1.The History of American literature
The literature of Colonial American (1607-1765)
The literature of Reason and Revolution(1765—18世纪末）
The literature of Romanticism（1800—1865）
The literature of Realism（1865—1918）
The literature of Modernism（1918－1945）
The contemporary literature (1945－Now)
2.Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography
That good fortune, when I reflected on it, which is frequently the ca, has induced me something to say that were it left to my choice, I should have no objection to go over the same life from its beginning to the end, only asking the advantage authors have of correcting in a cond edition some faults of the first.
3.Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence
We hold the truths to be lf-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among the are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
4.Edgar Allan Poe The Cask of Amontillado
I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredresd when retribution overtakes its redresr. It is equally unredresd when the avenger fails to make himlf felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
5.Washington Irving Rip Van Winkle ( The Sketch Book )
“Every change of ason, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of the mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and ttled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but, sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the tting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.”
Interpretations of Rip Van Winkle
A New Critical Approach: A peaceful village before Revolution Natural world in the mountains ; A noisy world after revolution ------Irving was unwilling to accept a modern democratic America ------both Rip and Irving prefer the past and a dream-like world
A Feminist Approach : Rip is a good person with more advantages than disadvantages, and readers always show sympathy on him becau he has such bad-tempered wife. It ems that he has good reason to go out from his family. He was forced to go out .
In fact , Rip: a lazy ,foolish man,an irresponsible father,a hard-hearted husband.His wife :a hard-working ,thrift woman, a kind ,responsible mother, an able, brave woman.
6.Summit of Romanticism (American Transcendentalism)
Emerson Nature & Self-Reliance
Thoreau Walden
Nature : Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite s
pace, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I e all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, -- master or rvant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages.
Self Reliance:
Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist.
It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
Walden:
1 A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.
2 I have frequently en a poet withdraw , having enjoyed the most valuable part of a farm, while the crusty farmers suppod that he had got a few apples only.
3 The hollow and lichen-covered apple trees, gnawed by rabbits, showing what kind of neighbors I should have.
4 But I would say to my fellows, once for all, as long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the country jail.
5 As I have said , I do not propo to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up.
6 The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it.
7 The Harivansa says,“An abode without birds is like a meat without asoning.”such was not my abode, for I found mylf suddenly neighbor to the birds, not by having imprisoned one, but having caged mylf near them
8 “There was a shepherd that did live, And held his thoughts as high .As were the mounts whereon his flocks. Did hourly feed his by”What should we think of the shepherd’s life if his flocks always wandered to higher pastures than his thoughts?
Purpo : 1.escaping the effects of the Industrial Revolution by leading to a simpler life.
2.simplifying life and reducing expenditures, increasing writings time
3.putting into practice the Transcendentalist belief
Ideas : 1. the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man.
2 .was very critical of modern civilization.
3.spiritual richness is real wealth
7.Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter
fess her guilty, faces the future optimistically，helps others
2. able to construct her life, wins a moral success
3. moral growth-----angel
Dimmesdale----1.hides his guilty first
2.undergoes the physical and spiritual torments
Chillingworth--morally degrades by his pursuit of revenge
Pearl----1, it means treasure ( the treasure to her mother. )
2, Came out of an ugly shell but is beautiful
Theme: 1 Don’t intend to tell a love story
2 assumes the universalityof guilty
3 explores the complexities and ambiguities of man’s choices
4 focus his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects of the sin on the people.
8.Longfellow A Paslm of Life / The Tide Ris, the Tide Falls / I shot an Arrow / My Lost Youth / The Rainy Day
The tide ris,The Tide Falls (1879)
The tide ris, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the a-sands damp and brown, The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide ris, the tide falls.
Darkness ttles on roofs and walls,But the a in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft white hands,Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide ris, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls, Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore . Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tide ris, the tide falls.
My Lost Youth
Often I think of the beautiful town
That is ated by the a;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town,
And my youth comes back to me.
And a ver of a Lapland song
Is haunting my memory still
'A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts
I shot an arrow
I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight. Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak. I found the arrow, still unbroken;
And the song, from beginning to end,I found again in the heart of a friend.
9.Edgar Allan Poe To Helen Annabel Lee “The Raven”
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE ；
And the stars never ri but I e the bright eyes
Of the beautiful ANNABEL LEE ；
And so，all the night-tide , I lie down by the side
Of my darling —my darling —my life and my bride，
In her pulcher there by the a—，
In her tomb by the sounding a.
10.Emily Dickinson I Started Early-Took My Dog- I am Nobody
To Make a Prairie Success is counted sweetest
I started Early -- Took my Dog -- And visited the Sea --
The Mermaids in the Bament Came out to look at me --
And Frigates -- in the Upper Floor Extended Hempen Hands --
Presuming Me to be a Mou -- Aground -- upon the Sands --
But no Man moved Me -- till the Tide Went past my simple Shoe --
And past my Apron -- and my Belt -- And past my Bodice -- too --
And made as He would eat me up --
As wholly as a Dew Upon a Dandelion's Sleeve --
And then -- I started -- too -- And He -- He followed -- clo behind --
I felt his Silver Heel Upon my Ankle -- Then my Shoes
Would overflow with Pearl --
Until We met the Solid Town -- No One He emed to know --
And bowing -- with a Might look -- At me -- The Sea withdrew --
1 The speaker is extremely frightened by the a.
2.The speaker also ems attracted to the a.
3. The speaker runs to town to escape the a.
4. She has a conflicted relationship to the a.
5. she is attracted to sth that frightens her---her lf consciousness may mean she has some desire about which she feels guilty.
Water, The a
The unconscious, the emotions, the desire, the xuality.
The speaker’s conflicted attitude toward the a implies a conflicted attitude toward x (x both attract and frightens her)
11.Whitman Leaves of Grass One's Self I Sing O Captain! My Captain(free ver)
The "ship" is intended to reprent the United States of America, while its "fearful trip" recalls the troubles of the American Civil War. The "Captain" is Lincoln himlf. (metaphor ) Rrhyme scheme : a a b b c d e d
12.Mark Twain (realism) The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
The Adventure of Tom Sawyer
13.Naturalism Theodore Sister Carrie
Stephen Crane The Open Boat
1. Sister Carrie
Oh, Carrie, Carrie! Oh, blind strivings of the human heart! Onward, onward, it saith(say), and where beauty leads, there it follows. Whether it be the tinkle of a lone sheep bell o‘er some quiet landscape, or the glimmer of beauty in sylvan places, or the show of soul in some passing eye, the heart knows and makes answer, following. It is when the feet weary and hope ems vain that the heartaches and the longings ari. Know, then, that for you is neither surfeit(过量）nor content. In your rocking-chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. In your rocking-chair, by your window, shall you dream such happiness as you may never feel.
2. The Open Boat
Naturalism in the story
1,The indifference of nature
The oiler was the most skilled and capable man
If nature were just, The oiler would be the last of the four men who should have died. The oiler’s death and lack of explanation surrounding it reinforce the randomness of nature’s whims and symbolize the indifference of nature toward man
In the story a bird watches them and is completely indifferent.
2,The survival of the fittest
While the cook, captain, and correspondent all depend on a manmade or naturally occurring device to help them to the shore, the oiler goes it alone, relying only on his human strength and not on his more evolved capacity for thought and strategy.
The “fittest”are the men who have relied on man’s ability to intelligently adapt and create.
3,Man’s insignificance and aloneness in the univer
They think the man es them. Then they think they e two men, then a crowd and perhaps a boat being rolled down to the shore. They stubbornly think that help is on the way as the shadows lengthen and the a and sky turn black.
