman of the “Imagist Movement”，which though short-lived，had a tremendous influence on modern poetry. wrote criticisms and did translations. Pound composed poems， His poetic works:In 1915 Pound began writing his great work，The Cantos， which spanned from 1917 to 1959 and were collected in The Cantos of Ezra Pound (1986). He joined a famous literary salon run by an American woman writer Gertrude Stein， and became involved in the experimentations on poetry. His other poetic works include twelve volumes of verse Collected Early Poems of Ezra Pound (1982)，and Personae (1909)，and some longer pieces such as Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920). His critical essays:Make It New (l934)，Literary Essays (l954)，The ABC of Reading (1934) and Polite Essays (l937), etc. These essays best reflect Pound’s appraisals of literary traditions and of modern writing. His translations: The Translations of Ezra Pound (1953)， Confucius (1969)， and Shih-Ching (1954). These translations have not only cast light on Pound’s affinity to the Chinese and his strenuous effort in the study of Oriental literature，but also offered us a clue to the understanding of his poetry and literary theory. From the analysis of the Chinese ideogram Pound learned to anchor his poetic language in concrete， perceptual reality，and to organize images into larger patterns through juxtoposition. (2) His poetic theme (1) His earlier poetry is saturated with the familiar poetic subjects that characterize the 19th century Romanticism:songs in praise of a lady，songs concerning the poet's craft，love and friendship，death，the transience of beauty and the permanence of art， and some other subjects that Pound could call his own:the pain of exile， metamorphosis，the delightful psychic experience，the ecstatic moment，etc. (2) Later he is more concerned about the problems of the modern culture:the contemporary cultural decay and the possible sources of cultural renewal as well. In The Cantos，Pound traces the rise and fall of eastern and western empires，the moral and social chaos of the modern world，especially the corruption of America after the heroic time of Jefferson. From the perception of these things，stems the poet’s search for order，which involves a search for the principles on which the poet’s craft is based. (3) In a Station of the Metro (1) Theme: This poem is an observation of the poet of the human faces seen in a Paris subway station or a description of a moment of sudden emotion at seeing beautiful faces in a Metro in Paris. He sees the faces，turned variously toward light and darkness，like flower petals which are half absorbed by，half resisting，the wet， dark texture of a bough. (2) The one image in this poem:This poem is probably the most famous of all imagist poems. In two lines it combines a sharp visual image or two juxtoposed images (意 象叠加) “Petals on a wet， black bough” with an implied meaning. The faces in the dim light of the Metro suggest both the impersonality and haste of city life and the greater transience of human life itself. The word “apparition” is a well-chosen one which has a two-fold meaning:Firstly，it means a visible appearance of something real. Secondly，it builds an image of a ghostly sight，a delusive and unexpected appearance. (3) Pound uses the fewest possible words to convey an accurate image，which is the principle of the Imagist poetry. This poem looks to be a modern adoption of the haiku form of Japanese poetry which adapts the 3-line，17 syllable and where the title is an intergral part of the whole. The poem succeeds largely because of its internal rhymes: station/apparition;Metro/petals/wet;crowd/bough. Its form was determined by the experience that inspired it，involving organically rather than being chosen arbitrarily. (4) The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter (1) Theme:It is an adaptation from the Chinese Li Bai (701-762)named Rihaku in Japanese，which，by means of vivid images and shifting tones，describes the silky shy tenderness of the young wife writing to her absent husband the river-merchant. The history of her feelings for her husband develops as the following:her bashfulness when she was a young girl，her spiritual affinity with him during the phase of their marriage，the material nature of her love at the time of his departure as well as her longing for his return when she grows old. (2) Use of images and allusion:In this poem Pound uses images such as “hair” “grown moss” “falling leaves” to suggest the passing years and growing age. Besides， Pound employs an allusion to “a story of a woman waiting for her husband on a hill.” In Pound’s version，the line emphasizes the otherworldly nature of her love during her marriage. C. T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) 艾略特 (1) His life and major works T. S. Eliot, and American-born English poet, playwright and literary critic, is best known for his The Waste Land (1922). He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948 and the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. He was born in a distinguished family, with his mother being a good poet and his father being a successful businessman. Eliot received higher education at Harvard University in America, the Sorbonne in Paris, and Oxford University in Englang. He was quite familiar with French, Italian, and English literature, as well as Sanskirt(梵 语). In 1925, Eliot published his firt important poem, “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock”. In 1917, his first small volume of poems, Prufrock and Other Obeservations, was published. After 1922, his efforts were focused on literary criticism, such as his famous essey: Tradition and the Individual Talent. Besides, he also wrote plays. He wrote seven plays, among them which Four Quartets (1934), Murder in the Cathedral (1935), The Cocktail Party (1949) are the best. (2) The Waste Land 荒原 Eliot wrote The Waste Land in 1921 while recovering from a mental collapse brought on by overwork, marital problems, and poor health. The original poem was almost twice as long. Ezra Pound reduced it to its present length. It consists of five parts: “ The Burial of the Dead”, “A Game of Chess”, “The Fire Sermon”, “Death by Water” and “ What the Thunder Said”. The poem is composed of numerous literary fragments, clues, mythic allusion, foreign words and phrases, and quotations from works by other writers. Through this work, Eliot conveys a deep sense of disillusionment and melanchanly. It indicates that after the war the Western civilization was in crisis, that people lost their faith just as the title of the work “The Waste Land” suggested. D. F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) 菲茨杰拉德 (1) His life and major works His life: Francis Scott Fitzgerald was a most representative figure of the 1920s，who was mirror of the exciting age in almost every way. An active participant of his age， he never failed to remain detached and foresee the failure and tragedy of the “Dollar Decade.” Thus he is often acc1aimed literary spokesman of the Jazz Age. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul，Minnesota on September 24，l896. In his childhood，he admired his gentleman1y father who retained his upper-class manners but was always a little sensitive to the poor Irish beginnings on his mother's side. He had an expensive education in private schools at Princeton. But due to illness and neglect of academic study，he left the university in 1917 without graduation. He married Zelda Sayre，who exerted a strong influence on his literary career and his personal life. Zelda has been regarded as the prototype of a series of rich，beautiful women who figure so prominently in his fiction. The young couple frequently went abroad and lived extravagantly a luxurious life. To keep earning enough money， Fitzgerald wrote short stories and novels at a rapid speed. The l930s brought relentless decline for Fitzgerald with a series of misfortunes:his reputation declined， his wealth fell，his health failed，and what's more，Ze1da had suffered from some serious mental breakdowns which confined her in a sanitarium for the rest of her life. A1coholism， loneliness and despair combined to ruin Fitzgerald. He died in 1940 of a heart attack. His woks: His novels and short stories chronicled changing social attitudes during the 1920s，a period dubbed “The Jazz Age”. His first novel This Side of Paradise won for him wealth and fame. His second novel，The Beautiful and Damned increased his popularity，which also portrays the emotiona1 and spiritual collapse of a wealthy young man during an unstable marriage. The coup1e in the novel were undoubtedly modeled after Fitzgerald himself and Zelda. His masterpiece The Great Gatsby (1925) made him one of the greatest American novelists. Afterwards，Fitzgerald wrote one more important novel Tender is the Night (l934)，in which he traces the decline of a young American psychiatrist whose marriage to a beautiful and wealthy patient drains his personal energies and corrodes his professional career. His last novel The Last Tycoon remains unfinished. Fitzgerald also wrote short stories of great popularity. His short story collections include Flappers and Philosophers (l92l)，Tales of the Jazz Age (1922)，All the Sad Young Man (l926) and Taps at Reveille (1935). One of his best short stories is “Babylon Revisited” which depicts an American’s return to Paris in the 1930s and his regretful rea1ization that the past is beyond his reach，since he can neither alter it nor make any amends. (2) Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age (1) The Jazz Age: It refers to the 1920s，a time marked by frivolity， carelessness， hedonism and excitement in the life of the flaming youth. Fitzgerald is largely responsible for the term and many of his literary works portray it. The Jazz Age is brought vividly to life in The Great Gatsby. (2) Fitzgerald’s fictional world is the best embodiment of the spirit of the Jazz Age，in which he shows a particular interest in the upper——class society， especially the upper-class young people. Young men and women in the 1920s had a sense of reckless confidence not only about money but about 1ife in genera1. Since they grew up with the notion that the world would improve without their help，they felt excused from seeking the common good. Plunging into their persona1 adventures，engaging themselves in casual sex and heavy drinking，they took risks that did not impress them as being risks，and they spent money extravagant1y and enjoyed themselves to their hearts’ content. But beneath their masks of relaxation and joviality there was only sterility，meaninglessness and futi1ity，and amid the grandeur and extravagance a spiritual waste1and and a hint of decadence and moral decay. This undeniable of the pretense of gaiety with the tension juxtaposition of appearance with reality， underneath，is easily recognizable in Fitzgerald’s novels and stories. (3) Fitzgrald and American Dream ?Fitzgerald’s fictions often deal with the bankruptcy of the American Dream， which is high1ighted by the disillusionment of the protagonists' personal dreams due to the clashes between their romantic vision of life and the sordid reality. American Dream is a popular belief that people can achieve success，whether it is wealth，fame or love through honest hard working in a new world of liberty，equality，chances and promises. Yet in the 1920s，the American Dream was bankrupt in the sense that the wealthy people were spiritually disorientated and morally corrupted. The fact that the rich people turned to be more indifferent and careless brought forth the disillusionment of American Dream. ? Fitzgerald’s own life was a mirror of the 1920s. He was the victim of his “American Dream.” He was fascinated with material wealth on one hand by writing hard to accumulate wealth to live an extravagant life，yet was bewildered with the wealth on the other，fully aware of the underlying spiritual disorientation and moral decay. Finally in his life，alcoholism，loneliness and despair combined to ruin him. So his dream backfires him. (4) His writing style He is a great stylist in American literature. His style，closely re1ated to his themes， is explicit and chilly. His accurate dialogues，his careful observation of mannerism， styles，models and attitudes provide the reader with a vivid sense of reality. He fol1ows the Jamesian tradition in using the scenic method in his chapters， each one of which consists of one or more dramatic scenes，sometimes with intervening passages of narration，leaving the tedious process of transition to the readers’ imagination. He also skillfully employs the device of having events observed by a “central consciousness” to his great advantage. The accurate details， the completely original diction and metaphors，the bold impressionistic and colorful quality have all proved his consummate artistry. (5) The Great Gatsby a. The story 课本143页 b. The theme of the story The Great Gatsby，by summarizing the experiences and attitudes of the glamorous and wild 1920s，deals with the bankruptcy of the American Dream，which is high1ighted by the disillusionment of the protagonist’s personal dream due to the clashes between his romantic vision of life and the relentless reality. E. William Faulkner (1897-1962) 福克纳 (1) His life and major works Faulkner was born in New Albany，Mississippi and raised in nearby Oxford， and lived there almost all his life. He left school in his teens and later studied as a special student at the University of Mississippi. Fond of literature，he was increasingly motivated to become a writer. In 1918，he enlisted in the British Royal Flying Corps. Later he travelled Europe and learned the experimental writing of James Joyce and of the ideas of Sigmund Freud. He died of a heart attack in Oxford，Mississippi. His major works:Faulkner published a volume of poetry The Mirble Faun (1924) and his first novel Soldiers’ Pay (1926). In writing Sartoris (l929)，he began to see and feel the dignity and sorrow of what was to become his most frequently used subject matter. The Sound and the Fury was considered as the work of a major writer. His other major works include As I Lay Dying (l930)，Light in August (l932)， Absalom，Absalom (1936)，Wild Palms (1939) and The Hamlet (1940). The Unvanquished (1938) and Go Down Moses (1942) are thematica1ly interwoven. An anthology of his writings is entitled The Portable Faulkner. In l950，he was awarded the Nobel Prize for the anti-racist Intruder in the Dust (1948). His other remarkable novels include Requiem for a Nun (l951)，The Fable (1954)，The Town (1957)，and The Mansion(1959). (2) The major theme of his works Most of the major themes are directly related to the tragic collision or confrontation between the old South and the new South (or the civilized modern society) represented by different characters in his novels. (3) Faulkner’s narrative technique: ? Withdrawal of the author as a controlling narrator. ? Dislocation of the narrative time. ? The modern stream-of-consciousness technique and the interior monologue. ? Multiple points of view. (4) A Rose for Emily a. The story 课本 164-165页 b. The theme “A Rose for Emily” is Faulkner’s first short story published in 1930. Set in the town of Jefferson in Yoknapatawpha，the story expresses Faulkner’s theme of the confrontation of the old South and the civilized modern society. Emily is in collision with the industrialized and mechanized society by clinging to the past and alienating which makes her a tragic victim. herself from the modern society， c. Stylistics In this story，Faulkner also employed the dislocated time sequence by juxtaposing the past with the present. The story is divided into five sections which represent five petals of rose. Faulkner makes best use of the Gothic devices in narration to dramatize Emily’s deformed personality and abnormality in her relationship with her sweetheart. Other narative techniques used in the story include the multiple points of view and symbolism. Take symbolism for example，Emily as “the fallen monument” is the symbol of tradition，the old South and old way of life， while gin and gasoline pumps，taxes，postal service are symbols of mechanized and civilized modern society. Rose is associated with love，but here “a dead rotten love.” It shows Faulkner’s sympathy or respect for Emily. F. Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) 海明威 (1) His life and major works Hemingway was a myth in his own time and his life was colorful. He was born in Oak Park，Illinois. Hemingway loved sports and often went hunting and fishing with his father，which provided him with writing materials. After high school，he worked as a reporter. During World War I he served as an honorable junior officer in the American Red Cross Ambulance Corps and in 1918 was severely wounded in both legs. After the war，he went to Paris as a foreign reporter. Influenced and guided by Sherwood Anderson，Stephen Crane and Gertrude Stein he became a writer and began to attract attention. Later he actively participated in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. In 1954，he was awarded the Nobe1 Prize for literature. In 196l，in ill hea1th， anxiety and deep depression，Hemingway shot himself with a hunting gun. His major works: Greatly and permanently affected by the war experiences， Hemingway formed his own writing style， together with his theme and hero. His first book In Our Time (1925) presents a Hemingway hero called Nick Adams. Then he wrote many other works, such as: The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), The Old Man and the Sea (1952), and some others. Among them, The Old Man and the Sea is considered as his maserpiece. (2) The thematic pattern of his works ? The Lost Generation:It refers to，in general，the post-World War?generation， but specifically a group of expatriate disillusioned intellectuals and artists，who experimented on new modes of thought and expression by rebelling against former ideals and values and replacing them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. The remark of Gertrude Stein，“You are all a lost generation” addressed to Hemingway， was used as an epigraph to Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises， which brilliantly describes those expatriates who had cut themselves off from their past in America in order to create new types of writing. The generation was “lost” in the sense that they were disillusioned with the war-wrecked world and spiritually alienated from a U.S. that seemed to be hopelessly provincial，materialistic，and emotional barren. ? The Hemingway Code Hero:It refers to some protagonists in Hemingway’s works. In the general situation of Hemingway’s novels，life is full of tension and battles;the world is in chaos and man is always fighting desperately a losing battle. Those who survive and perhaps emerge victorious in the process of seeking to master the code with a set of principles such as honor，courage，endurance，wisdom， discipline and dignity are known as “the Hemingway code”. To behave well in the lonely，losing battle with life is to show “grace under pressure” and constitutes in itself a kind of victory，a theme clearly established in The Old Man and The Sea. Though life is but a losing battle，it is a struggle man can dominate in such a way that loss becomes dignity; man can be physical1y destroyed but never defeated spiritually. Obviously， Hemingway’s limited fictional world implies a much broader thematic pattern and serious philosophica1 concern. Hemingway Code Heroes plainly embody Hemingway’s own values and view of life. (3) Hemingway’s style His style is probably the most widely imitated of any in the 20th century. He is generally known for his “mastery of the art of modern narration.” Hemingway himself once said， “The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.” Typical of this “iceberg” analogy is Hemingway’s style.(冰山理 论) “Hemingway’s style” is widely used today to refer to the kind of prose writing which is characteristized by simplicity, directness, clarity, freshness and naturalness. He always chooses words that are concrete, specific, more common, casual and conversational and arranges them in a syntax of short, simple sentences. (4) The Old Man and the Sea a. The story 课本167-168页 b. The theme of the story The theme of this story is also the main theme of Hemingway’s works. According to him, life is a game one is doomed to lose, as the old fisherman in the sea. However, what matters is not what we “got” out of life, but the style with which we individuals face the fact of our own inevitable “defeat”. 斯坦贝克 G. John Steinbeck (1902-1968) 约翰?恩斯特? (1) His life and major works His life: He was born in the Salinas Valley of California, the locale for much of his finest fiction. He grew up reading John Milton, Georage Eliot, and Thomas Hardy. At Stanford University, he majored in English literature. Steinberk worked as a farm labor, a seaman on a cattle-boat, a newspaper reporter, a bricklayer, a chemist’s assistant, a surveyor, and a migratory fruitpicker. This may be the reason why he wrote so sympathetically about common people. He receive the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962. His works: Cup of Gold, 1929 The Pastures of Heaven, 1932 Tortilla Flat, 1935 In Dubious Battle, 1936 Of Mice and Men, 1937 The Red Pony, 1937 The Grapes of Wrath, 1939 Cannery Row, 1945 The Pearl, 1947 East of Eden, 1952 Travels with Charley, 1962 (2) Steinbeck’s point of view on writer Steinbeck believed that a writer should serve as the watch dog of society, to satirize its silliness, to attack its injustice, and to stigmatize its faulty. (3) The Grapes of Wrath 愤怒的葡萄 a. The story 课本180-181页 b. The theme of the story The Grape of Wrath is Steinbeck’s epic masterpiece of social consciousness in its picture of helpless people crushed by drought and depression. Man’s inhumanity to Man; The saving power of family and fellowship; The dignity of wrath; The multiplying effects of selfishness and altruism. (4) Writing features: John Steinbeck, an American novelist, uses many literary devices such as metaphors, similes, imagery, and figurative language along with excellent descriptive words to develop his characters and vividly describe their surroundings. 二、重点与难点 1.了解这一时期文学的特点; 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风 格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 三、自学要求 通过本章学习，了解二十世纪美国背景以及给文学带来的影响;认识该时期文学 创作的基本待征、基本主张;了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、 艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等;读懂所选作品并了 解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 四、自学作业 (一)选择: 1. Eliot’s poem，The Waste Land，is mainly concerned with the _________ of a modern civilization . A. social corruption B. spiritual breakup C. physical breakup D. religious corruption 2. Eliot’s “The love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is presented as a (n) __________， suggesting an ironic contrast between a pretended “love song ” and a confession of his incapability of facing up to love and to life in a sterile upper-class world . A. interior monologue B. authentic dialogue C. lyric song D. religious confession 3. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;Petals on a wet，black bough .” This is the shortest poem written by _____________. A. T.S. Eliot B. Robert Frost C. Ezra Pound D. Emily Dickinson 4. In Robert Frost’s famous poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening ”， there are four lines like these:“The woods are lovely，dark and deep， /But I have promises to keep，,And miles to go before I sleep，/ And miles to go before I sleep ”. The second sleep refers to _____________. A. die B. calm down C. fall into sleep D. stop walking . Of the following American poets，whose work was first recognized in England and 5 then in America, ___________. A. Robert Frost B. Walt Whitman C. Emily Dickinson D. Wallace Stevens 6. Chinese poetry and philosophy had great influence on _____ . A. Robert Frost B. Ralph Waldo Emerson C. Ezra Pound D. Emily Dickinson 7. The Hemingway code heroes are best remembered for their ______________ . A. indestructible spirit B. pessimistic view of life C. war experiences D. masculinity 8. Modernism is，in any aspects，a reaction against _______. It rejects rationalism， which is the theoretical base of realism . A. romanticism B. humanism C. sybolism D. realism 9. In 1948，T.S. Eliot’s book ___________ won the prize for Literature . A. The Sketch Book B. The Faerie Queen C. The Waste Land D. Four Quartets 10. Fitzgerald summarized the experiences and attitudes of the 1920s decade in his masterpiece novel _______ . A. This Side of Paradise B. Tender Is the Night C. The American Dream D. The Great Gatsby (二)填空: 11. In 1925, Fitzgerald wrote his best novel _______. It is the story of an idealist who was destroyed by the influence of the wealthy, pleasure-seeking people around him. 12. Fitzgerald’s second novel _______, describes a handsome young man and his beautiful wife, undoubtedly modeled after himself and Zelda 13. With the publication of The Sun Also Rises, _______ became the spokesman for what Gertrude Stein had called “the Lost Generation”. 14. Hemingway’s stature as a writer was confirmed with the publication of his novel _______ in 1929. The novel portrayed a farewell both to war and to love. 15. In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the _______ for his “mastery of the art of modern narration”. (三)名词解释: 16. the Lost Generation 17. Stream of consciousness (四)解答题: 18. Why is it important that we get the information last rather than at the beginning of the story? Explain it based on “A Rose for Emily”. 第五章:20世纪黑人文学 一、主要内容 1. 黑人文学的发展 (1) The African-American literature did not begin until the mid-eighteenthe century. (2) The year 1761 witnessed the publication of the first African-American poem, “ An Evening Thought” by Jupiter Hammon. (3) The nineteenth century saw more efforts by slave poets such as George Moses Horton, William Wells Brown, and William Edward Burghardt Dubois. And “slave narratives” appeared. (4) The twentieth century was extremely rich in novelists, such as McKay, Hurston, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison. 2. 黑人文学发展的意义 African-American literature is a document of not only the Black race and its struggle for emancipation and freedom, but also the struggle of the African-American writers to acquire visibility. 3. 主要作家作品 A. William Edward Burghardt Dubois (1868-1963) 杜博思 He was born into a poor family. He was the first African-American to get a Doctor’s degree. He was a great activist and a good writer. The subjects of his works range from racial problem and sociology to history and literature. Among his works, The Soul of Black Folk was considered as his masterpiece. It is a collection of essays on a variety of subjects. The theme of the The Soul of Black Folk: The centual theme is the African-American experience. It is an exposure of the hypocrisy, hostility, and brutality of racial discrimination. And it is a celebration of African-American culture. B. Langston Hughes (1902-1967) 兰斯顿 兰斯顿?休斯在美国文坛,尤其是黑人文学方面,是一个举足轻重的人物。他写过 小说、戏剧、散文、历史、传记等各种文体的作品,还把西班牙文和法文的诗歌 翻译成英文,甚至编辑过其他黑人作家的文选,但他主要以诗歌著称,被誉为“黑 人民族的桂冠诗人”。 He wrote more than 50 books. It included more than ten volums of poetry, nine plays, two autobiographies, nine books of fiction, a few histories and several biographies. He was the most productive and versatile African-American writer in the history of American literature. The theme of his works: Most of his writing is intended to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America. He depicted in his poetry, novels and essays the endurance, faith, humor, wisdom, pride, love and dream of the American Blacks as well as their weariness, fear, pain, grief and despair. C. Ralph Ellison (1914-1994) 拉尔夫?艾里森是美国著名黑人作家,他的代表作《隐形人》(Invisible Man,1952)因力图超越赖特派的强硬“抗议小说”而著称。 Starting from 1945, Ellison had been working on The Invisible Man, which did not appear in print until 1952. It was a great success. It can be read as autobiography, as a picturesque novel or as a powerful book on racial problems. The theme of the story is the quest for identity for black peole. D. James Baldwin (1924-1987) (1) 詹姆斯?鲍德温:美国黑人作家、民权运动者。出生在纽约市黑人聚居区哈莱姆。14岁开始在教堂布道，3年后自称“看透了宗教的虚伪”，从此离开教堂，不信宗教。这段经历对他影响很大，他后来写的散文也带有布道时的说教口吻和激情。鲍德温离开教堂后不久，在他所谓的“美国工商业世界”中谋生，充当过饭馆侍者和仆役，业余时间写作书评和小品文，其中一部分后来收在散文集《土生子的札记》(1955)中。1944年他结识黑人作家理查?赖特，并在赖特的帮助和鼓励下从事创作。4年后，身为黑人和同性恋者的他由于不堪美国对这两类人群的歧视和排挤，步赖特的后尘离开美国侨居巴黎和欧洲。 1957年美国爆发警察镇压黑人示威的小石城事件，鲍德温参加黑人民权运动，同时写了许多文章，就反对种族歧视、黑人解放的道路等问题发表意见。其中有著名的散文集《没有人知道我的名字》(1961)、《下一次将是烈火》(1963)、《他的名字，在街上也不存留》(1972)，还有政论、文艺评论、回忆录、随笔、游记、文学等多种文字，文笔犀利泼辣，洋溢着火一般的热情，西方有不少评论家认为他是20世纪杰出的散文作家。除散文外，鲍德温也写作剧本和小说。他的剧本《黑人怨》(1964)在百老汇上演后获得好评。他出版有一部短篇小说集和五部长篇小说，较优秀的是第一部长篇小说《向苍天呼吁》(1953)，其余的长篇小说为《乔瓦尼的房间》(1956)、《另一个国家》(1962)、《告诉我火车开走多久了》(1968)和《假若比尔街能够讲话》(1974)。 (2) Go Tell It on the Mountain 向苍天呼吁 a. The story 课本218页 b. The theme of the story It is a “Bildungsroman”, a record of John’s development from adplescence to maturity, from ignorance to self-recognition. It is also a document of his quest for identity and salvation. E. Toni Morrison (1931- ) 托尼?莫里森 (1)1993年，一位黑人妇女摘取了诺贝尔皇冠上的宝石，她就是托尼?莫里森，《最蓝的眼睛》让她一举成名，《秀拉》使她被奉为黑人妇女的精神领袖，《所罗门之歌》被认为是莫里森的代表作，比起稍后名声大噪的《宠儿》，《所罗门之歌》更完美地表现了莫里森背负的一个民族的历史。她沉重而宏大的黑人史诗使她展现出不亚于福克纳、加西亚?马尔克斯及弗吉尼亚?伍尔芙的天才，她的文笔让人头晕，要读好几遍才找得到感觉，更不要说线索。评论家们说她的写法“epic”,古老、久远、神秘。她对读者娓娓诉说，讲着或老或新的黑人们的故事，哀而不伤。 托尼?莫里森生于俄亥俄州钢城洛里恩，父亲是蓝领工人，母亲在白人家做女佣。 1949年她以优异成绩考入当时专为黑人开设的霍华德大学，攻读英语和古典文学。曾担任高级编辑，为拳王穆罕默德?阿里自传和一些青年黑人作家的作品的出版竭尽全力。她所主编的《黑人之书》，记叙了美国黑人300年历史，被称为美国黑人史的百科全书。上世纪70年代起，她先后在纽约州立大学、耶鲁大学和巴尔德学院讲授美国黑人文学，并为《纽约时报书评周报》撰写过30篇高质量的书评文章，1987年起出任普林斯顿大学教授，讲授文学创作。莫里森的主要成就在于她的长篇小说。著名的有:《最蓝的眼睛》(1970年)、《秀拉》(1973年)、《所罗门之歌》(1977年，获美国图书评论奖)、《柏油孩子》(1981年)、《宝贝儿》(1988年，获普利策奖)、《爵士乐》(1992年)等。 写作主题和特点:自我追寻和回归是莫里森小说一个很重要的主题，在叙述的过程中她使用了重要的叙事手法和角度，如多人称的叙述，多叙述者等手法使得读者更加真切的了解人物的内心世界。 (2) Beloved 1987 宝贝儿 a. The story (课本227页) b. The writing features in this work(课本233页) 二、重点与难点 1.了解这一时期黑人文学的发展过程以及特点; 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 三、自学要求 通过本章学习，了解二十世纪美国黑人文学的发展以及对美国文学的影响;认识该时期文学创作的基本待征、基本主张;了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等;读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 四、自学作业 (一)填空 1. was the only African-American writer to have won the Nobel Prize for literature. 2. was the first African-American to get a Doctor’s degree. He was a great activist and a good writer. 3. was considered as Ralph Ellison’s masterpiece. (二)回答问题 4. What is the universal significance of the Langston Hughes’ poem “Dream”? 第六章:美国戏剧的兴盛 一、主要内容 1. 美国戏剧的发展以及特点 The history of American Drama is very short. The history of American drama did not really began until around the Revolution. thThere were few important American playwrights in the 19 century. thBeginning with 20 century, a departure from conventional commercial theatre began to develop in America. By 1924, there were 2000 little theatres, and a number of distinguished playwrights and plays appeared. Post-war American Drama developed greatly. The American drama of the 1970s was not as fruitful as before. The outstanding feature of the American drama is expressionism. Expressionism is used to describe the works of art and literature in which the representation of reality is distorted to communicate an inner vision，transforming nature rather than imitating it. In literature it is often considered a revolt against realism and naturalism，a seeking to achieve a psychological or spiritual reality rather than to record external events. In drama，the expressionist work was characterized by a bizarre distortion of reality. Expressionist writers's concern was with general truths rather than with particular situations，hence they explored in their plays the predicaments of representative symbolic types rather than of fully developed individualized characters. Emphasis was laid not on the outer world，which is merely sketched in and barely defined in place or time，but on the internal，on an individual's mental state; hence the imitation of life is replaced in Expressionist drama by the ecstatic evocation of states of mind. 2. 主要作家作品 A. Eugene O’neill (1888-1953) 尤金?奥尼尔 (1) His life Eugene O’Neill is unquestionably America’s greatest playwright. He won the Pulitzer Prize four times and was the only dramatist ever to win a Nobel Prize (1936). He is widely acclaimed “founder of the American drama.” His life and writing career:O’Neill was born in New York on October 16， 1888 into a theatrical family. He grew up in New London，Connecticut，and spent his early years with his parents on theatrica1 road tours. He received university education for one year and later traveled all over the world. He avidly read up on dramatic literature，and cultivated an interest in play writing. In 1914，he attended Professor George Pierce Baker’s drama workshop at Harvard，where his career as a dramatist began. Since then，O'Neill had been wholly dedicated to the mission as a dramatist. (2) His works During all his career as a dramatist，O'Neill wrote and published about forty-nine plays altogether of various lengths. Among his works, The Iceman Cometh (l946) proves to be a masterpiece in the way it is a complex，ironic，deeply moving exploration of human existence，written out of a profound insight into human nature and constructed with tremendous skill and logic. Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1956) can be read autobiographically. However，like most great works of literature，the play reaches beyond its immediate subject， dedicated not only to the life of the American family， but also “to the life of Man，to Life itself.” As a product of hard-won art，Long Day’s Journey Into Night has gained its status as a world classic and simultaneously marks the climax of O’Neill’s literary career and the coming of age of American drama. (3) The theme of his drama O’Neill is always remembered for his tragic view of life and most of his plays deal with the basic issues of human existence and predicament:life and death， illusion and disillusion，alienation and communication，dream and reality，self and society， desire and frustration，etc. B. Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) 田纳西?威廉姆斯 (1) His life Tennessee Williams was the most important Southern playwright. He had a unhappy life when he was a child. Even his father often scorned him for his physical and psychological fragility. He was a gay. So homosextuality was one of his subject of writing. At last, he commited suicide. (2) His main works The Glass Menagerie (1944) 玻璃动物园 This play made him won a New York Drama Critics Circle Award as the best play for that season. A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) 欲望号列车 For this play, he received his second Drama Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize as the year’s best American play. The Rose Tatoo (1950) 玫瑰纹身 He got another Pulitzer Prize. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) 热屋顶上的野猫 This play earned Williams a third Drama Critics Cricle Award. D. Arthur Miller (1915-2005) (1) His life He was the second son of a prosperous Jewish clothing manufacturner, and he was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. After his family lost its fortune in the crash in 1929, he left school and worked odd jobs to support his family. The experiences enable him to obtain firsthand knowledge about the life and dream of the common people. (2) His main works All My Sons (1947) 都是我的儿子 He won his first Drama Critics Circle Award. Death of a Salesman (1949) 推销员之死 For this play, he received the Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. 故事情节:课本260页 主题:美国梦的破碎 A View from the Bridge (1955) 桥头眺望 He got his second Pulitzer Prize for this play. A Memory of Two Mondays (1955) 两个星期一的回忆 After the Fall (1964) 堕落之后 Incident at Vitchy (1964) 维希事件 二、重点与难点 1.了解这一时期戏剧文学的发展; 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风 格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 三、自学要求 通过本章学习，了解美国戏剧文学的发展以及对美国文学的影响;了解不同时期 主要剧作家的文学特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等;读懂 所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 四、自学作业 (一)选择题 . In the 1920s， O'Neil established an international reputation with the plays 1 _________. A. The Emperor Jones B. Anna Christle C. The Hairy Ape D. all of the above (二)填空题 2. For the publication of the play Arthur Miller received his first Pulitzer Prize. 3. won the Pulitzer Prize four times and was the only dramatist ever to win a Nobel Prize. (三)名词解释 4. American Dream (四)回答问题 5. What are the different values represented by Blanche and Stanley in the play “A Streetcar Named Desire”? 6. The American dream is sometimes ridiculed as “the American nightmare,” and in the “Death of a Salesman”, Willy’s death shows that the American dream is a phony dream. Talk about your own feelings on this. 第七章:战后美国文学 一、主要内容 战后历史文学背景 1. What happened immediately after the Second World War in the United States and other parts of the world exerted a tremendous influence on the mentality of Americans. It changed man’s view of himself and the world as well. First of all，the dropping of an atomic bomb over Hiroshima in Japan shocked the whole world and made possible the destruction of the Western civilization. Then a mutual fear and hostility grew between the Eastern and Western courtries with the Cold War，the effect of which could be felt in the form of McCarthyism in the Unites States. Besides，the Korean War and the Vietnam War broadened the gap between the government and the people. The assassination of John F. Kennedy，and of Martin Luther King，spokesman of the American Civil Rights Movement，the resignation of Nixon because of the Water-Gate scandal，etc. intensified the terror and tossed the whole nation again into the grief and despair. The impact of these changes and upheavals on the American society is emotional. People start to question the role of science in human progress and the fear of the misuse of modern science and technology is spreading. They no longer believe in God but start to reconsider the nature of man and man's capacity for evil. They begin to think of life as a big joke or an absurdity. The world is even more disintegrating and fragmentary and people are even more estranged and despondent. 2. 战后美国文学 (1) The Beat Generation 垮掉的一代 (2) The pluralism of American fiction 小说多元论 3. 代表作家作品 A. Saul Bellow (1925- 索尔?贝娄是美国当代享有盛誉的犹太小说家。他 1915 年生于加拿大魁北克省 的拉辛城，父母是俄国犹太移民。 9 岁时随家迁居美国芝加哥。动荡不定的城 市生活，交错繁杂的 文化传统和风俗影响，引起他的困惑多思和对社会问题的 兴趣。 1933 年进入芝加哥大学学习，后转入西北大学，攻读人类学和社会学， 毕业后当过编辑和记者。第二次大战期间曾在美国海军服役，战后长期在大学执 教，是个造诣颇深、有学者气质的作家。 贝娄的作品题材广泛、色彩纷呈，但主要的是从各个视角、各个层面深刻地描绘 当代社会的形形色色，揭露当代文明的种种弊端，批判当代生活特别是城市生活的各种丑恶，表现当代人特别是知识分子的精神危机。 作品: )、 Dangling Man 《挂起来的人》(1944 The Victim 《受害者)(1947)， The Adventure of Augie March 《奥吉•玛琪历险记》(1953) Henderson the Rain King 《雨王汉德逊》(1959)、 Herzog 《赫索格》(1964) Mr. Sammler’s Planet 《赛姆勒先生的行星》(1970)、 Humboldt’s Gift 《洪堡的礼物)(1975)、 The Dean’s December 《系主任的十二月》(1981)、 More die of the Heartbreak 《而今更见伤心死》(1987)、 Ravelstein 《拉维尔斯坦》(2000) 中短篇小说集 Seize the Day 《且惜今朝》(1956) Mosby’s Memoirs and Other Stories《莫斯比的回忆》(1968) B. J. D. Salinger (1919- ) (1)塞林格，美国小说家。《麦田里的守望者》使他一举成名。主人公霍尔顿是当代美国文学中最早出现的反英雄形象，这一形象尤其得到青少年的普遍认同。一时间，就像模仿少年维特一样，模仿霍尔顿的言语行动和穿着，成了当时的一种时尚。他的第一本长篇小说《麦田里的守望者》1951年出版，获得了很大的成功，塞林格一举成名。他之后的作品包括了Fanny and Zooey 《弗兰尼与卓埃》(1961年)、Raise Hign the Roofbeam, Carpenters《木匠们，把屋梁升高》和Seymour: An Introduction《西摩:一个介绍》(1963年)和收录了他的短篇故事的Nine Stories 《九故事》(1953年)，但都不像《麦田里的守望者》那么成功。塞林格擅长塑造早熟、出众的青少年的形象。 (2)麦田守望者The Cather in the Rye (1951) 《麦田里的守望者》之所以受到重视，不仅是由于作者创造了一种新颖的艺术风格，通过第一人称以青少年的说话口吻叙述全书，更重要了资本主义社会精神文明的实质。人活着除了物质生活外，还要有精神生活，而且在一个比较富裕的社会里，精神生活往往比物质生活更为重要。 主人公是16岁的中学生霍尔顿?考尔德是当代美国文学中最早出现的反英雄形象之一，霍尔顿出身中纽约一个富裕的中产阶级家庭。学校里的老师和自己的家长强迫他好好读书，为的是出人头地，以便将来买辆凯迪拉克，而在学校里一天到晚干的，就是谈女人，酒和性，他看不惯周围的一切， 根本没心思用功 读书，因而老是挨罚，到他第四次被开除时，他不敢回家。便只身在美国最繁华的纽约城游荡了一天两夜，住小客店，逛夜总会滥交女友他在电影院里百无聊赖地消磨时光，糊里糊涂地召了妓女，情不自禁的与虚荣的女友搂搂抱抱，与此同时，他的内心又十分苦闷，企图逃出虚伪的成人世界去寻批纯洁与真理的经历与感受。这种精神上无法调和的极度矛盾最终令他彻底崩溃，躺倒在精神病院里。 C. Joseph Heller (1923-1999 ) 约瑟夫?海勒 (1) His life and works 约瑟夫?海勒，美国“黑色幽默”代表作家之一，生于纽约布鲁克林区科尼岛一个贫穷的俄罗斯犹太移民家庭，并在此长大。他是父亲第二次婚姻所生，家中还有同父异母的长兄李(Lee)和姐姐西尔维亚(Sylvia)。5岁时他的父亲，一位运送面包的卡车司机去世，家境更加困难，靠母亲为客人提供膳食度日。海勒从小就颇具语言天赋，善于尖刻地讽刺和开玩笑。10岁时，一位堂姐使他读到儿童版的伊利亚特，从此立下成为作家的决心。读中学时，他就当过电报递送员。1941年他从林肯高中毕业，加入美国空军。二战期间，他作为B25轰炸机的投弹手在北非和意大利战场参加了六十次飞行。1945年复员，并结婚。 1948年他进入南加州大学学习，然后转入纽约大学，获得艺术学士学位，期间开始短篇小说创作。1949年在哥伦比亚大学获得硕士学位并得到富布赖特奖学金赴牛津大学深造一年。此后，海勒在宾夕法尼亚州立大学教授写作课程两年。1952年他回到纽约，曾担任《时代》等杂志广告撰稿人和《McCall's》杂志的推广经理。1953年他开始写作长篇小说《第十八条军规》。1961年小说以《第二十二条军规》之名出版，取材于海勒自己在二战中的经历。此书起初并未引起太多注意，反响平平，但从此海勒成为了职业作家。随着美国国内反越战浪潮的兴起，《第二十二条军规》在全国各地的大学生中得到了强烈共鸣，并迅速成为畅销书，在美国销售就超过了1000万册。1970年拍摄为电影。 海勒于1963年获得美国文学艺术院奖学金，1977年被选为该院院士。1982年他得了麻痹症，然后又饱受吉兰?巴雷氏综合症的折磨。恢复健康后，海勒与结婚35年的妻子离婚，而同病中照顾自己的护士结合。1999年他因心脏病发作在纽约东汉普顿的家中逝世，享年76岁。 作品: Catch-22 《第二十二条军规》(1962) Something Happened《出了毛病》(1974):中产阶级家庭的日常生活和相互关系，展示60年代弥漫于美国社会的精神崩溃和信仰危机。 Good as Gold 《像高尔德一样好》(1979):一位美国犹太裔教授变态的精神世界，揭示美国官僚政治的腐败，优秀的政治讽刺小说。 God Knows 《上帝知道》(1984):宗教主题的小说，用作者特有的哲理、讽刺 和荒诞相间的风格虚构大卫王临死前的自传。 Picture This 《立此存照》(1988):比较西方传统文明中的伟大人物(如柏拉图、伦勃朗)与现代美国做比较，探索天才与权力之间不断的冲突。有人认为这是一本反小说。 ):讲述《第二十二条军规》中人物50年后在Closing Time《结束时分》(1994 纽约再聚首的故事。 (2) 《第二十二条军规》 主题: 《第二十二条军规》以荒诞的形式，多角度，多层次地展示了生活。是典型的黑色幽默小说，用喜剧表现悲剧，作品描写了第二次世界大战中驻扎在地中海某海岛的美国空军飞行大队所发生的一系列事件。主人公尤索林上尉出于求生本能，渴望完成飞行任务后回家，但是被长官人已解释的第二十二条军规却是他非常失望。小说中的“第二十二条军规”本身就是一个自相矛盾的悖论，辛辣地讽刺了美军方的官僚和愚昧。 写作手法:小说在写法上摒弃了现实主义小说的传统，没有首尾相接的情节结构，没有细致入微的环境描写和人物塑造。但透过这一片喧闹、粗野、疯狂、杂乱的氛围，从不露神色的冷峻、幽默和漫画式的嘲讽中，可以认识到一个严肃的主题:在美国的现实世界里，到处都有“第二十二条军规”，到处都存在着让人啼笑皆非的专横和残暴，以及捉弄人、折磨人使人无法摆脱的荒谬。“第二十二条军规”成为无法逃避的恶毒逻辑规则的代名词，走入了人们的交际语言。 (3) Black Homor 黑色幽默 黑色幽默是一种用喜剧形式来表达悲剧内容的文学形式。“黑色”指可怕而又滑稽的客观现实:“幽默”指有自由意志的个性对这种现实所采取的嘲讽态度。“黑色幽默”是一种把痛苦和欢笑、荒谬的事实与平静不相称的反应、残忍和柔情并列在一起的喜剧，也称“黑色喜剧”、“绝望的喜剧”。 D. John Updike (1932- 约翰?厄普代克(John Updike，1932-)，集小说家、诗人、剧作家、散文家和评论家于一身的美国当代文学大师，作品两获普利策奖、两获国家图书奖以及欧?亨利奖、国家书评协会奖等众多奖项多达十数次。“性爱、宗教和艺术”是厄普代克毕生追求的创作标的，“美国人、基督徒、小城镇和中产阶级”则是厄普代克独擅胜场的创作主题，他由此成为当之无愧的美国当代中产阶级的灵魂画师。他最著名的代表作“兔子四部曲”历时三十年创作完成，全套书紧密贯通，似一气呵成，每一部又可单独成篇，共塑造了约一百五十个大小不等的鲜活人物，因此成为全面展示美国中产阶级生活图景、深刻探索美国中产阶级灵魂现状和救赎的史诗性巨著。 他写了很多作品其中最著名的是他的“兔子四部曲” Rabbit, Run (1960) 《兔子，跑吧》 Rabbit, Redux (1971) 《兔子归来》 Rabbit is Rich (1981) 《兔子富了》 Rabbit at Rest (1990) 《兔子安息》 《兔子，跑吧》讲述年轻的主人公“兔子”哈利因不满平庸的工作和家庭生活而离家出走、不断逃跑的经历。《兔子归来》讲述哈利返回家后，妻子反而离家跟情人同居;以及哈利收留嬉皮士女孩吉尔和黑人逃犯斯基特后发生的事情。《兔子富了》讲述哈利因继承岳父财产而步入中产阶级后的生活，他富了，也自觉老境将至，他需要安稳也需要刺激;他和已经成年又不成器的儿子纳尔逊之间产生了没完没了的冲突。终结篇《兔子安息》讲述了哈利已经退休，发现生意被吸毒的儿子搅乱，自己又无力挽回局面。在最后一次享受篮球场上纵横驰骋的乐趣之后，哈利心脏病发作而死，年仅56岁。 约翰?厄普代克写作的主题依然是美国文学的传统主题:逃跑。由于无法面对各种困难和困扰选择逃跑的结局。 二、重点与难点 1.了解这战后美国文学的发展; 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 三、自学要求 通过本章学习，了解美国战后文学的发展以及对美国文学的影响;了解这一时期作家的文学特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等;读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 四、自学作业 (一)填空题 1. was the only Jewish writer who had received National Book Award for three times 2. In 1951, J.D Salinger published his first novel . 3.John Updike’s Tetralogyof “Rabbit” include , , , and . (二)名词解释 4. Black Humor (三)回答问题 5. What kind of person do you think Harry is in “Rabbit, Run”? 参考及提示 第一章: 1. save time; thrift, frugality, carefulness, and hard working. 2. Strongly influenced by Puritanism, most of the writing during this stage was somewhat personal, serious and religious. And sermon was considered as one of its highest writing forms. 第二章: 1. B 2. B 3. B 4. A 5. C 6. D 7. C 8. C 9. B 10. B 11. Surface meaning: It is a whaling tale or sea adventure，dealing with Ahab，a man with an overwhelming obsession to kill the whale which has crippled him，on board his ship Pequod in the chase of the big whale. The dramatic description of the hazards of whaling makes the book a very exciting sea narrative and builds a literary monument to an era of whaling industry in the nineteenth century. Deep meaning: Moby-Dick is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure，considering that Melville is a great symbolist. It turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth a spiritual exploration into man's deep reality and and knowledge of the universe， psychology. This is shown in Captain Ahab's rebellious struggle against the overwhelming mysterious vastness of the universe and its awesome sometimes merciless forces. 12. His poetry is filled with optimistic expectation and enthusiasm about new things and new epoch. (1) He shows concern for the whole hard-working people and the burgeoning life of cities. To Whitman， the fast growth of industry and wealth in cities indicated a lively future of the nation，despite the crowded，noisy，and squalid conditions and the slackness in morality. (2) He advocates the realization of the individua1 value. (3) Pursuit of love and happiness is approved of repeatedly and affectionately in his lines. Sexual 1ove，a rather taboo topic of the time，is displayed candidly as something adorable. The individual person and his desires must be respected. (4) Some of Whitman’s poems are politically committed. 13. As a creative writer, Poe emphasized the significance of art and he thought that works of art should be created for the sake of beauty. He insisted that the creation of a work of art require the utmost concentration and unity, as well as the most careful use of words. (+结合自己的感受谈谈) 14. Irving’s contribution to American literature is unique in more ways than one. He did a number of things which have been regarded as the first of their kind in America. He was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame: when he returned home in 1832, he was acclaimed as the one American author whom people in Europe knew about, and this Americans took as a sign that American literature was emerging as an independent entity. To say that he was father of American literature is not much exaggeration. The short story as a genre in American literature probably began with Irving’s The Sketch Book, a collection of essays, sketches, and tales, of which the most famous and frequently anthologized are “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” 第三章: 1. A 2. B 3. American Realism: is a movement or trend that dominated American literature form the 1860s to the 1910s. It is a revolution against its predecessor, Romanticism. It is the result of social, political, economic and cultural changes. The realists sought to portray American life as it really was, insisting that the ordinary and the local were as suitable for artistic portrayal as the magnificent and the remote. th4.Naturalism: It is literary trend at the end of the 19 century. A generation of writers who attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were dominated by their enviroment and heredity. And these writers were sometimes called “naturalists”. 5. Mark Twin 第四章: 1. A 2. A 3. C 4. A 5. A 6. C 7. A 8. D 9. C 10. D 11. The Great Gatsby 12. The Beautiful and Damned 13. Hemingway 14. A Farewell to Arms 15. Nobel Prize 16. Lost Generation: It refers to, in general，the post-World War generation，but specifically a group of expatriate disillusioned intellectuals and artists，who experimented on new modes of thought and expression by rebelling against former ideals and values and replacing them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. 17. Stream of Consciousness was a literary technique in which a character’s thoughts are presented in the confusing, jumbled, and inconsequential manner of real life without any clarification by the author. 第五章: 1. Toni Morrison 2. Dubois 3. Invisible Man 4. The universality of the poem lies in the fact that Langston Hugghes in this poem encourages both the black and the whole of the mankind to hold fast to dreams in times of difficulty and desperation. 第六章: 1. D 2. Death of a Salesman 3. Eugene O’neill [1]4. The American Dream is belief in the freedom that allows all citizens and residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and free choice. 5. Balanche and Stanley represent totally different values. They belong to two contrary worlds that threaten to destroy each other. Balanche is refined, educated and intelligent. She refuses to see the world as it is but instead creats the illusion of what it should be. So she is a idealist. However, Stanley is common, vulgar man who is ruled by his instincts. He was referred to a survivor of the Stone Age. The centre of his life has been “pleasure with women”. So he is a realist or a common person who does not have dreams. 第七章: 1. Saul Bellow 2. The Catcher in the Rye 3. Rabbit Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit at Rest 4. Black Humor: Black humor (Literature) : Used for works in which humour is derived from the author's sense of the absurdity or total meaninglessness of existence. Themes in black humour include death, personal misfortune and other morbid subjects. 5. Harry is a sensitive man. But he is a man of weak personality and dares not to face all of the problems with which he is confronted. Although he had dreams, he wants to achieve “something” and be “somebody” in life, he does not know how. What he can do only is to run away. So he is a coward, and a dreamer.