英语专业美国文学简史复习资料.

《小王子英文版》精读笔记——第一章

《小王子英文版》精读笔记——第一章 第1 章 [ Chapter 1 ] ◆magnificent /m?ɡ?n?f?snt/ adj. 壮丽的;令人印象深刻的 ◆primeval /pra??miv?l/ adj. 原始的 ◆a boa constrictor 一条蟒蛇 ◆boa /'b???/ n. 蟒 ◆constrictor /k?n'str?kt?/ n. 大蟒 ◆swallow /'sw?l??/ v. 吞下 ◆called True Stories from Nature 可以看做非限制性定语修饰a book（解释补充说明）◆in the act of doing (sth.) 正在做某事时 ◆prey /pre?/ n[U].猎物v.捕食 ◆swallow sth. whole 把……囫囵吞下 ◆whole /h??l/ adj. 完整的 ◆chew /t?u?/ vt.咀嚼 ◆succeed in doing 成功地做某事 ◆drawing /'dr??(r)??/ n. 图画 ◆masterpiece /'mɑ?st?pi?s/ n. 杰作 ◆frighten /'fra?t(?)n/ v.使惊恐;吓唬 ◆show sth. to sb. 把某物给某人看 ◆digest /da?'d?est/ v.消化 ◆ask sb. sth. 询问某人某事 ◆whether the drawing frightened them 宾语从句 ◆be frightened by... 被……吓坏(吓一跳) ◆digesting an elephant 现在分词短语作后置定语 完整版笔记持续更新中ing 公主号：中学英语Club

常耀信《美国文学简史》(第3版)笔记和考研真题详解(9-14章)【圣才出品】

第9章地方色彩小说?马克?吐温 9.1复习笔记 I.Local Colorism（地方色彩主义） The vogue of local color fiction was the outgrowth of historical and aesthetic forces that had been gathering energy since early19th century.Local colorism as a literary trend first made its presence felt in the late1860s and early seventies.It is a variation of American literary realism. Local colorists were consciously nostalgic historians of a vanishing way of life,recorders of a present that faded before their eyes.They 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.Major local colorists are Bret Harte,Hanlin Garland, Harriet Beecher Stowe,Kate Chopin and Mark Twain. 地方色彩小说的流行是自19世纪早期以来历史和艺术力量凝聚的产物。作为一种文学潮流，地方色彩主义在19世纪60年代晚期和70年代早期初展头角。它是美国现实主义文学的一个分支。 地方色彩主义作家是怀念正在消逝的生活方式的历史家，他们记录了在他们眼前逝去的现在。他们致力于展示描述自己地方的特色，倾向于赞颂地方生活并将其理想化，但是他们又注意不失地方生活的真实色彩。主要的地方色彩主义作家包括布莱特·哈特、汉林·加兰德、哈里耶特·比彻·斯托、凯特·肖邦及马克·吐温等。 II.Mark Twain(1835-1910)（马克·吐温） 1.Life（生平） Mark Twain,pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens,is a great literary giant of America. He was brought up in the small town of Hannibal,Missouri,on the Mississippi River.He was twelve when his father died and he had to leave school.He was successively a printer’s apprentice,a tramp printer,a silver miner,a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi,and a frontier journalist in Nevada and California.This knocking about gave him wide knowledge of humanity. With the publication of his frontier tale,he became nationally famous.His first novel The Gilded Age was an artistic failure,but it gave its name to the American of the post-bellum period.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was his masterwork.Mark Twain was essentially an affirmative writer.But toward the latter part of his life,due to some tragic events,he changed to an almost

常耀信《美国文学简史》笔记和考研真题详解(美国浪漫主义 欧文 库柏)【圣才出品】

第3章美国浪漫主义欧文库柏 3.1 复习笔记 I. Overview of American Romanticism（美国浪漫主义简介） In the history of American literature, the Romantic period is one of the most important periods. It stretched from the end of the eighteenth century through the outbreak of the civil war. 美国文学中的浪漫主义时期开始于18世纪末，到南北战争爆发为止，是美国文学史上的重要阶段。 1. Background（背景） (1) A nation bursting into new life cried for literary expression. The buoyant mood of the nation and the spirit of the times seemed in some measure responsible for the spectacular outburst of romantic feeling. The literary milieu proved fertile and conductive to the imagination. Magazine appeared in ever-increasing numbers. They played an important role in facilitating literary expansion. (2) Foreign influences added incentive to the growth of romanticism. The Romantic Movement, which had flourished earlier in the century both in England

考研阅读精读笔记(98Passage Four - 99)

考研阅读精读笔记（98Passage Four - 99）(2009-06-30 17:58:21) Passage Four L: census n.人口普查 regional a.地区的region n. standstill n.停止 in years ahead 将来 enthrone vt.使加冕；使登王位；使成为最高/最大/最强... densely ad.稠密地；密集地dense a. populate = inhabit vt.居住 the most densely populated region 人口最密集的地区 the most thinly populated area 人口最稀少的地区 counting n.计数，计算，数数count v. numerically ad.数字地，数目地numerical a. add up to = amount to 总计，达到 except for 除了 the Depression (1929-1932)大萧条 migrate v. 迁徙，移动migration n. migrant n.迁徙者；候鸟 belt n.带，地带，腰带 be attributed to 被归因于 nonstop a.不停顿的 wave n.浪潮；波浪 immigrant n.移民immigrate v. crop n.庄稼，作物；一批 baby boom 婴儿潮，婴儿出生高峰 child-bearing a.生育孩子的 demographer n.人口学家 demography n.人口学 vast a.广大的，大的 respectively ad.各自地respective a. be composed of 由...构成，包括 square n./a.正方形；广场；平方 per square mile 每平方英里 crowded a.拥挤crowdedness n. bearable a.能承受的，能忍受的 dramatize v.戏剧化的表达；清楚地表达/表现 spacious a.宽敞的 smog n.烟雾 plague n.弊端；瘟疫；灾难；祸患 urbanization n. 城市化，都市化urbanize v. the Golden State 指California two thirds 三分之二 one fifth 五分之一

美国文学简史(第三版)复习 常耀信

美国文学作者作品 Edwards: 爱德华兹 The Freedom of the Will 《论意志自由》 Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended 《论原罪》 The Nature of True Virtue 《论真实德行的本原》 名篇：Personal Narrative 《自述》 Sinners in the hands of an Angry God 《愤怒上帝手中之罪》 Benjamin Franklin:本杰明·富兰克林 Poor Richard’s Almanac《穷理查德年历》Autobiography 《自传》 Washington Irving:华盛顿·欧文 A History of New York《纽约外传》The Sketch Book 《见文札记》名篇：Rip Van Winkle《瑞普·温·凡克尔》 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 《睡谷传奇》 James Fenimore Cooper:詹姆斯·费尼莫尔·库柏Leatherstocking Tales 《皮袜子故事集》 The Pioneer 《拓荒者》The Prairie 《大草原》 The Last of Mohicans《最后的莫希干人》 The Pathfinder《探路人》The Deerslayer 《猎鹿者》

Ralph Waldo Emerson:拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生 Nature 《论自然》Self-Reliance 《论自立》Essays 《随笔集》名篇：The American Scholar 《美国学者》（has been regarded as “American Declaration of Intellectual Independence”被誉为美国思想的独立宣言） The Poet Henry David Thoreau:亨利·戴维·梭罗 Walden 《瓦尔登湖》 Nathaniel Hawthorne:纳撒尼尔·霍桑 The Scarlet Letter《红字》 The House of the Seven Gables 《七个尖角阁的房子》 Mosses from an Old Manse《古厦青苔》 The Blithedale Romance《福谷传奇》 The Marble Faun 《玉石神像》 Ethan Brand 《伊桑布兰德》 Young Goodman Brown 《好小伙子布朗》 Dr. Heidggeger’s Experiment 《海德格博士的体验》 The Ambitions Guest 《野心勃勃的客人》 The Greast Stone Face 《巨石脸》

常耀信《美国文学简史》笔记和考研真题详解(美国戏剧)【圣才出品】

第19章美国戏剧 19.1 复习笔记 I. Overview of American drama（美国戏剧概述） American drama began in 1916 when the Provincetown Players produced Eugene O’Neil’s first play, Bound East for Cardiff. It is true that there were no great masters in the theater comparable in stature to such major figures in fiction as Melville or James, but there had been people who did spadework for the rise of American drama in the 1920s. There was a renaissance of drama in the 1920s. American drama began the process of developing itself into a department of American literature equal in significance to both poetry and the novel. The theater of the Depression was not depressing. Like other branches of literature the drama was preoccupied with social concern. The staging of Tennessee Williams’The Glass Menagerie on Broadway in 1945 was an even of unusual significance, as it marked American drama’s coming of age. The late fifties saw a temporary decline in dramatic productions, but in the next decade, American drama picked up a good deal of fresh energy. With the passage of time there has appeared the increasingly more obvious tendency to “decentralize”from Broadway with more and more plays stages Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway. And from the end of the sixties.

9分达人阅读AmateurNaturalists精读笔记汇总

Amateur[??m?t?(r)] Naturalists[?n?t?r?l?st] Ecologists[i:?k?l?d??sts] are using a wealth of unusual data to predict he impact of climate change. 生态学家们通过大量民间数据来预测气候变化带来的影响 a wealth of Sn.大量;丰富If you say that someone or something has a wealth of good qualities or things, you are emphasizing that they have a very large number or amount of them. FORMAL 正式 ...such a wealth of creative expertise[?eksp?:?ti:z]... 如此丰富的创造性Un.专门技能 The city boasts[b??st]v.有，拥有（值得骄傲的成就或财产）a wealth of beautiful churches. 这座城市拥有众多美丽的教堂 A: Tim Sparks slides a small leather-bound装订的notebook out of an envelope[?env?l ??p]. Tim Sparks从信封里取出了一本皮面笔记本 slide out of The book’s yellowing pages contain beekeeping notes made between 1941 and 1969 by the late Walter Coates of Kilworth, Leicestershire. 笔记本的纸页已经微微泛黄，它记载了在Kilworth, Leicestershire居住的已故的养蜂人Walter Coates从1941年到1969年间的养蜂记录 late adj.已故的；已逝的；（尤指）新近去世的Y ou use late when you are talking about someone who is dead, especially someone who has died recently. His growing pile[pa?l] of local journals 他那堆越来越多的地方日报 a pile of

美国文学简史名词解释定义

American Puritanism: Puritanism was a religious reform movement that arose within the Church of England in the late sixteenth century. Under siege from church and crown, it sent an offshoot in the third and forth decades of the seventeenth century to the northern English colonies in the New World--- a migration that laid the foundation for the religious, intellectual, and social order of New England, Puritanism, however,was not only a historically specific phenomenon coincident with the founding of New England; it was also a way of being in the world---a style of response to lived experience---that has reverberated through American life ever since. Doctrinally, Puritans adhered to the Five Points of Calvinism as codified at the Synod of Dort in 1619:(1) unconditional election ( the idea that God had decreed who was damned and who was saved from before the beginning of the world); (2) limited atonement ( the idea that Christ died for the elect only); (3) total depravity (humanity's utter corruption since the Fall); (4) irresistible grace (regeneration as entirely a work of God, which cannot be resisted and to which the sinner contributes nothing); and (5) the perseverance of the saints (the elect, despite their backsliding and faintness of heart , cannot fall away from grace). American Dream: The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. Nowadays the American Dream has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and\ or happiness. Gothic tradition: Gothic novel or Gothic romance is a story of terror and suspense, usually set in a gloomy old castle or monastery. In an extended sense, many novels that do not have a medievalized setting, but which share a comparably sinister, grotesque, or chaustrophobic atmosphere have been classed as Gothic. It contributed to the new emotional climate of Romanticism. Historical novel: a novel in which the action takes place during a specific historical period well before the time of writing ( often one or two generations before, sometimes several centuries), and in which some attempt is made to depict accurately the customs and mentality of the period. The central character---real or imagined---is usually subject to divided loyalties within a larger historic conflict of which readers know the outcome. The pioneers of this genre were Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper American Romanticism:Romanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions. The romantic period in American literature stretched from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil

(完整word版)《美国文学选读》课程标准

《美国文学选读》课程标准 一、课程性质与任务 美国文学选读是英语专业高年级的选修课。它与英美文学史密切结合，使学生在接触到浩繁的文学作品的同时，可以对繁杂的文学现象加以整理和梳理，并形成自己阅读文学作品的习惯，开阔视野，在学习过程中把握正确的理解文学作品的方法。美国文学选读通过向学生介绍文学作品及其作品创作的历史文化背景，培养学生阅读文学作品的兴趣，增强语感，增进学生对美国社会、历史、文化以及生活习俗的了解，提高他们对西方文学的欣赏能力及批评能力。 二、课程教学目标 1．知识目标 1）文学知识：通过本课程的学习，学生应深入、直观地理解各个时期的美国文学作品，把握其思想、语言及创作技巧上的特点；另外，还应对美国的文学评论流变具备相对清晰的认识。 2）语言知识：本课程是通过介绍不同文体的文学作品，深化学生对英语语言的认知、理解和应用的能力。并通过对不同时期英语原文资料的阅读和解析，以一种更加直观的方式了解这门语言的发展。 2．能力目标 1）文学作品鉴赏能力：通过作者作品的讲解，学生可以对作品的社会历史价值和艺术价值进行评价，培养并提高自我的鉴赏能力； 2）语言表达能力：通过课堂和课下阅读及评价任务的完成，学生的口头和书面表达能力能够得到全面的提高； 3）思辩能力：课上小组讨论环节和presentation环节能够激发学生的思辩能力，助其开拓思路，同时也为以后对英语的有效使用打下基础。 3．素质目标 1）文学文化修养：本课程作为英语专业高年级学生的素养课，旨在培养学生对美国文学及文化的理解，可以使学生以直观的方式全面接触这种语言和文化，并形成独立的开放的文化观，进一步强化其跨文化意识； 2）基本的研究素质：本课程通过对文学评论的介绍和讲解向学生传授文学鉴赏的不同视角，可使其具备基本的文学研究素质； 3）文学翻译的基础：本课程通过对文学作品的细读向学生介绍文字背后的人文、历史、政治、哲学及美学等因素，可为文学翻译课程提供较好的材料，并做好前期准备。 三、课程基本信息和内容要求

财大翻译综合常耀信《美国文学简史》考研考点总结

财大翻译综合常耀信《美国文学简史》考研考点总结 第1章殖民地时期的美国 1.1 复习笔记 I. American Puritanism（美国清教主义） The settlement of North American continent by the English began in the early part of the seventeenth century. The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. In 1620, the ship Mayflower carried about one hundred Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The first settlers in America were quite a few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons. They carried with them American Puritanism which took root in the New World and became the most enduring shaping influence in American thought and American literature. 英国向北美的移民活动开始于17世纪上半叶。英国于1607年在北美建立了第一个永久性海外殖民区：弗吉尼亚州的詹姆斯敦。1620年“五月花”号载运100余名移民抵达马萨诸塞州的普利茅斯。很多美国早期的移民是清教徒，他们出于多种原因来到美国。他们信奉的清教主义后来在新大陆生根发芽，并对美国思想和美国文学产生了根深蒂固的影响。 1．Doctrines of Puritanism（清教主义的教义）

美国文学简史笔记(常耀信)

A Concise History of American Literature What is literature? Literature is language artistically used to achieve identifiable literary qualities and to convey meaningful messages. Chapter 1 Colonial Period I.Background: Puritanism 1.features of Puritanism (1)Predestination: God decided everything before things occurred. (2)Original sin: Human beings were born to be evil, and this original sin can be passed down from generation to generation. (3)Total depravity (4)Limited atonement: Only the “elect” can be saved. 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 puritan’s 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 literature 1.types of writing diaries, histories, journals, letters, travel books, autobiographies/biographies, sermons 2.writers of colonial period (1)Anne Bradstreet (2)Edward Taylor (3)Roger Williams (4)John Woolman (5)Thomas Paine (6)Philip Freneau III.Jonathan Edwards 1.life 2.works (1)The Freedom of the Will (2)The Great Doctrine of Original Sin Defended (3)The Nature of True Virtue 3.ideas – pioneer of transcendentalism (1)The spirit of revivalism (2)Regeneration of man (3)God’s presence (4)Puritan idealism IV.Benjamin Franklin 1.life 2.works (1)Poor Richard’s Almanac (2)Autobiography 3.contribution (1)He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society.

化学元素周期表,元素周期律 精读笔记!!

一．元素周期表 1.原子序数=核电荷数=核内质子数=核外电子数 2.主族元素最外层电子数=主族序数 3.电子层数=周期序数 4.碱金属元素:密度逐渐增大,熔沸点逐渐变大,自上而下反应越来越剧烈 银白色金属,密度小,熔沸点低,导电导热性强 5.判断元素金属性强弱的方法: 单质与水(酸)反应置换出氢的难易程度 最高价氧化物的水化物(氢氧化物)的碱性强弱 单质间的置换 6.卤族元素:密度逐渐增大,熔沸点逐渐升高 与氢气反应剧烈程度越来越弱,生成氢化物稳定性渐弱 7.判断元素非金属性强弱的方法: 与氢气生成气态氢化物的难易程度以及氢化物的稳定性 最高价氧化物的水化物的酸性 单质间的置换 8.质量数:核内所有质子和中子的相对质量取近似整数相加 9.核素:具有一定数目质子和一定数目的中子的一种原子 10.同位素:质子数相同而中子数不同的同一元素的不同原子互称为同位素 天然稳定存在的同位素,无论是游离态还是化合态各同位素所占的原子个数百分比一般是不变的在相同状况下,各同位素的化学性质基本相同(几乎完全一样),物理性质有所不同 12.原子相对原子质量=1个原子的质量/（1/12 C12的原子质量） 13.原子的近似相对原子质量=质量数 14.元素的相对原子质量=各同位素的相对原子质量的平均值=A·a％+B·b％… 15.元素的近似相对原子质量=各同位素质量数的平均值=A·a％+B·b％… 二．元素周期律 1.K、L、M、N、O、P、Q（1,2,3,4,5,6，7，）层数越大，电子离核越远，其能量越高 2.能量最低原理 3.各电子层最多容纳电子数：2n^2 4.最外层不超过8，次外层18，倒数第三层32 5.原子半径：同周期主族元素，原子半径从左到右逐渐减小

英国文学简史&美国文学简史--背诵版

1. Beowulf赏析 英国现存最早、最完整的民族史诗。1反映当时部落社会的面貌。背景取自欧洲。2古Anglo-Saxon人崇拜英雄的部落文化。政治观点：“王”，权利来自武力，王权的继承还需要仁义。3历史事实+神话传说。 主人公Beowulf英勇顽强。自我牺牲精神。爱护臣民。有责任感。 简洁明快。头韵。隐喻：用复合词来比喻某种事物或现象。 2. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight赏析 传奇文学是贵族人生理想的反映，与平民百姓没有丝毫的关系。 头韵诗。2个主题：1砍头游戏检验Gawain的勇敢和信守诺言。2女主人的诱惑检验Gawain的诚实和忠贞。 以重读音节为基础的韵律。每一个stanza后面有一个只有一个重读音节的短促诗句，再加一个abab韵的4行诗节。语言朴素自然，流畅通顺。 反映出Norman征服的宗教影响：基督教成统治地位。Gawain是基督徒，拥有人的弱点。他在困境中祈求圣母玛利亚的帮助，又因死亡的威胁而背弃诺言。他身上有亚当的影子，原罪的概念。 3. Chaucer特点 “英国诗歌之父”。人文主义。现实主义。明快、诙谐。伦敦方言创作。首创heroic couplet。钟情于中世纪的文学形式。第一个用韵脚韵律诗，以重音-音节为基础的格律诗。 一方面用贵族式的理想眼光看待生活。一方面又以现实的态度思考。 1法国影响时期—2意大利影响时期—3成熟时期 强调人权，今生今世幸福快乐的权利，反对神权与禁欲主义。反对滥用宗教教义。 人物：个人与社会关系的主题。突出人物之间性格冲突和物质利益矛盾。幽默讽刺地描写了新兴资产阶级所反感的阶级出身问题。人物形象是立体的，有独特的气质和性格。 押尾韵。八音节对偶句（octosyllabic couplet），iambic pentameter的heroic couplet。 4. Canterbury T ales赏析 现实主义。但未能摆脱中世纪的偏见。 轻松、欢快 文艺复兴的先驱。人生来就有谋求世俗幸福的权利。 General Prologue+24个故事。每个故事有“小引”、“开场语”、“结束语”。 General Prologue：赞扬骑士、骑士之子、乡勇。讽刺院长嬷嬷的矫揉造作。 24个故事题材：多是关于爱情婚姻。还有揭露了宗教的压迫、僧侣的道德败坏、官吏的专横。 Iambic pentameter couplet, 即heroic couplet 5. Hamlet赏析 Shakespeare的巅峰之作。尽管讲的是丹麦故事。但反映的却是英国的事情。人文主义。对他所生活的那个时代的方方面面进行了评论。复仇悲剧。 家丑引起Hamlet对美好世界、人类善良的怀疑。个人悲剧演变成社会的悲剧，变成铲除罪恶、匡扶正义的巨大社会责任心。Hamlet的悲剧在于，他的责任是如此艰巨，自己又是日次势孤力单。他的弱点：多愁善感，疑虑重重；善于思考，贫于行动。他代表了善于思考，贫于行动的新兴资产阶级。 6. The Merchant of V enice赏析 Shylock—唯利是图，爱财如命的拜金主义者。作为犹太民族受到歧视和迫害。 Portia—人文主义者对新女性的理想 7. Francis Bacon

美国文学简史中文版

美国文学(American Literature) 美国文学的历史不长，它几乎是和美国自由资本主义同时出现，较少受到封建贵族文化的束缚。美国早期人口稀少，有大片未开发的土地，为个人理想的实现提供了很大的可能性。美国人民富于民主自由精神，个人主义、个性解放的观念较为强烈，这在文学中有突出的反映。美国又是一个多民族的国家，移民不断涌入，各自带来了本民族的文化，这决定了美国文学风格的多样性和庞杂性。美国文学发展的过程就是不断吸取、融化各民族文学特点的过程。许多美国作家来自社会下层，这使得美国文学生活气息和平民色彩都比较浓厚，总的特点是开朗、豪放。内容庞杂与色彩鲜明是美国文学的另一特点。个性自由与自我克制、清教主义与实用主义、激进与反动、反叛和顺从、高雅与庸俗、高级趣味与低级趣味、深刻与肤浅、积极进取与玩世不恭、明快与晦涩、犀利的讽刺与阴郁的幽默、精心雕琢与粗制滥造、对人类命运的思考和探索与对性爱的病态追求等倾向，不仅可以同时并存，而且形成强烈的对照。从来没有一种潮流或倾向能够在一个时期内一统美国文学的天下。美国作家敏感、好奇，往往是一个浪潮未落，另一浪潮又起。作家们永远处在探索和试验的过程之中。20世纪以来，许多文学潮流起源于美国，给世界文学同时带来积极的与消极的影响。 殖民地时期 印第安人的文化欧洲人发现新大陆的时候，北美洲的土著居民印第安人处于原始公社制度各种不同的阶段。印第安人在向大自然的斗争中创造了自己的文化，主要是民间口头创作，包括神话传说和英雄传说。由于他们没有文字，这些传说后来才得以整理问世，启发了后世美国作家的灵感。 早期移民的文化移民刚到新大陆时忙于生存斗争，所以开始时文学发展比较缓慢。最早发表的关于北美的作品是游记、日记之类的文字。作者都是英国人。英国殖民地建立之后，统治者利用宗教，主要是清教主义作为控制殖民地思想意识的主要手段，因此许多出版物是关于神学的研究。著名的作家有科顿·马瑟(1663-1728)和乔纳森。爱德华兹(1703-1758)等。随着工业、贸易和民族意识的增涨，宗教自由的呼声提高，清教主义的神权统治走向衰亡，为人本主义与自由民主等民族独立的意识所代替。 诗歌创作：北美出版的第一部诗集《海湾圣诗》是以民歌形式写成的圣诗。迈克尔·威格尔斯沃思的诗全是解释加尔文教的教义，成了宗教性的普及读物。女诗人安妮·布拉兹特里特写的也是宗教生活，不过多少以世俗的笔调抒写妇女的心情。生前只发表过挽诗的牧师爱德华·泰勒反映了严格的清教主义的衰落。在这些诗人身上，英国的影响也是明显的，布拉兹特里特得益于斯宾塞，泰勒的诗里看得出约翰·多思和乔治·赫伯特的影响。 独立革命至南北战争时期 美国民族文学形成于独立革命时期。这场斗争产生大量的革命诗歌，并且造就了美国头一批重要的散文家和诗人。政治上的独立促进文化上的独立。战争结束之后，美国作家的作品陆续增多，逐渐摆脱英国文学的垄断局面。年轻的民主共和国使人们满怀信心，并吸引着旧世界更多的人们奔向新的大陆。这样的社会条件促使19世纪上半叶的文学创作具有浪漫主义的色彩。作家们吸取欧洲浪漫派文学的精神，对美国的历史、传说和现实生活进行描绘，