【正文】 . The Purloined Letter(2) Revenge, death and rebirtha. The Fall of the House of Usherb. Ligeiac. The Masque of the Red Death(3) Literary theorya. The Philosophy of Compositionb. The Poetic Principlec. Review of Hawthorne’s Twicetold TalesIII. Themes1. death – predominant theme in Poe’s writing“Poe is not interested in anything alive. Everything in Poe’s writings is dead.”2. disintegration (separation) of life3. horror4. negative thoughts of scienceIV. Aesthetic ideas1. The short stories should be of brevity, totality, single effect, pression and finality.2. The poems should be short, and the aim should be beauty, the tone melancholy. Poems should not be of moralizing. He calls for pure poetry and stresses rhythm.V. Style – traditional, but not easy to readVI. Reputation: “the jingle man” (Emerson)VII. His influencesChapter 3 The Age of RealismI. Background: From Romanticism to Realism1. the three conflicts that reached breaking point in this period(1) industrialism vs. agrarian(2) culturelymeasured east vs. newlydeveloped west(3) plantation gentility vs. mercial gentility2. 1880’s urbanization: from free petition to monopoly capitalism3. the closing of American frontierII. Definition: With Howells, James, and Mark Twain active on the scene, realism became a major trend in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century. It expressed the concern for the world of experience, of the monplace, and for the familiar and the low. In matters of style, there was contrast between the genteel and graceful prose on the one hand, and vernacular diction and rough and ready frontier humor on the other. Three Giants in Realistic Period1. William Dean Howells – “Dean of American Realism”(1) Worksa. The Rise of Silas Laphamb. A Chance Acquaintancec. A Modern Instance(2) Features of His Worksa. Optimistic toneb. Moral development/ethicsc. Lacking of psychological depth2. Henry James(1) Life(2) Literary career: three stagesa. 1865~1882: international themel The Americanl Daisy Millerl The Portrait of a Ladyb. 1882~1895: interpersonal relationships and some playsl Daisy Miller (play)c. 1895~1900: novellas and tales dealing with childhood and adolescence, then back to international themel The Turn of the Screwl When Maisie Knewl The Ambassadorsl The Wings of the Dovel The Golden Bowl(3) International Theme: Most of Henry Jame’s novels deal with the international theme. That is the meeting of America and Europe, American innocence in contact and contrast with European decadende, and its moral and psychological plications. For American it was a process of progression from inexperience to experience, from innocence to knowledge and maturity. Local Colorism1860s, 1870s~1890sI. Appearance1. uneven development in economy in America2. culture: flourishing of frontier literature, humourists3. magazines appeared to let writer publish their worksII. What is “Local Colour”?Local Colorism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early seventies. The appearance of Bret Harte’s “The Luck of Roaring Camp” in 1868 marked a significant development in the brief history of local color fiction. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life.III. Mark Twain – Mississippi1. life2. works(1) The Gilded Age(2) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer。僅作參考，最主要還是要自己消化，整理Chapter 1 Colonial Period 1. Puritanism: American puritans accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God.2. Influence(1) A group of good qualities – hard work, thrift, piety, sobriety (serious and thoughtful) influenced American literature.(2) It led to the everlasting myth. All literature is based on a myth – garden of Eden.(3) Symbolism: the American puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception was chiefly instrumental in calling into being a literary symbolism which is distinctly American.(4) With regard to their writing, the style is fresh, simple and direct。 the rhetoric is plain and honest, not without a touch of nobility often traceable to the direct influence of the Bible.II. Overview of the literature1. types of writingdiaries, histories, journals, letters, travel books, autobiographies/biographies, sermons2. writers of colonial period(1) Anne Bradstreet(2) Edward TaylorIII. Benjamin Franklin1. life2. works(1) Poor Richard’s Almanac(2) Autobiography3. contribution(1) He helped found the Pennsylvania Hospital and the American Philosophical Society.(2) He was called “the new Prometheus who had stolen fire (electricity in this case) from heaven”.(3) Everything seems to meet in this one man – “Jack of all trades”. Herman Melville thus described him “master of each and mastered by none”.Chapter 2 American RomanticismSection 1 Early Romantic PeriodI. American Romanticism1. Background(1) Political background and economic development(2) Romantic movement in European countriesDerivative – foreign influence2. features(1) American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new experience and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that “the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien.(2) There is American Puritanism as a cultural heritage to consider. American romantic authors tended more to moralize. Many American romantic writings intended to edify more than