自考本科英语没那么难。
自考本科英语专业没有那么难，没有机构老师说的那么难，只要你认真背书，好好刷题，不是三天打鱼，两天晒网，都能考过，像现代语言学，英语词汇学，英美文学选读之类的都是背书的专业课，你背过以后默写出来就能考过。
英语翻译，英语语法，英语写作好好学一下语法，保证写句子没有语法错误，背背翻译词组汇总，语法刷刷题，写作练练笔，都能考过，高级英语我只考了一次，还考了75，我并没有很好的基础，读课文读到咳嗽，读到喝一口止咳糖浆再读，一切努力都不会白费。
我考到了可以拿学位的成绩，当然大家最痛苦的就是二外，我选择的是日语，学的是标准日本语初级上下册，零基础，日语你只要好好听课，认真做语法笔记，先把五十音图会默写出来，再一步一步学习动词变形（有9种），形容词的用法，形式名词前面的接续方式，（简体形还是基本形，还是ない形，还是た形）。
日语其实不难，只要学进去，考前背背必背日语单词，梳理一下语法，真题反复做几遍，弄明白答案为啥是这个，是没问题的。至于口译与听力，我的成绩出来会更新备考方法。
有点难，不过自己能把课本重点全部掌握了就没问题了。我就是自考商务英语的，有这门课的串讲资料，需要的话可以发给你哦！觉得还不错的
词汇学是选考的，比较难，书虽然很薄但是难读，翻译和文学是必考，翻译只要把书看看就差不多了。文学的话只要你在学校里上过一点英美文学，在把大致的作者和作品能记住就行，大题还是靠多写，毕竟谁也记不住那么多作品。
自考英语专业难吗? 1、对于一些英语基础好的考生来说，自考本科英语专业是不算太难的，毕竟有基础会比较好学一些，入门更快。 2、但是对于英语基础本来就不太好的考生来说还是有一定难度的，因为英语的学习是需要从一点一点的学习中逐渐积累的，所以想要学好英语是需要花费很多时间的。 自考英语备考攻略 1.听力理解：能听瞳日常英语谈话或千般性题材的讲座;能听瞳普通的英语广播和简单的英语电视节目，掌握其主要内容;能运用基本的听力技巧。 2.口头表达：能在学习和生活过程中就常见的话题用英语进行交流;经准备后能作简短发言，表达比较清楚：语音、语调基本正确;交谈中能够使用基本的会话策略。 3.阅读理解：能读懂一般性题材的英语文章，掌握中心大意，理解主要事实和有关细节;能读懂工作或生活中常见的英语材料;能在阅读中使用有效的阅读方法。 4.书面表达：能掌握基本的写作技巧;能完成一般性写作任务，如描述个人经历、观感、情感和发生的事件等;能写常见的应用文;能就一般性话题撰写简短的文章，做到结构清楚，扎中心思想明确，内容基本完整，用词恰当，语意连贯。 自学考试英语专业考试科目有哪些 自考英语的考试科目因所在省份及主考院校的不同也是不一样的，一般会考口译与听力、马克思主义基本原理概论、中国近现代史纲要、英语词汇学、英语语法、现代语言学、英美文学选读、英语写作、高级英语、英语翻译等。如果英语基础薄弱，还是要慎重考虑报考专业的。通过考试需要有一定的基础，而且还需要记忆大量的词汇，总体来说也是比较枯燥乏味的。自考/成考有疑问、不知道如何总结自考/成考考点内容、不清楚自考/成考报名当地政策，点击底部咨询官网，免费领取复习资料：
英语翻译最简单
自考本科英语没那么难。
自考本科英语专业没有那么难，没有机构老师说的那么难，只要你认真背书，好好刷题，不是三天打鱼，两天晒网，都能考过，像现代语言学，英语词汇学，英美文学选读之类的都是背书的专业课，你背过以后默写出来就能考过。
英语翻译，英语语法，英语写作好好学一下语法，保证写句子没有语法错误，背背翻译词组汇总，语法刷刷题，写作练练笔，都能考过，高级英语我只考了一次，还考了75，我并没有很好的基础，读课文读到咳嗽，读到喝一口止咳糖浆再读，一切努力都不会白费。
我考到了可以拿学位的成绩，当然大家最痛苦的就是二外，我选择的是日语，学的是标准日本语初级上下册，零基础，日语你只要好好听课，认真做语法笔记，先把五十音图会默写出来，再一步一步学习动词变形（有9种），形容词的用法，形式名词前面的接续方式，（简体形还是基本形，还是ない形，还是た形）。
日语其实不难，只要学进去，考前背背必背日语单词，梳理一下语法，真题反复做几遍，弄明白答案为啥是这个，是没问题的。至于口译与听力，我的成绩出来会更新备考方法。
一般2年是正常的时间。有的用功的用一年半就可以考完了并取得本科毕业证和学位证。取得毕业证和学位证不难的！还有你现在英语水平4级是不是有点低？！对了自考本科英语专业只能考四六，不能考专四专八！
词汇学是选考的，比较难，书虽然很薄但是难读，翻译和文学是必考，翻译只要把书看看就差不多了。文学的话只要你在学校里上过一点英美文学，在把大致的作者和作品能记住就行，大题还是靠多写，毕竟谁也记不住那么多作品。
词汇也是必考的啊 不是选修的啊
没有，湖南师范大学英语自考只有英语语言文学专业本科，自考英语本科需要考的科目： 3708 中国近代史纲要 、 0603 英语写作 、 5844 国际商务英语 、 0831 英语语法 、 0087 英语翻译 、 9420 高级英语（1） 、 9447 高级英语（2）、0602 口译与听力 、 0840 日语 、 3709 马克思主义基本原理概论 、0832 英语词汇学、0094 外贸函电 、 0833 外语教学法 、 0604 英美文学选读 、0795 综合英语（二）等。
亲直接买一本参考书 就是翻译过来的 更能帮助你复习 加油哈 静下心来好好看 一定能过的
直接去网购一本多方便，电子版目前尚未见到。你可以去一考通在线代理网站 自考图书馆 逛逛百度一搜即可
下篇：美国文学 第一章美国浪漫主义时期 一、美国浪漫主义时期概述 Ⅰ。本章学习目的和要求 通过本章学习，了解19世纪初期至中叶美国文学产生的历史、文化背景；认识该时期文学创作的基本待征、基本主张，及其对同时代和后期美国文学的影响；了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 Ⅱ。本章重点及难点： 1.浪漫主义时期美国文学的特点 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 Ⅲ。本章考核知识点和考核要求： 1.美国浪漫主义时期概述 （1）“识记”内容：美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景 （2）“领会”内容： 美国浪漫主义在文学上的表现 a.欧洲浪漫主义文学的影响 b.美国本土文学的崛起及其待证 （3）“应用”内容：清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释 2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家 A.华盛顿。欧文 1.一般识记：欧文的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：《纽约外史》《见闻札记》 3.领会：欧文的创作领域、创作思想，及其作品的艺术风格 4.应用：选读《瑞普。凡。温可尔》的主题及其艺术特色 B.拉尔夫.华尔多.爱默生 1.一般识记：爱默生的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：爱默生的超验主义思想 3.领会： （1）爱默生的散文：《论自然》《论自助》《论美国学者》等 （2）爱默生与梭罗：梭罗的超验主义思想和他的《沃尔登》 4. 应用：《论自然》节选：爱默生的基本哲 学思想及自然观 C.纳撒尼尔。霍桑 1.一般识记：霍桑的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：霍桑的长短篇小说 3.领会： （1）《红字》的主题、心理描写、象征手法和、小说结构 （2）霍桑的清教主义思想及加尔文教条中的“原罪”对霍桑的影响（人性本恶的观点） （3）霍桑对浪漫主义小说的贡献 4.应用：选读《小伙子布朗》的主题结构、象征手法及语言特色 D.华尔特。惠特曼 1.一般识记：惠特曼的生平及其创作生涯 2.识记：惠特曼的民主思想 3.领会： （1）惠特曼的《草叶集》的主创意图、思想感情及诗体形式、语言风格 （2）惠特曼的个人主义 4.应用：选读《草叶集》诗选：“一个孩子的成长”、“涉水的骑兵”、“自己之歌”的主题结构、诗歌的艺术特色、语言风格 E.赫尔曼。麦尔维尔 1.一般识记：麦尔维尔的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：麦尔维尔的早期作品：《玛地》《雷得本》《白外衣》，后期作品《皮埃尔》《骗子的化装表演》《比利伯德》等 3.领会：《白鲸》的 （1）主题：表层及深层意义 （2）小说结构：浪漫主义和现实主义的统一 （3）象征手法和寓言的运用 （4）语言特色 4.应用：选读《白鲸》最后一章的节选：主题思想、人物刻画、象征手法、语言特色 Chapter l The Romantic Period （一）“识记”内容： 1.The origin of Romantic American literature The Romantic Period， one of the most important periods in thehistory of American literature， stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 2.The American Renaissance or New England Renaissance is a period of the great flowering of American literature， from the i830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War. It came of age as an expression of a national spirit. One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists， including Ralph Waldo Emerson， Henry David Thoreau. The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. Apart from the Transcendentalists， there emerged during this period great imaginative writers ——Nathaniel Hawthorne， Herman Melville， and Walt Whitman——whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature. 3.Its social historical and cultural background The development of the American society nurtured "the literature of a great nation." America was flourishing into a politically， economically and culturally independent country. Historically， it was the time of westward expansion in America economically， the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation. Politically， democracy and equa1ity became the ideal of the new nation， and the two-party system came into being. Worthy of mention is the literary and cultural life of the country. With the founding of the American Independent Government， the nation felt an urge to have its own literary expression， to make known its new experience that other nations did not have： the early Puritan settlement， the confrontation with the Indians， the frontiersmen''''''''s life， and the wild west. Besides， the nation’s literary milieu was ready for the Romantic movement as we11. Thus， with a strong sense of optimism， a spectacular outburst of romantic feeling was brought about in the first ha1f of the 19th century. 4.Major writers of this period There emerged a great host of men of letters during this period， among whom the better-known are poets such as Philip Freneau， William Cullen Bryant， Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow， James Russel Lowell， John Greenleaf Whitter， Edgar Ellen Poe， and， especially， Walt Whitman， whose Leaves Of Grass established him as the most popular American poet of the 19th century. The fiction of the American Romantic period is an original and diverse body of work. It ranges from the comic fables of Washington Irving to the The Gothic tales of Edgar Allen Poe， from the frontier adventures of James Fenimore Cooper to the narrative quests of Herman Melville， from the psycho1ogical romances of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the social realism of Rebecca Harding Davis. （二）领会内容 1.The impact of European Romanticism on American Romanticism Foreign literary masters， especially the English counterparts exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the new world. Born of one common cultural heritage， the American writers shared some common features with the English Romanticists. They revolted against the literary forms and ideas of the period of classicism by developing some relatively new forms of fiction or poetry. （1） They put emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature， which included a liking for the picturesque， the exotic， the sensuous， the sensational， and the supernatural. （2） The Americans also placed an increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions and disp1ayed an increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters. Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement. （3） The strong tendency to exalt the individual and the common man was almost a national religion in America. Writers like Freneau， Bryant， and Cooper showed a great interest in external nature in their respective works. （4） The literary use of the more colorfu1 aspects of the past was also to be found in Irving’s effort to exploit the legends of the Hudson River region， and in Cooper’s long series of historical tales. （5） In short， American Romanticism is， in a certain way， derivative. 2.The unique characteristics of American Romanticism Although greatly influenced by their English counterparts， the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，（1） the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America''''''''s landscape with its virgin forests， meadows， groves， endless prairies， streams， and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. （2）The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales， in Thoreau''''''''s Walden and， later， in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. （3） With the growth of American national consciousness， American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. （4） Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. （5） Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. （三）应用内容 1. The American Puritanism and its great influence over American moral values， as is shown in American romantic writings. （1） American Puritanism Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. （The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church， who came into existence in the reigns Queen Elizabeth and King James Ⅰ。The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons， but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious， religious people， advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints， Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Church of Rome in doctrine form of worship， and organization of authority.） The American Puritans， like their brothers back in England， were idealists， believing that the church should be restored to complete "purity". They accepted the doctrine of predestination， original sin and total depravity， and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. But in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America， they became more and more practical， as indeed they had to be. Puritans were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinated their whole way of life. Puritans'''''''' lives were extremely disciplined and hard. They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them， and history has criticized their actions. Yet in the persecution of what they considered error， the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history. As a culture heritage， Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind and American values. American Puritanism also had a conspicuously noticeable and an enduring influence on American literature. It had become， to some extent， so much a state of mind， so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere， rather than a set of tenets. （2） One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. 2. New England Transcendentalism New England Transcendentalism is the mot clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period. It was started in the area around Concord， Mass. by a group of intellectual and the literary men of the United States such as Emerson， Henry David Thoreau who were members of an informal club， i. e. the Transcendental Club in New England in the l830s. The transcendentalists reacted against the cold， rigid rationalism of Unitarianism in Boston. They adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation ， the innate goodness of man， and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The writings of the transcendentalists prepared the ground of their contemporaries such as Walt Whitman， Herman Melville， and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main issues involved in the debate were generally philosophical， concerning nature， man and the universe. Basically， Transcendentalism has been defined philosophical1y as "the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively， or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses." Emerson once proclaimed in a speech， "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism inc1ude the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and， therefore， self-re1iant. 3. American Romanticists differed in their understanding of human nature. To the transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau， man is divine in nature and therefore forever perfectible； but to Hawthorne and Melville， everybody is potentially a sinner， and great moral courage is therefore indispensab1e for the improvement of human nature， as is shown in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
去书店买本参考书，就全有了。另外，看下考试大纲，有的作者不考，不用看。
The major writers of the Modern Period Ⅰ。Ezra Pound （1885-1972） 一。 一般识记 Ezra Pound's contribution to American literature： Pound was one of the most important poets and critics of his time and he was regarded as the father of modern American poetry. He is a leading spokesman of the "Imagist Movement"， which though short-lived， had a tremendous influence on modern poetry. 二。 识记 His major works： Pound composed poems， wrote criticisms and did translations. （1） His poetic works： In 1915 Pound began writing his great work， The Cantos， which spanned from 1917 to 1959 and were collected in The Cantos of Ezra Pound （1986）。 He joined a famous literary salon run by an American woman writer Gertrude Stein， and became involved in the experimentations on poetry. His other poetic works include twelve volumes of verse Collected Early Poems of Ezra Pound （1982）， and Personae （1909）， and some longer pieces such as Hugh Selwyn Mauberley （1920）。 （2） His critical essays： Make It New （l934）， Literary Essays （l954）， The ABC of Reading （1934） and Polite Essays （l937）， etc. These essays best reflect Pound's appraisals of literary traditions and of modern writing. （3） His translations： The Translations of Ezra Pound （1953）， Confucius （1969）， and Shih-Ching （1954） These translations have not only cast light on Pound's affinity to the Chinese and his strenuous effort in the study of Oriental literature， but also offered us a clue to the understanding of his poetry and literary theory. From the analysis of the Chinese ideogram Pound learned to anchor his poetic language in concrete， perceptual reality， and to organize images into larger patterns through juxtoposition. 三。 领会 1. Ezra Pound's poetic subjects or themes： （1） His earlier poetry is saturated with the familiar poetic subjects that characterize the 19th century Romanticism： songs in praise of a lady， songs concerning the poet's craft， love and friendship， death， the transience of beauty and the permanence of art， and some other subjects that Pound could call his own： the pain of exile， metamorphosis， the delightful psychic experience， the ecstatic moment， etc. （2） Later he is more concerned about the problems of the modern culture： the contemporary cultural decay and the possible sources of cultural renewal as well. In The Cantos， Pound traces the rise and fall of eastern and western empires， the moral and social chaos of the modern world， especially the corruption of America after the heroic time of Jefferson. From the perception of these things， stems the poet's search for order， which involves a search for the principles on which the poet's craft is based. 2. His artistic achievment： （1） He is the leader of the Imagist Movement： Led by the American poet Ezra Pound， Imagist Movement is a poetic movement that flourished in the U.S. and England between 1909-1917. It advances modernism in arts which concentrated on reforming the medium of poetry as opposed to Romanticism， especially Tennyson's wordiness and high-flown language in poetry. Pound endorsed three main principles as guidelines for Imagism， including direct treatment of poetic subjects， elimination of merely ornamental or superfluous words， and rhythmical composition in the sequence of the musical phrase rather than in the sequence of a metronome. The primary Imagist objective is to avoid rhetoric and moralizing， to stick closely to the object or experience being described， and to move from explicit generalization. The leading poets are Ezra Pound， Wallace Stevens， D.H.Lawrence， etc. Pound's famous one-image poem "In a Station of the Metro" would serve as a typical example of the Imagist ideas. （2） His use of myth and personae： Pound argued that the poet cannot relate a delightful psychic experience by speaking out directly in the first person： he must "screen himself" and speak indirectly through as impersonal and objective story， which is usually a myth or a piece of the earlier literature， or a "mask，" that is a persona. In this way， Pound could sustain a dialogue between past and present succesfully. （persona： It is an invented person； a character in drama or fiction. Persona， a Latin word meaning "mask ，" is used in Jungian psychology to refer to one's "public personality"-the facade or mask presented to the world but not representative of inner feelings and emotions. In literary criticism， persona is sometimes used to refer to a person figuring in， for example， a poem， someone who may or may not represent the author himself. ） （3） His language： His lines are usually oblique yet marvelously compressed. His poetry is dense with personal， literary， and historical allusions， but at the expense of syntax and summary statements. 四。应用：Selected Readings： 1. In a Station of the Metro （1） Theme： This poem is an observation of the poet of the human faces seen in a Paris subway station or a description of a moment of sudden emotion at seeing beautiful faces in a Metro in Paris. He sees the faces， turned variously toward light and darkness， like flower petals which are half absorbed by， half resisting， the wet， dark texture of a bough. （2） The one image in this poem： This poem is probably the most famous of all imagist poems. In two lines it combines a sharp visual image or two juxtoposed images （意象叠加） "Petals on a wet， black bough" with an implied meaning. The faces in the dim light of the Metro suggest both the impersonality and haste of city life and the greater transience of human life itself. The word "apparition" is a well-chosen one which has a two-fold meaning： Firstly， it means a visible appearance of something real. Secondly， it builds an image of a ghostly sight， a delusive and unexpected appearance. （3） Pound uses the fewest possible words to convey an accurate image， which is the principle of the Imagist poetry. This poem looks to be a modern adoption of the haiku form of Japanese poetry which adapts the 3-line， 17 syllable and where the title is an intergral part of the whole. The poem succeeds largely because of its internal rhymes： station/apparition； Metro/petals/wet； crowd/bough. Its form was determined by the experience that inspired it， involving organically rather than being chosen arbitrarily. 2. The River-Merchant's Wife： A Letter （1） Theme： It is an adaptation from the Chinese Li Po （701-762） named Rihaku in Japanese， which， by means of vivid images and shifting tones， describes the silky shy tenderness of the young wife writing to her absent husband the river-merchant. The history of her feelings for her husband develops as the following： her bashfulness when she was a young girl， her spiritual affinity with him during the phase of their marriage， the material nature of her love at the time of his departure as well as her longing for his return when she grows old. （2） use of images and allusion： In this poem Pound uses images such as "hair" "grown moss" "falling leaves" to suggest the passing years and growing age. Besides， Pound employs an allusion to "a story of a woman waiting for her husband on a hill." In Pound's version， the line emphasizes the otherworldly nature of her love during her marriage. 3. A Pact This poem is about Pound's evaluation on Whitman. Pound started to find some agreement between "Whitmanesque" free verse， which he had attacked for its carelessness in composition， and the "verse libre" of the Imagists who showed more concern for formal values. In the poem Pound affirmed Whitman's contribution in the experiment on the form and content of American poetry and expressed his eagerness to communicate with Whitman…… Ⅱ。 Robert Lee Frost （l874-l963） 一。 一般识记 His life and writing： Frost is an important poet in the 20th century .He won the Pulitzer Prize four times and read poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. He spent his early childhood in the Far West and later the family moved to New Hampshire. He went to Harvard but left in the middle because of his tuberculosis. When he was 28， he began to venture on writing. 二。 识记 His major works： His first book A Boy's Will （1913）， whose lyrics trace a boy's development from self-centered idealism to maturity， is marked by an intense but restrained emotion and the characteristic flavor of New Eng1and life. His second book， a volume of poems North of Boston （1914）， is described by the author as "a book of people，" which shows a brilliant insight into New England character and the background that formed it. Many of his major poems are collected in this volume， such as "Mending the Wall，" in which Frost saw man as learning from nature the zones of his own 1imitations， and "Home Buria1，" which probes the darker corners of individual lives in a situation where man cannot accept the facts of his condition. Mountain Interval （19l6） contains such characteristic poems as "The Road Not Taken，" "Birches". New Hampshire （1923） that won Frost the first of four Pulitzer Prizes includes "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"， which stems from the ambiguity of the speaker's choice between safety and the unknown. The collection West-Running Brook （1928） poses disturbing uncertainties about man's prowess and importance. Collected Poems （l930） and A Further Range （1935） gathered Frost's second and third Pulitzer Prizes. Both translate modern upheaval into poetic materia1 the poet could skillfully control. Frost's fourth Pulitzer Prize was awarded for A Witness Tree （l942） which includes "The Gift Outright，" the poem he later recited at President Kennedy's inauguration. Frost took up a religious question most notably in "After Apple-Picking：" can a man's best efforts ever satisfy God？ A Masque of Reason （l945） and A Masque of Mercy （1947） are comic-serious dramatic narratives， in both of which biblical characters in modern settings discuss ethics and man's re1ations to God. 三。 领会 1. His thematic concerns： （1） Generally Frost is considered a regional poet whose subject matters mainly focus on the landscape and people in New England. These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature， as well as its beauty， and the 1oneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. But first and foremost Frost is concerned with his love of life and his belief in a serenity that only came from working usefully， which he practiced himself throughout his life. （2） Frost wrote many poems that investigate the basic themes of man's life： the individual's relationships to himself， to his fellow-man， to world， and to his God. Profound meanings are hidden underneath the plain language and simple form. His poetry， by using nature as a storehouse of analogy and symbol， often probes mysteries of darkness and irrationality in the bleak and chaotic landscapes of an indifferent universe when men stand alone， unaided and perplexed. 2. His nature poems： Robert Frost is mainly known for his poems concerning New England life. He learned from the tradition， especially the familiar conventions of nature poetry and of classical pastoral poetry， and made the colloquial New England speech into a poetic expression. A poem so conceived thus becomes a symbo1 or metaphor， a careful， loving exploration of reality， in Frost's version， "a momentary stay against confusion." Many of his poems are fragrant with natural quality. Images and metaphors in his poems are drawn from the rural world， the simple country 1ife and the pastoral 1andscape. However， profound ideas are delivered under the disguise of the p1ain language and the simple form， for what Frost did is to take symbols from the limited human world and the pastoral landscape to refer to the great world beyond the rustic scene. These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature， as well as its beauty， and the 1oneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. But first and foremost Frost is concerned with his love of life and his belief in a serenity that only came from working usefully， which he practiced himself throughout his life. 3. Frost's style in language： By using simple spoken language and conversational rhythms， Frost achieved an effortless grace in his style. He combined traditiona1 verse forms —— the sonnet， rhyming coup1ets， blank verse with a clear American local speech rhythm， the speech of New England farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. In verse form he was assorted； he wrote in both the metrical forms and the free verse， and sometimes he wrote in a form that borrows freely from the merits of both， in a form that might be called semi-free or semi-conventional. 四。 应用 Selected Readings： l. After Apple-Picking This poem is so vivid a memory of experience on the farm in which the end of labor leaves the speaker with a sense of completion and fulfilment yet finds him blocked from success by winter's approach and physical weariness. On the one hand， Frost expressed his love of life and his belief in a serenity that only came from working usefully. On the other hand， the poet was concerned with individual's relationships to himself， to his fellow-man， to world， and to his God. He took up a religious question： can a man's best efforts ever satisfy God？ Besides this is a typical lyric poem describing the pastoral landscape in New England. Symbols and images from the pastoral landscape to refer to the great world beyond the rustic scene. The language of this poem is characterized by simple spoken language and conversational rhythms， the combination of traditiona1 verse forms —— the sonnet， rhyming coup1ets， blank verse with the speech of New England farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. Frost wrote in both the metrical forms and the free verse， in a form that might be called semi-free or semi-conventional. 2. The Road Not Taken （1） The theme： This poem seems to be about the poet， walking in the woods in autumn， hesitating for a long time and wondering which road he should take since they are both pretty. In reality， this is a meditative poem symbolically written. It concerns the important decisions which one must take in the course of life， when one must give up one desirable thing in order to possess another. Then， whatever the outcome， one must accept the consequences of one's choice for it is not possible to go back and have another chance to choose differently. In the poem， he followed the one which was not frequently travelled by. Symbolically， he chose to follow an unusual， solitary life； perhaps he was speaking of his choice to become a poet rather than some common profession. But he always remembered the road which he might have taken， and which would have given him a different kind of life. （2） Language： This poem is written in classic five-line stanzas， with the rhyme scheme a-b-a-a-b and conversational rhythm. The poet uses "the road " to symbolize life's journey. 3. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening （1） The theme： This is a deceptively simple poem in which the speaker literally stops his horse in the winter twilight to observe the beauty of the forest scene， and then is moved to continue his journey. Philosophically and symbolically， it stems from the ambiguity of the speaker's choice between safety and the unknown. （2） This poem suggests deep thought about death and about life. The strange attraction of death to man is symbolized by the dark woods silently filled up with the coldness of snow. Frost frequently uses the technique of symbolism in his poetry. Some critics think that the "village" stands for the human world， "woods" for nature， "horse" for the animal world， and "promises" for obligations. The poem represents a moment of relaxation from the burdensome journey of life， an almost aesthetic enjoyment and appreciation of natural beauty which is wholesome and restorative against the chaotic existence of modern man. （3） The last stanza shows a kind of sad， sentimental but also strong and responsible feeling. The attraction of the beauty of the nature makes the speaker stop in the journey. He finally turns away from it， with a certain weariness and yet with quiet determination， to face the needs of life. This stresses the central conflict of the poem between man's enjoyment of nature's beauty and his responsibility in society. This shows a man's despairing courage to seek out the meaning of life. In the last stanza， the three adjectives "lovely" "dark" "deep" reinforce one another. Not only do they represent beauty and terror of nature symbolized by the dark woods， but they also reveal the speaker's love for nature and human isolation from it. Besides， the word "sleep" here means "die" symbolically.
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The major writers of the Modern Period Ⅰ。Ezra Pound （1885-1972） 一。 一般识记 Ezra Pound's contribution to American literature： Pound was one of the most important poets and critics of his time and he was regarded as the father of modern American poetry. He is a leading spokesman of the "Imagist Movement"， which though short-lived， had a tremendous influence on modern poetry. 二。 识记 His major works： Pound composed poems， wrote criticisms and did translations. （1） His poetic works： In 1915 Pound began writing his great work， The Cantos， which spanned from 1917 to 1959 and were collected in The Cantos of Ezra Pound （1986）。 He joined a famous literary salon run by an American woman writer Gertrude Stein， and became involved in the experimentations on poetry. His other poetic works include twelve volumes of verse Collected Early Poems of Ezra Pound （1982）， and Personae （1909）， and some longer pieces such as Hugh Selwyn Mauberley （1920）。 （2） His critical essays： Make It New （l934）， Literary Essays （l954）， The ABC of Reading （1934） and Polite Essays （l937）， etc. These essays best reflect Pound's appraisals of literary traditions and of modern writing. （3） His translations： The Translations of Ezra Pound （1953）， Confucius （1969）， and Shih-Ching （1954） These translations have not only cast light on Pound's affinity to the Chinese and his strenuous effort in the study of Oriental literature， but also offered us a clue to the understanding of his poetry and literary theory. From the analysis of the Chinese ideogram Pound learned to anchor his poetic language in concrete， perceptual reality， and to organize images into larger patterns through juxtoposition. 三。 领会 1. Ezra Pound's poetic subjects or themes： （1） His earlier poetry is saturated with the familiar poetic subjects that characterize the 19th century Romanticism： songs in praise of a lady， songs concerning the poet's craft， love and friendship， death， the transience of beauty and the permanence of art， and some other subjects that Pound could call his own： the pain of exile， metamorphosis， the delightful psychic experience， the ecstatic moment， etc. （2） Later he is more concerned about the problems of the modern culture： the contemporary cultural decay and the possible sources of cultural renewal as well. In The Cantos， Pound traces the rise and fall of eastern and western empires， the moral and social chaos of the modern world， especially the corruption of America after the heroic time of Jefferson. From the perception of these things， stems the poet's search for order， which involves a search for the principles on which the poet's craft is based. 2. His artistic achievment： （1） He is the leader of the Imagist Movement： Led by the American poet Ezra Pound， Imagist Movement is a poetic movement that flourished in the U.S. and England between 1909-1917. It advances modernism in arts which concentrated on reforming the medium of poetry as opposed to Romanticism， especially Tennyson's wordiness and high-flown language in poetry. Pound endorsed three main principles as guidelines for Imagism， including direct treatment of poetic subjects， elimination of merely ornamental or superfluous words， and rhythmical composition in the sequence of the musical phrase rather than in the sequence of a metronome. The primary Imagist objective is to avoid rhetoric and moralizing， to stick closely to the object or experience being described， and to move from explicit generalization. The leading poets are Ezra Pound， Wallace Stevens， D.H.Lawrence， etc. Pound's famous one-image poem "In a Station of the Metro" would serve as a typical example of the Imagist ideas. （2） His use of myth and personae： Pound argued that the poet cannot relate a delightful psychic experience by speaking out directly in the first person： he must "screen himself" and speak indirectly through as impersonal and objective story， which is usually a myth or a piece of the earlier literature， or a "mask，" that is a persona. In this way， Pound could sustain a dialogue between past and present succesfully. （persona： It is an invented person； a character in drama or fiction. Persona， a Latin word meaning "mask ，" is used in Jungian psychology to refer to one's "public personality"-the facade or mask presented to the world but not representative of inner feelings and emotions. In literary criticism， persona is sometimes used to refer to a person figuring in， for example， a poem， someone who may or may not represent the author himself. ） （3） His language： His lines are usually oblique yet marvelously compressed. His poetry is dense with personal， literary， and historical allusions， but at the expense of syntax and summary statements. 四。应用：Selected Readings： 1. In a Station of the Metro （1） Theme： This poem is an observation of the poet of the human faces seen in a Paris subway station or a description of a moment of sudden emotion at seeing beautiful faces in a Metro in Paris. He sees the faces， turned variously toward light and darkness， like flower petals which are half absorbed by， half resisting， the wet， dark texture of a bough. （2） The one image in this poem： This poem is probably the most famous of all imagist poems. In two lines it combines a sharp visual image or two juxtoposed images （意象叠加） "Petals on a wet， black bough" with an implied meaning. The faces in the dim light of the Metro suggest both the impersonality and haste of city life and the greater transience of human life itself. The word "apparition" is a well-chosen one which has a two-fold meaning： Firstly， it means a visible appearance of something real. Secondly， it builds an image of a ghostly sight， a delusive and unexpected appearance. （3） Pound uses the fewest possible words to convey an accurate image， which is the principle of the Imagist poetry. This poem looks to be a modern adoption of the haiku form of Japanese poetry which adapts the 3-line， 17 syllable and where the title is an intergral part of the whole. The poem succeeds largely because of its internal rhymes： station/apparition； Metro/petals/wet； crowd/bough. Its form was determined by the experience that inspired it， involving organically rather than being chosen arbitrarily. 2. The River-Merchant's Wife： A Letter （1） Theme： It is an adaptation from the Chinese Li Po （701-762） named Rihaku in Japanese， which， by means of vivid images and shifting tones， describes the silky shy tenderness of the young wife writing to her absent husband the river-merchant. The history of her feelings for her husband develops as the following： her bashfulness when she was a young girl， her spiritual affinity with him during the phase of their marriage， the material nature of her love at the time of his departure as well as her longing for his return when she grows old. （2） use of images and allusion： In this poem Pound uses images such as "hair" "grown moss" "falling leaves" to suggest the passing years and growing age. Besides， Pound employs an allusion to "a story of a woman waiting for her husband on a hill." In Pound's version， the line emphasizes the otherworldly nature of her love during her marriage. 3. A Pact This poem is about Pound's evaluation on Whitman. Pound started to find some agreement between "Whitmanesque" free verse， which he had attacked for its carelessness in composition， and the "verse libre" of the Imagists who showed more concern for formal values. In the poem Pound affirmed Whitman's contribution in the experiment on the form and content of American poetry and expressed his eagerness to communicate with Whitman…… Ⅱ。 Robert Lee Frost （l874-l963） 一。 一般识记 His life and writing： Frost is an important poet in the 20th century .He won the Pulitzer Prize four times and read poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. He spent his early childhood in the Far West and later the family moved to New Hampshire. He went to Harvard but left in the middle because of his tuberculosis. When he was 28， he began to venture on writing. 二。 识记 His major works： His first book A Boy's Will （1913）， whose lyrics trace a boy's development from self-centered idealism to maturity， is marked by an intense but restrained emotion and the characteristic flavor of New Eng1and life. His second book， a volume of poems North of Boston （1914）， is described by the author as "a book of people，" which shows a brilliant insight into New England character and the background that formed it. Many of his major poems are collected in this volume， such as "Mending the Wall，" in which Frost saw man as learning from nature the zones of his own 1imitations， and "Home Buria1，" which probes the darker corners of individual lives in a situation where man cannot accept the facts of his condition. Mountain Interval （19l6） contains such characteristic poems as "The Road Not Taken，" "Birches". New Hampshire （1923） that won Frost the first of four Pulitzer Prizes includes "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"， which stems from the ambiguity of the speaker's choice between safety and the unknown. The collection West-Running Brook （1928） poses disturbing uncertainties about man's prowess and importance. Collected Poems （l930） and A Further Range （1935） gathered Frost's second and third Pulitzer Prizes. Both translate modern upheaval into poetic materia1 the poet could skillfully control. Frost's fourth Pulitzer Prize was awarded for A Witness Tree （l942） which includes "The Gift Outright，" the poem he later recited at President Kennedy's inauguration. Frost took up a religious question most notably in "After Apple-Picking：" can a man's best efforts ever satisfy God？ A Masque of Reason （l945） and A Masque of Mercy （1947） are comic-serious dramatic narratives， in both of which biblical characters in modern settings discuss ethics and man's re1ations to God. 三。 领会 1. His thematic concerns： （1） Generally Frost is considered a regional poet whose subject matters mainly focus on the landscape and people in New England. These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature， as well as its beauty， and the 1oneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. But first and foremost Frost is concerned with his love of life and his belief in a serenity that only came from working usefully， which he practiced himself throughout his life. （2） Frost wrote many poems that investigate the basic themes of man's life： the individual's relationships to himself， to his fellow-man， to world， and to his God. Profound meanings are hidden underneath the plain language and simple form. His poetry， by using nature as a storehouse of analogy and symbol， often probes mysteries of darkness and irrationality in the bleak and chaotic landscapes of an indifferent universe when men stand alone， unaided and perplexed. 2. His nature poems： Robert Frost is mainly known for his poems concerning New England life. He learned from the tradition， especially the familiar conventions of nature poetry and of classical pastoral poetry， and made the colloquial New England speech into a poetic expression. A poem so conceived thus becomes a symbo1 or metaphor， a careful， loving exploration of reality， in Frost's version， "a momentary stay against confusion." Many of his poems are fragrant with natural quality. Images and metaphors in his poems are drawn from the rural world， the simple country 1ife and the pastoral 1andscape. However， profound ideas are delivered under the disguise of the p1ain language and the simple form， for what Frost did is to take symbols from the limited human world and the pastoral landscape to refer to the great world beyond the rustic scene. These thematic concerns include the terror and tragedy in nature， as well as its beauty， and the 1oneliness and poverty of the isolated human being. But first and foremost Frost is concerned with his love of life and his belief in a serenity that only came from working usefully， which he practiced himself throughout his life. 3. Frost's style in language： By using simple spoken language and conversational rhythms， Frost achieved an effortless grace in his style. He combined traditiona1 verse forms —— the sonnet， rhyming coup1ets， blank verse with a clear American local speech rhythm， the speech of New England farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. In verse form he was assorted； he wrote in both the metrical forms and the free verse， and sometimes he wrote in a form that borrows freely from the merits of both， in a form that might be called semi-free or semi-conventional. 四。 应用 Selected Readings： l. After Apple-Picking This poem is so vivid a memory of experience on the farm in which the end of labor leaves the speaker with a sense of completion and fulfilment yet finds him blocked from success by winter's approach and physical weariness. On the one hand， Frost expressed his love of life and his belief in a serenity that only came from working usefully. On the other hand， the poet was concerned with individual's relationships to himself， to his fellow-man， to world， and to his God. He took up a religious question： can a man's best efforts ever satisfy God？ Besides this is a typical lyric poem describing the pastoral landscape in New England. Symbols and images from the pastoral landscape to refer to the great world beyond the rustic scene. The language of this poem is characterized by simple spoken language and conversational rhythms， the combination of traditiona1 verse forms —— the sonnet， rhyming coup1ets， blank verse with the speech of New England farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. Frost wrote in both the metrical forms and the free verse， in a form that might be called semi-free or semi-conventional. 2. The Road Not Taken （1） The theme： This poem seems to be about the poet， walking in the woods in autumn， hesitating for a long time and wondering which road he should take since they are both pretty. In reality， this is a meditative poem symbolically written. It concerns the important decisions which one must take in the course of life， when one must give up one desirable thing in order to possess another. Then， whatever the outcome， one must accept the consequences of one's choice for it is not possible to go back and have another chance to choose differently. In the poem， he followed the one which was not frequently travelled by. Symbolically， he chose to follow an unusual， solitary life； perhaps he was speaking of his choice to become a poet rather than some common profession. But he always remembered the road which he might have taken， and which would have given him a different kind of life. （2） Language： This poem is written in classic five-line stanzas， with the rhyme scheme a-b-a-a-b and conversational rhythm. The poet uses "the road " to symbolize life's journey. 3. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening （1） The theme： This is a deceptively simple poem in which the speaker literally stops his horse in the winter twilight to observe the beauty of the forest scene， and then is moved to continue his journey. Philosophically and symbolically， it stems from the ambiguity of the speaker's choice between safety and the unknown. （2） This poem suggests deep thought about death and about life. The strange attraction of death to man is symbolized by the dark woods silently filled up with the coldness of snow. Frost frequently uses the technique of symbolism in his poetry. Some critics think that the "village" stands for the human world， "woods" for nature， "horse" for the animal world， and "promises" for obligations. The poem represents a moment of relaxation from the burdensome journey of life， an almost aesthetic enjoyment and appreciation of natural beauty which is wholesome and restorative against the chaotic existence of modern man. （3） The last stanza shows a kind of sad， sentimental but also strong and responsible feeling. The attraction of the beauty of the nature makes the speaker stop in the journey. He finally turns away from it， with a certain weariness and yet with quiet determination， to face the needs of life. This stresses the central conflict of the poem between man's enjoyment of nature's beauty and his responsibility in society. This shows a man's despairing courage to seek out the meaning of life. In the last stanza， the three adjectives "lovely" "dark" "deep" reinforce one another. Not only do they represent beauty and terror of nature symbolized by the dark woods， but they also reveal the speaker's love for nature and human isolation from it. Besides， the word "sleep" here means "die" symbolically.
下篇：美国文学 第一章美国浪漫主义时期 一、美国浪漫主义时期概述 Ⅰ。本章学习目的和要求 通过本章学习，了解19世纪初期至中叶美国文学产生的历史、文化背景；认识该时期文学创作的基本待征、基本主张，及其对同时代和后期美国文学的影响；了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 Ⅱ。本章重点及难点： 1.浪漫主义时期美国文学的特点 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 Ⅲ。本章考核知识点和考核要求： 1.美国浪漫主义时期概述 （1）“识记”内容：美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景 （2）“领会”内容： 美国浪漫主义在文学上的表现 a.欧洲浪漫主义文学的影响 b.美国本土文学的崛起及其待证 （3）“应用”内容：清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释 2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家 A.华盛顿。欧文 1.一般识记：欧文的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：《纽约外史》《见闻札记》 3.领会：欧文的创作领域、创作思想，及其作品的艺术风格 4.应用：选读《瑞普。凡。温可尔》的主题及其艺术特色 B.拉尔夫.华尔多.爱默生 1.一般识记：爱默生的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：爱默生的超验主义思想 3.领会： （1）爱默生的散文：《论自然》《论自助》《论美国学者》等 （2）爱默生与梭罗：梭罗的超验主义思想和他的《沃尔登》 4. 应用：《论自然》节选：爱默生的基本哲 学思想及自然观 C.纳撒尼尔。霍桑 1.一般识记：霍桑的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：霍桑的长短篇小说 3.领会： （1）《红字》的主题、心理描写、象征手法和、小说结构 （2）霍桑的清教主义思想及加尔文教条中的“原罪”对霍桑的影响（人性本恶的观点） （3）霍桑对浪漫主义小说的贡献 4.应用：选读《小伙子布朗》的主题结构、象征手法及语言特色 D.华尔特。惠特曼 1.一般识记：惠特曼的生平及其创作生涯 2.识记：惠特曼的民主思想 3.领会： （1）惠特曼的《草叶集》的主创意图、思想感情及诗体形式、语言风格 （2）惠特曼的个人主义 4.应用：选读《草叶集》诗选：“一个孩子的成长”、“涉水的骑兵”、“自己之歌”的主题结构、诗歌的艺术特色、语言风格 E.赫尔曼。麦尔维尔 1.一般识记：麦尔维尔的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：麦尔维尔的早期作品：《玛地》《雷得本》《白外衣》，后期作品《皮埃尔》《骗子的化装表演》《比利伯德》等 3.领会：《白鲸》的 （1）主题：表层及深层意义 （2）小说结构：浪漫主义和现实主义的统一 （3）象征手法和寓言的运用 （4）语言特色 4.应用：选读《白鲸》最后一章的节选：主题思想、人物刻画、象征手法、语言特色 Chapter l The Romantic Period （一）“识记”内容： 1.The origin of Romantic American literature The Romantic Period， one of the most important periods in thehistory of American literature， stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 2.The American Renaissance or New England Renaissance is a period of the great flowering of American literature， from the i830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War. It came of age as an expression of a national spirit. One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists， including Ralph Waldo Emerson， Henry David Thoreau. The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. Apart from the Transcendentalists， there emerged during this period great imaginative writers ——Nathaniel Hawthorne， Herman Melville， and Walt Whitman——whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature. 3.Its social historical and cultural background The development of the American society nurtured "the literature of a great nation." America was flourishing into a politically， economically and culturally independent country. Historically， it was the time of westward expansion in America economically， the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation. Politically， democracy and equa1ity became the ideal of the new nation， and the two-party system came into being. Worthy of mention is the literary and cultural life of the country. With the founding of the American Independent Government， the nation felt an urge to have its own literary expression， to make known its new experience that other nations did not have： the early Puritan settlement， the confrontation with the Indians， the frontiersmen''''''''s life， and the wild west. Besides， the nation’s literary milieu was ready for the Romantic movement as we11. Thus， with a strong sense of optimism， a spectacular outburst of romantic feeling was brought about in the first ha1f of the 19th century. 4.Major writers of this period There emerged a great host of men of letters during this period， among whom the better-known are poets such as Philip Freneau， William Cullen Bryant， Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow， James Russel Lowell， John Greenleaf Whitter， Edgar Ellen Poe， and， especially， Walt Whitman， whose Leaves Of Grass established him as the most popular American poet of the 19th century. The fiction of the American Romantic period is an original and diverse body of work. It ranges from the comic fables of Washington Irving to the The Gothic tales of Edgar Allen Poe， from the frontier adventures of James Fenimore Cooper to the narrative quests of Herman Melville， from the psycho1ogical romances of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the social realism of Rebecca Harding Davis. （二）领会内容 1.The impact of European Romanticism on American Romanticism Foreign literary masters， especially the English counterparts exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the new world. Born of one common cultural heritage， the American writers shared some common features with the English Romanticists. They revolted against the literary forms and ideas of the period of classicism by developing some relatively new forms of fiction or poetry. （1） They put emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature， which included a liking for the picturesque， the exotic， the sensuous， the sensational， and the supernatural. （2） The Americans also placed an increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions and disp1ayed an increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters. Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement. （3） The strong tendency to exalt the individual and the common man was almost a national religion in America. Writers like Freneau， Bryant， and Cooper showed a great interest in external nature in their respective works. （4） The literary use of the more colorfu1 aspects of the past was also to be found in Irving’s effort to exploit the legends of the Hudson River region， and in Cooper’s long series of historical tales. （5） In short， American Romanticism is， in a certain way， derivative. 2.The unique characteristics of American Romanticism Although greatly influenced by their English counterparts， the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，（1） the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America''''''''s landscape with its virgin forests， meadows， groves， endless prairies， streams， and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. （2）The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales， in Thoreau''''''''s Walden and， later， in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. （3） With the growth of American national consciousness， American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. （4） Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. （5） Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. （三）应用内容 1. The American Puritanism and its great influence over American moral values， as is shown in American romantic writings. （1） American Puritanism Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. （The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church， who came into existence in the reigns Queen Elizabeth and King James Ⅰ。The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons， but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious， religious people， advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints， Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Church of Rome in doctrine form of worship， and organization of authority.） The American Puritans， like their brothers back in England， were idealists， believing that the church should be restored to complete "purity". They accepted the doctrine of predestination， original sin and total depravity， and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. But in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America， they became more and more practical， as indeed they had to be. Puritans were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinated their whole way of life. Puritans'''''''' lives were extremely disciplined and hard. They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them， and history has criticized their actions. Yet in the persecution of what they considered error， the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history. As a culture heritage， Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind and American values. American Puritanism also had a conspicuously noticeable and an enduring influence on American literature. It had become， to some extent， so much a state of mind， so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere， rather than a set of tenets. （2） One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. 2. New England Transcendentalism New England Transcendentalism is the mot clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period. It was started in the area around Concord， Mass. by a group of intellectual and the literary men of the United States such as Emerson， Henry David Thoreau who were members of an informal club， i. e. the Transcendental Club in New England in the l830s. The transcendentalists reacted against the cold， rigid rationalism of Unitarianism in Boston. They adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation ， the innate goodness of man， and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The writings of the transcendentalists prepared the ground of their contemporaries such as Walt Whitman， Herman Melville， and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main issues involved in the debate were generally philosophical， concerning nature， man and the universe. Basically， Transcendentalism has been defined philosophical1y as "the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively， or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses." Emerson once proclaimed in a speech， "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism inc1ude the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and， therefore， self-re1iant. 3. American Romanticists differed in their understanding of human nature. To the transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau， man is divine in nature and therefore forever perfectible； but to Hawthorne and Melville， everybody is potentially a sinner， and great moral courage is therefore indispensab1e for the improvement of human nature， as is shown in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.