ChapterII
The Realistic Period
一. 重难点内容提要
1.现实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，现实主义与自然主义、狄金森诗歌的主题结构和艺术特色、哈克的性格分析及其社会意义。
二． 找回记忆——重点内容回顾
(温馨提示：在这一部分，每个用“----”
链接起来的都是一个知识点的概说，应用这些“短小的绳子”把已学的知识联系起来，我们要回想并找出他们之间的关系、联系、区别等不同的关系，争取对每一个历史时期都有一个全面的认识，知道每个时期在整个英美文学史上的位置及地位，以及每个作家在这个历史时期甚至在整个文学史上的位置地位。)
a).时代概述——浪漫主义时期概述
1. 识记内容
1). The duration:1865-1914
2). background：the Civil War affected both the social and the value
system
a).transformed from an agricultural one to an industrialized and commercialized one
b). stimulated technological development
c). stepped up urbanization
d). people became dubious about the human nature and the charity of God The Gilded Age
2.领会内容: American Naturalism： influenced by Darwin‘s evolutionary theory
1). accept the more negative implications of it and u it to explain the behavior of tho characters in literary works
2). inherited qualities， and habits confined by social forces are depicted
3). theme： human “bestiality”， especially the xual desire
4). unpolished language
5). philosophically， the truth is always partially hidden from the eyes of the individual， or beyond his control
6). material source from the lower ranks of society portray miry and poverty
7). naturalism is evolved from realism. author‘s tone in writing is less rious and sympathetic，more ironic and pessimistic
3.应用内容:
1). American Naturalism： influenced by Darwin‘s evolutionary theory
a). accept the more negative implications of it and u it to
explain the behavior of tho characters in literary works
b). inherited qualities， and habits confined by social forces are depicted
c). theme： human “bestiality”， especially the xual desire
d). unpolished language
什么理财e). philosophically， the truth is always partially hidden from the eyes of the individual， or beyond his control
f). material source from the lower ranks of society portray miry and poverty
g). naturalism is evolved from realism. author‘s tone in writing is less rious and sympathetic，more ironic and pessimistic
2). The comparison of American Realistic Period and English
Realistic Period（Victorian Period）
common ground：
a). a great interest in the realities of life， aim at the
interpretation of the actualities of a
ny aspect of life
b). what was brutal or filthy， the open portrayal of class struggle
c). common people mostly depicted
3). differences（America）
a). native trends in the realistic portrayal of the landscape and social surfaces
b). perfect the dialect style
c). concern about “local colorism”， a unique variation of American literary realism
二．主要作家
Ⅰ Mark Twain
1. 一般识记：
1). his position: a great literary giant of America, who H.L.
Mencken considered “the true father of our national literature”.
2). his contribution to American literature: Twain shaped the
world’s view of America and made a more extensive combination of
American folk humor and rious literature than previous writers had ever done
3). his life and writing career: born on November 30,1835,in
Missouri----first eastward as a steamboat pilot----then farther west
into the gold and silver ttlements of Navada.----then began to work as a newspaper columnist and as a lecturer.
2. 识记：his major works:
1). Life on the Mississippi；
2). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer；
工资所得税3). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn （trilogy of Mississippi）；
4). The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County；
5). Innocents Abroad；
6). The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg
3. 领会：
1). the features of his works:
a). paid more attention to the “life” of the Americans
b). preferred to have his own region and people in his stories，
< “local colorism”
c). concerned with the life of a small， well-defined region and the
金灿灿的意思
lower-class people
d). nostalgic in a vanishing way of life and recorders of a prent
that faded before their eyes
e). skillfully ud the colloquialism， the language is simple，
direct， faithful. protagonists spoke in vernacular， both
realistically and symbolically
f). his humor is remarkable， his humor is not only funny elements
making people laugh， but a kind of artistic style to criticize the
social injustice and satirize the decayed romanticism
2). Something about his masterpiece: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn：
a). The climax is Huck‘s inner struggle on the Mississippi， between
his affection for Jim and the laws， finally he follows his own
good-hearted morality rather than the conventional village one
b). Huckleberry Finn： a typical American boy with “a sound heart and
a deformed conscience”， innocent and rebel
4. 应用：Selected Readings: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Questions:
1). the theme of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
2). the character
3). features of language
Ⅱ Henry James
1.一般识记
1). his position: the first American writer to conceive his career in international terms
2). his contribution to American literature: influenced by Freud,
诸葛亮的出师表
pioneer of “stream-of-consciousness”,founder of psychological realism
3). his life and writing career: bor
n in New York City into a
wealthy family----his education make him know much about the
international society in early years----entered Harvard and
developed his interest in writing.
韵达时效
2.识记:his major works:
1). works of early years: Daisy Miller----The American----The
Europeans----The Portrait of A Lady
2). works of middle period: The Bostonians----The Turn of the
Screw----The Beast in the Jungle
3). works of later years: The Ambassadors----The Golden Bowl----The
Wings of the Dove
3.领会
1). James’s realism: his realism is characterized by his
psychological approach to his subject matter----fictional world is concerned more with the inner life of human beings than with overt actions
2). James’ literary techniques: his narrative “point of view”----as to his language----often highly refined and insightful----accurate in word lection
1.应用：Selected Reading: Daisy Miller城管工作总结
Questions:
1). the theme and the structure
2). the character
3). his style and language
Ⅲ Emily Dickinson
1. 一般识记
1). her life and writing career: She born into a Calvinist family of Amherst, Massachutts----Spent some year at school----affected by an unhappy love affair then live alone all her life
2.识记
her major poems: This is my letter to the World； I heard a Fly buzz-when I died； Becau I could not stop for Death
a). her poems about eternity
b). her poems about love her poems about nature
3.领会:the characteristics of her works:
1). she us a particular rhyme pattern， us dashes and capital letters as a means of emphasis
什么喻户晓
2). simplicity and plainness
3). focus on a single image or symbol
4). poems are personal and meditative
5). personification
4. 应用：Selected Reading:
Questions:
1). the structure of her poems
2). the theme of her poems
3). the feature of her language
ⅣTheodore Dreir
1.一般识记:
1). his life and writing career: born in Terre Hante----have an unhappy childhood due to the poverty of his family----attend Catholic and public schools----appreciated by one of his teachers and get the opportunity to enter the Indiana University----work hard to earn a living and find his way to become a writer.
2). his position: acknowledged as one of America’s literary
naturalists
3). his contribution: He broke away from the genteel tradition of literature and dramatized the life in a very realistic way.
2.识记:his major works: Sister Carrie----An American Tragedy---- The
Financier----The Titan----The Stoic
3.领会
1). the naturalist in his works:
a).heredity and environment are the forces determining man‘s
destiny， under what life was ironic， even tragic
b).human beings‘ life was trapped into ’a welter of inscrutable forces‘
王先谦c). Darwin‘s idea of “ survival of the fittest” is embodied as “kill or to be killed” in Dreir’s works
d). explain the insignificance of life and attac
k the conventional moral standards
e). materialism is the core. man has a meaningless， endless arch for satisfaction of his desires， desires for money
f). x is another human desire. xual beauty symbolizes the social status
2).the style of his language: Dreir’s style has been a
controversial aspect of his works from the beginning. For lack of concision, his writings appear more inclusive and less lective----the time of quence is clear and the plot
straightforward
1.应用:Selected Reading: Sister Carrie(the excerpt of the last scene )
Questions:
1).the theme
2).the character
3).the style of his language
