【正文】 anages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple view of his narratives.　(2) He tends to write periodic chapters.　(3) His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely mented upon and praised.(4) His works are symbolic and metaphorical.(5) He includes many nonnarrative chapters of factual background or description of what goes on board the ship or on the route (Moby Dick)　Romantic Poets　　I. Walt Whitman　　1. life2. work: Leaves of Grass (9 editions)　(1) Song of Myself(2) There Was a Child Went Forth　　(3) Crossing Brooklyn Ferry　　(4) Democratic Vistas(5) Passage to India　　(6) Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking3. themes – “Catalogue of American and European thought”He had been influenced by many American and European thoughts: enlightenment, idealism, transcendentalism, science, evolution ideas, western frontier spirits, Jefferson’s individualism, Civil War Unionism, Orientalism.Major themes in his poems (almost everything):　　l equality of things and beings　　l divinity of everythingl immanence of God　　l democracyl evolution of cosmos　l multiplicity of nature　l selfreliant spirit　l death, beauty of death　l expansion of Americal brotherhood and social solidarity (unity of nations in the world)l pursuit of love and happiness　4. style: “free verse”　(1) no fixed rhyme or scheme(2) parallelism, a rhythm of thought　(3) phonetic recurrence(4) the habit of using snapshots　(5) the use of a certain pronoun “I”　(6) a looser and more openended syntactic structure　(7) use of conventional image　(8) strong tendency to use oral English　(9) vocabulary – powerful, colourful, rarely used words of foreign origins, some even wrong　　(10) sentences – catalogue technique: long list of names, long poem lines　5. influence　(1) His best work has bee part of the mon property of Western culture.　(2) He took over Whitman’s vision of the poetprophet and poetteacher and recast it in a more sophisticated and Europeanized mood.(3) He has been pared to a mountain in American literary history.(4) Contemporary American poetry, whatever school or form, bears witness to his great influence.　II. Emily Dickenson1. life2. works(1) My Life Closed Twice before Its Close　(2) Because I Can’t Stop for Death　(3) I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I died　(4) Mine – by the Right of the White Election　(5) Wild Nights – Wild Nights3. themes: based on her own experiences/joys/sorrows　(1) religion – doubt and belief about religious subjects　　(2) death and immortality　　(3) love – suffering and frustration caused by love　(4) physical aspect of desire(5) nature – kind and cruel　　(6) free will and human responsibility　4. style　(1) poems without titles　(2) severe economy of expression　(3) directness, brevity　(4) musical device to create cadence (rhythm)(5) capital letters – emphasis(6) short poems, mainly two stanzas(7) rhetoric techniques: personification – make some of abstract ideas vividIII. Comparison: Whitman vs. Dickinson　1. Similarities:(1) Thematically, they both extolled, in their different ways, an emergent America, its expansion, its individualism and its Americanness, their poetry being part of “American Renaissance”.(2) Technically, they both added to the literary independence of the new nation by breaking free of the convention of the iambic pentameter and exhibiting a freedom in form unknown before: they were pioneers in American poetry.　2. differences:(1) Whitman seems to keep his eye on society at large。 　　A Concise History of American LiteratureWhat is literature?Literature is language artistically used to achieve identifiable literary qualities and to convey meaningful messages.　　Chapter 1 Colonial Period　I. Background: Puritanism　　1. features of Puritanism　(1) Predestination: God decided everything before things occurred.　(2) Original sin: Human beings were born to be evil, and this original sin can be passed down from generation to generation.　(3) Total depravity　　(4) Limited atonement: Only the “elect” can be saved.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。 Dickinson explores the inner life of the individual.(2) Whereas Whitman is “national” in his outlook, Dickinson is “regional”.　　(3) Dickinson has the “catalogue technique” (direct, simple style) which Whitman doesn’t have.　　Edgar Allen PoeI. LifeII. Works1. short stories　(1) ratiocinative stories　a. Ms Found in a Bottle　b. The Murders in the Rue Morguec. The Purloined Letter　(2) Revenge, death and rebirth　　a. The Fall of the House of Usherb. Ligeiac. The Masque of the Red Death　(3) Literary theorya. The Philosophy of Composition　b. The Poetic Principle　c. Review of Hawthorne’s Twicetold TalesIII. Themes　1. 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 life　　3. horror4. negative thoughts of scienceIV. Aesthetic ideas　　1. 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 read　VI. Reputation: “the jingle man” (Emerson)　　VII. His influences　Chapter 3 The Age of RealismI. Background: From Romanticism to Realism1. the three con