美国文学7.PPTVIP

Henry David Thoreau 1817- 1862 Life Born in a common family in New England Graduated from Harvard, but only stayed at home and helped family business A friend of Emerson  Active in social life and had a strong sense of justice not successful as a writer and lived in obscurity all his life Works Waldon “On the Duty of Disobedience” “A Plea for John Brown” Main Idea 1.Self-awareness to purify oneself to reach spiritual perfection 2. Nature V.S “Barbaric” civilization A survey of the content Chapter 1 economy Chapter 2 Where I Lived, and What I Lived Chapter 3 Reading Chapter 4 Sound Chapter 5 Solitude Chapter 6 Visitors Chapter 7 The Bean Field Chapter 8 The Village Chapter 9 The Ponds Chapter 10 Baker Farm Chapter 11 Higher Laws Chapter 12 Brute Neighbors Chapter 13 House-Warming Chapter 14 Former Inhabitants and Winter Visitor Chapter 15 Winter Chapter 16 The Pond in Winter Chapter 17 Spring Chapter 18 Conclusion Comments He was influenced by Emerson. He promoted Emerson’s Transcendentalism into life style. It was a romantic, unpractical pursuit. He felt the damage and pressure of material desire and then put forward criticism of social problems. He was very proud. He looked down upon the life style of his fellow people. He saw himself as a spiritual leader. He doesnot observe the world and the nature objectively. Only sought what he looked for. He was a tendency of going out of the world. He was influenced by Oriental thoughts. His experience was narrow. Nature-cult * *