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美国文学史期末复习资料全

美国文学史期末复习资料全
美国文学史期末复习资料全

美国文学(本科)试题5

I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases and

put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 1 point for each)

1. The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at

Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 .

2. became the first American writer.

3. Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the values that dominated much of the early American writing.

4. In American literature, the 18th century was an age of and Revolution.

5. Franklin’s best writing is found in his masterpiece.

6. On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet appeared.

7. The signing of symbolized the birth of an independent American nation.

8. The most outstanding poet in America of the 18th century was .

9. Washington Irving’s became the first work by an American writer to win international fame.

10. is the summit of American Romanticism.

11. With the publication of Emerson’s in 1836,American Romanticism reached its summit.

12. Hester Prynne is the heroine in Hawthorne’s novel.

13.Henry James’ major fictional theme is.

14. brought the Romantic period to an end. So the age of Realism came into existence.

15. The Poetic style invented by Whitman is now called .

16. “Because I could not stop for Death---” is written by.

17. The term The Gilded Age is given by to describe the post-civil war years.

18. Theodore Dreiser’s first novel is.

19. The leader of the literary movement Imagism is .

20. is the spokesman for Lost Generation.

II. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers

or completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case and put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 1 point for each)

1. The first American writer of local color to achieve wide popularity was .

A. Bret Harte

B. Mark Twain

C. Henry James

D. William Dean Howells

2. Which of the following is the masterpiece of Mark Twain?

A. The Gilded Age

B. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

C. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

D. Jumping Frog

3. Which writer has no naturalist tendency?

A. Mark Twain

B. Jack London

C. Theodore Dreiser

D. Frank Norris

4. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in and

Thoreau.

A. Jefferson

B. Emerson

C. Freneau

D. Oversoul

5. Which of the following doesn’t belong to Dreiser’s “Trilogy of Desire”?

A. The Financier

B. The Titan

C. The Stoic

D. An American Tragedy

6. Which is the character who appears in the novel Moby Dick?

A. Hester Prynne

B. Mr. Hooper

C. Ahab

D. Pearl

C. transcendentalism

D. veritism

9. Jack London was at his height of his powers when he wrote , which is deeply influenced by Darwinism.

A. The Sea Wolf

B. To Build a Fire

C. The Call of the Wild

D. Martin Eden

10. The Cop and the Anthem is written by .

A. O. Henry

B. Henry James

C. Jack London

D. Mark Twain

11. “Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.” is a line in the poem The River-Merchant’s Wife:

A Letter written by .

A. T. S. Eliot

B.Robert Frost

C.Ezra Pound

D. Carl Sandburg

12. The imagist poets followed three principles, they are , direct treatment and economy of

expression.

A. blank verse

B. rhythm

C. free verse

D. common speech

13. Of the following American writers, who has NOT been an expatriate in Paris?

A. Ernest Hemingway

B. Ezra Pound

C. F. S. Fitzgerald

D. Emily Dickinson

14. Who was the foremost novelist of the American Depression of the 1930s?

A. Ernest Hemingway

B. Ezra Pound

C. John Steinbeck

D. F. S. Fitzgerald

15. The first writings that we call American were the narratives and of the early settlements.

A. journals

B. poetry

C. drama

D. folklores

16. An American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828 by .

A. Samuel Johnson

B. Noah Webster

C. Daniel Webster

D. Daniel Defoe

17. Walden is written by .

A. Emerson

B. Thoreau

C. Poe

D. Hawthorne

18. is famous for psychological realism.

A. Mark Twain

B. William Dean Howells

C. Henry James

D. Walt Whitman

19. Which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism?

A. Nature

B. Walden

C. On Beauty

D. Self-Reliance

20. Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?

A.The American Scholar

B. English Traits

C. The Conduct of Life

D. Nature

21. Santiago is the character in Hemingway’s novel.

A. In Our Time

B. The Old Man and the Sea

C. For Whom the Bell Tolls

D. The Sun Also Rises

22. Which of the following is a much harsher realism?

A. local colorism

B. naturalism

C. romanticism

D. imagism

23. Who is the arbiter of 19th century literary realism in America?

A. Mark Twain

B. Bret Harte

C. William Dean Howells

D. Henry James

24. F. S. Fitzgerald is NOT the author of .

A. The Great Gatsby

B. Tender is the Night

C. A Farewell to the Arms

D. This Side of Paradise

25. The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such American writers

as .

A. Mark Twain

B. F. S. Fitzgerald

C. Walt Whitman

D. Stephen Crane

26. Charles Drouet is a character in the novel of______.

A. The American

B. The Portrait of a Lady

C.Sister Carrie

D. The Gift of the Magi

27. American literature produced only one female poet during the 19th century. She was .

A. Anne Bradstreet

B. Jane Austen

C. Emily Dickinson

D. Harriet Beecher

28. read his poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.

A. Robert Frost

B. T. S. Eliot

C. Carl Sandburg

D. Ezra Pound

29. With Howells, James and Mark Twain active on the scene, became the major trend in the 70s

and 80s of the 19th century.

A. sentimentalism

B. romanticism

C. realism

D. naturalism

30. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough”. This is the shortest

poem written by .

A. T. S. Eliot

B. Robert Frost

C.Ezra Pound

D. Wallace Stevens

III. Comment on the following poems. Put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 10 points for each)

1.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by: Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

1. I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died—

by: Emily Dickinson

I heard a Fly buzz — when I died —

The Stillness in the Room

Was like the Stillness in the Air —

Between the Heaves of Storm —

The Eyes around — had wrung them dry —

And Breaths were gathering firm

For that last Onset — when the King

Be witnessed — in the Room —

I willed my Keepsakes — Signed away

What portion of me be

Assignable — and then it was

There interposed a Fly —

With Blue — uncertain stumbling Buzz —

Between the light — and me —

And then the Windows failed — and then

I could not see to see —

IV. Give brief answers to the following and write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 15 points for each)

1. Being a period of the great flowering of American literature, the Romantic Period is called “the American Renaissance”. Briefly discuss what the features of American literature in this period are.

2. How does Sister Carrie embody Dreiser’

2008-2009学年度第二期《美国文学史及作品选读》

(2006级本科)期末考试A卷

参考答案

命题人:王琪、丁华良、祝小丁

I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases and

put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 1 point for each)

1. 1607

2. John Smith

3. Puritan

4. Reason

5. The Autobiography

6. Common Sense

7. The Declaration of Independence

8. Philip Freneau 9. Sketch Book 10. Transcendentalism

11. Nature 12. The Scarlet Letter 13. international theme 14. The civil war

15. free verse 16. Emily Dickinson 17. Mark Twain

18. Sister Carrie 19. Ezra Pound 20. Ernest Hemingway

II. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers or completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case and put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 1 point for each)

1 --- 5: A C A B D 6 --- 10: C D B C A

11 ---15:C B D C A 16 --- 20: B B C A A

21 ---25: B B C C D 26 --- 30: C C A C C

III. Comment on the following poems. Put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 10 points for each)

1. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was Frost's favorite of his own poems and Frost in a letter to Louis Untermeyer called it "my best bid for remembrance."

This poem illustrates many of the qualities most characteristic of Frost, including the attention to natural detail, the relationship between humans and nature, and the strong theme suggested by individual lines. The speaker in the poem, a traveler by horse on the darkest night of the year, stops to watch a woods filling up with snow. He thinks the owner of the woods is someone who lives in the village and will not see him stopping there. While he is attracted by the beauty of the woods and nature, he is reminded by his little horse and realizes that he has obligations which pull him away from the lure of nature. The speaker describes the beauty and temptation of the woods as “lovely, dark and deep,” but reminds himself that he must not remain there, because he has “promises to keep,” and a long journey ahead of him. He has to complete his obligations and then make his aspirations to be realized. Through the symbolic woods and horse, we also get to know that the speaker has strong self-awareness and self-discipline.

In another way, the poem can be analyzed from the perspective of aspiration and realization. Aspiration is something to be worked at. We enjoy the fruit of our realization only when we reach our destination. But from the spiritual point of view, we notice something else that is the transformation of aspiration and realization. Today's aspiration transforms itself into tomorrow's realization. Again, tomorrow's realization is the pathfinder of a higher and deeper goal. There is no end to our realization, and there is no end of our aspiration as long as you are alive. Our journey is eternal, and the road that we are taking on is also eternal. All aspirations become realization till the end of one’s life.

The poem is written in iambic tetrameter in the Rubaiyat stanza created by Edward Fitzgerald. Each verse (save the last) follows an a-a-b-a rhyming scheme, with the following verse's a's rhyming with that verse's b, which is a chain rhyme. Overall, the rhyme scheme is AABA-BBCB-CCDC-DDDD.

2. The poetess is watching her own death and recording the process. Instead of seeing God and hearing the songs of angels yearned for by Puritans upon death she heard a fly buzz, which is really ironic. Fly: sets off the stillness in the room;

blocks off the light (from heaven);

suggests a coming decadence

→ the speaker loses the opportunity of gaining immortality after death

The fly plays an important role in the speaker’s experience of death. The poem is, in part, about “the conflict between preconception and perception.” The person on his or her deathbed shifts perspective from “the ritual of dying” to “the fact of death.” The fly, by interrupting the dying speaker with its “Blue —uncertain stumbling Buzz —” obliterates his or her false notions of death. The sound of the fly represents “the last conscious link with reality.” The poem lacks any hint of a life after death.

IV. Give brief answers to the following and write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 15 points for each)

1.

(1) The whole nation had a strong sense of optimism and the mood of “feeling good”, giving birth to

the spectacular outburst of romantic feeling.

(2) The English counterpart exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the young nation.

(3) Taking foreign influence in consideration, the great works of American writers still carried

typically American romantic color.

(4) The young nation had brought forth its own philosophy. Transcendentalism stresses man’s

capacity of knowing truth intuitively, and of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses.

2.

(1) In this novel, Dreiser expressed his naturalistic pursuit by expounding the purposelessness of life

and attacking the conventional moral standards.

(2) The novel best embodies his naturalistic belief that while men are controlled by heredity, instinct

and chance, a few extraordinary and unsophisticated human beings refuse to accept their fate wordlessly and instead strive, unsuccessfully, to find meaning and purpose for their existence.

(3) To Sister Carrie, the world is cold and harsh. Alone, helpless, she moves along like a mechanism

driven by desire and catches blindly at any opportunities for a better existence, opportunities first offered by Drouet, and then by Hurstwood. A feather in the wind, she was totally at the mercy of forces she cannot comprehend, still less to say control. The famous picture of Carrie sitting in a rocking chair in her room in the evening, rocking back and forth, is a picture of Carrie’s drifting with the tide. She has no control, no freedom of will.

美国文学(本科)试题6

I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases: (20%, 1 point for each)

1. In 1817, the stately poem called “Thanatopsis” introduced the best poet, ______, to appear in America up to that time.

2. James Fennimore Cooper launched two kinds of immensely popular stories: the sea adventure and

______.

3. Ralph Emerson was recognized throughout his life as the leader of ______ movement, yet he

never applied the term to himself or to his beliefs and ideas.

4. Herman Melville’s novel ______ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of a

seemingly supernatural white whale.

5. In the early 19th century, Washington Irving wrote ______ which became the first work by an

American writer to win financial success on both sides of the Atlantic.

6. In 1845, Henry David Thoreau began a two-year residence at ______ Pond.

7. After his death, ______ became the only American to be honored with a bust in the Poet’s Corner

of Westminster Abbey.

8. The American Romantic period stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outburst of

the ______.

9. The arbiter of 19th century literary realism in America was ______.

10. The poetic style Walt Whitman devised is now called ______, which is poetry without a fixed beat

or regular rhyme scheme.

11. ______ is considered the founder of psychological realism. He believed that reality lies in the

impressions made by life on the spectator.

12. ______ is the novel into which Jack London put most of himself.

13. O. Henry’s ______ is a very moving story of a young couple who sell their best possessions in

order to get money for a Christmas present for each other.

14. ______ was the leader of a new movement in poetry which he called the “Imagist” movement.

15. In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald completed his best novel ______. It is the story of an idealist who was

destroyed by the influence of the wealthy, pleasure-seeking people around him.

16. Ernest Hemingway’s stature as a writer was confir med with the publication of his novel ______ in

1929. The novel portrayed a farewell both to war and to love.

17. ______ was the foremost novelist of the American Depression of the 1930s.

18. William Faulkner considered __________ to be “the first truly American writer”.

19. As a genre, naturalism emphasized heredity and ______ as important deterministic forces shaping

individualized characters that were presented in special and detailed circumstances.

20. A series of sixteen pamphlets by Thomas Paine was entitled ______.

II. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers or completions.

Choose the one that is the best in each case: (30%, 1 point for each)

1. Moby Dick was dedicated to ____.

美国文学史及选读自考考点

The literature of colonial America John Smith 1)The1st American writer 2)作品“reports of exploration”have been de scribed as the1st distinctly American literatur e written in English,attracted Pilgrims(朝圣者) &the Puritans. 3)1608,写了封信“A true Relation of Such O ccurance&Accidents of Note as Hath Happen ed in Virginia Since the1st planting of That c olony” 4)1612,第二本书“A map of Virginia:with a Description of the Country” 5)他一共出版了八本书,公司破产以后做了向导,he sought a post as guide to the pilgrims. 1624,“General History of Virginia”讲述How the Indian princess Pocahonats Saved him. 6)他早期记录和反映的思想慢慢演变成了美国历史的基本思想,这种思想推动了美国边疆的西移。7)早期英格兰文学主要关于theological(神学), moral(道德),historical and political.

The Puritans in New England embraced hards hips,together with the discipline of a harsh church.They had toughness,purpose and cha racter,they grappled strongly with challenges they set themselves.他们的基本价值观:hard w ork,thrift,piety and sobriety.(也是美国作品的主导思想) William Bradford&John Withrop 1)William Bradford:“The History of Plymouth Plantation”(从1630年写起,关于一群清教徒从英国出发到Amsterdam最后到新大陆的过程)Cotton Mather评价:“a common blessing and father to them all.” 2)John Withrop:“The History of New England”(1630,登上Arbella号去Massachusetts并keep a journal and to the rest of his life.1826年出版)3)Puritans -Puritans wanted to make pure their religious beliefs and practices.The Puritan was Would-be purifier. -Looked upon themselves as a choosen peol

美国文学史总结

ⅠColonial America(17th century)殖民主义时期文学 1.In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America and he mistook the native people on the new continent for Indians. Character of colonial literature: a.content: religious, political b.form: diary, journal, letters, travel books, sermons, history (personal literature) c.Style: simple. direct, concise d.out of humble origins Early in the 17th century, the English settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history. The earliest settlers in America included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese. The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607(北美弗吉尼亚詹姆斯顿) 2.Captain Town Smith, the first American writer 3.Puritan Thoughts: hard work, thrift(节俭), piety(虔诚), sobriety(节制), 这些也成了早期 美国作品主导思想. 典型的清教徒:John Cotton & Roger William, John Cotton was called “the Patriarch of New England(新英格兰教父)” 清教徒采用的文学体裁:narratives(日记) and journals(游记) 清教徒在美国的写作内容: 1)Their voyage to the new land 2)Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops 3)About dealing with Indians 4)Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit 4.Private literature: theological, moral, historical, political 5.The work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor, rose to the level of real poetry. Anne Bradstreet is one of the most interesting of the early poets, 英国最早移民到美国的诗人. The best of the Puritan poets was Edward Taylor. ⅡReason and Revolution(18th century)理性和革命时期文学 1.The War for Independence (1776-1783) ended in the formation of a Federative bourgeois democratic republic - the United States of America. 2.Bourgeois Enlightenment 3.Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard’s Almanac(穷人理查德的年鉴), an annual collection of proverbs. The Autobiography, 18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传 ?The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is Puritan because it is a record of self-examination and self-improvement. The Puritans, as a type, were very much given to self-analysis. ?The Autobiography shows Franklin was spokesman for the new order of 18th-century Enlightenment, and that he represented in America all its ideas, that man is basically good and free, by nature endowed by God with certain inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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 puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chi efly 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 III. 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. (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 Romanticism Section 1 Early Romantic Period I. American Romanticism 1. Background (1) Political background and economic development (2) Romantic movement in European countries Derivative – foreign influence 2. 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 Am erican 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 Literature 1. 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 literature 2. life 3. 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 Alhambra 4. Literary career: two parts (1) 1809~1832

美国文学史-知识点梳理

Part I The Literature of Colonial America I.Historical Introduction The colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607. ( A group of people was sent by the English King James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607. They named the James River and build the James town.) II.The pre-revolutionary writing in the colonies was essentially of two kinds: 1) Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc. designed to inform people "at home" what life was like in the new world, and, often, to induce their immigration 2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions. III.The First American Writer The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, their lives in the new land, their dealings with Indians. Captain John Smith is the first American writer. A True Relation of such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608) A Map of Virginia: A Description of the Country (1612) General History of Virgini a (1624): the Indian princess Pocahontas Captain John Smith was one of the first early 17th-century British settlers in North America. He was one of the founders of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. His writings about North America became the source of information about the New World for later settlers. One of the things he wrote about that has become an American legend was his capture by the Indians and his rescue by the famous Indian Princess, Pocahontas. IV.Early New England Literature William Bradford and John Winthrop John Cotton and Roger Williams Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor V.Puritan Thoughts 1. The origin of puritan In the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th Century, the English King Henry VIII (At that time, the Catholics were not allowed to divorce unless they have the Pope's permission. Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife because she couldn't bear him a son. But the Pope didn't allow him to divorce, so he) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church of

美国文学史及选读复习重点

Captain John Smith (first American writer). Anne Bradstreet;The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (colonists living) Edward Taylor(the best puritan poet) John Cotton ”the Patriarch of New England” teacher spiritual leader Benjamin Franklin The Autobiography Poor Richard’s Almanack Thomas Jefferson: Political Career Thoughts The Declaration of Independence we hold truth to be self-evidence Philip Freneau“Father of American Poetry” The Wild Honey Suckle American Romanticism optimism and hope Nationalism Washington Irving“Father of American Literature short story”The first “Pure Writer” A History of New York The Sketch Book marked the beginning of American Romanticism! “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”Rip Van Winkle James Fenimore Cooper Father of American sea and frontier novels Leather stocking Tales The Last of the Mohicans The Pioneers The Prairie The Pathfinder The Deerslayer Edgar Allan Poe father of detective story and horror fiction Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque “MS. Found in a Bottle” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” “The Fall of the House of Usher”“The Masque of the Red Death”“The

美国文学史及选读考试整理

Washington Irving Bracebridge Hall 布雷斯布里奇田庄 (1822) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Tales of a Traveller 旅客谈 (1824) Christopher Columbus (1828) c. writing characteristics (1) humorous: the function of his writing is to amuse, to entertain instead of teaching or instruction (2) vivid and true character portrayal (3) finished (refined) and musical language, thus regarded as “the Amn. Goldsmith ” d. analysis on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(选自the sketch book 见闻札记 ) 1. the story:setting,character, plot 2. theme:conflicts and praise conflict betw. Ichabod and Brom conflict betw. the village and the outside world James Fenimore Cooper The Spy (1821): a historical novel The Pilot (1824): a sea novel Leatherstocking Tales 皮裹腿故事集(1823-1841): frontier novels The Last Mohicans (1826) (Colonial War betw. Britain and France) e. writing features: strong points: we can see a variety of incidents and tensions, complicated plot and structure and a beautiful description of nature. Weak points: characterization is weak. There is unsatisfactory description of characters (esp. female). He is not free from syntactical awkwardness, heavy-handed attempt at humor. “Where Irving excels Cooper is weak.” Dialect is not authentic. Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House Usher Feature: i. brevity (15 pages) ii. Single effect iii. originality in theme To Helen It was inspired by the beauty of the mother of a schoolmate of Poe in Richmond, Virginia. The poem is famous for a number of things: 1. its rhyme scheme: ababb 2. its varied line lengths 3. its metaphor of a travel on the sea 4. its oft-quoted lines: "To the glory that was Greece,/And the grandeur that was Rome." theme: praise the ideal love and beauty and ancient Greek and Roman civilizations The Raven 乌鸦 theme: the lament over the death of a beautiful woman tone: melancholy Transcendentalism (essayists, poets, novelists) Their journal is “The Dial ” . Definition: Transcendentalism is idealism. (Emerson) b. features (1) stress on Oversoul, that is spirit. (2) stress the importance of individual. (3) fresh conception of nature. c. significance (1) inspired a whole generation of writers such as Whitman, Melville and Dickinson. (2) dresses man ’s subjective initiative as opposed to materialism. (3) liberated people from Calvin ’s original sin d. limitation (1) shallow: cut off from real life or reality; initiated by the rich, they were limited in a certain circle. So, in some degree, they have been cut off from social life and can ’t understand the sufferings of the common people. (2) inward contradiction: gain knowledge by intuition, shows its idealistic aspect. R.W. Emerson (Ralph Waldo) Nature (1836): the Bible of New England transcendentalism The American Scholar (1837): "America's Declaration of Intellectual The Divinity School Address 神学院致辞 (1838) Essays (1841/1847) Representative Men (1850) English Traits (1856)

美国文学选读期末考试重点

1、The Colonial Period(1607-1765) American Puritanism ( in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th) 北美第一位女诗人Anne Bradstreet(宗教气息,夫妻恩爱) Edward Taylor 都受英国玄学派影响(metaphysical) 2、The Enlightenment and Revolution Period Benjamin Franklin:Poor Richard's Almanac The Autobiography---“美国梦”的根源 3、American Romanticism(end of 18th to the civil war) American writers emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature. 早期浪漫主义Washington Irving father of American Literature 短篇小说 James Fenimore Cooper 历史,冒险,边疆小说《The Leather-stocking Tales>文明发展对大 自然的摧残与破坏 William Cullen Bryant 美国第一个浪漫主义诗人《To a Waterfowl>美国 山水,讴歌大自然,歌颂美国生活现实 Edgar Allan Poe ---(48 poems,70 short stories) He greatly influenced the devotees of “Art for art’s sake.” He was father of psychoanalytic criticism , and the detective story. Ralph Waldo Emerson---The chief spokesman of New England Transcendentalism American Transcendentalism (also known as “American Renaissance”) It is the high tide of American romanticism Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society. 《Nature》---the Bible of Transcendentalism by Emerson 《Self-Reliance》表达他的超验主义观点Henry David Thoreau------ Walden he regarded nature as a symbol of spirit.Thoreau was very critical of modern civilization. 小说家:Hawthorne-赞成超验He is a master of symbolism The Scarlet Letter《红字》 Melville 怀疑,悲观,sailing experiences Moby Dick百科全书式性质/海洋作品/动物史诗 诗人Longfellow《I Shot an Arrow...》《A Psalm of Life》第一首被完整地介绍到中国的美国诗歌Whitman (Free Verse---without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme ) 《Leaves of Grass》《One's Self I Sing》《O Captain! My Captain!》song Dickinson inner life of the individual ---died for beauty 4、The Age of Realism James upper reaches of American society. <一位女士的肖像》inner world of man Howells, concerned himself chiefly with middle class life. Twain the lower strata of society. humor and local colorism American Naturalism 自然主义(新型现实) Stephen Crane;《Maggie: A Girl of the Streets》《The Red Badge of Courage》pessimistic Theodore Dreiser;Sister Carrie;Jennie Gerhardt;An American Tragedy(Trilogy of Desire) O.Henry (William Sydney Porter):The Gift of the Magi;The Cop and the anthem Jack London:The Call of the Wild;Martin Eden 5、The Modern Period The 1920s-1930s ( the second renaissance of American literature) The Roaring Twenties ,The Jazz Age ,“lost”(Gertrude Stein) and “waste land”(T.S.Eliot) 现代主义小说家 F. Scott Fitzgerald:《The Great Gatsby》被视为美国文学“爵士时代”的象征,以美国梦American Dream 为主线。

美国文学史期末总结

美国文学史美国文学

全书的焦点集中于南太平洋一条名叫莫比·迪克的白鲸,以及捕鲸船皮廓德(Pequod)号的船长阿哈(Ahab)如何对它有不共戴天的仇恨.阿哈在一次航行中被莫比·迪克咬掉一条腿,立志报仇,指挥皮廓德号环航全球追踪,终于发现了它.经过三天放下小艇紧追.虽然刺中了这条白鲸,但它十分顽强狡猾,咬碎了小艇,也撞沉了大船.它拖着捕鲸船游开时,绳子套住阿哈,把他绞死了.全船人尽皆灭顶.只有一个水手借着由棺材改制的救生浮子而逃得性命.整个故事以这个水手伊希梅尔(Ishmael)自述的方式展开. The book focuses on a whale named Moby Dick lived in south pacific and the captain of whaler Pequod—Ahab. Ahab was once bite by Moby Dick and lost a leg, determined to revenge,he commanded whaler pequod do global tracking, and finally found it. After three days of hot pursuit with the skiff,while they stabbed this white whale, but it was very tenacious and cunning, eventually chewed the skiff, also sank the ship. It dragged whaler swimming away, the rope was around Ahab, he was hanged. Almost all of people on the boat drowned, only a sailor called Ishmael survived .

美国文学史及选读考研复习笔记6.

History And Anthology of American Literature (6) 附:作者及作品 一、殖民主义时期The Literature of Colonial America 1.船长约翰·史密斯Captain John Smith 《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》 “A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony” 《弗吉尼亚地图,附:一个乡村的描述》 “A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country” 《弗吉尼亚通史》“General History of Virginia” 2.威廉·布拉德福德William Bradford 《普利茅斯开发历史》“The History of Plymouth Plantation”3.约翰·温思罗普John Winthrop 《新英格兰历史》“The History of New England” 4.罗杰·威廉姆斯Roger Williams 《开启美国语言的钥匙》”A Key into the Language of America” 或叫《美洲新英格兰部分土著居民语言指南》 Or “A Help to the Language of the Natives in That Part of America Called New England ” 5.安妮·布莱德斯特Anne Bradstreet 《在美洲诞生的第十个谬斯》 ”The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America” 二、理性和革命时期文学The Literature of Reason and Revolution 1。本杰明·富兰克林Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) ※《自传》“ The Autobiography ” 《穷人理查德的年鉴》“Poor Richard’s Almanac” 2。托马斯·佩因Thomas Paine (1737-1809) ※《美国危机》“The American Crisis” 《收税官的案子》“The Case of the Officers of the Excise”《常识》“Common Sense” 《人权》“Rights of Man” 《理性的时代》“The Age of Reason” 《土地公平》“Agrarian Justice” 3。托马斯·杰弗逊Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) ※《独立宣言》“The Declaration of I ndependence” 4。菲利浦·弗瑞诺Philip Freneau (1752-1832) ※《野忍冬花》“The Wild Honey Suckle” ※《印第安人的坟地》“The Indian Burying Ground” ※《致凯提·迪德》“To a Caty-Did” 《想象的力量》“The Power of Fancy” 《夜屋》“The House of Night” 《英国囚船》“The British Prison Ship” 《战争后期弗瑞诺主要诗歌集》 “The Poems of Philip Freneau Written Chiefly During the Late War” 《札记》“Miscellaneous Works” 三、浪漫主义文学The Literature of Romanticism 1。华盛顿·欧文Washington Irving (1783-1859) ※《作者自叙》“The Author’s Account of Himself” ※《睡谷传奇》“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” 《见闻札记》“Sketch Book” 《乔纳森·欧尔德斯泰尔》“Jonathan Oldstyle” 《纽约外史》“A History of New York” 《布雷斯布里奇庄园》“Bracebridge Hall” 《旅行者故事》“Tales of Traveller” 《查理二世》或《快乐君主》“Charles the Second” Or “The Merry Monarch” 《克里斯托弗·哥伦布生平及航海历史》 “A History of the Life and V oyages of Christopher Columbus” 《格拉纳达征服编年史》”A Chronicle of the Conquest of Grandada” 《哥伦布同伴航海及发现》 ”V oyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus” 《阿尔罕布拉》“Alhambra” 《西班牙征服传说》“Legends of the Conquest of Spain” 《草原游记》“A Tour on the Prairies” 《阿斯托里亚》“Astoria” 《博纳维尔船长历险记》“The Adventures of Captain Bonneville” 《奥立弗·戈尔德史密斯》”Life of Oliver Goldsmith” 《乔治·华盛顿传》“Life of George Washington” 2.詹姆斯·芬尼莫·库珀James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) ※《最后的莫希干人》“The Last of the Mohicans” 《间谍》“The Spy” 《领航者》“The Pilot” 《美国海军》“U.S. Navy” 《皮袜子故事集》“Leather Stocking Tales” 包括《杀鹿者》、《探路人》”The Deerslayer”, ”The Pathfinder” 《最后的莫希干人》“The Last of the Mohicans” 《拓荒者》、《大草原》“The Pioneers”, “The Praire” 3。威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) ※《死之思考》“Thanatopsis” ※《致水鸟》“To a Waterfowl” 4。埃德加·阿伦·坡Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) ※《给海伦》“To Helen” ※《乌鸦》“The Raven” ※《安娜贝尔·李》“Annabel Lee” ※《鄂榭府崩溃记》“The Fall of the House of Usher” 《金瓶子城的方德先生》“Ms. Found in a Bottle” 《述异集》“Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque” 5。拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) ※《论自然》“Nature” ※《论自助》“Self-Reliance” 《美国学者》“The American Scholar” 《神学院致辞》“The Divinity School Address” 《随笔集》“Essays” 《代表》“Representative Men” 《英国人》“English Traits” 《诗集》“Poems” 6。亨利·戴维·梭罗Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) ※《沃尔登我生活的地方我为何生活》 1

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