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American literature

So far that we know the American literature includes four periods:Colonial and Revolutionary Period(1607--1765);The reasoning and revolution period(1750-1800);The Romanticism Period(1770--1870). American literature is one of the youngest national literature in the world. It became a colony of Britain in the early 17th century.

Colonial and Revolutionary Period

Colonial and Revolutionary Period,in November1620,a group of English settlers,sailing on the ship of Mayflower,stepped on the New England shore at the Plymouth,only half of the 149 people survived the hard voyage on the Atlantic Ocean.These people are called Pilgrim Fathers.Their arrival marked the beginning of the American literature.It stretched roughly from the settlement of Am in the early 17th C through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607.Looking through the American literature history,we can figure out that Puritanism has a significant impact.As a matter of fact ,American literature was from the outset conditioned by the Puritan heritage.As we all know that the optimism is the important symbol for American,indeed the optimism was started from the Puritanism. After arriving at America,the puritans believed that God must have sent them to new place to rebuilt the paradise.Hence their writing was about the voyage to this new place,guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit or their writings served either God or colonial expansion. Some other colonial writers wrote for civil and religious freedom, and some wrote for America shaking off the fetters of the savage British colonial rule.Besides,most of the writing from is diaries,histories,journals,letters.

Then I would introduce some famous authors during this period,John Smith,the first American writer who wrote the A True Relation of Virginia,it is said about the true life condition in Virginia and also the first book in American.Another writer called Roger William was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state.Williams’s career as an author began with A Key into the Language of America , written during his first voyage to England.He believed that toleration did not stem from a lack of religious convictions. Instead, it sprang from the idea that simply to be virtuous in conduct and devout in belief did not give anyone the right to force belief on others. He also felt that no political order or church system could identify itself directly with God.

The reasoning and revolution period

America has experienced two revolutions in 18centuries,one is the independence war ,another is the Enlightenment (also called reason and revolution period)The literature of reason and revolution period was born at the time of Independence war ,By the mid-eighteenth century colonial America was no longer a group of scattered, struggling settlements. It was a series of neighboring, flourishing colonies with rapidly expanding, mixed populations. The growth, particularly the industrial growth, led to intense strain with England. In the seventies of the 18th century the English colonies in North America rose in arms against their mother country. The War for Independence last for 8 years. Confronting with such a stress and terrible condition,revolution and evolution is pretty certain.The spiritual life in the colonies during that period was to a great degree moulded by the bourgeois enlightenment.

At that times springing a number of politicians and litterateurs,the typical person is Benjamin Franklin who was the great thinker in the Enlightenment movement also influenced a sizable number of persons at that time,he was know as a politician ,litterateur and scientist,in addition,he was one of the committee to draft The Declaration of Independence.he devoted his whole life to American’a independence, as a representative of the Colonies, he tried in vain to counsel the British toward policies that would let America grow and flourish in association with England. He conducted the difficulty negotiations with France that brought financial and military support for America in the war.He also facilitated many civic organizations, including a fire department and a university.So he was one of the founding father in United States of America.people all respected and appreciated what he had done.

The Romanticisms period

American Romanticism is divided into two parts, Pre-Romanticism(1770s-1830s) and Post-Romanticism.(1830s-1860s, after Civil war 1865-1875) .The Romantic Period, one of the most important periods in the history of American literature, a sweeping but indispensable modern term applied to the profound shift in Western attitudes to art and human creativity that dominated much of European culture in the first half of the 19th centuries, people were influenced by it so deeply even some people reacted to against it at first time.It is a period following Am independence In this period, .democracy and political equality became a wonderful tendence. America was in an economic boom. There is a tremendous sense of optimism and hope among the people. The spirit of the time is, in some measure, responsible for the outburst of romantic feeling.Living with a better life can the romanticism appears.There is another factor to make the romanticism begin in the earlier time,romanticism emerged in England from 1798 to 1832,British Romanticism inspired the American imagination.The character at that time is pluralistic,manifestations varied,Individualistic.Frequently shared certain general characteristics, moral enthusiasm, faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that he natural world was a source of corruption.

Washington Irving was the first great belletrist,his contribution to American literature is unique in more ways than one. He did a number of things that have been regarded as the first of their kind in America.The first great prose stylist of American romanticism. Sketch Book, the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature.Irving restored the waning Gothic romances which Poe soon infused with psychological subtleties.A History of New York ,the first American humorous literature masterpiece.owing to a lot of contributions he has done,he was called the Father of American Literature.

Conclusion

Looking through the history about American history,the three parts are not the whole history,but has very important meaning for American literature.Although American literature has a short history but it is a vivid and outstanding history,also a treasure for the whole world.

O. Henry

Mu favorite American writer is O.Henry,his primitive name : Williams Sydney Porter ,was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. ,his family was poor.Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and clever twist endings.He was a

prolific American short-story writer, a master of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. Henry was known as a good end, it was called “O? Henry-end”. Although some critics were not so enthusiastic about his work, the public loved it.I have read his short stories like The Gift of Magi ,The Last Leaf .Those stories win universal praise.The feature of his story ,tell about the lives of poor people in New York, plots are exceedingly clever and interesting，humor abounds,the end is always surprising,contain a great deal of slang and colloquial expressions.At that time the civil war was happened, massed together in splendid formation,people leaded a terrible life,this kind of story brought about a sense of hope for hopeless people.

My favorite short story is the gift of Magi .It’s about the young couple who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas gifts. Unbeknownst to Jim, Della sells her most valuable possession, her beautiful hair, in order to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim's watch; while unbeknownst to Della, Jim sells his own most valuable possession, his watch, to buy jeweled combs for Della's hair.

The magi, as you know, were wise men–wonderfully wise men–who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.(The gift of Magi).It is a pity that they have lost the beloved thing because of the offer gifts for each other,but they got the more important thing was the unspoken consensus privities of this couple .Though they lost something precious ,they got something more precious.The writer did not declare that how much they love each other but in a implied way to convey a hidden love .Loving in silence is another way to care for your beloved,at that time,love may not be transmitted clearly but author told people love is great but silent.It is a part of the story,from this story,hundreds of thousands of people gain the courage to pursue the happiness ,even in a extremely poor condition .The ending of the story is surprising,the story is intricate in details and fast developing and reach to the climax,and the ending of storing is unexpected and reasonable,actually,that O’ Henry’writing style.

Bibliography

Roger Williams A Key into the Language of America (London, 1643),

John Smith,A True Relation of Virginia（1866）

Washington Irving sketch Book1820 A History of New York（1809）

O ’Hery the gift of Magi（1906）

O ’Hery The Last Leaf（1904）from Cabbages and Kings

王卓&李权文美国文学史2004 美国文学大纲吴定柏1998