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 Virginia <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 England. But there was no radical difference between the doctrines of the Church of England and the Catholic Church. A group of people thought the Church of England was too Catholic and wanted to purify the church. Then came the name Puritans. 2. Puritanism -- based on Calvinism <1> predestination: God's elect Puritans believed they are predestined before they were born. 1 / 60 . Nothing or no good work can change their fate. They believed the success of one's business is the sign to show he is the God's elect. So the Puritans works very hard, spend very little and invest more for the future business. They lived a very frugal life. This is their ethics. <2> Origianl sin and total depravity Man is born sinful. This determines some puritans pessimistic attitude towards life. <3> Limited atonement They combined state with religion. Their government is at least not a liberal one. The Puritans established American tradition -- intolerant moralism. They strictly punished drunks, adultery & heretics. Puritans changed gradually due to the severity of frontier environment 3. Influence on American Literature <1> Its optimism American literature was from the outset conditioned by the Puritan heritage. It can be said American literature is based on the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden. After that, man have an illusion to restore the paradise. The puritans, after arriving at America, believing that God must have sent them to this new land to restore the lost paradise, to build the wilderness into a new Garden of Eden. Fired with such a strong sense of mission, they treated life with a tremendous amount of optimism. The optimistic Puritan has exerted a great influence on American literature. <2> Puritan's metaphorical mode of perception changed gradually into a literary symbolism. Part II The Literature of Reason And Revolution I．Historical Introduction With the growth, especially of industry, there appeared the intense strain with England. The British government did not want colonial industries competing with those in England. The British wanted the colonies to remain politically and economically dependent on the mother country. They took a series of measures to insure this dependence. They prevented colonial economy by requiring Americans to ship raw materials abroad and to import finished goods at prices higher than the cost of making them in this country. Politically, the British government forced dependence by ruling the colonies from overseas and by taxing the colonies without giving them representation in Parliament. However, by the mid-eighteenth century, freedom was won as much by the fiery rhetoric of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the eloquence of the Declaration of Independence as by the weapons of Washington. In the seventies of the 18th century, the English colonies in North America rose in arms against their mother country. The War for Independence lasted for 8 years <1776-1783> and ended in the formation of a federative bourgeois democratic republic -- the United States of America. II．American Enlightenment It was supported by all progressive forces of the country which opposed themselves to the old colonial order and religious obscurantism. 2 / 60 . It dealt a decisive blow upon the puritan traditions and brought to life secular education and literature. The spiritual life during that period was to a great degree moulded by it. The representatives set themselves the task of disseminating knowledge among the people and advocating revolutionary ideas. The writers injected an invigorating vein into the English language in America as they aimed at clarity and precision of their writings. At the initial period the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment was largely due to journalism. Writings of Europe were widely read in America. The secular ideals of the American Enlightenment were exemplified in the life and career of Benjamin Franklin. III．Benjamin Franklin <1706-1790> The Autobiography Poor Richard’s Almanac Life Benjamin Franklin came from a Calvinist background. He was born into a poor candle-maker’s family. He had very little education. He learned in school only for two years, but he was a voracious reader. At 12, he was apprenticed to his elder half-brother, a printer. At 16, he began to publish essays under the pseudonym \"Silence Do good〞 . At 17, he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune. He set himself up as an independent printer and publisher. In 1727 he founded the Junto club. Multiple identities: a printer a leading author a politician a scientist a inventor a diplomat a civic activist Franklin’s Contributions to Society He helped found the PennsylvaniaHospital. He founded an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania. And he helped found the American Philosophical Society. Franklin’s Contributions to Science He was also remembered for volunteer fire departments, effective street lighting, the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses and efficient heating devices. And for his lightning-rod, he was called \"the new Prometheus who had stolen fire from heaven.〞 Franklin’s Contributions to the U.S. He was the only American to sign the four documents that created the United States: The Declaration of Independence, 3 / 60 . The Treaty of Alliance with France, The Treaty of Peace with England, The Constitution The Autobiography The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was probably the first of its kind in literature. It is the simple yet immensely fascinating record of a man rising to wealth and fame from a state of poverty and obscurity into which he was born, the faithful account of the colorful career of America’s first self-made man. The Autobiography is, first of all, a Puritan document. It is Puritan because it is a record of self-examination and self-improvement. The meticulous chart of 13 virtues he set for himself to cultivate to combat the tempting vices, the stupendous effort he made to improve his own person, the belief that God helps those who helps themselves and that every calling is a service to God – all these indicate that Franklin was intensely Puritan. Then, the book is also a convincing illustration of the Puritan ethic that, in order to get on in the world, one has to be industrious, frugal, and prudent. The Autobiography is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Franklin was spokesman for the new order of eighteenth-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. A look at the style of The Autobiography will readily reveal that it is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness and concision. The plainness of its style, the homeliness of imagery, the simplicity of diction, syntax and expression are some of the salient features we cannot mistake. The lucidity of the narrative, the absence of ornaments in wording and of complex, involved structures in syntax, and the Puritan abhorrence of paradox are all graphically demonstrated in the whole of the book. Taken as a whole, it is safe to say that the book is an exemplary illustration of the American style of writing. IV．Thomas Paine <1737-1809> Common Sense American Crisis V．Thomas Jefferson <1743-1826> The Declaration of Independence VI．Philip Freneau <1752-1832> \"Poet of the American Revolution〞 \"Father of American Poetry〞 \"Pioneer of the New Romanticism〞 \"A gifted and versatile lyric poet〞 Works \"The Wild Honey Suckle〞 \"The Indian Burying Ground〞 \"To a Caty-Did〞 4 / 60 . Freneau as Father of American Poetry: His major themes are death, nature, transition, and the human in nature. All of these themes become important in 19th century writing. Life Experience ►He was born in New York. ►At 16, he entered the College of New Jersey ►Later he attended the War of Independence, and he was captured by British army in 1780. ►After being released, he published \"The British Prison Ship〞 in 1781. ►In the same year, he published \"To the Memory of the Brave Americans〞. ►After war, he supported Jefferson, and contributed greatly to American government. ►But after 50 years old, he lived in poverty. And at last he died in a blizzard. Main Works ►\"The Rising Glory of America〞 <1772> 《美洲光辉的兴起》 ►\"The House of Night〞 <1779,1786> 《夜之屋》 ►\"The British Prison Ship〞 <1781> 《英国囚船》 ►\"To the Memory of the Brave Americans〞 <1781> 《纪念美国勇士》 ►\"〞The Wild Honey Suckle〞 <1786> 《野忍冬花》 ►\"The Indian Burying Ground〞 <1788> 《印第安人墓地》野忍冬花 ►那些难免消逝的美使我销魂, 想起你未来的结局我就心疼, 〔黄杲炘译〕 别的那些花儿也不比你幸运—— ►美好的花呀,你长得：这么秀丽, 却藏身在这僻静沉闷的地方—— 甜美的花儿开了却没人亲昵, 招展的小小枝梢也没人观赏； 没游来荡去的脚来把你踩碎, 没东攀西摘的手来催你落泪. 虽开放在伊甸园中也已凋零, 无情的寒霜再加秋风的威力, 会叫这花朵消失得一无踪迹. ►##和晚露当初曾把你养育, 让你这小小的生命来到世上, 原来若乌有,就没什么可失去, 因为你的死让你同先前一样； 这来去之间不过是一个钟点—— 这就是脆弱的花享有的天年. ►大自然把你打扮得一身洁白, 她叫你避开庸俗粗鄙的目光, 她布置下树荫把你护卫起来, 又让潺潺的柔波淌过你身旁； 你的夏天就这样静静地消逝, 这时候你日见萎蔫终将安息. ►This poem is divided into four stanzas. Each stanza consists of six lines, rhyming \"ababcc〞, and sounds just like music. ►In the first two stanzas, Freneau devoted more attention to the environment of the flower in which he found it than to the appearance of the flower. He conmented on the secluded nature of the place where the honey suckle grew, drawing a conclusion that it was due to nature's protectiveness that the flower was able to lead a peaceful life free from men’s disturbance and destruction. 5 / 60 . ►But the next stanza immediately changed the tone from silent admiration and appreciation to outright lamentation over the \"future’s doom〞 of the flower – even nature was unable to save the flower from its death. ►And then, Freneau said, \"if nothing once, you nothing lose.〞 It is true in people’s existence. There is fate for the life and death. After one’s death, the only thing he can take away is what he brought when he gave birth to this world. Part III The Literature of Romanticism I．Historical Introduction from early 19th century through the outbreak of the Civil War 1. native factors It is a period following American Independence. In this period, democracy and political equality became the ideals of the new nation. America was in an economic boom. There is a tremendous sense of optimism and hope among the people. The spirit of the time is, in some measure, responsible for the outburst of romantic feeling. 2. foreign influence Romanticism emerged in England from 1798 to 1832. It added impetus to the growth of Romanticism in America. In England the general features of the works of the romantics is a dissatisfaction with the bourgeois society. British Romanticism inspired the American imagination. Thus American Romanticism was in a way derivative. II．American Romanticism: American Renaissance Romanticism It exalted the individual, which suited the nation's revolutionary heritage and its frontier egalitarianism. It revolted against traditional art forms, which gratified those cramped by the strict limits of neoclassic literature, painting, and architecture. It rejected rationalism, which gladdened those who were opposed to cool, intellectual religious wrapped with the remnants of Calvinism. Romantic writers placed increasing value on the free expression of emotion and display increasing attention to the spiritual states of their characters. Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement. The novel of terror became the profitable literary staple that it remains today. Writers of gothic novels sought to arouse in their readers a turbulent sense of the remote, the supernatural, and the terrifying by describing castles and landscapes illuminated by moonlight and haunted by ghosts. A preoccupation with the demonic and the mystery of evil marked by the works of Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, and a host of lesser writers. Early American romanticism was best represented by New England poets William Cullen Bryant <1794-1878> and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow <1807-1882> in 6 / 60 . poetry, and James Fenimore Cooper <17-1851> and Washington Irving <1783-1859> in fiction. The later/peak period is represented by Ralph Waldo Emerson <1803-1882> and Henry David Thoreau <1817-1862>. III．WashingtonIrving 1. Rip Van Winkle The story, written while Irving was staying with his sister Sarah and her husband Henry van Wart in Birmingham, England, is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War. A villager of Dutch descent escapes his nagging wife by wandering up Kaaterskill Clove near his home town of Palenville, New York in the Catskill Mountains. After various adventures The story has become a part of cultural mythology: even for those who have never read the original story, \"Rip Van Winkle\" means either a person who sleeps for a long period of time, or one who is inexplicably Rip Van Winkle has been seen as a symbol of several aspects of America. Rip, like America, is immature, self-centered, careless, anti-intellectual, imaginative, and jolly as the overgrown child. The town itself symbolizes America – forever and rapidly changing. Washington Irving has Rip sleep through his own country’s history, through what we might call the birth pangs of America, and return to the \"busy, bustling, disputatious〞 self-consciously adult United States of America. His conflicts and dreams are those of the nation – the conflict of innocence and experience, work and leisure, the old and the new, the head and the heart. 2. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow The story is set circa 1790 in the Dutch settlement of TarryTown, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a sycophantic, lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham \"Brom Bones\" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer, Baltus Van Tassel. As Crane leaves a party he attended at the Van Tassel home on an autumn night, he is pursued by the Headless Horseman, who is supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during \"some nameless battle\" of the American Revolutionary War, and who \"rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head\". Ichabod mysteriously disappears from town, leaving Katrina to marry Brom Bones, who was \"to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related\". Although the nature of the Headless 7 / 60 . Horseman is left open to interpretation, the story implies that the Horseman was really Brom Bones in disguise. The creation of archetypes is a particularly subtle feat of Irving’s consummate craftsmanship. We may see in Ichabod Crane a precocious, effect New Englander, shrewd, commercial, a city-slicker, who is rather an interloper, a somewhat destructive force, and who comes along to swindle the villagers. His book learning turns on him, and he is driven away from where he does not belong, so that the serene village remains permanently good and happy. Brom Bones, on the other hand, is of a Huck Finn-type of country bumpkin, rough, vigorous, boisterous but inwardly very good, a frontier type put out there to shift for himself. Thus, the rivalry in love between Ichabod and Brom, viewed in this way, suddenly assumes the dimensions of two ethical groups locked in a kind of historic contest. As to the style of the piece, it represents Irving at his best. The association between a certain local and the inward movement of a character, the emotional loading of almost every line of the story, their effect on the five sense of the reader whose attention is so fully engaged and who feels so much involved in what is happening – all these have placed this and other Irving stories among the best of American short stories. 3. Irving’s Style <1> Irving avoids moralizing as much as possible. He writes simply to entertain rather to enlighten. <2> He is good at setting his stories in a magic and fantastic atmosphere. The richness of the atmosphere compensates for the slimness of his plot. <3> His characters are vivid and true to life. They tend to linger in the mind of the reader. <4> His writing is full of humor and satire. <5> two important themes, i.e. the themes of change and search for identify. These themes capture the spirit of Irving’s times and reflect his philosophical thinking on contemporary American social life. IV. James Fenimore Cooper 詹姆斯费尼莫尔库珀 <17--1851> -- launched two kinds of immensely popular stories → the sea adventure tale and the frontier saga The Leatherstocking Tales《皮袜子故事集》,regard as \"the nearest approach yet to an American epic.〞 〔开创了美国文学的一个重要主题—文明的发展对大自然和它代表的崇高品德的摧残与破坏〕Its central figure in the novels, Natty Bumppo <美国文学的一个重要的原型人物—不羁、逃避社会、在大自然中需求完美精神世界的班波>. Cooper’s Works <1> Precaution <1820, his first novel, imitating Austen’s Pride and Prejudice> <2> The Spy <3> Leatherstocking Tales The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneer, The Prairie Cooper’s Style <1> highly imaginative <2> good at inventing tales 8 / 60 . <3> good at landscape description <4> conservative <5> characterization wooden and lacking in probability <6> language and use of dialect not authentic Literary Achievements He created a myth about the formative period of the American nation. If the history of the United States is, in a sense, the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward, then Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the West. He turned the west and frontier as a useable past and he helped to introduce western tradition to American literature. V. William Cullen Bryant 威廉卡伦布赖恩特<1794-1878>-- the first American to gain the stature of a major poet. To a Waterfowl《致水鸟》 The Yellow Violet 《黄色的堇香花》 VI. Edgar Allen Poe <1809-1849> American writer, known as a poet and critic but most famous as the first master of the short-story form, especially tales of the mysterious and macabre. The literary merits of Poe's writings have been debated since his death, but his works have remained popular and many major American and European writers have professed their artistic debt to him. For a long time after his death Poe remained probably the most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure in the history of American literature. Emerson dismissed him in three words, \"the jingle man.〞 Mark Twain declared his prose to be unreadable. Henry James made the ruthless statement that \"an enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly primitive state of development.〞 Whitman, who was the only famous literary figure present at the Poe Memorial Ceremony in Baltimore in 1875, had mixed feelings about him: he did admit Poe’s genius, but it was \"its narrow range and unhealthy, lurid quality〞 that most impressed him. T. S. Eliot proclaimed him a critic of the first rank, but charged him with \"slipshod writing.〞 Poe’s Works Poetry: The Raven《乌鸦》 Horror Fiction: The Fall of the House of Usher《厄舍大厦的倒塌》 Whodunit: Murders in the Rue Morgue《莫格街谋杀案》 致海伦 海伦,你的美在我的眼里, 有如往日尼西亚的三桅船 船行在飘香的海上,悠悠地 9 / 60 . 把已倦于漂泊的困乏船员 送回他故乡的海岸. 早已习惯于在怒海上飘荡, 你典雅的脸庞,你的鬈发, 你水神般的风姿带我返航, 返回那往时的希腊和罗马, 返回那往时的壮丽和辉煌. 看哪！壁龛似的明亮窗户里, 我看见你站着,多像尊雕像, 一盏玛瑙的灯你拿在手上！ 塞姬女神哪,神圣的土地 才是你家乡！ In the first stanza, Helen’s beauty is soothing. It provides security and safety. Perhaps the reader is expected to associate Marlowe’s famous line: \"Was this the face that launched a thousand ships〞 to Helen’s beauty, for her beauty is as hypnotic for the speaker as were the ships that transported another wanderer – Ulysses - home from Troy. Throughout the poem, Poe uses allusions to classical names and places, as well as certain kinds of images to create the impression of a far-off idealized, unreal woman, like a Greek statue. Words that support the image of an ideal woman are \"hyacinth〞 and \"classic〞 乌鸦 从前一个阴郁的子夜,我独自沉思,慵懒疲竭, 沉思许多古怪而离奇、早已被人遗忘的传闻—— 当我开始打盹,几乎入睡,突然传来一阵轻擂, 仿佛有人在轻轻叩击,轻轻叩击我的房门. \"有人来了,〞我轻声嘟喃,\"正在叩击我的房门—— 唯此而已,别无他般.〞 哦,我清楚地记得那是在萧瑟的十二月； 每一团奄奄一息的余烬都形成阴影伏在地板. 我当时真盼望翌日；——因为我已经枉费心机 想用书来消除悲哀——消除因失去丽诺尔的悲叹—— 因那被天使叫作丽诺尔的少女,她美丽娇艳—— 在这儿却默默无闻,直至永远. 那柔软、暗淡、飒飒飘动的每一块紫色窗布 使我心中充满前所未有的恐怖——我毛骨惊然； 为平息我心儿停跳．我站起身反复叨念 \"这是有人想进屋,在叩我的房门——. 更深夜半有人想进屋,在叩我的房门；—— 唯此而已,别无他般.〞 10 / 60 . 很快我的心变得坚强；不再犹疑,不再彷徨, \"先生,〞我说,\"或夫人,我求你多多包涵； 刚才我正睡意昏昏,而你来敲门又那么轻, 你来敲门又那么轻,轻轻叩击我的房门, 我差点以为没听见你〞——说着我拉开门扇；—— 唯有黑夜,别无他般. 凝视着夜色幽幽,我站在门边惊惧良久, 疑惑中似乎梦见从前没人敢梦见的梦幻； 可那未被打破的寂静,没显示任何迹象. \"丽诺尔？〞便是我嗫嚅念叨的唯一字眼, 我念叨\"丽诺尔！〞,回声把这名字轻轻送还, 唯此而已,别无他般. 我转身回到房中,我的整个心烧灼般疼痛, 很快我又听到叩击声,比刚才听起来明显. \"肯定,〞我说,\"肯定有什么在我的窗棂； 让我瞧瞧是什么在那里,去把那秘密发现—— 让我的心先镇静一会儿,去把那秘密发现；—— 那不过是风,别无他般！〞 我猛然推开窗户,.心儿扑扑直跳就像打鼓, 一只神圣往昔的健壮乌鸦慢慢走进我房间； 它既没向我致意问候；也没有片刻的停留； 而以绅士淑女的风度,栖在我房门的上面—— 栖在我房门上方一尊帕拉斯半身雕像上面—— 栖坐在那儿,仅如此这般. 于是这只黑鸟把我悲伤的幻觉哄骗成微笑, 以它那老成持重一本正经温文尔雅的容颜, \"虽然冠毛被剪除,〞我说,\"但你肯定不是懦夫, 你这幽灵般可怕的古鸦,漂泊夜的彼岸—— 请告诉我你尊姓大名,在黑沉沉的冥府阴间！〞 乌鸦答日\"永不复述.〞 听见如此直率的回答,我惊叹这丑陋的乌鸦, 虽说它的回答不着边际——与提问几乎无关； 因为我们不得不承认,从来没有活着的世人 曾如此有幸地看见一只鸟栖在他房门的面—— 鸟或兽栖在他房间门上方的半身雕像上面, 有这种名字\"永不复还.〞 但那只独栖于肃穆的半身雕像上的乌鸦只说了 这一句话,仿佛它倾泻灵魂就用那一个字眼. 然后它便一声不吭——也不把它的羽毛拍动—— 11 / 60 . 直到我几乎是哺哺自语\"其他朋友早已消散—— 明晨它也将离我而去——如同我的希望已消散.〞 这时那鸟说\"永不复还.〞 惊异于那死寂漠漠被如此恰当的回话打破, \"肯定,〞我说,\"这句话是它唯一的本钱, 从它不幸动主人那儿学未.一连串无情飞灾 曾接踵而至,直到它主人的歌中有了这字眼—— 直到他希望的挽歌中有了这个忧伤的字眼 ‘永不复还,永不复还.’〞 但那只乌鸦仍然把我悲伤的幻觉哄骗成微笑, 我即刻拖了X软椅到门旁雕像下那只鸟跟前； 然后坐在天鹅绒椅垫上,我开始冥思苦想, 浮想连着浮想,猜度这不祥的古鸟何出此言—— 这只狰狞丑陋可怕不吉不祥的古鸟何出此言, 为何聒噪‘永不复还.〞 我坐着猜想那意见但没对那鸟说片语只言. 此时,它炯炯发光的眼睛已燃烧进我的心坎； 我依然坐在那儿猜度,把我的头靠得很舒服, 舒舒服服地靠在那被灯光凝视的天鹅绒衬垫, 但被灯光爱慕地凝视着的紫色的天鹅绒衬垫, 她将显出,啊,永不复还！ 接着我想,空气变得稠密,被无形香炉熏香, 提香炉的撒拉弗的脚步声响在有簇饰的地板. \"可怜的人,〞我呼叫,\"是上帝派天使为你送药, 这忘忧药能中止你对失去的丽诺尔的思念； 喝吧如吧,忘掉对失去的丽诺尔的思念！〞 乌鸦说\"永不复还.〞 \"先知！〞我说\"凶兆！——仍是先知,不管是鸟还是魔！ 是不是魔鬼送你,或是暴风雨抛你来到此岸, 孤独但毫不气馁,在这片妖惑鬼崇的荒原—— 在这恐怖萦绕之家——告诉我真话,求你可怜—— 基列有香膏吗？——告诉我——告诉我,求你可怜！〞 乌鸦说\"永不复还.〞 \"先知！〞我说,\"凶兆！——仍是先知、不管是鸟是魔！ 凭我们头顶的苍天起誓——凭我们都崇拜的上帝起誓—— 告诉这充满悲伤的灵魂.它能否在遥远的仙境 拥抱被天使叫作丽诺尔的少女,她纤尘不染—— 拥抱被天使叫作丽诺尔的少女,她美丽娇艳.〞 乌鸦说\"永不复还.〞 12 / 60 . \"让这话做我们的道别之辞,鸟或魔！〞我突然叫道—— \"回你的暴风雨中去吧,回你黑沉沉的冥府阴间！ 别留下黑色羽毛作为你的灵魂谎言的象征！ 留给我完整的孤独！——快从我门上的雕像滚蛋！ 从我心中带走你的嘴；从我房门带走你的外观！〞 乌鸦说\"永不复还.〞 那乌鸦并没飞去,它仍然栖息,仍然栖息 在房门上方那苍白的帕拉斯半身雕像上面； 而它的眼光与正在做梦的魔鬼眼光一模一样, 照在它身上的灯光把它的阴影投射在地板； 而我的灵魂,会从那团在地板上漂浮的阴暗 被擢升么——永不复还！ The Raven is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. The raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word \"Nevermore\". The poem makes use of a number of folk and classical references. 安娜贝尔.李 很久很久以前, 在一个滨海的国度里, 住着一位少女你或许认得, 她的芳名叫安娜贝尔.李； 这少女活着没有别的愿望, 只为和我俩情相许. 那会儿我还是个孩子,她也未脱稚气, 在这个滨海的国度里； 可我们的爱超越一切,无人能与—— 我和我的安娜贝尔.李； 我们爱得那样深,连天上的六翼天使 也把我和她妒嫉. 这就是那不幸的根源,很久以前 在这个滨海的国度里, 夜里一阵寒风从白云端吹起,冻僵了 我的安娜贝尔.李； 于是她那些高贵的亲戚来到凡间 把她从我的身边夺去, 将她关进一座坟墓 在这个滨海的国度里. 这些天使们在天上,不与我们一半快活, 于是他们把我和她妒嫉—— 对——就是这个缘故〔谁不晓得呢,在这个滨海的国度里〕 云端刮起了寒风, 冻僵并带走了我的安娜贝尔.李. 可我们的爱情远远地胜利 那些年纪长于我们的人—— 那些智慧胜于我们的人—— 无论是天上的天使, 还是海底的恶魔, 都不能将我们的灵魂分离, 我和我美丽的安娜贝尔.李. 因为月亮的每一丝清辉都勾起我的回忆 梦里那美丽的安娜贝尔.李 群星的每一次升空都令我觉得秋波在闪动 那是我美丽的安娜贝尔.李 就这样,伴着潮水,我整夜躺在她身旁 13 / 60 . 我亲爱的——我亲爱的——我的生命,我的新娘, 在海边那座坟茔里, 在大海边她的墓穴里. \"Annabel Lee\" is the last complete poem composed by Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman. The narrator, who fell in love with Annabel Lee when they were young, has a love for her so strong that even angels are jealous. He retains his love for her even after her death. There has been debate over who, if anyone, was the inspiration for \"Annabel Lee\". Though many women have been suggested, Poe's wife Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe is one of the more credible candidates. Written in 1849, it was not published until shortly after Poe's death that same year. The Murders in the Rue Morgue The story surrounds the baffling double murder of Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter in the Rue Morgue, a fictional street in Paris. Newspaper accounts of the murder reveal that the mother's throat is so badly cut that her head is barely attached and the daughter, after being strangled, has been stuffed into the chimney. The murder occurs in an inaccessible room on the fourth floor locked from the inside. Neighbors who hear the murder give contradictory accounts, claiming they hear the murderer speaking a different language. The speech is unclear, they say, and they admit to not knowing the language they are claiming to have heard. Paris natives Dupin and his friend, the unnamed narrator of the story, read these newspaper accounts with interest. The two live in seclusion and allow no visitors. They have cut off contact with \"former associates\" and venture outside only at night. \"We existed within ourselves alone\ Adolphe Le Bon has been imprisoned though no evidence exists pointing to his guilt, Dupin is so intrigued that he offers his services to \"G–\ Because none of the witnesses can agree on the language the murderer spoke, Dupin concludes they were not hearing a human voice at all. He finds a hair at the scene of the murder that is quite unusual; \"this is no human hair\advertisement in the newspaper asking if anyone has lost an \"Ourang-Outang\". The ad is answered by a sailor who comes to Dupin at his home. The sailor offers a reward for the orangutan's return; Dupin asks for all the information the sailor has about the murders in the Rue Morgue. The sailor reveals that he had been keeping a captive orangutan obtained while ashore in Borneo. The animal escaped with the sailor's shaving straight razor. When he pursued the orangutan, it escaped by scaling a wall and climbing up a lightning rod, entering the apartment in the Rue Morgue through a window. Once in the room, the surprised Madame L'Espanaye could not defend herself as the orangutan attempted to shave her in imitation of the sailor's daily routine. The bloody deed incited it to fury and it squeezed the daughter's throat until she died. The orangutan then became aware of its master's whip, which it feared, and it attempted to hide the body by stuffing it into the chimney. The sailor, aware of the \"murder\panicked and fled, allowing the orangutan to escape. The prefect of police, upon 14 / 60 . hearing this story, mentions that people should mind their own business. Dupin responds that G– is \"too cunning to be profound.\" Ligeia The unnamed narrator describes the qualities of Ligeia, a beautiful, passionate and intellectual woman, raven-haired and dark-eyed, that he thinks he remembers meeting \"in some large, old decaying city near the Rhine.\" He is unable to recall anything about the history of Ligeia, including her family's name, but remembers her beautiful appearance. Her beauty, however, is not conventional. He describes her as emaciated, with some \"strangeness.\" He describes her face in detail, from her \"faultless\" forehead to the \"divine orbs\" of her eyes. They marry, and Ligeia impresses her husband with her immense knowledge of physical and mathematical science, and her proficiency in classical languages. She begins to show her husband her knowledge of metaphysical and \"forbidden\" wisdom. After an unspecified length of time Ligeia becomes ill, struggles internally with human mortality, and ultimately dies. The narrator, grief-stricken, buys and refurbishes an abbey in England. He soon enters into a loveless marriage with \"the fair-haired and blue-eyed Lady Rowena Trevanion, of Tremaine.\" In the second month of the marriage, Rowena begins to suffer from worsening fever and anxiety. One night, when she is about to faint, the narrator pours her a goblet of wine. Drugged with opium, he sees As the narrator keeps vigil overnight, he notices a brief return of color to Rowena's cheeks. She repeatedly shows signs of reviving, before relapsing into apparent death. As he attempts resuscitation, the revivals become progressively stronger, but the relapses more final. As dawn breaks, and the narrator is sitting emotionally exhausted from the night's struggle, the shrouded body revives once more, stands and walks into the middle of the room. When he touches the figure, its head bandages fall away to reveal masses of raven hair and dark eyes: Rowena has transformed into Ligeia. The Tell-Tale Heart \"The Tell-Tale Heart\" is a first-person narrative of an unnamed narrator who insists he is sane but suffering from a disease \"vulture-like\" eye which so distresses the narrator that he plots to murder the old man, though the narrator states that he loves the old man, and hates only the eye. The narrator insists that his careful precision in committing the murder shows that he cannot possibly be insane. For seven nights, the narrator opens the door of the old man's room, a process which takes him a full hour. However, the old man's vulture eye is always closed, making it impossible to \"do the work\". On the eighth night, the old man awakens and sits up in his own bed while the narrator performs his nightly ritual. The narrator does not draw back and, after some time, decides to open his lantern. A single ray of light shines out and lands precisely on the old man's eye, revealing that it is wide open. Hearing the old man's heart 15 / 60 . beating unusually and dangerously quick from terror, the narrator decides to strike, jumping out with a loud yell and smothering the old man with his own bed. The narrator dismembers the body and conceals the pieces under the floorboards, making certain to hide all signs of the crime. Even so, the old man's scream during the night causes a neighbor to report to the police. The narrator invites the three arriving officers in to look around. He claims that the screams heard were his own in a nightmare and that the man is absent in the country. Confident that they will not find any evidence of the murder, the narrator brings chairs for them and they sit in the old man's room, right on the very spot where the body is concealed, yet they suspect nothing, as the narrator has a pleasant and easy manner about him. The narrator, however, begins to hear a faint noise. As the noise grows louder, the narrator comes to the conclusion that it is the heartbeat of the old man coming from under the floorboards. The sound increases steadily, though the officers seem to pay no attention to it. Shocked by the constant beating of the heart and a feeling that not only are the officers aware of the sound, but that they also suspect him, the narrator confesses to killing the old man and tells them to tear up the floorboards to reveal the body. The Fall of the House of Usher The tale opens with the unnamed narrator arriving at the house of his boyhood friend, Roderick Usher, having received a letter from him in a distant part of the country complaining of an illness and asking for his help. Although Poe wrote this short story before the invention of modern psychological science, Roderick's symptoms can be described according to its terminology. They include hyperesthesia improvised musical compositions on the guitar. Roderick sings \"The Haunted Palacehen tells the narrator that he believes the house he lives in to be sentient, and that this sentience arises from the arrangement of the masonry and vegetation surrounding it. Roderick later informs the narrator that his sister has died and insists that she be entombed for two weeks in a vault permanently buried. The narrator helps Roderick put the body in the tomb, and he notes that Madeline has rosy cheeks, as some do after death. They inter her, but over the next week both Roderick and the narrator find themselves becoming increasingly agitated for no apparent reason. A storm begins. Roderick comes to the narrator's bedroom, which is situated directly above the vault, and throws open his window to the storm. He notices that the tarn surrounding the house seems to glow in the dark, as it glowed in Roderick Usher's paintings, although there is no lightning. The narrator attempts to calm Roderick by reading aloud The Mad Trist, a novel involving a knight named Ethelred who breaks into a hermit's dwelling in an attempt to escape an approaching storm, only to find a palace of gold guarded by a dragon. He 16 / 60 . also finds hanging on the wall a shield of shining brass of which is written a legend: that the one who slays the dragon wins the shield. With a stroke of his mace, Ethelred kills the dragon, who dies with a piercing shriek, and proceeds to take the shield, which falls to the floor with an unnerving clatter. As the narrator reads of the knight's forcible entry into the dwelling, cracking and ripping sounds are heard somewhere in the house. When the dragon is described as shrieking as it dies, a shriek is heard, again within the house. As he relates the shield falling from off the wall, a reverberation, metallic and hollow, can be heard. Roderick becomes increasingly hysterical, and eventually exclaims that these sounds are being made by his sister, who was in fact alive when she was entombed and that Roderick knew that she was alive. The bedroom door is then blown open to reveal Madeline standing there. She falls on her brother, and both land on the floor as corpses. The narrator then flees the house, and, as he does so, notices a flash of light causing him to look back upon the House of Usher, in time to watch it break in two, the fragments sinking into the tarn. Analysis The Fall of the House of Usher shows Poe's ability to create an emotional tone in his work, specifically feelings of fear, doom, and guilt. These emotions center on Roderick Usher who, like many Poe characters, suffers from an unnamed disease. The illness manifests physically but is based in Roderick's mental or even moral state. He is sick, it is suggested, because he expects to be sick based on his family's history of illness and is, therefore, essentially a hypochondriac. Similarly, he buries his sister alive because he expects to bury her alive, creating his own self-fulfilling prophecy. The House of Usher, itself doubly referring both to the actual structure and the family, plays a significant role in the story. It is the first \"character\" that the narrator introduces to the reader, presented with a humanized description: its windows are described as \"eye-like\" twice in the first paragraph. The fissure that develops in its side is symbolic of the decay of the Usher family and the house \"dies\" along with the two Usher siblings. This connection was emphasized in Roderick's poem The Haunted Palace which seems to be a direct reference to the house that foreshadows doom. The CollapsingMansion: Decline of the Usher family. The \"Vacant eye-like〞 Windows of the Mansion: <1> Hollow, cadaverous eyes of Roderick Usher; <2> Madeline Usher’s cataleptic gaze; <3> the vacuity of life in the Usher mansion. The Tarn, a Small Lake Encircling the Mansion and Reflecting Its Image: <1> Madeline as the twin of Roderick, reflecting his image and personality; <2> the image of reality which Roderick and the narrator perceive; though the water of the tarn reflects details exactly, the image is upside down, leaving open the possibility that Roderick and the narrator see a false reality; <3> the desire of the Ushers to isolate themselves from the outside world. The Bridge Over the Tarn: The narrator as Roderick Usher’s only link to the outside world. 17 / 60 . The name Usher: An usher is a doorkeeper. In this sense, Roderick Usher opens the door to a frightening world for the narrator. The Storm: The turbulent emotions experienced by the characters. VII. American Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860. It originated among a small group of intellectuals who were reacting against the orthodoxy of Calvinism and the rationalism of the UnitarianChurch, developing instead their own faith centering on the divinity of humanity and the natural world. Transcendentalism derived some of its basic idealistic concepts from romantic German philosophy, and from such English authors as Carlyle, Coleridge, and Wordsworth. Its mystical aspects were partly influenced by Indian and Chinese religious teachings. Although transcendentalism was never a rigorously systematic philosophy, it had some basic tenets that were generally shared by its adherents. The belief that god is immanent in each person and in nature and that individual intuition is the highest source of knowledge led to an optimistic emphasis on individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of traditional authority. The ideas of transcendentalism were most eloquently expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson in such essays as Nature <1836>, and Self-Reliance and by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden <1854>. \"The universe is composed of Nature and the Soul.〞 \"spirit is present everywhere.〞 Background: four sources 1. Unitarianism <1> Fatherhood of God <2> Brotherhood of men <3> Leadership of Jesus <4> Salvation by character Center of the world is spirit, absolute spirit Center of the world is \"oversoul〞 4. Puritanism Eloquent expression in transcendentalism Features 1. spirit/oversoul 18 / 60 . 3. nature – symbol of spirit/God 1. It served as an ethical guide to life for a young nation and brought about the idea that human can be perfected by nature. It stressed religious tolerance, called to throw off shackles of customs and traditions and go forward to the development of a new and distinctly American culture. 2. It advocated idealism that was great needed in a rapidly expanded economy where opportunity often became opportunism, and the desire to \"get on〞 obscured the moral necessity for rising to spiritual height. 3. It helped to create the first American renaissance – one of the most prolific period in American literature. VIII. Ralph Waldo Emerson <1803-1882> His Works: Nature The American Scholar The DivinitySchool Address Essays Representative Men English Traits Poems point of view <1> One major element of his philosophy is his firm belief in the transcendence of the \"oversoul〞. <2> He regards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, and advocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature. <3> If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself and brings out the divine in himself, he can hope to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson means by \"the infinitude of man〞. <4> Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself. IX. Henry David Thoreau 〔1817-1862〕 Walden <1> He did not like the way a materialistic America was developing and was vehemently outspoken on the point. <2> He hated the human injustice as represented by the slavery system. <3> Like Emerson, but more than him, Thoreau saw nature as a genuine restorative, healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being. 19 / 60 . <4> He has faith in the inner virtue and inward, spiritual grace of man. <5> He was very critical of modern civilization. <6> \"Simplicity…simplify!〞 <7> He was sorely disgusted with \"the inundations of the dirty institutions of men’s odd-fellow society〞. <8> He has calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men. X. Nathaniel Hawthorne<1804-18> Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce. Hawthorne’s Works Novels: The Scarlet Letter <1850> The Blithedale Romance <1852> The House of the Seven Gables <1851> The Marble Faun <1860> Short Stories: \"Young Goodman Brown\" <1835> \"The Minister's Black Veil\" <1836> \"The Birth-Mark\" The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 12 to 19, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt. The Scarlet Letter is not a praise of a Hester Prynne sinning, but a hymn on the moral growth of the woman when sinned against. Symbolic of her moral development is the gradual imperceptible change which the scarlet letter undergoes in meaning. At first it is a token of shame, \"Adultery〞, but then the genuine sympathy and the help Hester offered to her fellow villagers change it to \"Able〞. Later in the story, the letter A appears in the sky, signifying \"Angel〞. There is reason to agree with the critical observation that A may represent Adamic, or prehistoric, an archetypal vice suggestive of \"original sin,〞 as we have no means of getting to know when Hester sinned against the seventh commandment. 20 / 60 . Although The Scarlet Letter is about Hester Prynne, the book is not so much a consideration of her innate character as it is an examination of the forces that shape her and the transformations those forces effect. We know very little about Hester prior to her affair with Dimmesdale and her resultant public shaming. We read that she married Chillingworth although she did not love him, but we never fully understand why. The early chapters of the book suggest that, prior to her marriage, Hester was a strong-willed and impetuous young woman—she remembers her parents as loving guides who frequently had to restrain her incautious behavior. The fact that she has an affair also suggests that she once had a passionate nature. Hester also becomes a kind of compassionate maternal figure as a result of her experiences. Hester moderates her tendency to be rash, for she knows that such behavior could cause her to lose her daughter, Pearl. Hester is also maternal with respect to society: she cares for the poor and brings them food and clothing. By the novel’s end, Hester has become a protofeminist mother figure to the women of the community. The shame attached to her scarlet letter is long gone. Women recognize that her punishment stemmed in part from the town fathers’ sexism, and they come to Hester seeking shelter from the sexist forces under which they themselves suffer. Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable, but not necessarily extraordinary woman. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure. The House of the Seven Gables The novel is set in the mid-19th century, with glimpses into the history of the house, which was built in the late 17th century. The house of the title is a gloomy New England mansion, haunted from its foundation by fraudulent dealings, accusations of witchcraft, and sudden death. The current resident, the dignified but desperately poor Hepzibah Pyncheon, opens a shop in a side room to support her brother Clifford, who is about to leave prison after serving thirty years for murder. She refuses all assistance from her unpleasant wealthy cousin Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon. A distant relative, the lively and pretty young Phoebe, turns up and quickly becomes invaluable, charming customers and rousing Clifford from depression. A delicate romance grows between Phoebe and the mysterious lodger Holgrave, who is writing a history of the Pyncheon family. Phoebe takes leave of the family to return to her country home for a brief visit, but will return soon. Unfortunately, before she leaves, Clifford stands at the large arched window above the stairs and has a sudden urge to jump upon viewing the mass of humanity passing before him and his recollection of his youth lost to prison. That instance, coupled with Phoebe's departure — she was the only happy and beautiful thing in the home for the depressed Clifford to dwell on — sends Clifford into a bed-ridden state. Judge Pyncheon arrives at the house one day, and threatens to have Clifford committed to an insane asylum if Clifford does not assist the Judge in giving him the information the Judge believes Clifford has regarding the mystical \"eastern lands\" of 21 / 60 . Maine that the family has long rumored to own but to have lost the deeds to. However, before Clifford can be brought before the Judge historical Pyncheon who stole the land from Maule. Hepzibah and Clifford escape on a train Young Goodman Brown The story begins at sunset in Salem, Massachusetts, as young Goodman Brown leaves Faith, his wife of three months, for an unknown errand in the forest. Faith pleads with her husband to stay with her but he insists the journey into the forest must be completed that night. In the forest he meets a man, dressed in a similar manner to himself and bearing a resemblance to himself. The man carries a black serpent shaped staff. The two encounter Mistress Cloyse in the woods who, complaining about the need to walk and evidently friendly with the stranger, accepts his staff and flies away to her destination. Other townfolk inhabit the woods that night, traveling in the same direction as Goodman Brown. When he hears his wife's voice in the trees, he calls out to his Faith, but is not answered. He then seems to fly through the forest, using an apple-wood staff the stranger fashioned for him, arriving at a clearing at midnight to find all the townspeople assembled. At the ceremony, which may be a witches' sabbath carried out at a flame-lit rocky altar, the newest converts are brought forth—Goodman Brown and Faith. They are the only two of the townspeople not yet initiated to the forest rite. Goodman Brown calls to heaven to resist and instantly the scene vanishes. Arriving back at his home in Salem the next morning, Goodman Brown is uncertain whether the previous night's events were real or a dream, but he is deeply shaken, with the belief he lived in a Christian community distorted. He loses his faith in his wife Faith; he loses his faith in humanity. He lives his life an embittered and suspicious cynical man, wary of everyone around him, including his wife Faith. Hawthorne concludes the story by writing: \"And when he had lived long, and was borne to his grave...they carved no hopeful verse upon his tombstone, for his dying hour was gloom.\" Rappaccini's Daughter The story is set in Padua, Italy, in a distant but unspecified past. From his quarters, Giovanni, a young student of letters, looks at Beatrice, the beautiful daughter of Dr. Rappaccini, a scientist working in isolation. Beatrice is confined to the lush and locked gardens filled with poisonous plants by her father. Giovanni notices Beatrice's strangely intimate relationship with the plants as well as the withering of fresh flowers and the death of an insect when exposed to her skin or breath. Having fallen in love, Giovanni enters the garden and meets with Beatrice a number of times regardless of 22 / 60 . the warning of his mentor, Professor Baglioni, that Rappaccini is up to no good and he and his work should be avoided. Giovanni discovers that Beatrice, having been raised in the presence of poison, is poisonous herself. Beatrice urges Giovanni to look past her poisonous exterior and see her pure and innocent essence, creating great feelings of doubt in Giovanni. He begins to suffer the consequences of his encounters with the plants - and with Beatrice when he discovers that he himself has become poisonous; and after another meeting with Baglioni, Giovanni brings a powerful antidote to Beatrice so that they can be together, but the antidote kills Beatrice rather than destroy her poisonous nature point of view <1> Evil is at the core of human life, \"that blackness in Hawthorne〞 <2> Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation <3> He is of the opinion that evil educates. <4> He has disgust in science. His writing style <1> the use of symbols <2> revelation of characters’ psychology <3> the use of supernatural mixed with the actual <4> his stories are parable to teach a lesson <5> use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty – multiple point of view XI. Herman Melville <1819-11> His works: Typee Omoo Mardi Redburn White Jacket Moby Dick Billy Budd Moby Dick Moby-Dick, also known as The Whale, is a novel first published in 1851 by American author Herman Melville. Moby-Dick is widely considered to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale: Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg. Ahab intends to take revenge. In Moby-Dick, Melville employs stylized language, symbolism, and metaphor to explore numerous complex themes. Through the main character's journey, the 23 / 60 . concepts of class and social status, good and evil, and the existence of gods are all examined as Ishmael speculates upon his personal beliefs and his place in the universe. The narrator's reflections, along with his descriptions of a sailor's life aboard a whaling ship, are woven into the narrative along with Shakespearean literary devices such as stage directions, extended soliloquies, and asides. The book portrays insecurity that is still seen today when it comes to non-human beings along with the belief that these beings understand and act like humans. The story is based on the actual events around the whaleship Essex, which was attacked by a whale while at sea and sank. Although the narrator sees insanity in Ahab, Melville’s emotional sympathy is with the deficient Ahab. He begins with a noble intention to crush evil, but in taking this to the extreme, he becomes evil himself. He is destroyed by his consuming desire to root out evil. Moby Dick is a symbol to represent cruel, brutal, malicious powers of nature. Nature is capable of destroying the human world. Nature threatens humanity & thus calls out the heroic powers of the human beings. So the power of the universe is both of blessing and curse. In this way, the author constructs a complicated statement about American view of nature. There is symbolism in the book. The Voyage itself is a metaphor for \"search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience.\" The Pequod is the ship of the American soul, and the endeavor of its crew represents \"the maniacal fanaticism of our white mental consciousness\". By far the most conspicuous symbol in the book is, of course, Moby Dick. The white whale is capable of many interpretations. It is a symbol of evil to some, readers of goodness to others, and of both to still others. He is \"paradoxically benign and malevolent, nourishing and destructive,\" \"massive, brutal, monolithic, but at the same time protean, erotically beautiful, infinitely variable.\" Its whiteness is a paradoxical color, too, signifying as it does death and corruption as well as purity, innocence, and youth. It represents the final mystery of the universe which man will do well to desist from pursuing. As Ahab and his crew do not leave it alone, it is only natural that they get drowned. XII. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow <1807-1882> Poems: A Psalm of Life The Slave’s Dream My Lost Youth Epic: Song of Hiawatha Translation: Dante’s Divine Comedy 《人生礼赞》 —青年人的心对歌者说的话 不要在伤感的诗句里对我说, 人生不过是一场梦！—— 24 / 60 . 昏睡的灵魂等于是死亡, 事物的和外表不同. 人生是真切的！人生是实在的！ 它的归宿不是荒坟； \"你本是尘土,仍要归于尘土〞, 这话说的并不是灵魂. 别只靠将来,不管它多迷人！ 让已逝的过去永久埋葬！ 行动吧,——趁着现在的时光！ 良知在心中,上帝在头上！ 伟大的生平昭示我们： 我们能让生活更辉煌！ 而当告别人世的时候, 留下脚印在时间的沙上； 也许我们有一个弟兄, 航行在庄严的人生大海； 船只沉没了,绝望的时候, 会看到这脚印而振作起来. 那么,让我们起来干吧, 对任何命运抱英雄气概； 不断地进取,不断的追求, 要学会劳动,学会等待. 不是享乐,也不是受苦, 我们命定的目标和道路 而是行动；在每个明天, 都要比今天前进一步. 艺术永恒,时光飞逝, 我们的心,虽然勇敢、坚决, 仍然像闷声的鼓,它正在 伴奏向坟墓送葬的哀乐. 在这世界的辽阔战场上, 在这人生的营帐中, 莫学那听人驱策的哑畜, 要做一个战斗中的英雄！ 悲句莫我示﹕浮生虛若夢.魂睡實猶死﹐事非表像同.吾生誠且真﹐其終豈丘墳. 土生雖土歸﹐言身非言魂.無歡亦無愁﹐命途非必達.為人須自強﹐翌日勝今日. 有涯度無涯﹐吾心雖壯勇﹔亦吟蒿里行﹐行行向丘塚.此世等疆場﹐此生如逆旅. 願作英豪爭﹐勿若牛被驅.莫信未來樂﹐逝者任往休.自強須与時﹐心正神上佑. 前人豐功著﹐吾人亦可爾.身後留業跡﹐與時共磨移.跡或他人留﹐苦海揚帆行﹔ 沉舟倖活者﹐見之為振奮.吾儕須奮發﹐窮通莫在意.慘淡創宏圖﹐應知勤以俟. 奴隶的梦 他躺在未割完的稻谷旁, 手里还握着一柄镰刀, 他赤裸着胸膛,蓬乱的头发 已埋入泥沙. 在梦境中漂忽的薄雾和阴影里, 他又一次重见故土. 梦中浩渺的画面上, 威严的尼日尔河水奔流； 行走于平原上的棕榈树下, 他大步流星,宛若君王, 耳中流淌着骆驼队的铃声 沿着山路叮咚而下. 他又一次见到他的黑眸皇后, 她矗立于儿女们中间； 他们搂着他的脖子,他们把吻印在他的双颊. 他们紧紧地拉着他的手！ 泪水从他睡熟的眼眶中涌出, 直到流入沙地. 旋即,他又骑上骏马 沿着尼日尔河岸驰骋. 手中的僵绳是闪耀的金链, 在铿锵的叮咚声中, 25 / 60 . 每一次腾跃他都能感受得到 青钢的刀鞘在骏马身上的连连撞击. 仿佛一面血色旌祺瓢扬于眼前, 那是亮丽的红鹤在展翅高飞, 从早到晚,他一路追随它们的行程, 奔驰在一片长着酸豆树的平原上. 直到他眼前涌现出卡菲尔人的小屋房顶, 我望见葱茏的树木成行, 从忽隐忽现的闪闪波光 撇见了远处环抱的海洋； 那些岛,就象是极西仙境, 小时候惹动我多少梦想！ 那首古老民歌的迭句 依旧在耳边喃喃低唱： 和那永远翻腾着的浩瀚海洋. 黑夜,他耳畔缭绕着雄狮的咆哮, 和土狼的嘶喊, 还有河马的呼唤.当他踩着芦苇, 沿着幽暗的河流徜徉, 那河马的脚步,如同阵阵激越的鼓声 于他灿烂的梦境中响彻心扉. 那树林,展开万千歌喉, 呼唤着自由, 从沙漠吹来的风呼啸着, 那声音那么狂野,那么悠闲, 他猛地从酣睡中惊醒,开始微笑着 向着那暴风雨般的欢乐展露微笑. 他再也感觉不到奴隶监工的皮鞭, 再也感觉不到烈日炎炎, 因为死神已点亮长眠之地, 那失去生命的躯体躺着, 锁着磨旧的镣铐,而那灵魂 已经粉碎,并从血肉之躯中抛出！ 逝去的青春 那美丽的古城常教我怀想, 它就座落在大海边上； 多少次,我恍惚神游于故乡, 在那些可爱的街衢上来往, 俨然又回到了年少的时光. 一首拉普兰民歌里的诗句 一直在我记忆里回荡： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 我记得乌黑的码头和船台, 海上恣意奔腾的潮汐； 满嘴胡须的西班牙水手, 一艘艘船舶的壮丽神奇, 茫茫大海诱人的魔力. 那萦回不去的执拗歌声 仍然在那里又唱又讲： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 我记得岸上的防御工事, 记得山头耸立的碉楼； 日出时,大炮隆隆怒吼, 鼙鼓一阵阵雷响不休, 号角激昂锐利的吹奏. 那首民歌的悠扬曲调 依然波动在我的心头： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 我记得那次远处的海战, 炮声在滚滚浪潮上震荡； 两位船长,在墓中安躺, 俯临着寂廖宁静的海湾-- 那就是他们战死的沙场. 那哀怨的歌声往复回翔, 颤栗的音波流过我心房： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 我看见微风里林木亭亭, 荻岭森林洒布着阴影； 旧日的友谊,早年的恋情 以安舒的音调回到我心里, 26 / 60 . 宛如幽静邻里的鸽鸣. 那古老民歌的甜美诗句 依稀在低语,在颤动不停： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 我记得缕缕的亮光和暗影 翩翩掠过我童稚的心灵； 心底蕴藏的歌声和静默 有几分是预言,还有几分 是狂热而又虚幻的憧憬. 听啊,那起伏不定的歌声 还在唱着,总也不平静： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 有一些梦境永不会泯灭； 有一些情景我不能倾诉； 有一些愁思,使心灵疲弱, 使脸色苍白--象白蜡新涂, 使眼睛湿润--象蒙上潮雾. 那句不详的歌词好象 一个寒颤落到我身上： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 当我重临这亲爱的古城, 眼中的景象已这般陌生； 但故乡的空气甘美而纯净, 熟识的街衢洒满了树影, 树枝上下摆动个不停, 都在唱着那动人的歌声, 在低声叹息,在曼声吟咏： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 怀着近似痛苦的欢欣, 我的心魂向故国飞奔； 荻岭森林秀丽而鲜润； 从一一重温的缤纷旧梦里, 我又觅回了逝去的青春. 树丛还在反复的吟唱 那奇异而又美妙的诗行： \"孩子的愿望是风的愿望, 青春的遐想是悠长的遐想.〞 The Song of Hiawatha海华沙之歌 The Song of Hiawatha is an 1855 epic poem, in trochaic tetrameter, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, featuring an Indian hero and loosely based on legends and ethnography of the Ojibwe Schoolcraft. In sentiment, scope, overall conception, and many particulars, the poem is very much a work of American Romantic literature, not a representation of Native American oral tradition, although Longfellow insisted, \"I can give chapter and verse for these legends. Their chief value is that they are Indian legends.\" Part IV The Literature of Realism Historical Introduction \"The Gilded Age〞 In the period between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I, the country developed rapidly in various fields. 1880’s urbanization: from free competition to monopoly capitalism the three conflicts that reached breaking point in this period <1> industrialism vs. agrarian 27 / 60 . <2> culturely-measured east vs. newly-developed west <3> plantation gentility vs. commercial gentility By the 1870s the New England Renaissance had waned. A host of new writers appeared. They sought to portray American life as it really was. Local color fiction reached its peak of popularity in the 1880s. Naturalism dominated American literature of the first decade of 20th century. Literary Characteristics 1. truthful description of life 2. typical character under typical circumstance 3. objective rather than idealized, close observation and investigation of life \"Realistic writers are like scientists.〞 4. open-ending: Life is complex and cannot be fully understood. It leaves much room for readers to think by themselves. 5. concerned with social and psychological problems, revealing the frustrations of characters in an environment of sordidness and depravity American Realism refers to a literary movement that sprang up in the latter half of the 19th century in the U.S. It is considered as a reaction against the romantic idea about the reality and human nature, and an answer to the gloomy picture of American life after the Civil War. American realism aims at the interpretation of the actualities of any aspect of life, free from subjective prejudice, idealism, or romantic color. Instead of thinking about the mysteries of life and death and heroic individualism, people’s attention is now directed to the interesting features of everyday existence, to what is brutal or sordid, and to the open portrayal of class struggle. Walt Whitman <1819-12> Major themes in his poems evolution of cosmos multiplicity of nature self-reliant spirit death, beauty of death expansion of America brotherhood and social solidarity 28 / 60 . Free verse:It is a form of poetry. It means that the poetry is without a fixed beat or regular rhyme. A looser and more open-ended syntactical structure is frequently favored. Lines and sentences of different lengths are left lying side just as things are, undisturbed and separate. There are few compound sentences to draw objects and experiences into a system of hierarchy. 自己之歌一 我赞美我自己,歌唱我自己,我承担的你也将承担,因为属于我的每一个原子也同样属于你. 我闲步,还邀请了我的灵魂,我俯身悠然观察着一片夏日的草叶. 我的舌,我血液的每个原子,是在这片土壤、这个空气里形成的,是这里的父母生下的,父母的父母也是在这里生下的,他们的父母也一样,我,现在三十七岁,一生下身体就十分健康,希望永远如此,直到死去. 信条和学派暂时不论,且后退一步,明了它们当前的情况已足,但也决不是忘记,不论我从善从恶,我允许随意发表意见,顺乎自然,保持原始的活力. 十 我独自在遥远的荒山野外狩猎,漫游而惊奇于我的轻快和昂扬,在天晚时选择了一个安全的地方过夜,烧起一把火,烤熟了刚猎获到的野味,我酣睡在集拢来的叶子上,我的狗和躺在我的身旁. 高X风帆的美国人的快船,冲过了闪电和急雨,我的眼睛凝望着陆地,我在船首上弯着腰,或者在舱面上欢快地叫笑.水手们和拾蚌的人很早就起来等待着我,我将裤脚塞在靴筒里,上岸去玩得很痛快,那一天你真该和我们在一起,围绕着我们的野餐的小锅. 在远处的西边,我曾经看见猎人在露天举行的婚礼,新妇是一个红种女人,她的父亲和她的朋友们在旁边盘腿坐下,无声地吸着烟,他们都穿着鹿皮鞋,肩上披着大而厚的毡条,这个猎人慢悠悠地走在河岸上,差不多全身穿着皮衣,他的蓬松的胡子和卷发,遮盖了他的脖颈,他用手牵着他的新妇,她睫毛很长,头上没有帽子,她的粗而直的头发,披拂在她的丰满的四肢上,一直到了她的脚踝. 逃亡的黑奴来到我的屋子的前面站着,我听见他在摘取柴堆上的小枝,从厨房的半截的弹簧门我看见他是那样无力而尪弱,我走到他所坐着的木头边领他进来,对他加以安抚,我满满地盛了一桶水让他洗涤他的汗垢的身体和负伤的两脚,我给他一间由我的住屋进去的屋子,给他一些干净的粗布衣服,我现在还清楚地记得他的转动着的眼珠和他的局促不安的样子,记得涂了些药膏在他的颈上和踝骨的疮痕上面,他和我住了一个星期,在他复元,并到北方去以前,我让他在桌子旁边紧靠我坐着,我的火则斜放在屋子的一角. Whitman extols the ideals of equality and democracy and celebrates the dignity, the self-reliant spirit and the joy of the common man. Song of Myself reveals a world of 29 / 60 . equality, without rank and hierarchy. The poet, walking around, hears America singing. Long catalogs of different people and different occupations indicate that here the new children of Adam are being restored to the Garden of Eden, developing their potentiality to the fullest extent possible. In a general sense Leaves of Grass is an Adamic song, and its author is an Adamic singer. 我坐而眺望 我坐而眺望世界的一切忧患,一切的压迫和羞耻,我听到青年人因自己所做过的事悔恨不安而发出的秘密的抽搐的哽咽,我看见处于贫贱生活中的母亲为她的孩子们所折磨、绝望、消瘦,奄奄待毙,无人照管,我看见被丈夫虐待的妻子,我看见青年妇女们所遇到的无信义的诱骗者,我注意到企图隐秘着的嫉妒和单恋的苦痛,我看见大地上的这一切,我看见战争、疾病、的恶果,我看见殉教者和囚徒,我看到海上的饥馑,我看见水手们拈阄决定谁应牺牲来维持其馀人的生命,我看到倨傲的人们加之于工人、穷人、黑人等的侮蔑与轻视, 我坐而眺望着这一切——一切无穷无尽的卑劣行为和痛苦, 我看着,听着,但我沉默无语. 敲呀！敲呀！鼓啊！ 敲呀！敲呀！鼓啊！——吹呀！号啊！吹呀！ 透过窗子,——透过门户,——如同凶猛的暴力, 冲进庄严的教堂,把群众驱散, 冲进学者们正在进行研究工作的学校, 也别让新郎安静,——现在不能让他和他的新娘共享幸福, 让平静的农夫也不能再安静地去耕犁田亩或收获谷粒, 鼓啊！你就该这样凶猛地震响着,——你号啊,发出锐声的尖叫. 敲呀！敲呀！鼓啊！吹呀！号啊！吹呀！ 越过城市的道路,压过大街上车轮的响声, 夜晚在屋子里已经铺好了预备睡觉的床铺么？不要让睡眠者能睡在那些床上, 不让生意在白天交易,也别让掮客或投机商人再进行他们的活动,—— 他们还要继续么？ 谈话的人还要继续谈话么？歌唱者还要歌唱么？ 律师还要在法庭上站起来在法官面前陈述他的案情么？ 那么更快更有力的敲击着吧,鼓啊,——你号啊,更凶猛地吹着！ 敲呀！敲呀！鼓啊！吹呀！号啊！吹呀！ 不要谈判——不要因别人劝告而终止, 不理那怯懦者,不理那哭泣着的或祈求的人, 不理年老人对年青人的恳求, 让人们听不见孩子的呼声,听不见母亲的哀求, 甚至使担架要摇醒那躺着等候装车的死者, 啊,可怕的鼓,你就这样猛烈地震响吧,——你军号就这样高声地吹. Influence 30 / 60 . <1> His best work has become part of the common property of Western culture. <2> He took over Whitman’s vision of the poet-prophet and poet-teacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood. <3> He has been compared to a mountain in American literary history. <4> Contemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence. Emily Dickinson <1830-1886> MY life closed twice before its close MY life closed twice before its close; It yet remains to see If Immortality unveil A third event to me, So huge, so hopeless to conceive, As these that twice befell. Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell. I'm Nobody! Who are you I’M nobody! Who are you Are you nobody, too Then there ’s a pair of us—don’t tell! They ’d banish us, you know. How dreary to be somebody! How public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog! Themes: based on her own experiences/joys/sorrows <1> religion – doubt and belief about religious subjects <2> death and immortality <3> love – suffering and frustration caused by love <4> physical aspect of desire <5> nature – kind and cruel <6> free will and human responsibility 我品味未经酿造的饮料 从珍珠镂成的大酒杯里—— 我品味未经酿造的饮料—— 31 / 60 并非莱茵河畔所有的酒桶 都能产出这样的醇酿！ 我陶醉于清新的空气—— 我豪饮那晶莹的露水—— 在漫长的夏季——我常从—— 湛蓝的酒店蹒跚而归—— 当\"店主人〞把酩酊的蜜蜂 驱赶出遍地黄花的门庭—— 蝴蝶也不再浅酌细斟—— 我却要更大口狂饮！ 直到天使摇晃着白色小帽—— 和那些圣徒,奔向明窗—— 争看这小小的酒徒 斜倚着太阳！ 我感受了一场葬礼,在脑中 我感受了一场葬礼,在脑中 哀悼者来来往往 不停地踏啊——踏啊—— 感觉是在—— 当他们坐下时, 一个礼仪,像是一面鼓—— 在不停地敲啊——敲啊—— 我的头正在麻木 接着我听到抬棺的声音 吱呀声穿过了我的灵魂 又是,那些长筒靴,地面 又一次——开始轰鸣, 似乎天下就是一只铃铛, 而人,只是一只耳朵, 而我,静默一个陌生的种 摧残了,孤独地,在此—— 接着他们,一块理智的板,碎了, 接着我又掉落,掉落—— 接着撞直了一个世界,在每一次掉落, 接着完成了知晚——接着 鸟儿沿着小径过来 . 鸟儿沿着小径过来, 不知道我看见了它； 它把一条蚯蚓啄成两段, 把这家伙生的吞下. 接着从就近的草上, 它吸下了一颗露珠； 然后侧着身子跳向墙边, 为的是给甲虫让路. 转动着灵活的眼睛, 它扫视了四面八方—— 宛若是两颗受惊的珠子； 毛茸茸的头晃了晃—— 像人遇险时的模样, 我投点面包屑给它—— 很小心——它却X开翅膀, 划桨似地扑翼回家. 但是比桨划水轻盈—— 一片银辉不留痕迹； 比中午岸边的彩蝶轻盈—— 没浪花地划翼腾起. 我为美而死 我是为美而死——被人 安置在这个坟冢 有人是为真理而亡的,也被葬在旁边的穴中他曾轻声问道\"你为何而死〞？ \"为美,〞我回答 \"我,为真理——两者都一样 我们是兄弟,〞他说话 就这样,像两个男人,相会在这个夜晚 隔着墓穴交谈 直到青苔爬到我们唇边 将我们石碑上的名字遮掩 我听到苍蝇的嗡嗡声——在临死之前 32 / 60 . 我听到苍蝇的嗡嗡声——在临死之前 房间里寂静无声 就像空气突然平静下来—— 在风暴的间隙 注视我的眼睛——泪水已经流尽—— 呼吸渐重,人人屏气凝神 等待最后的时刻——上帝啊 就要在房间里——现身 我立下遗嘱——将我的所有分赠 将人世属于我的那一份 分赠他人——然后我就看见 一只苍蝇闯了进来—— 蓝色调的——低沉而莫名的嗡嗡声 在我——和光——之间 然后窗户关闭——然后 我再也不会明白为什么会看见—— 因为我不能停下来等候死神 因为我不能停下等候死神—— 他为我友善地停下—— 四轮马车只载着我俩—— 和永生. 我们慢慢驱车——他从不知道着急 而我也挥去了 我的工作和安逸, 只缘他彬彬有礼—— 我们经过学校,值课间休息 孩子们围成圆环——打逗游戏—— 我们经过农田凝望五谷 我们经过落日—— 确切地说——是他经过了我们—— 那露水引来了冷颤寒气—— 因我的女礼服——仅为纤细的薄纱织物 我的披肩——不过是绢网而已 我们暂停于一幢建筑物前 它看上去好似一片地面隆起—— 那屋顶几乎看不见—— 宛如飞檐装饰着大地—— 自那以后——已过去若干个世纪—— 可感觉还不到一天, 我第一次猜测那马头 是朝向永恒之地—— Style <1> poems without titles <2> severe economy of expression <3> directness, brevity <4> musical device to create cadence <6> short poems, mainly two stanzas <7> rhetoric techniques: personification – make some of abstract ideas vivid Comparison: Whitman vs. Dickinson 1. Similarities: <1> Thematically, they both extolled, in their different ways, an emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of \"American Renaissance〞. <2> Technically, they both added to the literary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they were pioneers in American poetry. 33 / 60 . 2. differences: <1> Whitman seems to keep his eye on society at large; Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual. <2> Whereas Whitman is \"national〞 in his outlook, Dickinson is \"regional〞. <3> Dickinson has the \"catalogue technique〞 Harriet Beecher Stowe <1811-16> Uncle Tom’s Cabin Uncle Tom's Cabin is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852. It was the best-selling novel of the 19th century, and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. The impact attributed to the book is great, reinforced by a story that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, \"So this is the little lady who started this great war.\" The book opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farm because of debts. Even though he and his wife, Emily Shelby, believe that they have a benevolent relationship with their slaves, Shelby decides to raise the needed funds by selling two of them—Uncle Tom, a middle-aged man with a wife and children, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby’s maid Eliza—to a slave trader. Emily Shelby hates the idea of doing this because she had promised her maid that her child would never be sold; Emily's son, George Shelby, hates to see Tom go because he sees the man as his friend and mentor. When Eliza overhears Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discussing plans to sell Tom and Harry, Eliza determines to run away with her son. The novel states that Eliza made this decision because she fears losing her only surviving child gratitude, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. During this time, Tom and Eva begin to relate to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share. During Eliza's escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who had run away previously. They decide to attempt to reach Canada. However, they are now being tracked by a slave hunter named Tom Loker. Eventually Loker and his men trap Eliza and her family, causing George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment. 34 / 60 . While all of this is happening, Uncle Tom is sold and placed on a riverboat, which sets sail down the Mississippi River. While on board, Tom meets and befriends a young white girl named Eva. When Eva falls into the river, Tom saves her. In gratitude, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. During this time, Tom and Eva begin to relate to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share. During Eliza's escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who had run away previously. They decide to attempt to reach Canada. However, they are now being tracked by a slave hunter named Tom Loker. Eventually Loker and his men trap Eliza and her family, causing George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment. Back in New Orleans, St. Clare debates slavery with his Northern cousin Ophelia who, while opposing slavery, is prejudiced against black people. St. Clare, however, believes he is not biased, even though he is a slave owner. In an attempt to show Ophelia that her views on blacks are wrong, St. Clare purchases Topsy, a young black slave. St. Clare then asks Ophelia to educate her. After Tom has lived with the St. Clares for two years, Eva grows very ill. Before she dies she experiences a vision of heaven, which she shares with the people around her. As a result of her death and vision, the other characters resolve to change their lives, with Ophelia promising to throw off her personal prejudices against blacks, Topsy saying she will better herself, and St. Clare pledging to free Uncle Tom. Before St. Clare can follow through on his pledge, however, he dies after being stabbed while entering a New Orleans tavern. His wife reneges on her late husband's vow and sells Tom at auction to a vicious plantation owner named Simon Legree. Legree takes Tom to rural Louisiana, where Tom meets Legree's other slaves, including Emmeline Legree begins to hate Tom when Tom refuses Legree's order to whip his fellow slave. Legree beats Tom viciously, and resolves to crush his new slave's faith in God. Despite Legree's cruelty, however, Tom refuses to stop reading his Bible and comforting the other slaves as best he can. While at the plantation, Tom meets Cassy, another of Legree's slaves. Cassy was previously separated from her son and daughter when they were sold; unable to endure the pain of seeing another child sold, she killed her third child. At this point Tom Loker returns to the story. Loker has changed as the result of being healed by the Quakers. George, Eliza, and Harry have also obtained their freedom after crossing into Canada. In Louisiana, Uncle Tom almost succumbs to hopelessness, as his faith in God is tested by the hardships of the plantation. However, he has two 35 / 60 . visions, one of Jesus and one of Eva, which renew his resolve to remain a faithful Christian, even unto death. He encourages Cassy to escape, which she does, taking Emmeline with her. When Tom refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline have gone, Legree orders his overseers to kill Tom. As Tom is dying, he forgives the overseers who savagely beat him. Humbled by the character of the man they have killed, both men become Christians. Very shortly before Tom's death, George Shelby Mark Twain <1835-1910> Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He was lauded as the \"greatest American humorist of his age,\" and William Faulkner called Twain \"the father of American literature〞. W.D. Howells called Mark Twain \"the Lincoln of our literature〞. Novels: The Gilded Age The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Short stories: \"Life on the Mississippi〞 \"Pudd’n head Wilson〞 \"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County〞 \"Innocents Abroad〞 \"The Mysterious Stranger〞 \"Roughing It〞 \"The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg〞 Historical romance : The Prince and the Pauper A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The story takes place along the Mississippi River. Along this river floats a small raft, with two people on it: One is an ignorant, uneducated Black slave named Jim and the 36 / 60 . other is a little uneducated outcast white boy of about the age of thirteen, called Huckleberry Finn, or Huck Finn. The book relates the story of the escape of Jim from slavery and , more important, how Huck Finn, floating along with him and helping him as best as he could, changes his mind, his prejudice about Black people, and comes to accept Jim as a man and as a close friend as well. Now Huck Finn comes from the very lowest level of society. His father is the poor town drunkard who would willingly commit any crime just for the pure pleasure of it. Huck Finn is an outcast, with no mother, no home, sleeping in barrels, eating scraps and leavings, and dressed in rags. All of his virtues come from his good heart and his sense of humanity. For most of the things he was taught turned out to be wrong; for example, he was taught that slavery was good and right, and that runaway slaves should be reported, so what Huck has got to do is to cut through social prejudices and social discriminations to find truth for himself. Huck starts by believing that Blacks are by nature lower than whites – inferior animals of sorts in fact. And much of book is concerned with Huck’s inner struggle between his sense of guilt in helping Jim to escape and his profound conviction that Jim is a human being – one of the best, in point of fact, that he has ever known. At first he cannot see Jim as a proper human being, and less as his equal. Through their escape down the river, he gets to know Jim better and becomes more and more convinced that he is not only a man, but also a good man. Thus he ends up by accepting him not merely as a human being but also as a loyal friend. All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. It's the best book we've had. There was nothing before. There has been nothing so good since. ——Ernest Hemingway Mark Twain’s Style: <1> colloquial language, vernacular language, dialects <2> local colour <3> syntactic feature: sentences are simple, brief, sometimes ungrammatical <4> humour <5> tall tales <6> social criticism Local Color: A term applied to literature which emphasizes its setting, being concerned with the character of a district or of an era, as marked by its customs, dialects, costumes, landscape or other peculiarities that have escaped standardizing cultural influences. The local color movement came into particular prominence in America after the Civil War, perhaps as an attempt to recapture the glamour of a past era, or to portray the sections of the reunited country. In local color literature one finds the dual influence of romanticism and realism since the author frequently looks 37 / 60 . away from ordinary life to distant lands, strange customs, or exotic scenes, but retains through minute detail a sense of fidelity and accuracy of description. O. Henry <1862-1910> O. Henry was the pseudonym of the American writer William Sydney Porter. O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. A prolific writer He wrote most often of New York city, where he spent his later years. His name for the city was \"Baghdad on the Subway.〞 Born in North Carolina, without much schooling and virtually orphaned. He followed several occupations: a bookkeeper, a drugstore clerk and a Texas Ranger. A central figure in the peak period of the American magazine short story. Died in drunkenness. Cabbages and Kings <1904>; The Four Million <1906>; The Trimmed Lamp <1907>; Heart of the West <1907>; The Voice of the City <1908>; Roads of Destiny <1909> \"The Gift of Magi〞 《麦琪的礼物》 \"A Service of Love〞 《爱的奉献》 \"The Cop and the Anthem〞 《与赞美诗》 \"The Last Leaf〞 《最后一片藤叶》 \"A Municipal Report〞 《市政报告》 \"An Unfinished Story〞 《没有完的故事》 \"The Furnished Room〞 《带家具出租的房间》 \"The Ransom of Red Chief〞 《红酋长的赎金》 Characteristics of O. Henry’s Works: His work is full of humor; his stories are amusing; Drawing directly from his experience with many odd jobs, he combined realism with a world of his own, reflecting a fatalistic view of life; His work is typically American, and he gives us a good idea of various types of people in the United States; The theme of his stories is often based on some self-sacrificing member of a family who is undergoing hardship to help a close relative. He also addresses questions of loneliness, of desolate people, of grotesque underlings. Henry James <1843-1916> Life Born in New York. Regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James. 38 / 60 . A realistic writer. The first American to achieve a blend of detailed observation and polished style. An admirer of European manners. James spent the last 53 years of his life in England, becoming a British subject in 1915, one year before his death. He is primarily known for the series of novels in which he portrays the encounter of Americans with Europe and Europeans. His method of writing from the point of view of a character within a tale allows him to explore issues related to consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting. Chief Works The American <1877>
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