1. American Puritanism The International theme was one of Henry James’s main subjects, which 12.

tional theme was one of Henry James’s main subjects, which 12. Hemingway (Code) Heroes

American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in dealt with the relationship between American and European culture. He The works of Ernest Hemingway generally center on the concept of

American thought and American literature. It has become, to some extent, explored the attractions and conflicts between new and old, innocence and heroism. Each of his novels contains a “Hemingway hero” — a man of

so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, so much a part of the experience, candor and complexity, the puritanical and the aesthetic. honor and integrity who expresses himself not with words, but with

national cultural atmosphere that the Americans breathe. It stresses 7. Local Colorism actions. The Hemingway hero is a noble but tragic hero fighting with the

predestination, original sin, total depravity, and limited atonement (or the Local Colorism is a type of writing that was popular in the late 19th overwhelming force; though he knows that he will be defeated at last, he

salvation of a selected few) from God’s grace. With such doctrines in their century, particularly among authors in the South of the United States. This decides to act like a hero. He is not a Godlike figure, but an ordinary, often

minds, Puritans left Europe for America in order to establish a theocracy in style relied heavily on using words, phrases, and slang that were native to flawed mortal who must look to himself for strength. The Hemingway

the New World. Over the years in the new homeland they built a way of the particular region in which the story took place. The term has come to hero is actually a mirror image of the author himself. Santiago in The Old

life that stressed hard work, thrift, piety, and sobriety. mean any device which implies a specific focus, whether it is geographical Man and the Sea is a typical Hemingway hero.

2. The American Dream or temporal. A well-known local colorism author was Mark Twain with his

The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of books Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can 8. Imagism 作品解析

achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These Imagism was a literary movement which came into being in Britain and 1. Comment on Sister Carrie

were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed U.S. around 1910 as a reaction to the traditional English poetry to express Sister Carrie, published in 1900, was the masterpiece of Theodore Dreiser,

on to subsequent generations. Nowadays the American Dream has led to the sense of fragmentation and dislocation. The imagists, with Ezra Pound a representative of American Naturalism. The fiction described how Carrie

an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and/or happiness. leading the way, hold that the most effective means to express these Meeber, a penniless girl in pursuit of her American Dream, degenerated

3. American Romanticism momentary impressions is through the use of one dominant image. into an immoral mistress and afterwards a comedy star, but still haunted

American Romanticism stretches from the end of the 18th century through Imagism is characterized by the following three poetic principles: i) direct by a sense of inner emptiness.

the outbreak of the Civil War. It was America’s first great creative period. treatment of subject matter; ii) economy of expression; iii) as regard Themes: Drastic changes in individual life brought about by

American romanticism was in essence the expression of “a real new rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the industrialization and urbanization;

experience” and contained “an alien quality” for the simple reason that sequence of metronome. Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro” is a Unknown mystery of fate—naturalist takes life as it is;

“the spirit of the place” was radically new and alien. Puritan influence well-known imagist poem. American values—materialistic to the core (criticize the society: America

over American romanticism was conspicuously noticeable. 9. Harlem Renaissance lacks spirituality);

4. American Transcendentalism Harlem Renaissance is a notable phase of black American writing centered The major theme in Sister Carrie, is materialism. The theme is primarily

American Transcendentalism is literature, philosophical and literary in Harlem (a predominantly black area of New York City) in the 1920s. It personified through Carrie with her desire for a fine home, clothes and

movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860. It brought a new self-awareness and critical respect to black literature in the everything else money can buy.

originated among a small group of intellectuals who were reacting against US. Langston Hughes and Richard Wright are representatives of the Writing style: the fiction is formless at times and awkwardly written, and

the orthodoxy of Calvinism and the rationalism of the Unitarian Church, movement with their works Weary Blues and Native Son respectively. the characterization is found deficient and prose dull, but the story is solid

developing instead their own faith centering on the divinity of humanity 10. The Lost Generation and intensely interesting with its simple but highly moving characters.

and the natural world. The beliefs that God is imminent in each person and The term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group Dreiser is good at employing the journalistic method of reiteration to burn

in nature and that individual intuition is the highest source of knowledge of American literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period a central impression into the reader’s mind.

led to an optimistic emphasis on individualism, self-reliance, and rejection which saw the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great 2. Comment on The Portrait of a Lady

of traditional authority. The ideas of transcendentalism were most Depression. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott 作 者 ： Henry James is an American-born writer, gifted with talents in

eloquently expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson in such essays as Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, T. S. Eliot, and Gertrude literature, psychology and philosophy. His fame rested largely on “the

Nature(1836), and Self-Reliance and by Henry David Thoreau in his book Stein herself. Hemingway likely popularized the term, quoting Stein international theme.”

Walden (1854). ( “You are all a lost generation” ) as epigraph to his novel, The Sun Also 情 节 ： Isabel Archer arrives in London to meet her rich aunt Mrs.

5. American Naturalism Rises. More generally, the term is being used for the young adults of Touchett, whose cousin Ralph becomes deeply devoted to her. Her aunt’s

American Naturalism is a literary movement that became popular in Europe and America during World War I. They were “lost” because after neighbor, Lord Warburton falls in love with her, he proposes, but he was

America in the late 19th century and is often associated with literary the war many of them were disillusioned with the world in general and refused. Isabel’s suitor Gasper Goodwood follows her to London, his

realism. Viewed as a combination of realism and romanticism, critics unwilling to move into a settled life. proposal was refused, too. Then Isabel gets a large fortune, which evokes

contend that the American form is heavily influenced by the concept of 11. The Jazz Age the interest of Madame Merle. Isabel begins to fall into a villainous

determinism—the theory that heredity and environment influence and The Jazz Age describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years scheme. Merle introduces Gilbert Osmond to Isabel, and she describes

determine human behavior. Although naturalism is often associated with between World War I and World War II, particularly in North America; him as the finest man in Europe. But actually he has nothing. Isabel

realism, which also seeks to accurately represent human existence, the two with the rise of the Great Depression, the values of this age saw much chooses to marry him. After the marriage, Isabel finds Osmond a tough

movements are differentiated by the fact that naturalism is connected to decline. Perhaps the most representative literary work of the age is man, but she doesn’t consider leaving him. Ralph dies of lung disease. In

the doctrine of biological, economic and social determinism. American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, highlighting what his funeral, Isabel knows the indecent love relationship between Osmond

Representative writers are, among others, Stephen Crane and Theodore some describes as the decadence and hedonism, as well as the growth of and Merle. At last, Gaspar asks her to leave Osmond and live with him,

Dreiser. individualism. Fitzgerald is largely credited with coining the term “The but Isabel turns him down and remains in her miserable marriage.

6. International Theme Jazz Age”. 人物分析：Isabel Archer: an independent, imaginative and widely read
NY young lady; He created “code hero”, by which Hemingway depicted as contingent on Stephen Crane The Red Badge of Courage

Ralph: Isabel’s cousin, slowing dying of a lung disorder, he loves Isabel the qualities of courage, self-control, endurance and "grace under stream of consciousness William Faulkne

deeply, but he acts as a dedicated spectator, because of his illness; pressure." For the code hero, death is not the ultimate fear: the Theodore Dreiser Sister Carrie

Gilbert Osmond: a man of no social standing or wealth, regards Isabel as Hemingway hero knows how to confront death. What he truly fears is
Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass

his collection nada (the Spanish word for nothing)-existence in a state of nonbeing.
Washington Irving The Sketch Book

写作风格： A central theme in Hemingway's work is “grace under pressure” ---how

Wiliam Faulkner The Sound and the Fury

psychological reality the individual fits into society, and how one should live in what often

over-elaborate language seems to be a crazy and difficult world; Omnipresent violence is a fact of

long and involved sentences existence, according to Hemingway; some other stories explored the

主题： hollowness of religious consolation.

the meeting of America and Europe.

American naïve in contract and contrast with European decadence, and

its moral and psychological complications

作家评析

1. Comment on Eugene O’Neil as a playwright.

As the nation’s first important playwright with forty nine published plays,

he did a great deal to establish the modes of the modern theatre in the

country. a typical anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin

With him American drama developed into a form of literature and in him black poet Langston Hughes

American drama came of age. cosmopolitan novelist Henry James

As America’s foremost playwright, O’Neill successfully introduced the

Edgar Allan Poe To Helen

European theatrical trends of realism, naturalism and expressionism to

Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea

the American stage as devices to express his comprehensive interest in

Eugene O'Neill The Emperor Jones

life and humanity.

gifted nonprofessional poet Wallace Stevens
He often ignored normal play divisions of scenes and acts, paid little
Henry D. Thoreau Walden
attention to the expected length of plays, made his characters wear
Herman Melville Moby-Dick
masks, split one character between two actors, reintroduced ghosts,
Imagism Ezra Pound
chorus, monologue, and direct addresses to audience.
Jack London Martin Eden
He employed sets, lighting, and sounds to enhance emotion rather than
John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath
to represent a real place.
Kate Chopin The Awakening
He represented the new trend on the stage by introducing a modern and
Lost generation Ernest Hemingway
timely content.

Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin

His works reflect the life of his country and his time.

Nathaniel Hawthorne Walden

His success in the realistic and expressionistic drama has turned others

novel with local colorism The Adventures of Huckleberry

from the traditions of romantic comedy and melodrama which had for so

F
long bound the American stage, and opened the way for new literary

experiments. pographical style E.E.Cummings

All his life O’Neill remained individual and nonpolitical. He stood aloft Ralph Waldo Emerson Nature

among his contemporary playwrights. Robert Frost link between Realism and

2. Comment on Ernest Hemingway as an author. Moder

Hemingway became a spokesperson for the Lost generation. Hemingway Scott Fitzgerald Tender Is the Night

wrote of war, death, and the "lost generation" of cynical survivors.