美國文學(xué)史-知識點梳理

1、Part I The Literature of Colonial AmericaI．Historical IntroductionThe colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement

2、 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 pr

3、e-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, of

4、ten, to induce their immigration2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions.III．The First American WriterThe first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of the

5、se 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

6、 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 PocahontasCaptain John Smit

7、h 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 Ne

8、w 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 LiteratureWill

9、iam Bradford and John Winthrop John Cotton and Roger WilliamsAnne Bradstreet and Edward TaylorV．Puritan Thoughts 1. The origin of puritanIn the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th Ce

10、ntury, 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

11、the Pope didn't allow him to divorce, so he) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church of by ruling the colonies from overseas and by taxing the colonies without giving them representati

12、on 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 Washing

13、ton. 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 federat

14、ive bourgeois democratic republic -- the United States of America.II．American EnlightenmentIt was supported by all progressive forces of the country which opposed themselves to the old colonial order and religious obscur

15、antism.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 themselv

16、es 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 wr

17、itings.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 i

18、n the life and career of Benjamin Franklin. III．Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)The AutobiographyPoor Richard’s AlmanacLifeBenjamin Franklin came from a Calvinist background.He was born into a poor candle-maker’s family. H

19、e 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 “S

20、ilence 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