美国文学史期末参考复习资料

仅作参考，最主要还是要自己消化，整理Chapter 1 Colonial Period 1. Puritanism: American puritans accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God.2. Influence(1) A group of good qualities hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful) influenced American literature.(2) It led to the everlasting myth. All literature is based on a myth garden of Eden.(3) Symbolism: the American puritans metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American.(4) With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct; the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible.II. Overview of the literature1. types of writingdiaries, histories, journals, letters, travel books, autobiographies/biographies, sermons2. writers of colonial period(1) Anne Bradstreet(2) Edward TaylorIII. Benjamin Franklin1. life2. works(1) Poor Richards Almanac(2) Autobiography3. contribution(1) He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society.(2) He was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this case) from heaven”.(3) Everything seems to meet in this one man “Jack of all trades”. Herman Melville thus described him “master of each and mastered by none”.Chapter 2 American RomanticismSection 1 Early Romantic PeriodI. American Romanticism1. Background(1) Political background and economic development(2) Romantic movement in European countriesDerivative foreign influence2. features(1) American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new experience and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien.(2) There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize. Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than they entertained.(3) The “newness” of Americans as a nation is in connection with American Romanticism.(4) As a logical result of the foreign and native factors at work, American romanticism was both imitative and independent.II. Washington Irving: Father of American Literature1. several names attached to Irving(1) first American writer(2) the messenger sent from the new world to the old world(3) father of American literature2. life3. works(1) A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty(2) The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (He won a measure of international recognition with the publication of this.)(3) The History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus(4) A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada(5) The Alhambra4. Literary career: two parts(1) 18091832a. Subjects are either English or Europeanb. Conservative love for the antique(2) 18321859: back to USIII. James Fenimore Cooper1. life2. works(1) Precaution (1820, his first novel, imitating Austens Pride and Prejudice)(2) The Spy (his second novel and great success)(3) Leatherstocking Tales (his masterpiece, a series of five novels)The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie3. point of viewthe theme of wilderness vs. civilization, freedom vs. law, order vs. change, aristocrat vs. democrat, natural rights vs. legal rights4. literary achievementsHe created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Coopers Leatherstocking Tales effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradition to American literature.Section 2 Summit of Romanticism New England TranscendentalismI. Mark: 1836, “Nature” by EmersonII. Definition: As a philosophical and literary movement, Transcendentalism flourished in New England from 1830s to the outbreak of the civil war. Its representatives were Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. The transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. The transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Ralph Waldo Emerson1. life2. works(1) Nature (The Bible of New England Transcendentalism)(2) Two essays: The American Scholar (Americas Declaration of Intellectual Independence), The Poet3. aesthetic ideas(1) He is a complete man, an eternal man.(2) True poetry and true art should ennoble.(3) The poet should express his thought in symbols.(4) As to theme, Emerson called upon American authors to celebrate America which was to him a lone poem in itself.III. Henry David Thoreau1. life2. works(1) A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River(2) Walden(3) A Plea for John Brown (an essay)3. point of view(1) He did not like the way a materialistic America was developing and was vehemently outspoken on the point.(2) He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system.(3) Like Emerson, but more than him, Thoreau saw nature as a genuine restorative, healthy influence on mans spiritual well-being.(4) He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.(5) He was very critical of modern civilization.(6) “Simplicitysimplify!”(7) He was sorely disgusted with “the inundations of the dirty institutions of mens odd-fellow society”.(8) He has calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men.Section 3 Late RomanticismI. Nathaniel Hawthorne1. life2. works(1) Two collections of short stories: Twice-told Tales, Mosses from and Old Manse(2) The Scarlet Letter(3) The House of the Seven Gables(4) The Marble Faun3. point of view(1) Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne”(2) Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation (causality).(3) He is of the opinion that evil educates.(4) He has disgust in science.4. aesthetic ideas(1) He took a great interest in history and antiquity. To him these furnish the soil on which his mind grows to fruition.(2) He was convinced that romance was the predestined form of American narrative. To tell the truth and satirize and yet not to offend: That was what Hawthorne had in mind to achieve.5. style typical romantic writer(1) the use of symbols(2) revelation of characters psychology(3) the use of supernatural mixed with the actual(4) his stories are parable (parable inform) to teach a lesson(5) use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty multiple point of viewII. Herman Melville1. life2. works(1) White Jacket(2) Moby Dick3. point of view(1) He never seems able to say an affirmative yes to life: His is the attitude of “Everlasting Nay” (negative attitude towards life).(2) One of the major themes of his is alienation (far away from each other).Other themes: loneliness, suicidal individualism (individualism causing disaster and death), rejection and quest, confrontation of innocence and evil, doubts over the comforting 19c idea of progress4. style(1) Like Hawthorne, Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.(2) He tends to write periodic chapters.(3) His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely commented upon and praised.(4) His works are symbolic and metaphorical.(5) He includes many non-narrative chapters of factual background or description of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick)Romantic PoetsI. Walt Whitman1. life2. work: Leaves of Grass (9 editions)(1) Song of Myself(2) There Was a Child Went Forth(3) Crossing Brooklyn Ferry(4) Democratic Vistas(5) Passage to India(6) Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking3. themes “Catalog of American and European thought”4. style: One of the major principles of Whitmans technique is parallelism or a rhythm of thought in which, the line is the rhythmical unit. Another main principle of Whitmans versification is phonetic recurrence, i. e., the systematic repetition of words and phrases at the beginning of the line, in the middle or at the end. Whitman wrote free verse.5. influence(1) His best work has become part of the common property of Western culture.(2) He took over Whitmans vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood.(3) He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history.(4) Contemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence.II. Emily Dickenson1. life2. works(1) My Life Closed Twice before Its Close(2) Because I Cant Stop for Death(3) I Heard a Fly Buzz When I died(4) Mine by the Right of the White Election(5) Wild Nights Wild Nights3. themes: based on her own experiences/joys/sorrows(1) religion doubt and belief about religious subjects(2) death and immortality(3) love suffering and frustration caused by love(4) physical aspect of desire(5) nature kind and cruel(6) free will and human responsibilityIII. Comparison: Whitman vs. Dickinson1. Similarities:(1) Thematically, they both extolled, in their different ways, an emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of “American Renaissance”.(2) Technically, they both added to the literary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they were pioneers in American poetry.2. differences:(1) Whitman seems to keep his eye on society at large; Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual.(2) Whereas Whitman is “national” in his outlook, Dickinson is “regional”.(3) Whitman has the “catalogue technique” which Dickinson doesnt have. (direct, simple style)Edgar Allen PoeI. LifeII. Works1. short stories(1) ratiocinative storiesa. Ms Found in a Bottleb. The Murders in the Rue Morguec. The Purloined Letter(2) Revenge, death and rebirtha. The Fall of the House of Usherb. Ligeiac. The Masque of the Red Death(3) Literary theorya. The Philosophy of Compositionb. The Poetic Principlec. Review of Hawthornes Twice-told TalesIII. Themes1. death predominant theme in Poes writing“Poe is not interested in anything alive. Everything in Poes writings is dead.”2. disintegration (separation) of life3. horror4. negative thoughts of scienceIV. Aesthetic ideas1. The short stories should be of brevity, totality, single effect, compression and finality.2. The poems should be short, and the aim should be beauty, the tone melancholy. Poems should not be of moralizing. He calls for pure poetry and stresses rhythm.V. Style traditional, but not easy to readVI. Reputation: “the jingle man” (Emerson)VII. His influencesChapter 3 The Age of RealismI. Background: From Romanticism to Realism1. the three conflicts that reached breaking point in this period(1) industrialism vs. agrarian(2) culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west(3) plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility2. 1880s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism3. the closing of American frontierII. Definition: With Howells, James, and Mark Twain active on the scene, realism became a major trend in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century. It expressed the concern for the world of experience, of the commonplace, and for the familiar and the low. In matters of style, there was contrast between the genteel and graceful prose on the one hand, and vernacular diction and rough and ready frontier humor on the other. Three Giants in Realistic Period1. William Dean Howells “Dean of American Realism”(1) Worksa. The Rise of Silas Laphamb. A Chance Acquaintancec. A Modern Instance(2) Features of His Worksa. Optimistic toneb. Moral development/ethicsc. Lacking of psychological depth2. Henry James(1) Life(2) Literary career: three stagesa. 18651882: international themel The Americanl Daisy Millerl The Portrait of a Ladyb. 18821895: inter-personal relationships and some playsl Daisy Miller (play)c. 18951900: novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, then back to international themel The Turn of the Screwl When Maisie Knewl The Ambassadorsl The Wings of the Dovel The Golden Bowl(3) International Theme: Most of Henry James novels deal with the international theme. That is the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadende, and its moral and psychological complications. For American it was a process of progression from inexperience to experience, from innocence to knowledge and maturity. Local Colorism1860s, 1870s1890sI. Appearance1. uneven development in economy in America2. culture: flourishing of frontier literature, humourists3. magazines appeared to let writer publish their worksII. What is “Local Colour”?Local Colorism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early seventies. The appearance of Bret Hartes “The Luck of Roaring Camp” in 1868 marked a significant development in the brief history of local color fiction. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life.III. Mark Twain Mississippi1. life2. works(1) The Gilded Age(2) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn(3) Life on the MississippiIV. Comparison of the three “giants” of American RealismIn thematic terms, James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, and Howells concerned himself chiefly with middle class life, whereas Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society. Technically, Howells wrote in the vein of genteel realism, James pursued the psychological realism, but Mark Twains contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of local colorism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style.Chapter 4 American NaturalismI. Background1. Darwins theory: “natural selection”2. Spensers idea: “social Darwinism”3. French Naturalism: ZoraII. Definition: American Naturalism appeared in the 1890s with the representatives of Crane, Norris and Theodore Dreiser. They tore the mask of gentility to pieces and wrote about the helplessness of man, his insignificance in a cold world, and his lack of dignity in face of the crushing forces of environment and heredity. They reported truthfully and objectively, with a passion for scientific accuracy and a lot of details. The whole picture is somber and dark; and the general tone one of hopelessness and even despair.III. Theodore Dreiser1. life2. works(1) Sister Carrie3. point of view(1) He embraced social Darwinism survival of the fittest. He learned to regard man as merely an animal driven by greed and lust in a struggle for existence in which only the “fittest”, the most ruthless, survive.(2) Life is predatory, a “game” of the lecherous and heartless, a jungle struggle in which man, being “a waif and an interloper in Nature”, a “wisp in the wind of social forces”, is a mere pawn in the general scheme of things, with no power whatever to assert his will.(3) No one is ethically free; everything is determined by a complex of internal chemisms and by the forces of social pressure.Chapter 5 The Modern PeriodSection 1 The 1920sI. IntroductionThe 1920s is a flowering period of American literature. It is considered “the second renaissance” of American literature.The nicknames for this period:(1) Roaring 20s comfort(2) Dollar Decade rich(3) Jazz Age Jazz musicII. Backgrounda) First World War “a war to end all wars”(1) Economically: became rich from WWI. Economic boom: new inventions. Highly-consuming society.(2) Spiritually: dislocation, fragmentation.b) wide-spread contempt for law (looking down upon law)1. Freuds theoryImagismI. Development: three stages2. 19081909: London, Hulme3. 19121914: England - America, Pound4. 19141917: Amy LowellII. Principles1. Direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective or objective;2. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation;3. As regarding rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome.Imagism: Imagism was a poetic movement that flourished in America and England, at the beginning of the 20th century. Ezra Pound raised three principles for the movement: direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective or objective; to use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation; as regarding rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome.III. Ezra Pound1. life2. literary career3. works(1) Cathay(2) Cantos(3) Hugh Selwyn Mauberley4. style: very difficult to read5. Cantos “the intellectual diary since 1915”VII. T. S. Eliot1. life2. works(1) poemsl The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrockl The Waste Land (epic): spiritual crisis of the postwar Europe.3. point of view(1) The modern society is futile and chaotic.(2)