1. Selected Readings of American Literature (I) 金文宁 (Jin Wenning)

2. Introduction Course syllabus What is literature? Why study literature? How to study literature? What is American literature? Brief Survey of American literature

3. Course Objectives This course is an integral part of the B.A. program in English designed : To help students acquire some basic knowledge of American literature To train students’ ability to read literary works in the original To improve students’ English level To deepen students’ knowledge of American culture To strengthen students’ ability of independent thinking and critical studying

4. Course requirements This is basically a reading course. Reading literature requires deep understanding and critical thinking. You are expected to Read the original texts carefully and critically. Think and write critically about the literary texts that are to be discussed or that have been discussed. Identify the style and literary features of the works that explain their position and value in the history of American literature.

5. Course Outline Wk 1 Introduction 2 Wk 2 Brief survey of Amer. lit. up to Romanticism 2 Wk 3-4 Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" 4 Wk 5 Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” 2 Wk 6-7 Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” 4 Wk 8 Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter Movie 2 Wk 9-11 19th-Century Poems (Whitman, Dickinson) 6 Wk 12 Realism; Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 2 Wk 13 Recess for Sports Meeting 2 Wk14-15 Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 4 Wk 16 Exam 2 共 32 节

6. Course Assessment Class participation 50%: 1) presentation 20%; 2) short paper 20%; 3) oral and written performance in class and on course center 60% (8 times at least)course center - 1st absence from class will not result in any reduction of scores - 5 points off for each additional absence from class - 2 times late for class is counted as one absence - Students absent for or more than 5 times are not allowed to take the final exam. Final exam 50%: 1. knowledge of basic facts of the discussed works and literary history (multiple choices, matching) (50%) 2. analysis of literary works (short answer questions, essay questions) (50%)

7. Access to Course Center 校园网主页 www.usst.edu.cn 左下端 “ 课程 中心 ” 链接点击进入 www.usst.edu.cn 用户名和密码均输入 “ 学号 ” 进入个人空间 点击 “ 我的学习空间 ” 点击 “ 论坛 ” 点击网站名称 “ 英美文学阅读 ” 点击主题帖 回复帖子

8. Textbooks and references Textbooks 《美国文学选读》（第二版），陶洁主编，高等教育出版社， 2005 年。 “Young Goodman Brown”, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain References 《美国文学简史》（英文）第二版，常耀信，南开大学出版社， 2003 年。 《美国文学欣赏》（英文）第二版，吴定柏 编注，上海外语教育出版 社， 2009 年。 《 新编美国文学史》（四卷本），刘海平、王守仁主编，上海外语教 育出版社， 2001 年。 Understanding Poetry, Cleanth Brooks, & Robert Penn Warren, 外语 教学与研究出版社， 2004 年。 Understanding Fiction, Cleanth Brooks, & Robert Penn Warren, 外语 教学与研究出版社， 2004 年。

9. What is literature? a.writings in prose or verse; especially writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest b.the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age c.the body of writings on a particular subject: scientific literature d.printed matter (as leaflets or circulars): campaign literature * From Merriam-Webster Dictionary on the internet

10. Major forms of literature 1. fiction: novel, novella, short stories, myth, legend, folktale… 2. poetry: epic, ballad, free verse, lyrics, psalm, eulogy, sonnet… 3. drama: play, opera, radio/TV/film scripts… 4. prose: essay, criticism, literary theory, (auto)biography…

11. Why study literature?

12. Why study literature? (1) Expand our vocabulary of everyday English and enable us to speak and write better and more idiomatically.

13. Examples 1. Bellow was in a turtleneck. 2. The writer E.M. Forster lived on the fifth floor of a walk-up. 3. When he is arguing with his father, the father says, “ Calm down, I ’ ll walk you to the bus and wait with you. ” 4. There is a phone call for the writer and his wife says softly to him, “For you.”

14. Why study literature (2) Improve our comprehension.

15. Examples Undo 1. Your button is undone. He undid the parcel. 2. What’s done cannot be undone. 3. We have left undone the things we ought to have done. 4. What shall I do? My secret is out. I am undone.

16. Why study literature (3) Expand our cultural horizons and broaden our range of general knowledge.

17. Examples: 1 History and Society 1. The Scarlet Letter—Nathaniel Hawthorne 2. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—Mark Twain 3. The Age of Innocence—Edith Wharton 4. O Pioneers! and My Antonia ---Willa Cather 5. Sister Carrie---Theodore Dreiser 6. The Great Gatsby—F. Scott Fitzgerald 7. The Grapes of Wrath—John Steinbeck

18. Examples: 2 Customs and Habits (culture) Daisy Miller the wretched fate of Daisy the ambivalent Winterbourne

19. Why study literature (4) Deepen our understanding of human nature.

20. Examples: 1 The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth

21. Examples: 2 Learning is acquired by reading books but the much more necessary learning, the knowledge of the world, is only to be acquired through reading man, and studying all the various editions of men. ---A letter from Lord Chesterfield to his son

22. Why study literature (5) Help us to stay human.

23. Examples: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway How Jake Barnes suffered both physically and spiritually from the injury that was caused by World War I predicament of Human existence

24. Why study literature (6) Contains the distillation of the life experience and mature views of the people who came before us.

25. Examples: 1 Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. --Of Studies by Francis Bacon

26. Examples: 2 Studies serve for delight, for ornament and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. --Of Studies by Francis Bacon

27. Examples: 3 Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. --Of Studies by Francis Bacon

28. Examples: 4 Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them, for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them and above them, won by observation. --Of Studies by Francis Bacon

29. Why study literature (Review) Expand vocabulary Improve comprehension Broaden knowledge Understand human nature Stay human Learn from predecessors

30. Why study literature (further summary) 1.For learning the language 2.For learning the culture 3.For the individual growth

31. How to study literature?

32. How to study literature? (1) For Language – Read original works both closely and widely – Recite classic works as much as possible - Practice speaking and writing about literature

33. How to study literature? (2) For Culture – Read by interest and research

34. How to study literature? (3) For Ind. growth – Read through experiencing Experience the world revealed by literature through use of your personal life experience, your views, your interests and feelings. Let your experience and the literary text interact with each other.

35. How to approach a literary work? Analytical e.g. the elements of fiction: plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, symbol, allegory, style, tone, etc. Thematic What is it about? e.g. love, freedom, courage, alienation, etc. Historical The historical development of literature, e.g. romanticism, realism, naturalism, modernism, post-modernism.

36. What is American literature?

37. Challenging traditional definition of American literature Literature created by American citizens and written in English? – Isaac Bashevis Singer writes in Yiddish? Literature in written form?– American Indians? Literature most representing American national spirit by American citizens? – women’s domestic / private literature? Emily Dickinson? Literature created by American citizens about the U.S. or about any country? – Singer, Ha Jin?

38. Redefinition of American literature By “the literature of the United States”, we mean all written and oral literary works produced in that part of the world that has become the United States of America. See Emory Elliott, et al eds. Introduction. Columbia Literary History of the United States. NY: Columbia UP, 1988. xix

39. Some Basic Characteristics of American Literature Short history but great achievement Began with oral myths, legends, tales Poetry, fiction, drama, essay all highly developed Female, ethnic literature came into the centre Drawn immense interest from Chinese readers

40. The Development of American Literature 1.Beginnings to 1700 2.From colonies to nation: 1700-1820 3.The Romantic period: 1820—1865 4.The Realism and Naturalism: 1865—1914 5.The Modern period: 1914—1945 6.Contemporary literature: since 1945 Cf. Norton Anthology of American Literature, the 7 th edition, 2007.

41. Assignments Read 序言 (pp.1-5) Read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” (pp.10-17) closely with the help of dictionaries to a) get the basic understanding of the story b) find answers to the four questions on p. 16 c) think about the devices used to achieve “unity of effect”, a standard of Poe for the short story.

42. Assignments Read 序言 (pp.1-5) Read Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” (pp.20-24) Prepare discussion questions on p. 24. Find the major argument points of the essay. Identify two passages that you find amazing / inspiring or confusing / puzzling.