[英语考试]美国文学选读ppt课件

1、The Voice of American Women:An Overview of American Women Writers Hannah Adams(1755 1831)Anne C. Lynch Botta(1815 1891)Julia A. Dyson(1818 1852)Elizabeth M. Chandler(1807 1834)Elizabeth F. Ellet(1818 1877)Emily B. N. Haven(1827 1863) Caroline Hentz(1800 1856)Margaret M. Davidson(1787 1844)The Voice

2、of American WomenHarriet Beecher Stowe“Eliza made her desperate retrest across the river just in the dusk of twilight. The gray mist of evening, rising slowly from the river, enveloped her as she disappeared up the bank, and the swollen current and floundering masses of ice presented a hopeless barr

3、ier between her and her pursuer. (from Uncle Toms Cabin) 汤姆大叔汤姆大叔的小屋的小屋Edith WhartonSarah Winnemucca Kate Chopin American Women Writers For 19th-century women, writing for publication was intruding into the hitherto masculine world of letters. Many women writers remained outside or on the margins of

4、 the literary marketplace, especially during their lifetimes. Many wrote under pseudonyms笔名 or anonymously. But others became prominent writers in mid-19th-century America. The voices of women in American literary history before 1920 (a date generally marking the beginning of the modern period) refl

5、ect visions and styles as diverse as their experiences. American Women WriterswMany writers were phenomenally successful in their day, subsequently fading from public memory and inadequately represented in library collections. wTheir works are in the process of being rediscovered and reevaluated. Im

6、portant American Women WritersAnne Bradstreet(1612-1672)Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) Emily Dickinson(1830-1886)Harriet Beecher Stowe(1811-1896)Kate Chopin(1851-1904)Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930)Charlotte Perkins Gilman(1860-1935)Edith Wharton(1862-1937)Toni Morrison (1931- )获获Nobel Prize黑人作家黑人作

7、家Joyce Carol Oates(1938- )Anne Bradstreet教科书没有写)Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), born Anne Dudley in Northampton, England.Anne Bradstreet is one of the most important figures in the history of American Literature. She is considered by many to be the first American poet, and her first collection of poems

8、, “The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, By a Gentlewoman of Those Parts, doesnt contain any of her best known poems, it was the first book written by a woman to be published in the United States. 第一个在美国出版书的女性Mrs. Bradstreets work also serves as a document of the struggles of a Puritan wife ag

9、ainst the hardships of New England colonial life, and in some way is a testament to plight of the women of the age. Annes life was a constant struggle, from her difficult adaptation to the rigors of the new land, to her constant battle with illness. (1612-1672) Anne BradstreetwAnne Bradstreets The T

10、enth Muse, published in 1650; wMeditation May 13, 1657 is a conversion that Bradstreet implements to symbolize the return to her health correlated with her souls redemption.wHere Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House July 18th, 1666 is a lament, a “farewell to what is already lost, her m

11、aterial goods and texts, that “store I counted best. The poem is also concerned with her persistent attention to the transient qualities of human existence.Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our HouseJuly 18th, 1666Copied Out of a Loose PaperIn silent night when rest I took,For sorrow near

12、 I did not look,I wakened was with thundring noiseAnd piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.That fearful sound of “Fire! and “Fire! 5Let no man know is my desire.I, starting up, the light did spy,And to my God my heart did cryTo strengthen me in my distressAnd not to leave me succorless. 10 Here Follows

13、 Some Verses upon the Burning of Our HouseJuly 18th, 1666Copied Out of a Loose PaperThen, coming out, beheld a spaceThe flame consume my dwelling place.And when I could no longer look,I blest His name that gave and took,That laid my goods now in the dust. 15Yea, so it was, and so twas just.It was Hi

14、s own; it was not mine.Far be it that I should repine,He might of all justly bereftBut yet sufficient for us left. 20Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our HouseJuly 18th, 1666Copied Out of a Loose PaperWhen by the ruins oft I pastMy sorrowing eyes aside did castAnd here and there the plac

15、es spyWhere oft I sat and long did lie.Here stood that trunk, and there that chest, 25There lay that store I counted best,My pleasant things in ashes lie,And them behold no more shall I.Under the roof no guest shall sit,Nor at thy Table eat a bit. 30Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our H

16、ouseJuly 18th, 1666Copied Out of a Loose PaperNo pleasant talk shall ere be told,Nor things recounted done of old.No Candle ere shall shine in thee,Nor bridegrooms voice ere heard shall be.In silence ever shall thou lie, 35Adieu, Adieu, alls vanity.Then straight I gin my heart to chide:And did thy w

17、ealth on earth abide?Didst fix thy hope on moldring dust?The arm of flesh didst make thy trust? 40Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our HouseJuly 18th, 1666Copied Out of a Loose PaperRaise up thy thoughts above the skyThat dunghill mists away may fly.Thou hast a house on high erect,Framed

18、 by that mighty Architect,With glory richly furnished, 45Stands permanent though this be fled.Its purchased and paid for tooBy Him who hath enough to do.A price so vast as is unknownYet by His gift is made thine own; 50Theres wealth enough, I need no more.Farewell, my pelf, farewell my store.The wor

19、ld no longer let me love,My hope and treasure lies above.Here follows some verses upon the burning of our house, July 10th, 1666.Meditation May 13, 1657As spring the winter doth succeed And leaves the naked trees do dress, The earth all black is clothed in green. At sunshine each their joy express.M

20、y suns returned with healing wings, 5My soul and body doth rejoice, My heart exults and praises sings To Him that heard my wailing voice.My winters past, my storms are gone, And former clouds seem now all fled, 10Meditation May 13, 1657But if they must eclipse again, Ill run where I was succored.I h

21、ave a shelter from the storm, A shadow from the fainting heat,I have access unto His throne, 15 Who is a God so wondrous great.O hath Thou made my pilgrimage Thus pleasant, fair, and good, Blessed me in youth and elder age, My Baca* made a springing flood. 20*Baca, in the Bible, allegorical name of

22、a valley. The English expression “vale (or valley) of tears may be a translation of this, through the Vulgate.Meditation May 13, 1657O studious am what I shall do To show my duty with delight; All I can give is but Thine own And at the most a simple mite.Anne Bradstreet It is clear to see that Annes

23、 faith was exemplary示范的, and so was her love for children and her husband, Governor Simon Bradstreet. Annes poems were written mainly during the long periods of loneliness while Simon was away on political errands. Anne, who was a well educated woman, also spent much time with her children, reading

24、to them and teaching them as her father had taught her when she was young. While it is rather easy for us to view Puritan ideology in a bad light because of its attitude towards women and strict moral code, her indifference to material wealth, her humility and her spirituality, regardless of religio

25、n, made her into a positive, inspirational鼓舞的 role model for any of us. Anne Bradstreet Another one of Annes most important qualities was her strong intuition直觉, although only subtly hinted at in her work, probably for fear of reprisal from the deeply religious Puritan community, one cannot help but

26、 feel her constant fascination with the human mind, and spirit, and inner guidance. Her style is deceptively simple, yet speaks of a woman of high intelligence and ideals who was very much in love, and had unconditional faith. While it was difficult for women to air their views in the 17th Century,

27、Anne Bradstreet did so with ease, as her rich vocabulary and knowledge brought a lyrical, yet logical quality to her work which made it pleasant for anyone to read.Emily Dickinson wAlthough Emily Dickinson is one of the greatest of American poets, she was all but unpublished until four years after h

28、er death, and her poems did not find a reliable editor until Thomas H. Johnson, whose Poems of Emily Dickinson was published in 1955. wThe handiest edition of the poems is probably Johnsons one-volume Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. L i t t l e . B r o w n , 1 9 6 0 .( 1830-1886 ) Life StoryDicki

29、nson was born on Dec. 10, 1830, in Amherst, Mass., the eldest daughter of Edward Dickinson, a successful lawyer, member of Congress, and for many years treasurer财务 of Amherst College, and of Emily Norcross Dickinson, a submissive谦逊的,依从的, timid woman. Life StorywOne of the finest lyric poets in w the

30、 English language, the American poet Emily Dickinson was a keen observer of nature and a wise interpreter of human passion. wHer family and friends published most of her work posthumously死后. Historical BackgroundwAmerican poetry in the 19th century was rich and varied, ranging from the symbolic fant

31、asies of Edgar Allan Poe through the moralistic quatrains of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to the revolutionary free verse of Walt Whitman. wIn the privacy of her study Emily Dickinson developed her own forms and pursued her own visions, oblivious of literary fashions and unconcerned with the changing

32、national literature. w受谁影响-If she was influenced at all by other writers, they were John Keats, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Isaac Watts (his hymns), and the biblical prophets(圣经).Early EducationwAmherst in the 1840s was a sleepy village in the lush Connecticut Valley,

33、 dominated by the Church and the college.wDickinson was reared in Trinitarian Congregationalism,w but she never joined the Church and probably chafed at the austerity of the town. wConcerts were rare; card games, dancing, and theater were unheard of. For relaxation she walked the hills with her dog,

34、 visited friends, and read.wBut it is also obvious that Puritan New England bred in her a sharp eye for local color, a love of introspection and self-analysis, and a fortitude that sustained her through years of intense loneliness. Early EducationwDickinson graduated from Amherst Academy in 1847. wT

35、he following year (the longest time she was ever to spend away from home) she attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary at South Hadley, but because of her fragile health she did not return. wAt the age of 17 she settled into the Dickinson home and turned herself into a competent housekeeper and a more

36、 than ordinary observer of Amherst life.Early WorkwIt is not known when Dickinson began to write poetry or what happened to the poems of her early youth.w Only five poems can be dated prior to 1858, the year in which she began gathering her work into hand-written fair copies bound loosely with loope

37、d thread to make small packets. wShe sent these five early poems to friends in letters or as valentines, and one of them was published anonymously without her permission in the Springfield Republican (Feb. 20, 1852). wAfter 1858 she apparently convinced herself she had a genuine talent, for now the

38、packets were carefully stored in an ebony黑檀 box, awaiting inspection by future readers or even by a publisher.Early WorkwPublication, however, was not easily arranged. After Dickinson besieged her friend Samuel Bowles, editor of the Republican, with poems and letters for 4 years, he published two po

39、ems, both anonymously: I taste a liquor never brewed (May 4, 1861) and Safe in their Alabaster Chambers (March 1, 1862).w wAnd the first of these was edited, probably by Bowles, to regularize (and thus, flatten) the rhymes and the punctuation. wDickinson began the poem: I taste a liquor never brewed

40、-/ From Tankards scooped in Pearl-/ Not all the Frankfort Berries/ Yield such an Alcohol. But Bowles printed: I taste a liquor never brewed,/ From tankards scooped in pearl;/ Not Frankfort berries yield the sense/ Such a delicious whirl. She used no title; Bowles titled it The May-Wine. (Only seven

41、poems were published during her lifetime, and all had been altered by editors.)Friendship with T. W. HigginsonwIn 1862 Dickinson turned to the literary critic Thomas Wentworth Higginson for advice about her poems. wShe had known him only through his essays in the Atlantic Monthly, but in time he bec

42、ame, in her words, her preceptor and eventually her safest friend.“w She began her first letter to him by asking, Are you too deeply occupied to say if my verse is alive? Six years later she was bold enough to say, You were not aware that you saved my life. wThey did not meet until 1870, at her urgi

43、ng, surprisingly, and only once more after that. Higginson told his wife, after the first meeting, I was never with anyone who drained my nerve power so much. Without touching her she drew from me. I am glad not to live near her.Friendship with T. W. HigginsonWhat Dickinson was seeking was assurance

44、 as well as advice, and Higginson apparently gave it without knowing it, through a correspondence that lasted the rest of her life. He advised against publishing, but he also kept her abreast of the literary world (indeed, of the outside world, since as early as 1868, she was writing him, I do not c

45、ross my fathers ground to any house or town). He helped her not at all with what mattered most to her-establishing her own private poetic method-but he was a friendly ear and a congenial mentor during the most troubled years of her life. Out of her inner turmoil came rare lyrics in a form that Higgi

46、nson never really understood-if he had, he would not have tried to edit them, either in the 1860s or after her death. Dickinson could not take his surgery, as she called it, but she took his friendship willingly.Years of Emotional CrisiswBetween 1858 and 1866 Dickinson wrote more than 1100 poems, fu

47、ll of aphorisms格言警句, paradoxes, off rhymes, and eccentric古怪的,反常的 grammar. wFew are more than 16 lines long, composed in meters based on English hymnology. The major subjects are love and separation, death, nature, and God-but especially love. wWhen she writes My life closed twice before its close, o

48、ne can only guess who her real or fancied lovers might have been. Higginson was not one of them. wIt is more than likely that her first dear friend was Benjamin Newton, a young man too poor to marry, who had worked for a few years in her fathers law office. He left Amherst for Worcester and died the

49、re in 1853.Years of Emotional CrisiswDuring a visit to Philadelphia a year later Dickinson met the Reverend Charles Wadsworth. Sixteen years her senior, a brilliant preacher, already married, he was hardly more than a mental image of a lover. wThere is no doubt she made him this, but nothing more. H

50、e visited her once in 1860. When he moved to San Francisco in May 1862, she was in despair.w Only a month before, Samuel Bowles had sailed for Europe to recover his health. Little wonder that in her first letter to Higginson she said, I had a terror.-and so I sing as the Boy does by the Burying Grou

51、nd-because I am afraid. wShe needed love, but she had to indulge this need through her poems, perhaps because she felt she could cope with it no other way.Years of Emotional CrisiswWhen Bowles returned to Amherst in November, Dickinson was so overwhelmed she remained in her bedroom and sent a note d

52、own, . That you return to us alive is better than a summer, and more to hear your voice below than news of any bird.“w By the time Wadsworth returned from California in 1870 and resettled in Philadelphia, the crisis was over. His second visit, in 1880, was anticlimax. Higginson had not saved her lif

53、e; her life was never in danger.w What had been in danger was her emotional equilibrium and her control over a talent that was so intense it longed for the eruptions that might have destroyed it.Last YearswIn the last 2 decades of her life Dickinson wrote fewer than 50 poems a year, perhaps because

54、of continuing eye trouble, more probably because she had to take increasing responsibility in running the household. wHer father died in 1874, and a year later her mother suffered a paralyzing stroke that left her an invalid until her death. There was little time for poetry, not even for serious con

55、sideration of marriage (if it was actually proffered) with a widower and old family friend, Judge Otis Lord.w Their love was genuine, but once again the timing was wrong. It was too late to recast her life completely. Her mother died in 1882, Judge Lord 2 years later. wDickinsons health failed notic

56、eably after a nervous collapse in 1884, and on May 15, 1886, she died of nephritis肾炎.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 NightsBecause I could not stop for De

57、athBecause I could not stop for Death-He kindly stopped for meThe Carriage held but just OurselvesAnd Immortality.We slowly drovehe knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too, For his Civility礼貌,殷勤We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recessin the RingWe passed the fields of

58、Gazing GrainWe passed the Setting SunBecause I could not stop for DeathOr rather he passed UsThe Dews drew quivering and chillFor only Gossamer, my GownMy Tipperonly TulleWe paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground坟墓The Roof was scarcely visibleThe Cornicein the GroundSince thentis

59、Centuriesand yetFells shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses HeadsWere toward Eternity I heard a Fly苍蝇苍蝇 buzzwhere I diedI heard a Fly buzzwhere I diedThe stillness in the Room Was like the Stillness in the AirBetween the Heaves of StormThe Eyes around had wrung them dryAnd breaths were gat

60、hering firmFor that last Onsetwhen the KingBe witnessed in the RoomI heard a Fly buzzwhere I diedI willed my Keepsakessigned awayWhat portion of me beAssignableand then it was There interposed a FlyWith Blueuncertain stumbling BuzzBetween the light and meAnd then the Windows failed and thenI could n