美国文学史及作品选读(08级)4.pptVIP

Content Teaching Objectives and Requirements 1.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 1864) 2.5 Moby Dick Some historical notes on Melville’s era Themes (P84-85) Characterization (P84-85) Special feature: symbolism (P86) Some historical notes on Melville’s era ● The optimistic attitude ● The spirit of expansion ● Putting high value on industriousness ● The radical individualism Themes (P84-85) ● Self vs. the hostile world ● Alienation ● Symbolic quest of truth and knowledge Characterization (P84-85) ● Ahab as a tragic hero (P84-85) ● Ishmael as a wanderer (P85) * Lecture 4 American Romanticism and New England Literature: Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville Nathaniel Hawthorne Herman Melville 1 Help the students to know about Nathaniel Hawthorne 2 Help the students to have a good understanding of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter 3 Help the students to know about Herman Melville and his Moby Dick 1.1 Life ● He was born in a prestigious New England family closely related with Puritan church; his ancestors attended the persecution of people belonging to different churches, such as Quakers. ● When he was born, his family declined. He was aware of his ancestors’ misdeeds and thus “blackness of Hawthorne” formed. He thought that the reason of his family’s decline is his ancestors’ misdeeds. And he didn’t agree with the optimism held by Transcendentalists towards human nature. He wrote lots of works on everlasting evil side in human nature. ● He graduated from Bowdoin College. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Mr. Pierce, the 14th American president were his classmates. ● Later, he worked in the US Custom House. ● After graduation, he lived in seclusion and wrote. ● After Pierce became president, he was asked to be the consul in Liverpool and Italy. ● The appearance of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 makes him become famous as the greatest writer then living and the first great American writer of fiction. 1.2 Aesthetics Attitude towards Emersonian Transcendentali