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History of American Literature OVERVIEW During its early history, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States Therefore, its literary tradition begins as linked to the broader tradition of English literature However, unique American characteristics and the breadth of its production usually now cause it to be considered a separate path and tradition Colonial Literature Some of the earliest forms of American literature were pamphlets and writings extolling the benefits of the colonies to both a European and colonist audience John Smith Captain John Smith could be considered the first American author with his works: A True Relation of Virginia (1608) The revolutionary period also contained Samuel Adams political writings, including those by colonist Samuel Adams Two key figures were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac and The Benjamin Franklin Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin are esteemed works with their wit and influence toward the formation of a budding American identity Thomas Paine Early U.S Literature In the post-war period, The Federalist essays by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay represented a historical Alexander Hamilton discussion of government organization and republican values Thomas Jefferson's United States Declaration of Independence, his influence on the James Madison Constitution, and the mass of his letters have led to him being considered one of the most talented early American writers John Jay The first American novel is sometimes considered to be William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy (1789) Much of the early literature of the new nation struggled Thomas Jefferson to find a uniquely American voice European forms and styles were often transferred to new locales and critics often saw them as inferior W.H Brown Unique American Style With the War of 1812 and an increasing desire to produce uniquely American work, a number of key new literary figures appeared, perhaps most prominently Washington Irving Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe Irving, often considered the first writer to develop a unique American style (although James Fenimore this is debated) wrote humorous works Cooper in Salmagundi and the well-known satire A History of New York, by Diedrich Edgar Allan Poe Knickerbocker (1809) Anti-transcendental works from Melville (Moby-Dick), Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter), and Poe (The Fall of the House of Usher) all comprise the Dark Romanticism subgenre of Hawthorne literature popular during this time American 19th Century Poetry America's two greatest 19th-century poets could hardly have been more different in temperament and style Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a working man, a traveler, a selfappointed nurse during the American Civil War (18611865), and a poetic innovator His magnum opus was Leaves of Grass, in which he uses a free-flowing verse and lines of irregular length to depict the all-inclusiveness of American democracy Taking that motif one step further, the poet equates the vast range of American experience with himself without being egotistical Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), on the other hand, lived the sheltered life of a genteel unmarried woman in small-town Amherst, Massachusetts Within its formal structure, her poetry is ingenious, witty, exquisitely wrought, and psychologically penetrating Her work was unconventional for its day, and little of it was published during her lifetime Many of her poems dwell on death, often with a mischievous twist Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson Realism Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910) was the first major American writer to be born away from the East Coast in the border state of Missouri His regional masterpieces were the memoir Life on the Mississippi and the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain's style changed the way Americans write their language His characters speak like real people and sound distinctively American, using local dialects, newly invented words, and regional accents Henry James (18431916) confronted the Old WorldNew World dilemma by writing directly about it Among his more accessible works are the novellas Daisy Miller, about an enchanting American girl in Europe, and The Turn of the Screw, an enigmatic ghost story Mark Twain Henry James Turn of the Century At the beginning of the 20th century, American novelists were expanding fiction's social spectrum to encompass both high and low life and sometimes connected to the naturalist school of realism More directly political writings discussed social issues and power of corporations Some like Edward Bellamy in Looking Backward outlined other possible political and social frameworks Upton Sinclair, most famous for his meat-packing novel The Jungle, advocated socialism Henry Adams' literate autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams also depicted a stinging description of the education system and modern life Experimentation in style and form soon joined the new freedom in subject matter Edward Bellamy Upton Sinclair Henry Adams Turn of the Century American writers also expressed the disillusionment following upon the war The stories and novels of F Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) capture the restless, pleasurehungry, defiant mood of the 1920s Fitzgerald's characteristic theme, expressed poignantly in The Great Gatsby, is the tendency of youth's golden dreams to dissolve in failure and disappointment Depression era literature was blunt and direct in its social criticism John Steinbeck (1902-1968) His style was simple and evocative, winning him the favor of the readers but not of the critics The Grapes of Wrath, considered his masterpiece, is a strong, socially-oriented novel that tells the story of the Joads, a poor family from Oklahoma and their journey to California in search of a better life Scott Fritzgerald John Steinbeck Post-World War II The period in time from the end of World War II up until, roughly, the late 1960s and early 1970s saw to the publication of some of the most popular works in American history The poetry and fiction of the "Beat Generation," largely born of a circle of intellects formed in New York City around Columbia University and established more officially some time later in San Francisco, came of age The term, Beat, referred, all at the same time, to the countercultural rhythm of the Jazz scene, to a sense of rebellion regarding the conservative stress of post-war society, and to an interest in new forms of spiritual experience through drugs, alcohol, philosophy, and religion, and specifically through Zen Buddhism Regarding the war novel specifically, there was a literary explosion in America during the post-World War II era Some of the most well known of the works produced included Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead (1948) Norman Mailer Câu 2: Điểm bật văn học Anh kỷ 20 Twentieth Century English Literature In the seventies of the 19th century most writers on social problems believed that science and science alone would finally sweep away all human misery and bring civilization to all Men of science were greatly admired They were invited to speak in public halls and express their opinions on all kinds of subjects Many of these scientists believed in positivism, and spread their demagogic ideas among the people But during the last decades of the 19th century doubts began to arise as to the faultless nature of European civilization People had awakened to the fact that scientific progress was increasing the wealth of the upper classes only They began to see that some human beings were born to riches for which they had not worked, while the majority was born to poverty from which there was no escape Philanthropy, never having been able to prevent poverty, now became a laughing stock Disillusionment led to pessimism and found its expression in a very pessimistic literature, the literature of the Decadence So the phrase “the End of the Century” meant not only the turn of the century: It also meant that a certain change had occurred in the more clearlythinking minds It was the End of the Century that created writers who were interested in human society as a whole (Shaw, Galsworthy), and a new type of writer who was preoccupied with the future of mankind (Wells) The spirit of the time lasted till the First World War of 1914-1918 Some historical facts It was in the last decades of the century that new trade-unions sprang up, which workers, regardless of their qualifications, could join; even unskilled factory-hands were accepted It was now easier for the workers to help one another during strikes The trade-union officials were no longer representatives of the bourgeois liberal party: the leaders were real workers, such as Tom Mann, who later founded the British Communist Party The growing class-consciousness of the workers threw the upper class into a panic of fear In 1883 a group of independent socialists organized the Fabian Society These Socialists came from the middle class, but they wanted to improve the economic situation of the common people Many progressive-minded writers, such as Bernard Shaw, Herbert Wells and some Marxists, belonged at various times to the Fabian Society The Fabians thought that the fut~ depended on a careful scientific organization of society, which they hoped would lead the country to state capitalism They refused to recognize the ,class struggle as necessary for social progress English Fabian Socialism never became part of the actual workers' movement The activities of these Socialists are interesting, howeyer, from a 'historical point of view They investigated different systems of labour and made a thorough examination of the housing conditions in working-class districts, particularly in the East End of London with its factories and docks, which was the poorest part of the city Among the social investigators who began to walk the slums were young women from cultured families The diaries they left give a complete picture of how the workers lived Here are some of the notes The houses looked ready to fall, many of them out of the perpendicular Entire families were crowded into one room Most of the doors stood open all day as well as all night, and the passages and stairs sheltered many who were altogether homeless Here a mother would stand with her baby of'sit with it on the stairs, or companions would huddle together in cold weather Everywhere there was drunkenness, dirt and bad language Gambling was the chief amusement of the young men, and fights in the streets were common, ending at times even in murder Only a small number of dock workers had permanent work; the majority were casuals employed for one job only The casuals would walk to the docks early in the morning and wait at the entrances to the various wharves hoping for the chance that a foreman might need someone Whenever it happened that an extra man was wanted for some work on the wharf, there would be brutal fighting and struggle at the gates The houses looked ready to fall, many of them out of the perpendicular Entire families were crowded into one room Most of the doors stood open all day as well as all night, and the passages and stairs sheltered many who were altogether homeless Here a mother would stand with her baby of'sit with it on the stairs, or companions would huddle together in cold weather Everywhere there was drunkenness, dirt and bad language Gambling was the chief amusement of the young men, and fights in the streets were common, ending at times even in murder Only a small number of dock workers had permanent work; the majority were casuals employed for one job only The casuals would walk to the docks early in the morning and wait at the entrances to the various wharves hoping for the chance that a foreman might need someone Whenever it happened that an extra man was wanted for some work on the wharf, there would be brutal fighting and struggle at the gates The workers who had permanent work stood on a higher social level On Sundays they would crowd into the parks and listen to various speakers Here an atheist would stand on a soap-box and explain that if there be a God he must be a monster to permit such misery as unemployment' Back to back with the atheist, facing another crowd, would be a man from a Christian association who would explain unemployment as God's punishment of unbelievers In the summer of 1889 a great dock strike broke out in London led by Tom Mann and other workers' leaders Meanwhile the British imperialists were fighting for colonial expansion and preparing for the Boer War in South Africa The name of Joseph Chamberlain appeared in the newspapers With a view to getting the support of the nation for his colonial policy, he said in his speeches that he was against individualism, he was for a united British Empire working collectively together Collectivism was a nice word to draw the attention of the masses away from class struggle He appealed to their 'pride of country', boasting that Britain was the richest country in the world and that every man would be sure of a good living if he and his fellow workers fought for the good of the Empire The idea that the British race was superior to all others was flattering, especially to the bourgeoisie It meant that they were supermen The imperialists came to power in 1895 Four Fars later the Boer War broke out Câu 3: Tìm hiểu thông tin nhà văn William Shakespeare William Shakespeare (1564-1616) The great English playwright and poet William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon, about seventy-five miles from London Ile was the son of a tradesman When a boy he went to Stratford Grammar School where Latin and Greek were almost the only subjects Life itself, contact with people and his acquaintance with the rich English folklore gave him more than the scholastic methods used at school In those days Stratford-upon-Avon was often visited by traveling groups of actors It is quite possible that Shakespeare saw some plays performed by such actors and was impressed by them William Shakespeare (1564-1616) Shakespeare lived in Stratford-upon-Avon until he was twenty-one By that time he was married and had three children At twenty-one he left Stratford-upon-Avon for London where he joined a theatrical company and worked as an actor and a playwright In the late 90s a new theatre called The Globe was built on the bank of the Thames Shakespeare became one of its owners The people of the London liked it better than any other theatre It was in The Globe that most of Shakespeare's plays were staged at that time In 1613, Shakespeare left London and returned to his native town of Stratford-upon-Avon Three years later, on April 23, 1616, he died and was buried there Shakespeare is the author of poems, 37 plays and 154 sonnets His creative work is usually divided into three periods The first period that lasted from 1590 to 1600 was marked by the optimism so characteristic of all humanist literature It is best reflected in his brilliant comedies: The Comedies of Errors (1592), The Taming of the Shrew (1593), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594), Love’s Labor’s Lost (1594), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595), Much Ado About Nothing (1598), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1599), As You Like It (1599), Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will (1600) The comedies describe the adventures of young men and women, their friendship and love, their search for happiness The scene is usually laid in some southern countries But one cannot help feeling that the comedies show the “Merry England” of Shakespeare’s time The comedies are usually based on some misunderstanding that creates comic situations They are full of fun But the laughter is not a mockery directed against the people and their vices Shakespeare never moralizes in his comedies He laughs with people, but not at them His comedies are filled with humanist love for people and the belief in the nobleness and kindness of human nature The historical chronicles form another group of plays written by Shakespeare in the first period They are: King Henry VI (part II) (1590), King Henry VI (part III) (1590), King Henry VI (part I) (1591), The Tragedy of King Richard II (1592), The Tragedy of King Richard II (1595), The Life and Death of King John (1596), King Henry IV (part I) (1597), King Henry IV (part II) (1597), The Life of King Henry V (1598) Historical Chronicles are plays written on subjects from national history Shakespeare’s chronicles cover a period of more than three hundred years of English history (from the rule of King John in the 12 th century up to the 16th century) However, the main subjects of the chronicles are not the lives and fates of Kings but history itself and the development of the country Like all humanists of his time Shakespeare believed a centralized monarchy to be an ideal form of state power He thought it would put an end to the struggle of feudal and would create conditions for the progress of the country One of the great achievements of Shakespeare was that in his chronicles he showed not only the kings, feudal, and churchmen, but the lower classes too The drama The Merchant of Venice and the two early tragedies Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar, also written in the 90s, show a change in the playwright's understanding of life, whose approach to reality becomes more pessimistic The main works written by Shakespeare during the second period (1601-1608) are his four great tragedies: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1601), Othello, the Moor of Venice (1604), King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1605) The tragedies reflect the deep, unsolvable contradictions of life, the falsehood, injustice and tyranny existing in society They show people whoperish in the struggle against Evil The tragedies, like the chronicles, are also based on real events but there is a considerable difference between the two genres The playwright raised great problems of Good and Evil in both But in the chronicles they are mostly linked with political themes-the question of the state and public life of the period described In the tragedies which are centered round the life of one man Shakespeare touched on the moral problems of universal significance - honesty, cruelty, kindness, love, vanity and others That is why his tragedies are of great interest to every new generation The plays of the third period (1609 - 1612) differ from everything written by Shakespeare before The playwright still touches upon important social and moral problems But now he suggests utopian solution to them He introduces romantic and fantastic elements, which have a decisive role in his plays Due to these peculiarities the works of this period - Cymbeline (1609), The Winter's Tale (1610) and The Tempest (1612) are called romantic dramas Question What are the characteristic features of Shakespeare's comedies? The first period that lasted from 1590 to 1600 was marked by the optimism so characteristic of all humanist literature The comedies describe the adventures of young men and women, their friendship and love, their search for happiness The scene is usually laid in some southern countries The comedies are usually based on some misunderstanding that creates comic situations They are full of fun But the laughter is not a mockery directed against the people and their vices Shakespeare never moralizes in his comedies He laughs with people, but not at them His comedies are filled with humanist love for people and the belief in the nobleness and kindness of human nature Question On what subjects were Shakespeare's historical chronicles written? Historical Chronicles are plays written on subjects from national history Shakespeare’s chronicles cover a period of more than three hundred years of English history (from the rule of King John in the 12th century up to the 16th century) However, the main subjects of the chronicles are not the lives and fates of Kings but history itself and the development of the country Like all humanists of his time Shakespeare believed a centralized monarchy to be an ideal form of state power He thought it would put an end to the struggle of feudal and would create conditions for the progress of the country One of the great achievements of Shakespeare was that in his chronicles he showed not only the kings, feudal, and churchmen, but the lower classes too Question What are Shakespeare's great tragedies and what they reflect? The tragedies, like the chronicles, are also based on real events but there is a considerable difference between the two genres The playwright raised great problems of Good and Evil in both But in the chronicles they are mostly linked with political themes-the question of the state and public life of the period described In the tragedies which are centered round the life of one man Shakespeare touched on the moral problems of universal significance - honesty, cruelty, kindness, love, vanity and others That is why his tragedies are of great interest to every new generation Some of them show a change in the playwright's understanding of life, whose approach to reality becomes more pessimistic Question Why is Shakespeare still popular today? He has a large variety of themes (e.g comedy, drama, love) and types of characters (young lovers, kings etc.) which provides something for everyone and as a result, everyone can relate to his players - he has a powerful use of language and uses stong description of the characters, atmosphere, background etc - He can be in really good use of poetry his characters are human - they have positive and negative sides and have emotions and feelings Question Why some critics consider him to be a reformer of his own age? What he tries to achieve is teaching his readers to be good civilized people Therefore, he is much concerned with home, family, close personal ties, honesty, charity, and high standards of morality in his novels He deals with these themes in order to lead the people to their social obligations To this he depicts bad characters as individuals who are isolated, withdrawn, vulnerable and passive, and if they are shown active, their activity is depicted as demonic and victimizing; they are shown friendless as well as identity-less because Dickens wants to make his readers not sympathize with them but hate them What he desires to absorb his readers is the internalization of the dominant ideologies of the middle class Question What is the basic characteristics of critical realism literature ? The critical realism literature in nineteenth century, is a splendid page in the bourgeois literary history and also an important heritage in the treasure trove of the world literature Critical realism shows all aspects of social life and reveals the contradiction of reality in considerable depth In their works, we can see the collapse of the feudal society and the rise of capitalism We can also see oppressive serfdom and cruel capital exploitation They particularly expose and criticize the capitalist system, which is widely involved in various fields This causes the people’s suspicion and dissatisfaction to the existing order, so it has great social significance Question What is Dickens’s contribution to world literature ? Dickens has given a full picture of 19th century English life He revealed all that was irrational and monstrous and through his wit and humour people began to see their own time and environment in a new light His method of writing inspired many others to write realistically, and great works of critical realism appeared after him Dickens never loses his warmth of feeling and quickness of sympathy In the fifties of the 19th century, however, Russian writers of democratic revolutionary thought gave him a place among the English classics Chernyshevsky, Belinsky and others held that all great writers found inspiration in ideas which resulted from the desperate struggle of the people, and which were generally recognized as the only progressive ideas of the time Question What are the features of Dickens’s characters ? Dickens's characters are at first sight caricatures because of the exaggeration of facts; but this exaggeration is always a logical extension of something that really exists His characters are static, but at the same time they are varied, vivid and distinct They may be divided into three types: heroes, villains and quaint people notable for their whims These three types call up three emotions: pathos, or a feeling of pity, for the virtuous characters when circumstances have turned against them; contempt for the villains, whom Dickens describes in a satirical manner which helps to tear off their mask of respectability; and a warm liking for the whimsical but generous persons Dickens was exceedingly sincere when creating his personages He said of himself: " no one can ever believe this narrative in the reading more than I believed it in the writing."