Questions For American LiteratureWeek 1. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)1. Is Franklin a man of religiousprinciples? Why does he stop attending public service?2. Explain 13 virtues Franklinchooses for his moral improvement.3. What is Franklin’s attitudetowards moral perfection?4. What are significance of themoralistic self- discipline, according to Franklin?5. What virtues does Franklinthink he has never achieved?6. Comment on the Criticism that some authors made on Franklin, such as Hawthorn, Lawrence. (History p.53-54)Week 2: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)1.W hat does “whim”mean in the“Self-reliance”? and why does Emerson call consistency “foolish”?2.W hat is an acrostic or Alexandrianstanza character like, according to the Self-relaince?3.E xplain “to talk of reliance is a poorexternal way of speaking. Speak rather of that which relies, because it works and is.” and the context that gives rise to this statement in the Self-reliance. 4.W hat are Emerson’s comments onJesus Christ in “The Divinity School Address”? Please compare it with Thomas Paine’s in The Age of Reason.Week Three：Henry David Thoreau (1817--1862)1.W hat is the analogy between thatstriped snake lying on the bottom of the pond and the man in theearly spring? How is a stray goose like the spirit of the fog?2.W hat is Thoreau’s understandingof the beauty of an architecture?And what does he think of the architectural ornaments? In what cases will a “carpenter”be a “coffin-maker”?3.W hy does Thoreau say “Thosethings for which the most money is demanded are never the things which the student most wants”?What is your comment on Thoreau’s idea of higher education?4.I s Thoreau a quietist or a hermit inthe woods of Walden? Why or why not?Week four: Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864):1.W hat did the boy, at nightfall, hearwhen he was playing with the scattered fragments of marble?And how did he respond?2.W hat does author compare the kilnwith?3.W hat question struck EthanBrand’s mind on that portentousnight 18 years ago? Did he find the answer to it after 18-year-wandering in the world?What is it?4.W hat kind of person is Ethan Brandin his youth hood? What causes his transformation? What is the end of his life?5.H ow does the old dog’s pursuit ofhis tail parallel Ethan Brand’s search for the Unpardonable Sin?6.W hat is your understanding of thelittle boy Joe? What virtues does he stand for?Week Five: Herman Melville(1819-1891)1.H ow did Ahab respond whenMoby-Dick appear before him in the last day of the chasing Moby-Dick? And how did he respond in the last two days before ? Do you think Ahab’s attitudes towards Moby-Dick undergo any changes? Why?2.W hat are the Fedallah’s prophecyabout Ahab’s death? Does itcome true? And how? I3.W ho is the only survivor of thePequod? And how?4.W hat are the symbolic meanings ofMoby-Dick and Captain Ahab?And also the symbolic meaning of the death of the bird of heaven at the end of the novel?5.H ow do you understand theending sentence: “and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.” ? Week 6 Walt Whitman （1819-1892）1.W hat does Whitman’s “self”referto? Why is Whitman’s “myself”different from the narrow egotism?2.W hy does Whitman call his life’swork Leaves of Grass? What does “a leaf of grass’’ mean to you? To Whitman?3.W hat is the ending of Song ofMyself? And how will you respondto Whitman’s invitation?Week 7 Emily Dickinson （1830-1886）1.D ickinson is well-known for herpoetic meditations on dying anddeath. What is so moving andtouching in her death meditations?Do you think the speak fears ofdeath? Discuss yourunderstanding with the help ofher poems.2.W hat images does the poetessintroduce in the “Hope”, andhow do they work as the metaphors of the idea ---HOPE?3.H ow does the triumphing humanspirit permeate through Dickinson’s poetry of human suffering? Illustrate your ideas with her specific poems.Week 8 Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) 1.H ow many times is the word“nevermore” repeated? And what inquiries that “I” raised incites the raven to respond to with “Nevermore’?2.B esides “nevermore”, what is (are)the other word or words that you.find highly repeated? Why?3.H ow do Poe’s poems and storiescorrespond to the literary principals he raised in his “Poetic Principles”and “The Philosophy of Composition”? Discuss with Poe’s poems and stories as example.Word文档。