Colonial Period(1765-18世紀末）
★ Puritanism:
Puritanism is the practice and religious belief of puritans in America.
Puritan ideas: piety, humility, honesty, diligence, sobriety(節製)，and son on.
The features of Puritanism: Predestination(宿命論)、Original sin(原罪)、Total depravity(徹底墮落)、Limited atonement(有限救贖)
Puritanism has a great influence on American thoughts and literature-----Root of American spirit: piety, hard work, and son on\/Source of American Dream: to achieve freedom, prosperity and success through honesty and hard work.
★American Dream:
American dream means the belief that everyone can succeed as long as he works hard enough. It usually implies a successful and satisfying life. It usually framed in terms of American capitalism, its associated purported meritocracy, and the freedom guaranteed by the United States Bill of Rights.
★Benjamin Franklin
He was an American writer, printer, inventor and a successful self-made man.
Major works: The Autobiography《自傳》、Poor Richard’s Almanac《格言曆書》
Writing style: Humorous, plain and pragmatic
Questions:
1.The reason why Franklin wrote the Autobiography?
It is written for his son and posterity in order to inspire them to work hard.
It is to render this remembrance more durable.
It is to gratify his vanity.
It is to thank God for his vanity.
2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed?
His brother was passionate and had often beaten him.
His brother forced him to sign unfair indentures.
His brother prevented his getting employment in any other printing house.
The Romantic Period(1800-1865)
★Romanticism：
It refers to the literature in the Romantic period , which intends from the end of 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It characterized by a rejection of formal classical literature. It emphasizes on sentiment over reason and views art as an expression of the artist’s thoughts and feelings.
★ Transcendentalism:
The publication of Nature marked the beginning of New England Transcendentalism, the summit of American Romanticism. Nature was regarded as the “Bible” of the transcendentalism.
The doctrines of transcendentalism:
The most important thing in the universe is spirit, or the oversoul.
The transcendentalists stress the importance of the individual.
Nature as symbolic of God. Nature is the garment of the oversoul.
Representatives: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau
★Abolitionism 廢奴主義----Abolition literature廢奴文學
It refers to a literary genre that emerged in the United States in the 1850s. It focuses on opposing the slavery in the Southern America and representing the tragic lives of black people.
Representatives: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau attack the slavery, and support the abolitionist movement.
★Edgar Allan Poe
He was an American author, poet, and literary critic.
He is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre.
Major works: The Cask of Amontillado《阿芒提拉多的酒桶》---theme:revenge、The Raven 《烏鴉》、Murders in the Rue Morgue《莫格街謀殺案》、To Helen《致海倫》、Sonnet－To Science《致科學》
Writing style: Poe’s works always involve death, murder and honor. He always uses symbolism and irony in his works.
Symbolism:
The flambeaux gradually became feeble and finally burned out.-----It indicates that Fortunato’s life is weakening and finally dead.
A jingling of the bells-------It represents the life of Fortunato. If there is no sound of the bells, it means Fortunato is dead.
Monstresor ------ Monster. It indicates that Montresor is a murder.
Fortunato ------Fortunate. It means Fortunato would never be fortunate, because he would die.
De Grave------ Grave. It refers to the vault is the grave of Fortunato.
Nemo me impune lacessit -------It means whoever insult me, I will take revenge on him, which indicates that Monstresor is devoted to taking revenge on Fortunato.
Irony:
“I encountered my friend”------Absolutely, Monstresor didn’t treat Fortunato as his friend burt his foe.
“I have my doubts”------Monstresor pretended to be humble and flatter Fortunato in order to induce him to follow him into the vaults.
“ We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible”------The damp vaults caused Fortunato cough, Monstresor pretended to care about him, in fact, he wanted to stimulate Fortunato to descend the vaults.
Questions:
What is the pretext Monstresor uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar?
Fortunato has a weak point that he regards himself as an expert in wine. Monstresor takes advantage of this weak point. He says he has a pipe of Amontillado in order to attract Fortunat’s interest, tries to flatter him, and repeats the name of “Luchersi” to stimulate Fortunato’s vanity. Finally, Fortunato falls into Monstresor’s trap----follow him to descend the vaults(death).
★ Gothic novel:
It is an important genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance.
The novel always describes accounts of terrifying experience in ancient castles, graveyards, ghosts, and son on.
Representative: Edgar Allan Poe
★Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher and the the leader of the transcendentalist movement.
Major works: Self-Reliance《論自立》---individualism、The American Scholar《美國學者》、Nature《論自然》、The Divinity School Address《神學院致辭》、The Dial《日晷》