【正文】
Chapter VII A Brief Introduction to American Literature I. Different Stages of American Literature 1. American literature was formed and developed at the time of the War of Independence. 2. At the beginning of the 19th century, American literature showed great importance on the stage of world literature. 3. American literature is the product of the development of the American society, reflecting the social life of America. II. Fiction 1. Stages of American fiction A. From Irving, American fiction began to flourish, but it still followed the European convention. B. There rose the novelists of Romanticism. C. The fiction that is typically American actually began from Mark Twain. D. From the turn of the 20th C., American fiction began to be more noticeable. E. After WWII, there appeared a diversity of American fiction. F. American contemporary literature has continued to undergo healthy development in producing new forms and new language suitable for expressing a vivid and varied sense about contemporary life. 2. Schools of American fiction A. American modernism from 1900 to 1940 B. Postmodernism from 1960s to 1980s C. American fiction became more conservative during the late 1980s. D. The new directions: science fiction amp。 hybrid forms, critical literature, voices and myths by women writers and authors from other marginal groups. E. Short story or coolsurfaced minimalist fiction. 3. Washington Irving (17831859) A. The “father of American literature” B. The first American to achieve international literary reputation. C. Born in NYC on April 3rd, 1783. D. He was the first to write by using the local color of America, and his details added a note of symbolism to the basic themes. E. His most famous story is Rip Van Winkle. 4. Nathaniel Hawthorne (18041864) A. Born on Day of Independence, 1804 as a descendant of Puritan immigrants. B. He is famous in roman