Jennifer Wu's learning notes

American Literature Note 6

Must read pages:

1. 119

The Author to Her Book---Anne Bradstreet

“The Author to Her Book” is a poem about motherhood, in a way. The speaker compares her book to a child, which she treats in a traditional, maternal way. She tries to clothe it, protect it, nurture it, wash its face, and the like. The speaker implies, in other words, that being a poet or an author is a lot like being a mother. This is a pretty radical move, especially considering the fact that the poem was written in an era when being a poet was a more manly activity. Strangely, there are no men in this poem, except near the end, which is where the speaker flat out says her book had no “father,” only a mother. Wow.

2.145

Prologue from Preparation Meditations---Edward Taylor

-Lord, Can a Crumb of Dust the Earth outweigh ---聖經典故

-If it its Pen had of an Angel’s Quill ---鵝毛筆

- 名詞都大寫 ---德語殘留

3.213-216

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God--- Jonathan Edwards

-It is a sermon written by British Colonial Christian theologian Jonathan Edwards, preached to his own congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts to unknown effect.

-It combines vivid imagery of Hell with observations of the world and citations of the scripture. It is Edwards' most famous written work, is a fitting representation of his preaching style, and is widely studied by Christians and historians, providing a glimpse into the theology of the Great Awakening of c. 1730–1755.

-So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it…….

-it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoke and incensed as much against you,… ---但丁神曲意象

4.234-236,248-249,301-303,305

Benjamin Franklin

A short biography on Benjamin Franklin, who's been famously called the "first Citizen of the 18th Century." A man of many trades, Franklin is famous for "Poor Richard's Almanac," as well as his work in electrical theory.

-The Way to Wealth ---符合華人的勤勉想法

-From The Autobiography --- keywords “ Felicity”, “Vanity”

-Names of Virtueswith their Precepts were: Temperance/Silence/Order/Resolution/Frugality/Industry/Sincerity/Justine/

Moderation/Cleanliness/Tranquility/Chastity/Humility ----和東方思想相似

-His daily schedule ----- tell us how to achieve the goal

5.323-324

Thomas Paine

-Common Sense ------管得最少的政府是最好的政府

-Crisis -------shore up the spirits of the Revolutionary soldiers

- Rights of Man--------an impassioned plea against hereditary monarchy(君主世襲制)

                         ---------He was charged with treason(叛國罪)and fled to France.

-The Age of Reason ------ Paine’s attempt to define his beliefs was viewed as an attack on Christianity and, by extension, on conventional society.

6.337-340

Thomas Jefferson

-President of the United States, first secretary of state, minister to France, governor of Virginia, and congressman, Thomas Jefferson wished to be remembered for only three things:

1.drafting the Declaration of Independence

2.writing and supporting the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

3founding the University of Virginia

-He signed the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary.

7.345-348

The Federalist

-It has only one purpose: to persuade reluctant New Yorkers to adopt the proposed new Constitution.

-No man is allowed to be judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity.

8.467-468

Washington Irving

-Irving regularly addressed darker and more complex themes of historical transformation and personal dislocation. à why am I here?

-His innovative travel sketches blurred the line between the personal essay and fiction. -------像部落客遊記

-Rip Van Winkle --------There are hints that the single life suited Irving just fine.

-He met Sir Walter Scott, an admirer of the Knickerbocker History, who directed him to the wealth of unusual literary material in German folktales.

-But among The Sketch Book’s graceful tributes to English scenes and characters were two immensely popular tales set in rural New York,” Rip Van Winkle” and “ The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

-Many readers identified with Rip as a counterhero, an anit- Franklinian who made a success of failure…. ---------反英雄，把失敗視為其大成就。

#Next class to be continued…

8.471-482

9.505-508

10.581