1. Transcendentalism is a group of ideas in literature and philosophy that developed in the 1830s and 1840s as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian church. They believe in an ideal spirituality that \the physical and empirical and is realized only through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines of established religions.
The major figures in the movement were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau Margaret Fuller.
2. Modernism is a cultural movement that generally includes the progressive art of architecture, design, literature, music, dance, painting and other visual arts which emerged in the beginning of the 20th century, particularly in the years following World War I. It was a movement of artists and designers who rebelled against late 19th century academic and historic tradition, and embraced the new economic, social and political aspects of the emerging modern world.
Among American writers, the best-known Modernists are T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and so on.
3. Imagism was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery, and clear, sharp language. The Imagists rejected the sentiment and artifice typical of much Romantic and Victorian poetry. This was in contrast to their contemporaries, the Georgian poets, who were by and large content to work within that tradition.
The most outstanding figures of the movement were Ezra Pound, Amy Lowell and Hilda Doolittle.
4. Puritanism refers to the movement arising within the Church of England in the latter part of the 16th century that sought to purify, or reform, that church and establish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant reformers. It remained the dominant religious force in New England throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The term Puritanism is also used in a broader sense to refer to attitudes and values considered characteristic of the Puritans.
Its representative figures are Anna Bradstreet Franklin, Thomas Paine.
5. Naturalism refers to the theory that literary composition should aim at a detached, scientific objectively in the treatment of natural man. The movement is an outgrowth of 19th century scientific thought. Artistically, naturalistic writings are usually unpolished in language, lacking in academic skills and unwieldy in structure. Philosophically, the naturalists believe that the real and true is always partially hidden from the eye of the individual.
Notable writers were Frank Norris, Sherwood Anderson and Theodore Dreiser.
6. Local colorism is a fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region. It put emphasis on physical setting and those distinctive qualities of landscape which condition human thought and behavior. It started from1860s to the end of 19th century.
Bret Harte’s The Luck of Roaring Camp marked a significant development in the brief history of local color fiction. Another important figure was Mark Twain.
7. The Lost Generation refers to a group of the disillusioned intellectuals and artists,who lived in Paris and other parts of Europe from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. They rebelled against former ideals and values but could replace them only by despair or a cynical hedonism.
Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot.
8.The Jazz Age describes the period from 1918-1929,the years between the end of World War I and the start of the Roaring Twenties; ending with the rise of the Great Depression, the traditional values of this age saw great decline while the American stock market soared. The age takes its name from F. Scott Fitzgerald and jazz music, which saw a tremendous surge in popularity among many segments of society.
The dominant figure of this period was F. Scott Fitzgerald.
9. The American Dream is the concept widely held in the United States of America, that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity (often associated with the protestant work ethic). Today, in America it generally refers to the idea that one's prosperity depends upon one's own abilities and hard work, not on a rigid class structure, though the meaning of the phrase has changed over America's history. The course of Clinton was the classic example of ―The American Dream‖.
10. Psychological realism is a kind of ideological trend of literature which appears in the traditional literature in the course from realism to modernism. It recognizes that what is real to the individual is that which he or she perceives. It is the ground for the use of the centered consciousness, or the first-person narrator, since both of these present reality only as something perceived by the focal character.
Henry James was the founder whose works are The American, The Portrait of a Lady.
诗歌欣赏
I．The Wild Honey Suckle (开头：Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, hid in this silent, dull retreat……)
1. Writer :Philip Freneau
2. Theme: 1.In this poem the poet expressed a keen awareness of the loveliness and transience of nature. It implies that life and death are inevitable law of nature.
2.In the author's opinion, the origin land in America was filled with beauty and myth.
3. Technique of this poem :The central image is a native wild flower, which makes a drastic difference from elite flower images typical of tradition English poems.
Exaggeration personification Alliteration ,assonance, masculine rhyme used in the poem also produce musical or melodious and harmonious, which matches the beauty of the flower. The poem contains iambics trochaics and spondee.
II. Annabel Lee （开头：It was many and many years ago, in a kingdom by the sea……Annabel Lee） 1. Writer: Allen Poe
2. Theme : Eternal love. The love between the narrator and Annabel Lee is so strong and beautiful and pure that even the seraphs, the highest order of angels in heaven, envy it. The love remains alive–eternal–because the souls of the lovers remain united . 3.Techiques of the poem:
1)Melancholy is the most legitimate of all the poetic tones. 2)Use of Alliteration to create pleasing sound patterns. 3)Imagery and figurative language: Imagery–Darkness and Light Implied and explicit images of darkness and light occur throughout the poem.Poe implies that the kingdom by the sea is a bright, cheerful place where the sun shines on two young lovers, the narrator and Annabel Lee.
III. Because I could not stop for death(开头: Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me…..结尾…were toward eternity) 1. Writer Emily Dickinson
2 Theme：Religion & Faith Life & Death Beauty & Truth Love & Marriage Nature Friendship Time & Eternity 3.Techniques of the poem: Alliteration Anaphora 首语重复, Personification ,Metaphor ,Paradox Imagery and Figurative language
IV. In a Station of the Metro(全诗：The apparition of these faces in the crowded; petals on a wet, black bough) 1. Writer: Ezra Pound
2.Theme: Although the society is depressed and helpless, there is still hope in everybody’s heart .The lovely face meant a promising future .The poem is just like a mirror which reflects the hopeful song in the soul of human beings
3. Techniques of the poem: Metaphor: the petals obviously indicate the lovely faces Contrast: the first line and the second line are using the contrast.
V. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening（开头whose woods these are I think I know, his house is in the village though…结尾and miles to go before I sleep） 1. Writer: Robert Frost
2. Theme: this poem stresses a central conflict between man's enjoyment of natural beauty and his responsibility in society. This shows a man's despairing courage to seek out the meaning of life. 3.Writing Skills
(1) Rhythm and Rhyme (2) Rhetorical Device:Alliteration (头韵 sound & sleep; dark & deep 头韵) Personification (拟人 ―he‖—horse ―My little horse must think it queer.‖ Repetition(重复 ―and miles to go before I sleep,)and miles to go before I sleep. ‖Images/Symbolism (意象 象征) VI．Anecdote of the Jar (开头I placed a jar in Tennessee, and around it was, upon a hill…结尾like nothing else in Tennessee) 1. Writer: Wallace Stevens
2. Theme: It is only about a jar literally, but figuratively reflect more about the relationship between nature and humans. The jar means humanity, culture, art and artistic imaginations. The nature is a desultory world and only ideas can make it united as a whole. Art is magic. It fantasize the nature. Without art, we are nothing and dead.
3. Technique of this poem, the most important one is symbolism and surrealism. For example, the ―I‖ in the poem maybe not refers to the writer Wallace Stevens himself, it can be anyone. And the jar symbolize art, while the wilderness in Tennessee is the symbol of nature.