课程简介
The course of English and American literature is designed for advanced learners of English major. Its purpose is to introduce students to the discipline of English studies, familiarize them with the topics and themes in the history of English and American literature and cultivate in them a commitment to the spirit of humanity. This course organically combines the history of English and American literature with a critical examination of selected works. In practice, we pay special attention to the basic knowledge and major approaches of literary criticism with a commitment to develop the student’s language competence as well as critical thinking.
课程大纲
Unit 1 An Introduction to English Literature
1-1 The History of English Literature: A Brief Survey
1-2 Understanding Literature
Unit 2 Shakespeare
2-1 Introduction to the age of Renaissance and Shakespeare’s Sonnets
2-2 A Textual Analysis of Hamlet’s Soliloquy
2-3 An Ethic Approach to Hamlet’s Dilemma
Unit 3 John Milton: Paradise Lost
3-1 Life and Times
3-2 Paradise Lost: textual analysis
3-3 Style and Characterization
Unit 4 Daniel Defoe and Robinson Crusoe
4-1 An Introduction to the Age of Enlightenment
4-2 On Characterization
4-3 From Capitalism to Imperialism:A Cultural Critique of Robinson Crusoe
Unit 5 William Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey”
5-1 “Tintern Abbey”: General Remarks
5-2 Beauty in Nature and Pleasure in the Poet
5-3 Sublimity in Nature and Elevation and Love in the Poet
Unit 6 John Keats: “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
6-1 A Tormented Soul: The Short and Unfulfilled Life of John Keats
6-2 A Textual Analysis of “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
6-3 Romantic Acceptance of Ancient Greek Culture
Unit 7 Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
7-1 Jane Austen and Her “Little Bit of Ivory”
7-2 Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice
7-3 Jane Austen’s Achievements and Her Legacy
Unit 8 Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
8-1 Life and Times
8-2 Jane Eyre: Text and Context
8-3 Critical Approaches and Style
Unit 9 Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist
9-1 Life and Times
9-2 Great Expectations as A Social Critique
9-3 Great Expectations: Form and Style
Unit 10 James Joyce and “Araby”
10-1 Key Features of English Modernist Literature
10-2 Themes in Araby: Spiritual Paralysis and Disillusioned Love
10-3 Artistic Innovations in “Araby”
Unit 11 An Introduction to American Literature
11-1 The History of American Literature: Defining Americanness (I)
11-2 The History of American Literature: Defining Americanness (II)
11-3 The History of American Literature: Defining Americanness (III)
Unit 12 Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nature (1836)
12-1 Emerson and the Fragmentary Life
12-2 Emerson’s Transcendentalism and Concept of Self-Reliance
12-3 Emerson’s Prose Style: Unity, Flux and Polarity
Unit 13 Three Ways of Reading Henry David Thoreau’s Walden
13-1 Walden as a Nature Book
13-2 Walden as a Work of Literary Art
13-3 Walden as a Spiritual Guidebook
Unit 14 Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
14-1 Nathaniel Hawthorne and Puritanism
14-2 The Empowering Woman in The Scarlet Letter
14-3 Historical Relevance of The Scarlet Letter to the 19th Century Feminism
Unit 15 Mark Twain: “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”
15-1 Mark Twain and Literary Regionalism
15-2 Plot and Themes of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
15-3 “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”: Gambling the Identity in the Far West
Unit 16 William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury
16-1 William Faulkner and the Southern Renaissance
16-2 A textual analysis of The Sound and the Fury
16-3 Benjy Compson in Focus: Where Is the Sound? Where Is the Fury?
Unit 17 Robert Frost: “Love and A Question”
17-1 Traditionalism in the Dawn of Modernism
17-2 “Love and a Question”: Themes and Context
17-3 “Love and a Question”: American Hospitality and New England Shield
Unit 18 Tennessee William: A Streetcar Named Desire
18-1 The Southern Belle in Trouble: Tennessee Williams’s Predicament
18-2 A Textual Analysis of A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 7 & 8
18-3 Two Conflicting Musical Motifs: Music in A Streetcar Named Desire
Unit 19 Arthur Miller and Death of a Salesman
19-1 The Great Arthur Miller: the American Dream “realized”
19-2 A Textual Analysis of Death of a Salesman, Act II
19-3 The Haunting Weight of the Great Depression
Unit 20 Toni Morrison: Beloved
20-1 Understanding Toni Morrison
20-2 Beloved: The Unspeakable Thing Unspoken
20-3 Subversion of “Canonicity” by Toni Morrison
Achievement Test
1-1 The History of English Literature: A Brief Survey
1-2 Understanding Literature
Unit 2 Shakespeare
2-1 Introduction to the age of Renaissance and Shakespeare’s Sonnets
2-2 A Textual Analysis of Hamlet’s Soliloquy
2-3 An Ethic Approach to Hamlet’s Dilemma
Unit 3 John Milton: Paradise Lost
3-1 Life and Times
3-2 Paradise Lost: textual analysis
3-3 Style and Characterization
Unit 4 Daniel Defoe and Robinson Crusoe
4-1 An Introduction to the Age of Enlightenment
4-2 On Characterization
4-3 From Capitalism to Imperialism:A Cultural Critique of Robinson Crusoe
Unit 5 William Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey”
5-1 “Tintern Abbey”: General Remarks
5-2 Beauty in Nature and Pleasure in the Poet
5-3 Sublimity in Nature and Elevation and Love in the Poet
Unit 6 John Keats: “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
6-1 A Tormented Soul: The Short and Unfulfilled Life of John Keats
6-2 A Textual Analysis of “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
6-3 Romantic Acceptance of Ancient Greek Culture
Unit 7 Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
7-1 Jane Austen and Her “Little Bit of Ivory”
7-2 Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice
7-3 Jane Austen’s Achievements and Her Legacy
Unit 8 Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
8-1 Life and Times
8-2 Jane Eyre: Text and Context
8-3 Critical Approaches and Style
Unit 9 Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist
9-1 Life and Times
9-2 Great Expectations as A Social Critique
9-3 Great Expectations: Form and Style
Unit 10 James Joyce and “Araby”
10-1 Key Features of English Modernist Literature
10-2 Themes in Araby: Spiritual Paralysis and Disillusioned Love
10-3 Artistic Innovations in “Araby”
Unit 11 An Introduction to American Literature
11-1 The History of American Literature: Defining Americanness (I)
11-2 The History of American Literature: Defining Americanness (II)
11-3 The History of American Literature: Defining Americanness (III)
Unit 12 Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nature (1836)
12-1 Emerson and the Fragmentary Life
12-2 Emerson’s Transcendentalism and Concept of Self-Reliance
12-3 Emerson’s Prose Style: Unity, Flux and Polarity
Unit 13 Three Ways of Reading Henry David Thoreau’s Walden
13-1 Walden as a Nature Book
13-2 Walden as a Work of Literary Art
13-3 Walden as a Spiritual Guidebook
Unit 14 Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
14-1 Nathaniel Hawthorne and Puritanism
14-2 The Empowering Woman in The Scarlet Letter
14-3 Historical Relevance of The Scarlet Letter to the 19th Century Feminism
Unit 15 Mark Twain: “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”
15-1 Mark Twain and Literary Regionalism
15-2 Plot and Themes of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
15-3 “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”: Gambling the Identity in the Far West
Unit 16 William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury
16-1 William Faulkner and the Southern Renaissance
16-2 A textual analysis of The Sound and the Fury
16-3 Benjy Compson in Focus: Where Is the Sound? Where Is the Fury?
Unit 17 Robert Frost: “Love and A Question”
17-1 Traditionalism in the Dawn of Modernism
17-2 “Love and a Question”: Themes and Context
17-3 “Love and a Question”: American Hospitality and New England Shield
Unit 18 Tennessee William: A Streetcar Named Desire
18-1 The Southern Belle in Trouble: Tennessee Williams’s Predicament
18-2 A Textual Analysis of A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 7 & 8
18-3 Two Conflicting Musical Motifs: Music in A Streetcar Named Desire
Unit 19 Arthur Miller and Death of a Salesman
19-1 The Great Arthur Miller: the American Dream “realized”
19-2 A Textual Analysis of Death of a Salesman, Act II
19-3 The Haunting Weight of the Great Depression
Unit 20 Toni Morrison: Beloved
20-1 Understanding Toni Morrison
20-2 Beloved: The Unspeakable Thing Unspoken
20-3 Subversion of “Canonicity” by Toni Morrison
Achievement Test