Americanliterature.ppt

1、The History of American Literature,Tang Yaling English class1006,Brief introduction of American literature:,Like other people around the world, Americans have long understood the importance of writing down their experiences. Their goal is not only to document events and their impressions of them but

2、 also to distribute their ideas to others. American literature is a record of American experience from colonial times up to the present day. This great body of works includes essays, plays, novels, short stories ,diaries, and letters. The history of American literature can be generally divided into

3、six periods: The Colonial and Revolutionary Periods ,the Romantic Period, the Realistic Period, the Naturalistic Period ,the Modern Period, the Contemporary Period.,.The Colonial and Revolutionary Periods,The era from the founding of the first settlement at Jamestown to the outbreak of the American

4、Revolution is often called the Colonial Period. During colonial times, writers in America were men and women newly arrived from the Great Britain. Their writing style reflected their British roots. Writings were for the most part religious ,practical, or historical. Religion was the subject of much

5、colonial literature, and very little fiction was written that period. The colonists did write poetry, but it was mainly religious in nature. Usually their writings were practical sermons, accounts of journeys and explorations, biographies and essays.,Typical writers and their masterpieces,Jonathan E

6、dwards (17031758),Jonathan Edwards is widely acknowledged to be Americas most important and original philosophical theologian. His work as a whole is an expression of two themes the absolute sovereignty of God and the beauty of Gods holiness. With his powerful sermons, he ardently preached the Purit

7、an ideas and condemned peoples depravity. His best-known work is an intimidating sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.,Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790),Benjamin Franklin was the model of the self-made American. His fame as an inventor, politician, ambassador, philosopher, scientist ,essayist spr

8、ead far and wide. He also took part in drafting the Declaration of Independence written largely by Thomas Jefferson which is a timeless statement of basic human rights. His famous work is Autobiography whicn is a reflection of his patriotic views . The Autobiography ( 1771-1790) The Way to Wealth (1

9、774) Poor Richards Almanac (1732-1758),.The Romantic Period(1790-1865),The Romantic Period ,one of the most important periods in the history of American literature ,also called “the American Renaissance”, stretches from the end of 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil War. During this perio

10、d , American writings continued to follow the form and style of British literature, and most of them placed an emphasis on the free expressions of emotions. American romanticism exhibited from the very outset distinct features of its own in spite of the strong British influences. Early American Roma

11、nticism was best represented by Washington Irving and James Fennimore Cooper in their fiction.,Washington Irving 1783-1859,Regarded as the father of American literature. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book, written while he wa

12、s living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820. With Irvings companion piece Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is among the earliest examples of American fiction still read today.,James Fennimore Cooper (1789-1851),Leather Stocking Tales, a series of five novels that include

13、The Pioneer (1823),The Last of the Mohicans (1826),The Prairie (1827),The Pathfinder (1840 ),The Deerslayer(1841),feature a frontiersman hero ,Natty Bumppo, a skillful and brave woodsman, who represents the spirit of young bold nation of the United States.,Henry David Thoreau(1803-1862）,Henry descri

14、bed his two-year experiment living in nature in Walden （ 1854）or Life in the Woods (1854),.The Realistic Period (1865-1900),American Realism came in the latter half of the 19th century as a reaction against Romanticism. Although literary efforts were interrupted by the American Civil War(1861-1865),

15、the late 1800s also saw great achievements in writing. During this time two great novelists emerged-Mark Twain and Henry James.,Mark Twain（ 1835-1910）,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn（ 1886）is Twains masterpiece which is about his boyhood along Mississippi River. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer(1876)

16、 The Mysterious Stranger(1916),etc,Henry James（ 1843-1916）,Henry James focused his attention to contrasting American culture with that of Britain and the rest of Europe, writing such novels as The Portrait of a Lady (1881),Daisy Miller（ 1897）,The Ambassadors（ 1903）,.Naturalistic Period(1900-1914),Ar

17、ound the turn of the 20th century several novelists focused their writings on parts of life that had not been fully explored in American literature. It was a movement toward naturalism, it views human beings as animals in a natural world responding to environmental forces and internal stresses and d

18、rives, over which they have no control and none of which they can fully understand. Theodore Dreisers novel Sister Carrie is a typical novel ,shows men and women caught up in the cruel forces of life in the modern industrial age.,Theodore Dreiser （ 1871-1945）,Sister Carrie（ 1900） An American tragedy

19、 (1925) is his masterpiece. It describes the life of a youth who becomes a corrupted murderer from a very innocent ,naive boy. It exposes the evils of the society that corrupt men ,especially the young .These works shocked many readers ,also widened the boundaries of literature.,.The Modern Period(1

20、914-1939).The Contemporary Period (1939-),The writings of 20th century and later years are a reflection of the diversity and complexity of modern life .Poets, novelists, short-story writers and playwrights tackled a great variety of subjects ,set their works in different regions of the nation and wo

21、rld and used many literary techniques from simple to complicated, straightforward to experimental. As the 21st century began, the literature of the united states was as varied as its people.,Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961),Ernest Hemingway, a Nobel Prize winner for Literature, is one of the best-known

22、American writers of the 20th century . Major works includes The Sun Also Rises (1926),A Farewell to Arms(1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls(1940)and The Old Man and the Sea(1952),Tony Morrison(1931-),Tony Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993,and she is the first African-American writer to win a Nobel Prize .In her works ,she explores the experience of black women in a racist culture. Her famous novels are the Bluest Eye(1970) and Beloved (1987),the