文档介绍：Brief Introduction to American Literature
Teaching Purposes
To enlarge your basic knowledge about British and American literature;
To understand some literary quotations behind English language;
To help you prepare TEM-8 exam and Entrance Exam for Post-graduate;
To help plete your degree thesis
1. main themes
record of a quest / seeking
the continuous narrative of the pursuit of ess and happiness
the lost continent
of Atlantis
the golden “cities
of Cibola”
Northwest Passage
to the Orient
dreams of
ess
religious freedom
westward movement
for happiness
2. principal forms of American literature
novel
short story
poem
drama
principal forms
3. Three Main Ages
the Age of Romanticism
the Age of Realism
Modern American Literature
the Age of Romanticism
American literature between the War of Independence and the Civil War
Pre-Romanticism (1770s —— 1830s)
Post-Romanticism (1830s —— 1875)
flowering time before American Civil War (1830 —— 1860)
declining time after American Civil War (1860 —— 1875)
Jefferson purchased Louisiana in 1803
many European immigrants began arriving in the US in the 1840s
The US bought the land between Texas & California by the end of 1840s
Farmers, ranchers(大牧场主), and gold miners continued to pour into Western US in the 1860s.
Westward Expansion in the 18th and 19th Century of the USA
westward movement
Pre-Romanticism (1770s —— 1830s)
Washington Irving 华盛顿·欧文( 1783 — 1859)
the “father of the American Literature”
History of New York《纽约外史》
The Alhambra《阿尔罕伯拉》
Tour on Prairies《草原漫游记》
Rip Van Winkle《》
The Sketch Book《见闻札记》(1819 — 1820)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow《睡谷的传说》
short stories
a collection of essays
James Fenimore Cooper (1789 —— 1851)
Pre-Romanticism (1770s —— 1830s)
The Pioneers《拓荒者》(1823)
The Last of the Mohicans《最后的莫西干人》(1826)
The Prairie《大草原》(1827)
The Pathfinder 《探路人》(1840)
The Deerslaver《杀鹿者》(1841)
the first American novelist who used the national theme, depicting the American