Handouts for American Literature (I)IntroductionI. Literature---defined by Webster’s Universal Unabridged Dictionary as “all writings in prose orverse, especially those of an imaginative or critical character”. A kind of work imaginative and creative, either written or oral, made of three categories: drama, poetry and fiction• A. Drama—comedy, tragedy, historical play, legendary play, mystery play Bible）, miracle play（saints）, morality play, satire, closet drama• B. Fiction—romance, legend, short-short story, short story, novelette, novel（historical, picaresque, Gothic, science fiction, detective, psychological, stream-of-consciousness）• C. Poetry—epic, narrative poem, blank verse, sonnet, epigram, elegy, ode, picture poem, parody, free verse（open form）II. 9 American Nobel Prize winners in literature:1930 Sinclair Lewis(1885–1951)---Main Street, Babbitt1936 Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) ---dramatist, The Hairy Ape, The Emperor Jones, Beyond the Horizon, Desire Under the Elms, Long Days Journey into Night1938 Pearl Buck (1892-1973)--- The Good Earth1948 T. S. Eliot---American to British nationality, poet, playwright and critic, father of modernism, Waste Land1949 William Faulkner (1897–1962) ---novelist, series about a fictional southern county; The Sound and the Fury, Light in August, As I Lay Dying1954 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) ---The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises1962 John Steinbeck(1902-1968)---The Grapes of Wrath, about farmers’ hardship1976 Soul Bellow(1915 –2005)---a Jewish writer, Seize the Day, Henderson the Rain King, Herzog, Humboldt's Gift1993 Toni Morrison(1931- )---a black woman writer, The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby, Beloved, Jazz, Paradise, Love, A Mercy, about black peoplePart One The Literature of Colonial AmericaEngland (provided the overwhelming majority of the immigrants)1607---Jamestown (in memory of king James I), 1st permanent English settlement in America1620---Heading for Hudson River, pilgrims landed at Plymouth (by Mayflower, 73 men and 29 women), signed the Mayflower Compact, which has become the base of American independence and constitution. In 1621, the pilgrims celebrated a huge harvest to thank God (Thanksgiving Day)1630---Great Migration of English Puritans to New England began.1732---Last and 13th colony (Georgia) was founded●Settlers came for 2 purposes: fortune and religious freedom● 3 religions in the world ---Christianity, Islam, Buddhism●Puritanism (influenced by Calvin) ---principles and practices of the Puritans.---The main doctrines of it are the following four aspects:predestination (God has decided a person’s fate even before his birth),original sin,total depravitylimited atonement (or the salvation of a selected few)---There is a gap between God and man, one almighty and perfect and another sinful, weak and wicked. God decides to save some while punishing others. No one could get salvation through his own efforts, prayers or deeds, as it is only a gift from God, which goes directly to the individual after their confession without the help of the church.---With their strict Christian belief, puritans embraced hardships and a harsh church, emphasizing hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety.---They were opposed to pleasure and arts. Lives were disciplined and hard. They regarded joy and laughter as sin, made laws about private morality and public behavior.---They emphasized the image of a wrathful God and forgot His mercy.LiteratureThe first American writings were narratives (travel accounts) and journals (religious writings) by immigrants from England who were not professional writers.A. travelJohn Smith ---1st American writer←His Works:←The General History of Virginia←PocahontasB. history1. William Bradford—The History of Plymouth Plantation (Mayflower, 1620)2. John Winthrop—The History of New EnglandC. diary and journalD. letters, contracts, government charters and political statementsE. religious statements (sermons)— John Cotton, Cotton Mather1. John Cotton ---more concerned with authority than with democracy2. Roger Williams ---with him began religious tolerance, separation of church and stateF. poems1. Ann Bradstreet ---1st real New England poet, “The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America”, one of America’s most notable early writers; about piety and simple events of her daily life, refused “to sing of wars, of captains, and of kings”, poems serve as a window to the heart of 17th century American women. “The Flesh and the Spirit”; “Some Verses on the Burning of Our House”2. Edward Taylor (p.13)---in the style of 17th century English poets, poetry as “Meditation” for hisrole of minister, religious subject (esp. Psalms), produced the finest poetry written in the colonial America. Concerned with the inner spiritual life of Puritan believers. Created rich, unusual vivid images to help his reader “see, hear, taste and feel religious doctrine”Conclusion:Literature of ideas (p.4 theological, moral, historical and political)Theme---Puritanism, theologyStyle---fresh, simple and directHomework 1: Movies to watch← 1. Pocahontas 2. AvatarHomework 2: Writing←Write a composition for at least 200 words in English, discussing one of the themes of the Cartoon Pocahontas.The writing should be due on Friday, May 8, before 14:00.←In the next class we will have a discussion about the movie.Preview：Part II The Literature of Reason and Revolution1.Enlightenment Movementpulsory reading:a.The last paragraph of Page 20 (from a child I was fond of reading……events of my life)b.The 2nd paragraph of Page 23 (I had begun in 1733 to study language……to read their booksalso)c.The Wild Honey Suckle on Page 42。