资源描述
JamesFenimoreCooper(1789-1851)novelistHe was the first important novelist,The first frontier novelist,The first historical romance writer,The first writer of sea adventures.Intensely influenced by Walter Scott both in subject matter and style,he was labeled as“the American Scott”.He developed three kind of novels:1.novels about revolutionary past.The Spy.2.sea novels:The Pilot(1824)3.Novels about American frontier.Leatherstocking series:Natty Bumppoan ideal,innocence and purity wildness and the frontier for the first time2.His WorksPrecaution -(1820,his first novel,imitating Austens“Pride and Prejudice”)Hissecondbook,The Spy,anovelabouttheAmericanRevolution,provedtobeanimmensesuccess.Best known and remembered byLeatherstocking Tales3.LeatherstockingTalesThePioneers1823.4TheLastoftheMohicans1826.2ThePrairie1827.5ThePathfinder1840.3TheDeerslayer1841.1Title Publication Date Natty Bumppos AgeSet in YearThe Pioneers1823701793NattyBumppofirstappearsasaseasonedscoutinadvancingyears,withthedyingChingachgook,theoldIndianchiefandhisfaithfulcomrade,astheeasternforestfrontierbeginstodisappearandChingachgookdies.The Last of the Mohicans 1826401757AnadventureoftheFrenchandIndianWarsintheLakeGeorgecounty.The Prairie 1827 90 1804SetinthenewfrontierwheretheLeatherstockingdies.The Pathfinder 1840 40 1757ContinuingthesameborderwarfareintheSt.LawrenceandLakeOntariocountry.The Deerslayer 1841231740-45EarlyadventureswiththehostileHuronsonLakeOtsego,NY.Leatherstocking TalesIf the United States is,in a sense,the process of the American settlers exploring and pushing the American frontier forever westward,then Coopers“Leatherstocking Tales”,depicting as they do Natty Bumppo as a pioneer,effectively approximates the American national experience of adventure into the west.Romantic HeroThe protagonists of the novel,Natty Bumppo,goes by various names,Deerslayer,Pathfinder and Hawkeye.innocent and carefreeseparate from the massesalmost always on some type of journey.idealisticnon-conformingwell roundedskilled in some fashionable to communicate with all walks of life He is a frontier hero,a prototype for the Western cowboy.Close after him are two“noble savages”,the Mohican chief Chingachgook and his son Uncas.It becomes the greatest American novels about its past.When Natty Bumppo first appears,we see a real frontiersman in his crude cabin,a man of flesh and blood in the virgin forests of North America.But as he moves out of The Pioneers into the world of The Last of the Mohicans,The Prairie,The Pathfinder,and The Deerslayer,he does so gathering more and more of the halo of a legendary and mythic nature around him.D.H.Lawrence when he says:The Leatherstocking novels go backwards,from old age to golden youth.That is the true myth of America.She starts old,old,wrinkled and,writhing in an old skin.And there is a gradual sloughing of the old skin,towards a new:It is the myth of America.The five Tales constitute a mythic reproduction of the whole process:The old and dying Leatherstocking in The Pioneers and The Prairie relives another phase of middle-age maturity in The Last of the Mohicans and the Pathfinder and enjoys another lease of youth in the Deerslayer.Natty Bumppo as a fictional character is therefore the result of careful literary deliberations.NattyBumpporepresentstheidealAmerican,livingavirtuousandfreelifeinGodsworld.TohimandtoCooper,thewildnessisgood,pure,perfect,wherethereisfreedomnottaintedandfetteredbyanyformsofhumaninstitutions.NattyBumppoisaveritableembodimentofhumanvirtueslikeinnocence,simplicity,honestyandgenerosity,amanbornwithanimmaculatesenseofgoodandevilandrightandwrong.The creation of the famous Leatherstocking saga has cemented his position as our first great national novelist and his influence pervades American literature.In his thirty-two years(1820-1851)of authorship,Cooper produced twenty-nine other long works of fiction and fifteen books-enough to fill forty-eight volumes in the new definitive edition of his Works.4.FeaturesGood at inventing plots.(Cooper had never been to the frontier area personally)Style:powerful yet clumsy and dreadfulWooden CharactersUse of dialect but not authentic(criticized by Mark Twain)Anyhow,Cooperdidhelptointroducethe“westerntradition”intoAmericanliterature.William Cullen Bryant(1794-1878)William Cullen Bryant(1794-1878)the first American lyric poet of distinction1.BackgroundBorn in MassachusettsPuritan AncestorsFather-PhysicianMother-from family of clergymenRight“Kindred Spirits”by Asher Durand pictures Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant,two Romantics,one a painter,one an author.Inspired by the romantic lyrics of William Wordsworth,Bryant found his subject in the American landscape,esp.that of New England.By 1825,critics on both sides of the Atlantic called him the finest poet in the United States.2.Worksa)Poems 1821b)The Fountain 1842诗选诗选泉泉Poes reputation was firstc)The White-Footed Deer 1844 d)A Forest Hymn 1860e)The Flood of Years 1878白蹄鹿白蹄鹿森林赋森林赋似水流年似水流年f)“To a Waterfowl”1815g)“Thanatopsis”1817h)“The Yellow Violet”1814致水鸟致水鸟死亡随想死亡随想黄色堇香花黄色堇香花Other WorksWorksofTranslation Iliad-1870;Odyssey-1871Bryant was a poet,and editor.He was born into a doctors family in Massachusetts.3.His LifeByageofninehewasalreadywritingpoetryandhadearnedareputationasaprodigy.Whenhebeganhiscareerasalawyer,heoftenwalkedthesevenmilestohisplaceofwork.Ononeofthesewalks,inDecember1815,henoticedasinglebirdflyingonthehorizon;thesightmovedhimenoughtowrite“ToaWaterfowl”Bryant quitted his study in university and then became a lawyer.In 1825,he turned to journalism.In 1827,he became an editor for New York Evening Post.But it is his poetry which made him popular among people.He was influenced by Graveyard School in England and wrote“Thanatopsis”.His best works are his lyric poems about nature and so his style is quite similar to that of Wordsworth.InspiredbytheromanticlyricsofWilliamWordsworth,BryantfoundhissubjectintheAmericanlandscape,especiallythatofNewEngland.By1825,criticsonbothsidesoftheAtlanticcalledhimthefinestpoetintheUnitedStates.“ToaWaterfowl”wasmeanttobereadasaspiritualcounsel“To A Waterfowl”By William Cullen BryantWHITHER,midstfallingdew,Whileglowtheheavenswiththelaststepsofday,Far,throughtheirrosydepths,dostthoupursueThysolitaryway?Thepoetisspeakingtothelonewaterfowlthatheseesflyingabovehim.“Whereareyou(waterfowl)goingallalone?Itistheendoftheday.”Itisunusualforbirdstoflyalone.VainlythefowlerseyeMightmarkthydistantflighttodotheewrong,As,darklyseenagainstthecrimsonsky,Thyfigurefloatsalong.Youmightbekilledbyafowler(hunter)asyouflythrougharedcoloredsky(blood,death).Isthebirdaneasiertargetbecauseitfliesalone?SeekstthoutheplashybrinkOfweedylake,ormargeofriverwide,OrwheretherockingbillowsriseandsinkOnthechafedocean-side?Areyoulookingforasafeplacetoland?Thewateryedgeofalakeorriver?Theocean?ThereisaPowerwhosecareTeachesthywayalongthatpathlesscoastThedesertandillimitableairLonewandering,butnotlost.Power=God,nature,orinstinctWhetheryouknowitornot,thereisaguidingforceinyourlifethatshowsyouwheretogoeventhoughtheredoesnotappeartobeaclearpath.Youmaybealone,butyouarenotlost.Alldaythywingshavefanned,Atthatfarheight,thecold,thinatmosphere,Yetstoopnot,weary,tothewelcomeland,Thoughthedarknightisnear.Youhaveflownalldaytogreatheightsandthroughchallengingconditions.Dontstopnow;dontgiveintothetemptationjustbecausethereislandbeloworbecauseitisgettingdark.Keepgoing!Andsoonthattoilshallend;Soonshaltthoufindasummerhome,andrest,Andscreamamongthyfellows;reedsshallbend,Soon,oerthyshelterednest.Soon=HopefultoneYouworkwillend“soon”.Youwillfinallybehomeamongyourfriends/familyandwillbeabletorest.Thourtgone,theabyssofheavenHathswallowedupthyform;yet,onmyheartDeeplyhathsunkthelessonthouhastgiven,Andshallnotsoondepart.You(the waterfowl)are no longer visible,but the lesson you taught me about the journey through life will stay with me.Hewho,fromzonetozone,Guidesthroughtheboundlessskythycertainflight,InthelongwaythatImusttreadalone,Willleadmystepsaright.He=God,nature,instinctEventhoughI,likethewaterfowl,musttakea“pathless”roadattimesinmylife,Ineedtotrustthatthereisalwaysaforcethatisguidingmeintherightdirection.Imaywalkthepathalone,butIwillneverbewithoutdirection.In the first three stanzas,there is no hint of any morals.However,in the fourth,all of a sudden,a new figure as a god appears.There is a supernatural power which directs the birds flight.Bryant interrupted himself from describing a bird into teaching a lesson.Bryant may think it is not enough for a poem written just for the sake of its own,or just for the beauty of it,it should say something more than beauty;it should carry morals.It rhymes“abab”,while the length of each line is so different that you cannot find a regular foot.But,the two long lines in the middle of each stanza may refer to the balance in the floating of the bird.The first and the fourth lines,which are relatively shorter,look like two wings.The stanzaic form reminds one of a flying bird.Thanatopsis MeansFrom the Greek word:Thanatos=DeathSuffix:opsis=sightOften translated as View of DeathThanatopsisVoice:2nd Person(you)Speaker:William Cullen Bryant=PoetMood&ToneMood:Consoling3 Examples from the poem of the mood:1.“and eloquence of Beauty&she glides”2.“The planets,all the infinite hosts of heaven”3.“All that breathe will share thy Destiny”Tone:Somber&Compassionate3 Examples from the poem of the tone:1.“and eloquence of Beauty&she glides”2.“The planets,all the infinite hosts of heaven”3.“All that breathe will share thy Destiny”ThanatopsisRomantic Poem:He found his answers in nature&through observing naturePoem Form:Blank Verse lines dont rhyme,lines have same number of syllables&a regular rhythmThemeSubject:Human Life on Earth&Earthly NatureTheme:By living in harmony with nature,&realizing that all must come to an end,rather than fear it,one can come to accept death as a restful sleep.Bryant divides his poem into three parts.Discuss why you think he made these particular divisions.What advice does the speaker give to those who shudder at the thought of death?What does the speaker mean when he says that the person who dies does not retire alone?Why does he choose the“retire”?Interpret the following passage:“each one as before will chase/His favorite phantom”Explain how the person addressed as“thou”gains in stature and importance as the poem progress.
展开阅读全文