1、Chapter ONE.Colonial American(1607-1765)Puritanism in America vThey follow the ideas of the Swiss reformer John Calvin.vDoctrines:-Predestination-Original sin and total depravity(human beings are basically evil.)-Limited atonement(or the Salvation of a selected few)Puritan values(creeds):Hard work,t
2、hrift,piety,sobriety,simple tastes.Puritans are more practical,tougher,and to be ever ready for any misfortune and tragic failure.They are optimistic.P12Puritanism in America vWhy did Puritans come to America?-to reform the Church of England-to have an entirely new church-to escape religious persecu
3、tion*Gods chosen people*To seek a new Garden of Eden*To build“City of God on earth”Puritanism in America vInfluence-American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature.-American literature is based on a myth,i.e.the Biblical myth of the Gar
4、den of Eden.-Puritanism can be compared with Chinese Confucianism.清教徒v清教徒并不是一种派别，而是一种态度，一种倾向，一种价值观，它是对信徒群体的一种统称。清教徒是最为虔敬、生活最为圣洁的新教徒，他们认为“人人皆祭司，人人有召唤”。认为每个个体可以直接与上帝交流，反对神甫集团的专横、腐败和繁文缛节、形式主义。他们主张简单、实在、上帝面前人人平等的信徒生活。清教徒v在清教徒的理解中，职业就是一件被冥冥之中的神所召唤、所使唤、所命令、所安排的任务，而完成这个任务，既是每个个体天赋的职责和义务，也是感谢神的恩召的举动。如上帝曾召唤亚
5、伯拉罕作虔诚且 富有的君王，他凭着信心最后成就了召唤，成为富甲万国、繁衍众多的君王。现在，上帝也召唤清教徒开拓北美的疆土，把在美国国度上的创业视为天职。v他们也肯定现实生活，与出世厌世的观念相反，他们认为：“世界就是我们的修道院”（加尔文语）。而尘世中的工作是我们修道的方式，是上帝安排的任务，是神圣的天职。每个人要入世修行，将自己在世间的工作和生活作好，就是在修行和敬拜，就是在尽一个人的本分。v他们也肯定了营利活动，认为人是上帝财富的托管人，作为托管人，有天职将财富增值。正像一位名叫普勒斯顿的清教徒领袖在他的著作中所写：“若有人问如何能晓得神在他身上的旨意，我的答案很简单：只要看看神赐给他的产
6、业便成。”清教徒精神清教徒精神v清教徒是创业精神的代言人，他们认为人开创产业必须要禁欲和俭省节约。他们限制一切纵欲、享乐甚至消费行为，将消费性投入和支出全部用在生产性投资和扩大再生产上，如此必然导致资本的积累和产业的发展。不是纵欲和贪婪积累了财富，而是克制和禁欲增长了社会财富。v清教徒崇尚商业和工业活动，在商业中诚实守信、珍视信誉、决不坑蒙拐骗，清教徒企业家不仅追求利润最大化，而且具有对社会的回馈意识，担当社会责任、扶持社会公正，为社会公益事业作出了巨大贡献，承担了巨大的公共事业义务。v清教徒对一切充满了信心，无论从事商业贸易还是生产耕种，都具有排除万难、获得非凡成功的勇气和信心，他们善于创造
7、和创新，不断地开拓和征服。他们身上值得人们学习的可贵精神非常之多。1.Introduction to colonial literatureInstead of beginning with folk tales and songs the American literature began with abstractions and proceeded from philosophy to fiction because there were no written literature among the more than 500 different Indian languages an
8、d tribal cultures that existed in North America before the first Europeans arrived there and set up the first colony Jamestown in about 1607.American writing began with the work of English adventurers and colonists in the New World chiefly for the benefit of readers in the mother country.3.Therefore
9、 the writing in this period was essentially 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 discussions of religious questions.4.Fu
10、rthermore,the influential Protestant work ethic,reinforced by the practical necessities of a hard pioneer life,inhibited the development of any reading matter designed simply for leisure-time entertainment.2.The Main Features of this periodvAmerican literature grew out of humble origins.Diaries,hist
11、ories,journals,letters,commonplace books,travel books,sermons,in short,personal literature in its various forms,occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period.2)In content these early writings served either God or colonial expansion or both.In form,if there was any form at al
12、l,English literary traditions were faithfully imitated and transplanted.3)The Puritanism formed in this period was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature.Early writersvJohn SmithvA Description of New Englandv新英格兰叙事vP16Early writersvP17Anne Bradstreet(
13、1617-1672)安妮布拉兹特里特vAnne Bradstreet was the first American poet.She came to America with her husband when she was 18,settling in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.Though a mother of 8 children,she managed to write poems.Her first volume of poetry was published in London,entitled The Tenth Muse Lately Spru
14、ng Up in America(1650)第十位诗神.vOn the Burning of Our House 写在我家失火之际Edward Taylor vHuswifery 家务vUpon a Spider Catching a Flyv蜘蛛扑捉苍蝇之遐想vPreparatory Meditation 自省录Other writersvP20QuestionsvIt is a critical commonplace now that American literature is based on a myth,that is,_.(北二外）nThe ancient Greek myth
15、 of ZeusnThe British myth of the Saint GrailnThe Biblical myth of the Garden of EdenA.The legend of the sleep HollowQuestions1.The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them_.(北二外）A.Quakers B.Anglicans C.Catholics D.Puritans2.Early in _,the English
16、 settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts started the main stream of the American national history.(北二外）A.14th.C B.15th.C C.17th.C D.18th.CChapter two.The period of Enlightenment and the Independence War(1765-1800)vThe 18th-century American enlightenment as a movement marked by an emphasis on ratio
17、nality rather than tradition,scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma,and representative government in place of monarchy.vEnlightenment thinkers and writers,such as Benjamin Franklin devoted to the ideals of justice,liberty,and equality as the natural rights of man.I.Introduction3
18、)In these period with the exception of outstanding political writing,such as Common sense,Declaration of Independence,The Federalist Papers and so on,few works of note appeared.Even if there appeared poetry and fiction,they were full of imitativeness and vague universality.So most Americans were pai
19、nfully aware of their excessive dependence on English literary models.The search for a native literature became a national obsession.vDespite these we should pay attention to several points in this period:The Dictionary edited by Noah Webster(1758-1843)based the American lexicography.Updated Webster
20、s dictionaries are still standard today.Philip Freneaus(1752-1832)was known as the poet of the American Revolution.His major themes are death,nature,transition,and the human in nature.All of these themes become important in 19th century writing.All the while.in romanticizing the wonders of nature in
21、 his writings.he searched for an American idiom in verse.Deism自然神论自然神论P28vNewtons“Philosophic Naturalism principia Mathematics”vLaws of motion&universal gravitation万有引力万有引力 vGod is the creator,but He has left it to operate following natural law.vThe universe follows certain physical and mechanical l
22、aws.vAlexander Pope,Daniel Defoe,Rousseau卢梭卢梭 Two-faceted tradition of American Puritanism P28vJonathan EdwardsvReligious idealismvCalvinism加尔文主义加尔文主义 vPuritan idealismvLast medieval manvThe Middle AgevAwe,prey and wait for Gods mercy and salvation vBenjamin FranklinvCommon sense&practicevDeism自然神论自
23、然神论vPuritan materialismvBringing the colonial era to a closevThe Age of EnlightenmentvWork hard for self-examination&self-improvementII.Benjamin Franklin1706-1790vLifevBenjamin Franklin came from a Calvinist background.vHe was born into a poor candle-makers family.He had very little education.He lea
24、rned in school only for two years,but he was a voracious reader.vAt 12,he was apprenticed to his elder half-brother,a printer.vAt 16,he began to publish essays under the pseudonym“Silence Do good”.vAt 17,he ran away to Philadelphia to make his own fortune.vHe set himself up as an independent printer
25、 and publisher.In 1727 he founded the Junto club.1.His LifeFranklins Contributions to Societyv He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital.vHe founded an academy which led to the University of Pennsylvania.vAnd he helped found the American Philosophical Society.Franklins Contributions to SciencevHe wa
26、s 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.”Franklins Contributions to the U.S vHe was the only American to sign
27、 the four documents that created the United States:vThe Declaration of Independence,vThe Treaty of Alliance with France,vThe Treaty of Peace with England,vThe ConstitutionvPoor Richards Almanac格言历书格言历书Maxims（谚语，格言）谚语，格言）and axioms（哲理，格言）哲理，格言）Lost time is never found again.A penny saved is a penny e
28、arned.God help them that help themselves.Fish and visitors stink in three days.Early to bed,and early to rise,makes a man healthy,wealthy,and wise.Eat not to dullness.Drink not to elevation.Diligence is the Mother of Good Luck.One Today is worth two tomorrow.Industry pays debts.Despair encreaseth th
29、em.2.Major Works P34vAutobiography 自传 vIt is perhaps the first real post-revolutionary American writing as well as the first real autobiography in English.vIt gives us the simple yet immensely fascinating record of a man rising to wealth and fame from a state of poverty and obscurity into which he w
30、as born,the faithful account of the colorful career of Americas first self-made man.Comments 1)First of all,it is a puritan document.The most famous section describes his scientific scheme of self-examination and self-improvement.Comments2)It is also an eloquent elucidation of the fact that Franklin
31、 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.Comments3)It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity
32、,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.v富兰克林写出了“美国梦”，“到美国去发财致富”成了影响力很大的口号。一位饱经风霜的老人，以拉家常的方式，把自己成功的经验和失败的教训娓娓道来，整部自传既无哗众取宠，又不盛气凌人，在通俗易懂的叙述中有睿智和哲理的火花，文字朴素幽默，叙事清楚简澍
33、，使读者备感亲切而易于接受，富兰克林自传开创了美国传记文学的优良传统，从此，自传成为一种新的文学体裁。vThe Autobiography is a record of self-examination and self-improvement.vBenjamin Franklin was a spokesman for the new order of the 18th century enlightenment vThe Autobiography is a how-to-do-it book,a book on the art of self-improvement.(for example,Franklins 13 virtues)3.Evaluation
