AMERICAN LITERATURE

I.LITERATURE OF THE NEW WORLD The Europeans arrived with an agenda: to conquer new territory to call their own. The native’s agenda? To survive Columbus in 1492 “sailed the ocean blue” and his texts (letter, diary entries...) These texts all had a purpose: To influence police makers back home To convince financiers that their investments in these voyages were successful and bearing fruit And some were more personal, to provide firsthand testimony of the destruction and horror explorers bore witness to. Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474 1566) Native cultures had oral traditions These were no common language share by native nations across America Stories of Rituals ( quy tắc lễ nghi) woven into long song cycles One Mojave song cycle, composed of 525 songs, tell a creation story

AMERICAN LITERATURE REVIEW

−The Europeans arrived with an agenda: to conquer new territory to call their own

−The native’s agenda? To survive

−Columbus in 1492 “sailed the ocean blue” and his texts (letter, diary entries )

−These texts all had purpose:

+To influence police makers back home

+To convince financiers that their investments in these voyages were successful and bearing fruit

+And some were more personal, to provide first hand testimony of the destruction and horror explorers bore witness to

−Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474- 1566)

−Native cultures had oral traditions

−These was no common language share by native nations across the America

−Stories of Rituals ( quy tắc lễ nghi)  woven into long song cycles

−One Mojave song cycle, composed of 525 songs, tell a creation story

 TRICKSTER TALES

− Trickster rowdy, chidlike prankster

Causes trouble wherever he goes

− The trickster is a troublemaker, but he also carries a powerful message: Though the disorder he causes, he pushes people to think about what they value and know

− The trickster was commonly associated with an animal In the West he was a coyote, in the Southeast he was a rabbit, and in the Notthern great plains he was a spider.

 ONE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER

− The beginning of America = the English colonization (the north american continent)

− Important element = pilgrims and their search for freedom from religious persecutions

+Venerable pilgrim william bradford's peaceful contract with the native Americans

+People who had other goals in mindgoals that had nothing to do with religion

− Not all of the passengers on the Mayflower were puritans

+Some were out for more worldly interests

+Some were out for greater economic and social mobility

+A sense of exploration or for just plain fun, a rabble-rousing adventure

− The english colonization of america began (adventure) with the establishment of three main colonies:

+Jamestown in 1607 led by Captain John Smith

+Plymouth Colony in 1620 led by William Bradford

+The Massachusetts Bay Colony In 1630 Led by John Winthrop

 JOHN S MITH'S JAMESTOWN

− May 1607 : first permanent English settlement (called Virginia)

− These colonists were looking for freedom-freedom to practice their religion, but mostly economic freedom They felt stifled by the economic and social systems back home and wanted to break free of them

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− The Jamestown settlement had a rough start Famine, disease, and hostile relations with neighboring tribes

 constantly threatened the colony's survival

− John Smith helped to stabilize the colony- by establising friendly trade relation

− This trade agreement helped the colonists survive its early years and serves as another symbol of one of the cornerstones of the American ideal: the freedom to pursue economic freedom

− John Smith's A Description of New England, with its descriptions of the natural world and chronicles of the relationships between the Powhatan tribe and colonists, gives a lively, imaginative, first-person explorer's account of this early founding of America

JOHN WINTHROP'S (REGAL)

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY

− The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established in 1630 by John Winthrop in what is now called

Massachusetts

− Winthrop was on a quest to find both economic and religious freedom

− Winthrop and his group were dissenters but not separatists - that is, they did not want to separate from the Church of England They wanted to "purify"' the church back home by their shining example

WILLIAM BRADFORD'S PILGRIM COLONY

− William bradford had his own puritan colony at new plymouth

− In 1620 after the ship he and his fellow puritans were traveling on blew off course and landed at Plymouth rock

− His colony was made up of what we commonly know as the pilgrims

− Unlike winthrop's colony, bradford and his fellow puritans wanted complete religious freedom for

themselves

− They did not see any use in reforming the church of england, and simply wanted to be free of it: they were dissenters and separatists

− Born in England

− Received a well education due to her family’s wealth

− Married Simon Bradstreet at the age of 16 and had 8 childrens

− Migration to America in 1630

− Recogized as one of the America's first published poet and America's first published female poet

− Her poems were first published in London in 1650

She wrote it about her husband, Simon Bradstreet, to whom she was married for forty-four years

− Theme:

+Love

+Conjugal love

+Dealth and religion

− Tone: emotional

− Setting: written around 1633 in Boston, Massachussetts

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− Iambic pentamete

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1. If ever two were one, then surely we

2. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;

3. If ever wife was happy in a man,

4. Compare with me ye women if you can

 Line 1+2: thee = you

− Depicting her affection and true love, united

together in their marriage life

− Claiming her love for her husband, loving him more than any other woman

 Line 1:

− Paradox: An apparent contradiction to show 2 souls are 1 entity

− Metaphor: symbolizing love, when 2 hearts become 1

 Line 3+4: Ye = You

− Happiness in their marriage life, surely she is one of them

− Challenging the audience, claiming happier than any other happily married women, and asking for comparison

5. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,

6. Or all the riches that the East doth hold

 Line 5:

− Simile: express the value of love over material objects

 Line 6:

− Personification: the East symbolizes teh exotic, wealthy and it is a region of the world

7. My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,

8. Nor aught but love from thee, give recompence

9. Thy love is such I can no way repay,

10. The heavens reward thee manifold I pray

11. Then while we live, in love lets so persever,

12. That when we live no more, we may live ever.

 Line 11+ 12: The closing lines of Bradstreet’s poem declare that, if they are true to each other in this world, she and her husband will live together forever in heaven

− ‘Live’ returns three times in two lines, but each time Bradstreet is using it slightly differently:

+ to refer to their earthly life + to refer to an eternal life (‘live ever’)

+ to refer to their time of death (‘live no more’)

III. THOMAS PAINE (1737-1809)

− Born in England

− The most powerful rhetorician for American independence

− The political philosopher and writter supported revolutionary in America and Europe

− Publishedon January 10th,1776 at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an

immedite sensation

− The 1st pamphlet to advocate America independence

− It made public persuasive and impassioned for independence

−Anaphora: the repetition of “If ever” at the beginning of sentences

−Anaphora: emphasizing the ideal that they are perfect couple and they represent the ideal of love

Anaphora

− Hyperbole: to show how nothing can equate to love for her husband

Hyperbole

− He found himself callind for the 3 main things:

+The abolition of teh a heredity monarchy

+The equality of right for man

+The superiority of reason

− The Author of the Declaration of Independence

− It was ratified on July 4, 1776 in Philadenphia, Pennsylvania

− About how congress felt under the gun to produce a written of the Declaration of Independence from Britain

− The committee formed to write and produce the Declaration of Independence consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Jefferson

− Born in Boston, Massachussetts

− Printer, writer, publisher, states man, inventor, postmaster, diplomat, founding father

− Was one of the most important individuals in American history

− His inventions: the bifocal lens, the franklin stove, and the lightning rod, rocky chair

 FRANKLIN'S POOR RICHARD'S ALMANACK (1732- 1758)

− The Almanack contained the calendar, weather, poems, sayings and astronomical and astrological information

− Also included the occasional mathematical exercise

− Maxims short saying that express the truths about ways to live

− Quotes:

+ “Well done is better than well said”

+ “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days”

+ “Lost time is never found again!”

− Benjamin Franklin may be one of the most beloved figures in American history, but not everyone was a fan

− The American Romantic period which lasted from about 1820- 1860, was a movement where literature focused on intuition, imagination and individualism

− Romanticism started in Germany in the second haft of the 18th century

− It was a reaction to rationalism and the Industrial Revolution

− Imagination, feeling, and wild nature were more valuable than reason and logic especially when it came to art

− Poetry vs science

 What is romanticism?

The schools of thought that value feeling and intution over reason

− Escapism:

+Romantics wanted to rise above “dull realities” to reach higher truth

+They often looked to exotic settings of the past or the supernatural world to escape

+Or they woukd look to nature as a source of escape

+Similar to the Purian

− The ideal that in determining the ultimate reality of God, the universe, the self and other important matters, one must transcend the everyday human expericance in the physical world

− Led by RALPH WALDO EMERSON

− They were idealists, but in a broader, more pratical sense

− They were working toward perfection

− Beliefs:

+Imagination: Imagination allows a person to transcend himself, to consider things anew

+The ‘Eternal One’: Every individual carries the universe within himself and is entitled to his

own personal relationship with spiritually

+Intuitive Thought: Intuition should have precedence over conscious thought Intuition is the

most fundamental form of knowledge

− Aslo knowm as anti- transcendentalists

− Included Nathaniel Hawthome, Edgar allan Poe, and herman Melvile

− They also valued intution but were not as optimistic about it

− They thought there was both good and bad in nature

− They provided more balance

− Characteristics:

+Lots of creepy symbols

+Horrific themes

+Psychological effects of guilt and sin

 RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803 – 1882) − Father Of America Literature

− Known as the American transcendentalists

− Born in 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts

− Took the ideas of the mantic era and blended the with his own new conception of the divinity in his short essay called “Nature” in 1836

NOTE: Washington Irving - The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

VII. EDGAR ALLAN POE (1809 - 1849)

− Born on Jan 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachussetts

− Died in Oct, 1849

− He created the modern dectective story and the modern short story, inspried a league of pop- culture psychological thrillers and wrote one of the most famous poems in American literature

− Poetry Signature work: “The Raven” (1845)

− Fiction Signature works: “The Tell-Tale Heart” (1843)

− The First Detective Story : “The Gold-Bug” (1843),

− Some short story: “The Masque of the Red Death”, “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Purloined Letter”

 THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO (1846)

− Setting of the work:

+ The story is set largely in catacombs underneath montresor’s home in italy

+ The setting contributes significantly to horror of the story

− Time: carnival season

− Theme: revenge, hattred

− Tone: gothic story The mood changes from darkness to comical  change to horror (scary)

− The overal mood of story: scary, creepy

− Point of view: first person point of view

− Protagonist: Montresor: narrator : main character

+ Characteristics: ruthless

+ He is a murderer

+ He is a noble man

+ He is a connoisseur of wines

+ He is dynamic character

− Antagonist: Fortunato : victim of Montresor

+ Characteristics of Fortunato: guillible, light- hearted

+ Kind of person:

o An enemy

o A quack in painting and gemmary

o A wine connoisseur

+ Week point’s Fortunato: he is proud of ability to taste wine

+ He is also a noble man, and connoisseur of wines

+ He has deeply insulted Montresor, but he inaware of the real nature of their friendship because Montersor has been careful not to reveal his true feelings and his intention to kill Fortunato

+ He is a flat character

− Literary devices:

+ Hyperbole: “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he

ventured upon insult I vowed revenge”

+ Metaphor: “For the half of a century no mortal has disturbed them”

+ Foreshadowing (điềm báo): “He had a weak point this Fortunato although in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine” Monchestre uses the weakness of Fortunato to lure (attract) into the catacombs

+ Irony

• Verbal irony: “you are luckily me”, “the cough's a mere nothing; it will not kill me I shall not die of a cough”

• Dramtic irony: "Yes," I said, "let us be gone." /"For the love of God, Montresor!"

− Loại rượu Montresor cho Fortunato uống dưới hầm: Medoc

− Exposition

During Carnival in Italy, Montresor runs into Fortunato, and offers to share a very nice bottle of Amotilado wine with him However, this bottle os in his catacombs It is late at night and Fortunato seems ill

− Conflict

The narrator, Montresor, claims that Fortunato has gravely insulted him, and is plotting to get his revenge

− Rising action

Montresor lures Fortunato down into the dark and eerie wine vault As suspense builds, Montresor keeps asking if Fortunato would like to turn back because he seems ill Fortunato continues to drink wine to ease his cough

− Climax

When they reach their destunation, there is no Amotilado, but there is a hole in the wall Montresor shackles Fortunato inside, and begin to seal up the wall with bricks

− Falling action

As the last few bricks are laid, Fortunati screams for Montresor to stop, but it is too late, Montresor has enacted his revenge

− Revolution

Montresor walks away with only the sound of Fortunato’s jingling jester bells echoing the combs He replaces the bones of the crypt In the end, he claims that no one has disturbed them for 50 years; he has gotten away with his plot!

− Fortunato has hurt Montresor many times and Montresor bears as much as he can But when he is insulted by Fortunato, he vows revenge upom Fortunato

− He meets Fortunato at the Carnival and invites him to go to his palace for enjoying Amotilado wine because he knows well that Fortunato is addicted to drink

− Montresor thoughtfulliy plans to revenge himself upon Fortunato

− Montresor dresses inn disguse to make sure he would never be discovered

− As they descend into the vaults, Montresor offers Fortunato to drink wine (Medoc) many times to male Fortunato unconscious because of drinking too much

− After Fortunato steps inside a small crypt and runs into the granite wall, Montresor secures himt o the granite stone with a chain and builds a wall to prevent Montresor from escape

− Fortunato shouts and screams for a while and at last he completely silent

− After that, Montresor hear succession of loud and shrill screams from inside the crypt but that may

be only the illusion

− He is frightened but after that he become calm

− For 50 years, no one has disturbed the peace of this place

QUESTION :

1. It is a movement, a reaction against 18th century rationalism Transcendentalism

2. Transcendentalists recognized intuition as the “highest power of the soul”

3. Famous female transcendentalist  Emily Dickinson

4. Thoreau’s (Henry David Thoreau ) greatest essay that has influenced civil rights leaders around the

world

Civil Disobedience (1849)

5. It is story of the superstitious Ichabod Crane’s attempts to win over the fair Katrina, and how he

is scared away by Headless Horseman  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving)

6. During the Romanticism, Transcendentalism and Dark Romantic were two strong subgenres

7. It is tells the story of minister whose affair with a married woman ultimately sends him to death

 the Scarlet Letter (1850,Nathaniel Hawthorne/ Theme: Sin/ Revenge, set in during year 1642 to

1649 in Purian Massachusetts Bay Colony)

8. Poe’s best- known poem, in his own lifetime  The Raven (theme: the death of a beautiful woman

as lamented by her bereaved lover

9. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau

For internal use – Please don’t leak

GOOD LUCK ^^