美国文学.doc

Hester Prynne : brave, strong-minded, warm-hearted, intelligent, sacrificing, decisive, She is unconventional and a rebel of puritan. She is active strong-minded and never gives in to the fate.Her fault was that her passions, and her love, were stronger than her respect for the moral code. Hester won her much respect among those townspeople who once condemned her. Hester is a soldier of feminism, especially in the market-place. Arthur Dimmesdale: timid, selfish, irresponsible,cowardly, weak-minded Dimmesdale is also a gloomy, weak-minded, cowardice and selfish man He is understood to be guilty of two sins, one of commission and one of omission As a minister ,hes weekly calls upon people to confess and openly repent of their sins, while knowing that he himself is incapable of doing so . He struggles desperately to confess, punishing himself physically, and frequently coming right to the brink of confession in his sermons. Under pressure from Chilling worth, he is brought almost to the point of lunacy. Hawthornes Style an anatomist of the heart: Psychological truth was more important than actual truth. He mingled the supernatural with the actual and developed analytic, psychological romanticism. using symbols and setting to reveal the psychology of the characters soft and flowing style; ambiguity (“or”) Robert Forst writing style: Words ; Plain language and simple form which hide profound meaning. Rhetorical question ,for example symbolism and metaphor are used to convey deep meaning. Theme Frost wrote many poems that investigate the basic themes of mans life: the individuals relationships to himself, to his fellow-man, to world, and to his God Nature concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature, as well as its beauty, and the loneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. Gatsby a young, mysterious millionaire later revealed to be a bootlegger, originally fromNorth Dakota, with shady business connections and an obsessive love for Daisy Fay Buchanan, whom he had met when he was a young officer inWorld War I. Overestimated the power of money; He twisted the time concept in his mind, cant distinguish the past , present and future. Always addicted himself in the past; He didn”t realizethe reality around himthe society is full of hypocrisy and cheating. Nick Carraway The dramatic narrator. He is tolerant, open-minded, quiet, and a good listener, and, as a result, others tend to talk to him and tell him their secrets. As a result of his relationship to these two characters, Nick is the perfect choice to narrate the novel, which functions as a personal memoir of his experiences with Gatsby in the summer of 1922. Carraways limited omniscience (全知，无限的知识）determines the fact that he deals out information in such a manner that he seems to withhold it first, thus creating a superb effect of mystery and suspense. Huck Prefer free life thoughtful intelligent brave liar Jim a run-away black slave superstitious but his longing for his family Intelligent, practical and loyal to friendsMark TwainWriting Features Broad, often irreverent humor or biting social satire, realism of place and language, memorable characters, hatred of hypocrisy （伪善）and oppression. Simple and plain diction（措辞）, precise, direct His earlier works are light, humorous, optimistic. His later works become darker and more obscure, showing his discontent and disappointment toward the social reality. His last works shows his acute pessimism, despair, skepticism determinism. humor, optimism- bitter satire and pessimism Cathcart, a true war lord He desperately wanted to be a general; unsure of himself, wanted to impress the generals- this is why he keeps raising the number of missions. Cathcart is a symbol of uniform Lord William Cathcart successfully commanded the expedition to capture the Danish fleet at Copenhagen, denying its use to Napoleon Bonaparte. Yossarian He is portrayed as one of the last rational people in an insane war. To him, the first important thing is to keep alive. He often drops in paranoid. he thinks everyone is trying to kill him (which is true); thinks everyone is crazy; He feels guilty about the death of Snowden, which was the traumatic experience which changes his view of warWhat is Black Humor1. The juxtaposition, as in writing or drama, of morbid or absurd elements with comical or farcical ones, especially so as to produce a shocking or disturbing effect. 2. The literary genre employing this technique. B. American RealismIn American literature, the term realism encompasses the period of time from the Civil War to the turn of the century during which William Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James, Mark Twain, and others wrote fiction devoted to accurate representation and an exploration of American lives in various contexts. Jazz AgeIt was a movement that took place during the 1920s or theRoaring Twentiesfrom whichjazz musicand dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning ofThe Great Depressionbut has lived on in Americanpop culturefor decades. The American Dream is the idea held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve financial and personal success. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed down to subsequent generations. The American dream is a concept that permeates our culture and unifies us all as Americans despite our racial, religious, and socio-economic diversit