Part One Colonial America 1
Chapter Ⅰ American Puritanism 1
1. The New World 1
2. Puritan Fathers 1
3. The Puritan Principles 2
4. Characteristics of American Puritans 2
5. The Puritan Heritage 3
Chapter Ⅱ The Colonial Literature 4
1. Characteristics of the Colonial Literature 4
2. William Bradford 4
3. Anne Bradstreet 5
4. Edward Taylor 6
5. Jonathan Edwards 6
Part Two America Independence 8
Chapter Ⅰ American Revolution and Enlightenment 8
1. American Revolution 8
2. Enlightenment 8
Chapter Ⅱ The Literature of Revolution and Enlightenment 9
1. The Literary Features 9
2. Thomas Paine 10
3. Thomas Jefferson 11
4. Philip Freneau 12
Chapter Ⅲ Benjamin Franklin 16
Part Three The Age of Romanticism 28
Chapter Ⅰ The Rise of American Romanticism 28
1. Historical Background 28
2. Characteristics of Romanticism 28
3. Features of American Romanticism 29
Chapter Ⅱ Early Romanticism 30
1. Characteristics of Early Romanticism 30
2. Early Romantic Novelists 31
3. Early Romantic Poets 54
Chapter Ⅲ Late Romanticism 59
1. Characteristics of Late Romanticism and the Flowering of American Literature 59
2. Late Romantic Poets—Whitman,Dickinson, Poe 60
3. Late Romantic Essayists—Emerson and Thoreau 80
4. Late Romantic Novelists—Hawthorne and Melville 98
Part Four The Age of Realism 124
Chapter Ⅰ The Rise of Realism 124
1. Realism 124
2. Features of Critical Realism 125
3. Historical Background of American Realism 125
4. Features of American Realism 127
Chapter Ⅱ Three Major Novelists of Realism 128
Chapter Ⅲ Four Novelists of Naturalism 174
Chapter Ⅳ Other Writers of Social Criticism 210
Part Five The Age of Modernism 221
Chapter Ⅰ The Rise of Modernism 221
1. Modernism 221
2. Features of Modernism 222
3. Historical Introduction of American Modernism 223
4. Modern American Poetry 224
5. Modem American Drama 227
6. Modern American Fiction 228
Chapter Ⅱ Modern Poets 231
Poets of Native Traditions 231
Chapter Ⅲ Imagist and Symbolist Poets 252
Chapter Ⅳ Modern Novelists 281
Chapter Ⅴ Modern Playwrights 353
Chapter Ⅵ Some Contemporary Writers 370
Appendix Glossary of Literary Terms 379
References 385