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 case, 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 second edition some faults of the first.
3.Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these 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 unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
5.Washington Irving Rip Van Winkle ( The Sketch Book )
“ Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, 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 setting 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 because he has such bad-tempered wife. It seems 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 Thoreau
Nature & Self-Reliance Walden
Nature : Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into
infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see
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 servant, 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 seen a poet withdraw , having enjoyed the most valuable part of a
farm, while the crusty farmers supposed 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 propose 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 seasoning. ” such was
not my abode, for I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds, not by having imprisoned one, but having caged myself 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?
Purpose : 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
Hester Prynne--1.confesses 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 ’tintend to tell a love story
2 assumes the universalityof guilty
3 explores the complexities and ambiguities of man ’s choices
4 focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects of
the sin on the people.
A Paslm of Life / The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls / I shot an Arrow / My Lost
Youth / The Rainy Day
The tide rises,The Tide Falls (1879)
The tide rises, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown, The traveler hastens toward the town, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Longfellow 8.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,But the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft white hands,Efface the footprints in the sands, And the tide rises, 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 rises, the tide falls. My Lost Youth
Often I think of the beautiful town That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town, And my youth comes back to me. And a verse of a Lapland song Is haunting my memory still 'A boy's will is the wind's will,
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