美国文学史及作品选读教案(9).doc

Lecture 9The Age of Modernism: Literature in the 1920s (F. S. Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner) Teaching ContentLost Generation; F. S. Fitzgerald; Ernest Hemingway; William Faulkner Time Allotment2 periods Teaching Objectives and Requirements1 Make the students know about the Lost Generation.2 Make the students know clearly about F. S. Fitzgerald and his work The Great Gatsby. 3 Make the students know about Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner. Key Points and Difficult Points in Teaching1 F. S. Fitzgerald 2 Ernest Hemingway 3 William Faulkner Teaching Methods and Means Lecture; Discussion; Multi-media Teaching Process1 The Lost Generation It refers to many prominent American writers of the decade following the WWI, disillusioned by their war experience and alienated by the crassness of American culture and its commercialization. A number of these writers moved to Europe in the quest for a richer literary and artistic milieu. The name of “Lost Generation” was given by the female writer Gertrude Stein and the representatives of the group should be Fitzgerald, Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cummings, William Faulkner, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, Kay Boyle, Hart Crane, Thornton Wilder, Thomas Wolfe, Ford Maddox Ford, John Steinbeck, Zelda Fitzgerald and others. They all were a generation of the “purest sense” and their emotional responses to the changes in the world around them were very alike. By the end of the war they were completely irritated by the numerous senseless patriotic slogans of the senseless war that took so many priceless lives.) 2 Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896 1940)(He has been an outstanding novelist in his life time and admired by lots of people. He was once an idol signifying success, wealth, beauty and youth. However, his life was not as happy as the public imagined. He never failed to remain detached and foresee the failure and tragedy of the “Dollar Decade”. He is the spokesman of “the roaring 1920s”, “the Jazz Age”“Inside he knew it well, outside he saw it ironically.”) 2.1 Works Novels “This Side of Paradise (life in Princeton, frustration of young men): representing the triumph of matter over form “The Beautiful and the Damned” (love story with Zelda) “The Great Gatsby” (masterpiece) “Tender is the Night”: seeking to trace the moral doom of its protagonist to the sapping influence of wealth and portraying an American dying, in bar-room brawls and decadence, of spiritual sterility and meaninglessness which characterized the times. “The Last Tycoon” (unfinished): the tragic story of a man who begins to realize all the show of life Short story collection “The Flappers and Philosophers” (flappers: fashionable and unconventional young woman of the 1920s): representing the triumph of form over matter “Tales of the Jazz Age” : a legend of “Americans adolescence before pain set in” (The 1920s was called “the Jazz Age”: a time marked by frivolity, carelessness, hedonism and excitement in the life of the flaming youth. Because of this book; Fitzgerald became “the angel of the twenties”) “All the Sad Young Man” “Taps at Reveille”2.2 His ThemeLove and money, life of upper class young generation, the breaking up of American dream, illusion and disillusion Money brought only tragedy and remorse. In his best novels, he both condemned and pitied the rich. Fitzgerald dealt with most cleverly with the double theme of love and money. He understood the corrupting relationship between the two better than any other American novelist. He also understood, from his own experience, the constant need for more money which drove these men and women to unscrupulousness. He did not like the rich whereas he wanted to be rich. He resented their undeserved privileges, their vulgarity, and their secret belief in their own superiority. He was for that the rich boys could buy more than luxuriesthey could attract the affection of any girl they wanted. He believed that the wealthy class corrupted the whole of American society. He wrote from true experience, for he himself was fatally attracted to it. A deep attitude of morality underlies his stories. 2.3 His Style He is a great stylist in American literature. His style, closely related 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. The accurate details, the completely original diction and metaphors, the bold impressionistic and colorful quality have all proved his consummate artistry. 2.4 Discussion of The Great Gatsby Setting: 1920s; New York City (signifying the materialized American society) Theme: disillusionment of American Dream in the materialized America Point of view: first-person point view; using the “dramatic narrator” (means the narrator is also a character in the novel)Nick Carraway is a delicate designed character. He is related with all the three groups of characters in the novel. He is a reliable person and makes no quick judgments. Employing Nick as the narrator makes the novel have a clear clue and creates the effects of suspense in the most parts of the novel. Characters Nick Carraway: the narrator, rational, mild, understanding, reserved Jay Gatsby: innocent (romantic imagination of love, believing moneys power) Daisy Buchanan: shallow, selfish, strong desire for extravagant life (compare the character with Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights) Tom Buchanan: selfish, proud, false, no virtue at all Myrtle Wilson: from the lower class, energetic, crude SymbolismIn the textbook, you can find the novel is called “a culture allegory” (P223) because of the use of symbolism in the novel. First, think about what the characters in the novel signify.Gatsby: the countrys historyDaisy: seemingly beautiful American DreamTom: commercialization which brought the country only moral depravityNick: hope of the country Then, in the novel, if you think about the details you may find more interesting symbols. For example: why the heroine in the novel called Daisy? Why she always appeared with the color of white? (Daisy在英语中是雏菊的意思，是一种在北美很常见的花。这种花花瓣是白色，花心是黄色，象征着Daisy这个人物形象表面纯洁高贵，但实际内心却只有对金钱和享受的追求。)（Daisy在小说中出现常常与白色联系在一起，白色可以说象征着纯洁，高贵，但白色又可以理解为没有颜色，苍白，虚弱，空洞，也象征这个人物意志虚弱，内心空虚的实质。） Style: excellent craftsmanship; using metaphors, irony, allusions and other rhetorical devices; smooth, simple but refined and graceful language Significance: This is a classical novel in American literature. T. S. Elliot once commented that this novel is “the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James”. 3 Hemingway (He is a legendary hero in American literature. Besides his novels, as a man, his life experience is quite a miracle.)3.1 Works “The Sun Also Rises” (P222) 1926 (Deep illusion of the whole generation after the WWI; the characters indulged themselves in depraved life to make themselves numb) (title of the novel: from Holy Bible P 226) “A Farewell to Arms” 1928 (a tragic story about war and love) (Hero and heroine: Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley): It can be read as a footnote to The Sun Also Rises. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” 1940 (Spanish civil war) (also a story about war and love) (the title of the novel: from John Donnes sermons P225) In this novel stands the Hemingway hero, an average man of decidedly masculine tastes, sensitive and intelligent, a man of action, and one of few words. And also here is an individualist, alone even when with other people, somewhat an outsider, keeping emotions under control, stoic and self-discipline in a dreadful place where one can not have happiness. This work caught the mood of the post-war generation, and brought international fame to young Hemingway. “The Old Man and the Sea” 1952 (In 1954, Hemingway got the Nobel Prize for it) a quite special novel in all his novels story (P225) symbolismSantiago mankind; sea nature and environment; marlin purpose of life; shark the evil force which controls humans fate theme: the importance of life lies in the process of searching and resistance (A man can be destroyed but not defeated.) 3.2 Conclusion From Hemingways novels a clear developing process can be found. From the lost state at the beginning, he gradually found out the significance of life and the principles human should hold in a meaningless world. “The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.” “The Old Man and the Sea” can be taken as a conclusion of his ideas. Common theme of his novels: “grace under pressure” “Hemingway heroes” or the “Hemingway Code Hero” (P228): a noble but tragic hero; fighting with the overwhelming force; though he knows that he will be defeated at last, he decides to act like a hero. The “Hemingway Code” of manhood does not involve mere physical strength, sexual potency, or ability to accumulate (or spend) wealth. According to this code, a man is defined by will, pride, and endurance: the endurance to accept pain, even losswhen the loss cannot be avoided; the pride of knowing that one has done ones best, with the courage to act truly according to ones own nature; and the will to face defeat or victory without whining on one hand or boasting on the other. This hero acts the theme “grace under pressure” out. The significance of “Hemingway heroes” is restoring the human dignity in the 20th century. Colloquial style: influence from Mark Twain and his journalist career Concrete, specific, common-found words Simple, short, even ungrammatical sentences Direct, clear and positive style, yet highly connotative The style was described as “iceberg” (There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows. Hemingways “iceberg theory” of prose style suggests that the writer should leave unsaid the vast majority of what might be written on a subject. The writer gains power by knowing what to leave out.) The Nobel Prize Committee praised Hemingway had “powerful style forming mastery of the art”.4 William Faulkner (1897 -1962)4.1 Works 19 novels, 3 short story volumes and some other works Famous novels: The Sound and the FuryLight in AugustAbsalom! Absalom!Go Down, MosesThe Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion4.2 Discussion of A Rose for Emily A Rose for Emily is a classic story representing Faulkners favorite subject, theme and style. The story begins with a funeral of the eponymous Miss Emily. It does not follow a particular order of chronological time. (flashback, foreshadowing) The narration flows backwards or forwards in a line of reality, revealing significant details of Emilys life and the murder of the Homer Barron by Emily, which are suspended till the end of the story. The narrative is also divided into five parts, allowing for flexible shifts in time and displays of Emilys image at various stages of her life. Through a story about Emily, the author tries to pinpoint an unavoidable fate of the aristocracy and various changes in the South America after the Civil War and expresses the confrontation of the old South and the civilized modern society. 4.3 The Analysis of Faulkners novels Special setting: Yoknapatawpha county (a typical small southern town) Faulkners knowledge of the life of the American Deep South, with its tragic history of rise and fall in its fortunes, its ways and mores, and its language, all fused in his imagination and recreated, became the substance of a Faulknerian world strangely inspiring both nostalgia and a sense of impending doom in modern readers. Characterization: vivid, “flesh and blood people that will stand up and cast a shadow”; enjoying the complicated state with little interference Plot: most about history of American South (its rise and fall; glory and evil sides; family story) Theme: the praise of eternal virtues in human history, love, pity, honor and self-sacrifice (Faulkner thought that the doom of the South was caused by ill-treatment of Indians and blacks and the way to change the meaningless modern life is recovering the traditional and eternal virtues); the tragic collisio