Details on American Literature美国文学001.pdfVIP

-—) General Introduction /-Q. The 18th century American history witnessed two great revolutions : one. was the American Revolution , which led to the independence of the nation , and the other was Enlightenment , an intellectual movement whose rationalistic spirit inspired Americans and brought them into a new horizon . The two revolutions produced a number of outstanding political and literary figures such as Benjamin Franklin , Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. Most of the writers in this period were active supporters of the American Revolu- tion. Literarily , they modeled themselves on Addison and other 18th century English writers for a plain and firm style , adding a polished and rhythmical balance of phrase, which gave it literary distinction. The categories of the literary works were mainly history, diary, political essay and articles about religion. _:1) Important Literary Terms /-© Deism ( §^sfti) : Deist held that first only one God was worth worshipping ; secondly man could keep making progress by making use of his own moral sense and of his own intelligence; thirdly man should love truth and do good and fourthly edu- cation and science were important means to create mans happiness. JE?-) Important Writers and Literary Works /-© 1. Benjamin Franidin (~^?M • S^^;ft,170»—1790) Benjamin Franklin was one of the most important American thinkers during the revolutionary period. He stood as the epitome of the Enlightenment and as the versa- tile embodiment of rational man of the