英美文学选读这门课程学习比较困难，要记忆和理解的知识很多，学好这门课的关键是要注重以下几个问题。 首先，要注意细节。文学新颁布了考试大纲，明确规定了考核目标。凡是考核目标范围内的作家，一定要仔细阅读，直到能说出以下几个内容才能继续向后复习:1)他的主要作品是什么？2)他的写作主题是什么？3)他的写作风格是什么？4)他是不是这个时代的代表性作家，如果是，那么出大答题的可能性存在不存在？如果这几个问题都能很明确地说出来了，那么考试通过的日子就不远了。 其次，复习一定要有章法。有些同学对细节归纳不够，另外一些同学细节背得还可以，但语言表述能力不行。前一种同学，前面的四十分选择题做的就不理想，后面还有节选题，就更不好办了。后一种同学记得住细节，但是拼写语法错误多，看出来是什么作家了，就是写不对，这么丢分十分遗憾。对于这样的同学，我觉得规定每周看书的进度十分重要，比如4月1日到4月3日，准备复习英国文艺复兴部分，你可以每天上午先把书上的细节看一遍，对内容有一个大致的了解。下午的时候专门背大答题，细节也顾到了，大答题的表述内容记清了，进度控制住了，效率自然就提高了。 还有就是一定要读作家评述后面的节选。有的考生只读关于作家和文学流派的介绍，不读教材中节选的引文，这样做是很危险的。试卷中有从教材里选出引文，要求考生回答作家的名字，作品的题目和对引文的理解。其实这些考生不是不想读后面的引文，而是没有学会阅读的方法。要想读懂后面的选文，关键是了解文学课本的写作特点。你得先弄清楚作家的创作主题和思想(这一部分通常是写在作家评述部分中)然后顺着创作主题到选文中寻找和这些创作思想相符的句子(选文登在后面，和创作主体部分经常是脱节的)这样做才能既少看，还不遗漏内容。比如惠特曼的诗歌，自我之歌的主题是“歌颂个人主义，自由和平等”，用第一人称手法把诗人的思想和大众的思想联系起来，歌颂一个自由的美国。而书后节选中的song of myself中的第一诗节就体现了这种主题: I celebrate myself and I sing myself。(这句话说的是自由和个人主义)，Every atom belonging to me as good belong to you。(这句话说得的诗人希望把自己的思想和大众的思想进行联系)，很显然，每一个美国人都把歌颂自己变成一个座右铭，一个人人歌颂自由的国度也就必然是一个歌颂自由的国度。总之，一定要前后联系的看节选，先找到主题，再读节选。最后就是大答题不能死记硬背，得想点办法，加快记忆效率。比如背雪莱的西风颂，那么一大段怎么背呀？最简单的办法就是先把中文的大意背下来，再抓住关键字，回想英语的内容是什么。你可以这么背:“西风是雪莱的形象(image)，西风是建设和摧毁的力量(constructive and destructive potential)，西风是无处不在的力量(universality)，用自然神祈祷希望和复生(primitive deity for hope and rebirth)”抓住了关键字，内容不就明确了吗？还有就是要找到作家之间，英美之间的一些相似性，这样对背诵也很有好处。比如课文中谈到托马斯哈代的自然主义时曾有过“性格即命运，环境即命运”的说法，在美国部分讨论德莱塞德自然主义时也有类似的内容，这个时候就要先背好托马斯哈代部分的内容，只有前面的内容背好了，后面的内容才有可能快速掠过，提高学习效率。类似的情况还出现在:狄更斯的创作主题和肖伯纳的创作主题之间有一些关键字是相似的(都谈到了谴责社会虚伪，不公和腐败)，英国现代文学创作特点和美国文学创作特点(都提到了from public to private， from chronological to psychic， from objective to subjective)。很多来新东方上课的同学其实开始英语水平都不太高，对文学也很头疼。但是找到了记忆方法之后，反而觉得文学很有意思，最后不仅考出了高分，还喜欢上了文学。这就全在学习方法了。总之，不能一句话一句话的“精读”，时间来不及，考试的时候未必记得住。耽误了时间，延迟了效率，得不偿失。考试大收集整理。
自考考的都是比较基础的东西，不会深究太多，其实记得东西不算太多，你只要把作家及其主要作品记牢，并且的大致了解作品内容，中心思想以及作家写作特色之类的就好。作家作品名是肯定要背下的，至于剩下部分，你看过一遍就会有个大体印象，答题时找准点，用自己的话表述，老师就会给分的。还有就是自考出题的重复率还算挺高的，你看看往年的题，也会很有帮助的加油吧~~
首先，要注意细节。文学新颁布了考试大纲，明确规定了考核目标。凡是考核目标范围内的作家，一定要仔细阅读，直到能说出以下几个内容才能继续向后复习:1)他的主要作品是什么？2)他的写作主题是什么？3)他的写作风格是什么？4)他是不是这个时代的代表性作家，如果是，那么出大答题的可能性存在不存在？如果这几个问题都能很明确地说出来了，那么考试通过的日子就不远了。 其次，复习一定要有章法。有些同学对细节归纳不够，另外一些同学细节背得还可以，但语言表述能力不行。前一种同学，前面的四十分选择题做的就不理想，后面还有节选题，就更不好办了。后一种同学记得住细节，但是拼写语法错误多，看出来是什么作家了，就是写不对，这么丢分十分遗憾。对于这样的同学，我觉得规定每周看书的进度十分重要，比如4月1日到4月3日，准备复习英国文艺复兴部分，你可以每天上午先把书上的细节看一遍，对内容有一个大致的了解。下午的时候专门背大答题，细节也顾到了，大答题的表述内容记清了，进度控制住了，效率自然就提高了。 还有就是一定要读作家评述后面的节选。有的考生只读关于作家和文学流派的介绍，不读教材中节选的引文，这样做是很危险的。试卷中有从教材里选出引文，要求考生回答作家的名字，作品的题目和对引文的理解。其实这些考生不是不想读后面的引文，而是没有学会阅读的方法。要想读懂后面的选文，关键是了解文学课本的写作特点。你得先弄清楚作家的创作主题和思想(这一部分通常是写在作家评述部分中)然后顺着创作主题到选文中寻找和这些创作思想相符的句子(选文登在后面，和创作主体部分经常是脱节的)这样做才能既少看，还不遗漏内容。比如惠特曼的诗歌，自我之歌的主题是“歌颂个人主义，自由和平等”，用第一人称手法把诗人的思想和大众的思想联系起来，歌颂一个自由的美国。而书后节选中的song of myself中的第一诗节就体现了这种主题: I celebrate myself and I sing myself。(这句话说的是自由和个人主义)，Every atom belonging to me as good belong to you。(这句话说得的诗人希望把自己的思想和大众的思想进行联系)，很显然，每一个美国人都把歌颂自己变成一个座右铭，一个人人歌颂自由的国度也就必然是一个歌颂自由的国度。总之，一定要前后联系的看节选，先找到主题，再读节选。最后就是大答题不能死记硬背，得想点办法，加快记忆效率。比如背雪莱的西风颂，那么一大段怎么背呀？最简单的办法就是先把中文的大意背下来，再抓住关键字，回想英语的内容是什么。你可以这么背:“西风是雪莱的形象(image)，西风是建设和摧毁的力量(constructive and destructive potential)，西风是无处不在的力量(universality)，用自然神祈祷希望和复生(primitive deity for hope and rebirth)”抓住了关键字，内容不就明确了吗？还有就是要找到作家之间，英美之间的一些相似性，这样对背诵也很有好处。比如课文中谈到托马斯哈代的自然主义时曾有过“性格即命运，环境即命运”的说法，在美国部分讨论德莱塞德自然主义时也有类似的内容，这个时候就要先背好托马斯哈代部分的内容，只有前面的内容背好了，后面的内容才有可能快速掠过，提高学习效率。类似的情况还出现在:狄更斯的创作主题和肖伯纳的创作主题之间有一些关键字是相似的(都谈到了谴责社会虚伪，不公和腐败)，英国现代文学创作特点和美国文学创作特点(都提到了from public to private， from chronological to psychic， from objective to subjective)。很多来新东方上课的同学其实开始英语水平都不太高，对文学也很头疼。但是找到了记忆方法之后，反而觉得文学很有意思，最后不仅考出了高分，还喜欢上了文学。这就全在学习方法了。总之，不能一句话一句话的“精读”，时间来不及，考试的时候未必记得住。耽误了时间，延迟了效率，得不偿失。考试大收集整理。
（一）关于考核知识点的调整 考核知识点中的各章概述内容仍为考核内容；对知识点中的作家只保留对如下主要作家的考核。 英国文学： Chapter 1 III. William Shakespeare John Milton Chapter 2 III. Daniel Defoe IV. Jonathan Swift V. Henry Fielding Chapter 3 I. William Blake II. William Wordsworth V. Percy Bysshe Shelley VII. Jane Austen Chapter 4 I. Charles Dickens II. Charlotte Bronte VI. Thomas Hardy Chapter 5 I. George Bernard Shaw IV. T. S. Eliot V. D. H. Lawrence 美国文学： Chapter 1 III. Nathaniel Hawthorne IV. Walt Whitman V. Herman Melville Chapter 2 I. Mark Twain II. Henry James III. Emily Dickinson IV. Theodore Dreiser Chapter 3 II. Robert Lee Frost IV. F. Scott Fitzgerald V. Ernest Hemingway VI. William Faulkner （二）关于考核要求的调整 考核要求中每章概述内容不作调整：“该时期的重要作家”只包含对考核知识点中保留的重要作家的相关内容的考核。
我的方法是建立一个树枝结构。复习开始时面对的最大困惑是东西太多，无从下手，而且更糟是前背后忘记，忘得比背得快，简直是没天理，花下去的时间精力似乎打了水漂。当然要让每个作家都能象对Shakespeare一样一听就有个大概印象，没有充足广泛阅读量是无法做到的。既然太深一下子沉不到海底，我索性浮起来从面上抓，我的树枝结构应运而生。可以说书前的目录就是主树杆，每个时期是树枝，每个作家便是树叉，单是这样还是很抽像很难记，加上不同的"色彩形状的叶子"，开始不用很多，节选作品，称号（e.g. the father of ..... or the Poet's Poet），相关术语（Whitman-free verse, Emerson-trascandentalism），正是这些"叶子"使树叉有其独特之处，成为记忆的载体。这样我一下子把英美文学浓缩成二张卡片，在回家上班路上忙里偷闲时看一下，记一下，背一下。嗨，各位，这真得很有效噢，在很短时间内，我可以做出60％的选择题了，并将茫然无序的思路理清。Though my tree is still in winter, "if winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"。这也许可作为根基吧，但其巩固是在这棵树枝繁叶茂的过程中，基础巩固与细节化是相辅相承的。然后我准备了一份小册子，一页一位作家，每页再加上作家主要作品，风格，特点，作品情节，语言，人物描写，功献，第一或最后本作品，最成功作品，最....，通过你不断从课本中汲取，你的树会茁壮成长，并且由重点到细节，从记忆，熟悉，理解整个过程基本附合考纲要求，完美状态是直至差不多等于课本知识的涵盖量（这是共产主义状态，说实在的我没达到，真是革命尚未成功，同志还需努力）。英美文学是综合学科，要通过或考好，是需要日常对英美历史背景熟悉，对大量著作的阅读，研究体会的。死记硬背真的只是应付考试的，原始而无意义手段，而且对来年的考题是没办法应付的噢！以下还有一些小窍门，希望有帮助：1.先复习美国文学，后英国文学；2.美国文学可先从现实主义阶段开始，英国文学可先从维多利亚阶段开始；3.去年考过题还会再考；4.诗中解释较多的话，找那些能反映主题的解释多背背；明年多半是课本没有的解释了，考你的对诗理解程度了，5。对各阶段时期特征多花功夫复习；6.明年的理解题，综合题，比较题必然多，例如：1.二个阶段思想，风格比较，举例说明；2.描述一个阶段思想，风格特点，举例说明；3.比较二个同一，不同阶段诗人，剧作家，小说家，举其作品说明；刁钻复杂的题人人都可猜，我并非想例出一点希奇古怪的题扰乱你们的思路。这次四月考试，我是充满信心拿高分，对每位作家或诗人我都仔细复习到了，但题目仍是出乎我意料之外，我觉得不公平是题型已不是去年直白而水平的出题方式，是一种纵向综合题型。我想提醒明年要参加考试的同学，决不要把每个作家或时期独立复习，如果可能的话，在对每位作家或时期有一定熟悉的程度，作一点纵向的比较，不但能加深理解，对你们明年考试决对有帮助，不，是贡献。坦白的说，这次考试当天上午，我脑海种几次想到应看一下各个时期的异同点，这是我的薄弱环节，但我仍按常理将重点放在几位重要作家写作风格的复习上了。如果明年你是第一次考英美文学，那就别满足于对各位作家的了解，如果明年你又要参加考试，也许猜一点比今年更难的题目，才能应付自如。在英美文学上我真花很大功夫和精力（与其它的十几门课相比），开始时期我确实感到无从下手，复习得很慢很仔细但效率不高。我在这里介绍我的学习方法，只想给以后考试的同学一些提示吧！必竟是我亲身感受和经历的，希望大家能少走一些弯路。在我开始自己的树枝结构的复习方法后，我的学习效率大大提高，那是一种直接，明确，层次分明，直达中心的感觉，我不知谁是否有过同感--课本变薄--确实一种美妙感觉，那天起我便有信心通过英美文学。树枝结构如同将不同时期分成几格抽屉，复习每位作家时就象理衣服一样将它们各就其位，而每格抽屉与其中的衣服都有其共有的独特风格，（eg. English romantic period is an age of poetry, so there are 6 poets introduced here, and natue and freedom are main concerns of theirs)。 这样就不会象一开始，对每件衣服都细细打理，一旦回头发觉身后堆了一地衣服，仍然茫然不知所措。（我曾将英国文学前二个时期来回复习二遍，恼火是进度极慢而能熟记住的东西不多，后然发觉这二个时期是最次要两个阶段。）这也是我为什么建议大家先看维多利亚时期的原因之一，将头脑清醒比较有耐心的阶段留给重点。
下篇：美国文学 第一章美国浪漫主义时期 一、美国浪漫主义时期概述 Ⅰ。本章学习目的和要求 通过本章学习，了解19世纪初期至中叶美国文学产生的历史、文化背景；认识该时期文学创作的基本待征、基本主张，及其对同时代和后期美国文学的影响；了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 Ⅱ。本章重点及难点： 1.浪漫主义时期美国文学的特点 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 Ⅲ。本章考核知识点和考核要求： 1.美国浪漫主义时期概述 （1）“识记”内容：美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景 （2）“领会”内容： 美国浪漫主义在文学上的表现 a.欧洲浪漫主义文学的影响 b.美国本土文学的崛起及其待证 （3）“应用”内容：清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释 2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家 A.华盛顿。欧文 1.一般识记：欧文的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：《纽约外史》《见闻札记》 3.领会：欧文的创作领域、创作思想，及其作品的艺术风格 4.应用：选读《瑞普。凡。温可尔》的主题及其艺术特色 B.拉尔夫.华尔多.爱默生 1.一般识记：爱默生的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：爱默生的超验主义思想 3.领会： （1）爱默生的散文：《论自然》《论自助》《论美国学者》等 （2）爱默生与梭罗：梭罗的超验主义思想和他的《沃尔登》 4. 应用：《论自然》节选：爱默生的基本哲 学思想及自然观 C.纳撒尼尔。霍桑 1.一般识记：霍桑的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：霍桑的长短篇小说 3.领会： （1）《红字》的主题、心理描写、象征手法和、小说结构 （2）霍桑的清教主义思想及加尔文教条中的“原罪”对霍桑的影响（人性本恶的观点） （3）霍桑对浪漫主义小说的贡献 4.应用：选读《小伙子布朗》的主题结构、象征手法及语言特色 D.华尔特。惠特曼 1.一般识记：惠特曼的生平及其创作生涯 2.识记：惠特曼的民主思想 3.领会： （1）惠特曼的《草叶集》的主创意图、思想感情及诗体形式、语言风格 （2）惠特曼的个人主义 4.应用：选读《草叶集》诗选：“一个孩子的成长”、“涉水的骑兵”、“自己之歌”的主题结构、诗歌的艺术特色、语言风格 E.赫尔曼。麦尔维尔 1.一般识记：麦尔维尔的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：麦尔维尔的早期作品：《玛地》《雷得本》《白外衣》，后期作品《皮埃尔》《的化装表演》《比利伯德》等 3.领会：《白鲸》的 （1）主题：表层及深层意义 （2）小说结构：浪漫主义和现实主义的统一 （3）象征手法和寓言的运用 （4）语言特色 4.应用：选读《白鲸》最后一章的节选：主题思想、人物刻画、象征手法、语言特色 Chapter l The Romantic Period （一）“识记”内容： 1.The origin of Romantic American literature The Romantic Period， one of the most important periods in thehistory of American literature， stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 2.The American Renaissance or New England Renaissance is a period of the great flowering of American literature， from the i830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War. It came of age as an expression of a national spirit. One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists， including Ralph Waldo Emerson， Henry David Thoreau. The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. Apart from the Transcendentalists， there emerged during this period great imaginative writers ——Nathaniel Hawthorne， Herman Melville， and Walt Whitman——whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature. 3.Its social historical and cultural background The development of the American society nurtured "the literature of a great nation." America was flourishing into a politically， economically and culturally independent country. Historically， it was the time of westward expansion in America economically， the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation. Politically， democracy and equa1ity became the ideal of the new nation， and the two-party system came into being. Worthy of mention is the literary and cultural life of the country. With the founding of the American Independent Government， the nation felt an urge to have its own literary expression， to make known its new experience that other nations did not have： the early Puritan settlement， the confrontation with the Indians， the frontiersmen''''''''s life， and the wild west. Besides， the nation’s literary milieu was ready for the Romantic movement as we11. Thus， with a strong sense of optimism， a spectacular outburst of romantic feeling was brought about in the first ha1f of the 19th century. 4.Major writers of this period There emerged a great host of men of letters during this period， among whom the better-known are poets such as Philip Freneau， William Cullen Bryant， Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow， James Russel Lowell， John Greenleaf Whitter， Edgar Ellen Poe， and， especially， Walt Whitman， whose Leaves Of Grass established him as the most popular American poet of the 19th century. The fiction of the American Romantic period is an original and diverse body of work. It ranges from the comic fables of Washington Irving to the The Gothic tales of Edgar Allen Poe， from the frontier adventures of James Fenimore Cooper to the narrative quests of Herman Melville， from the psycho1ogical romances of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the social realism of Rebecca Harding Davis. （二）领会内容 1.The impact of European Romanticism on American Romanticism Foreign literary masters， especially the English counterparts exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the new world. Born of one common cultural heritage， the American writers shared some common features with the English Romanticists. They revolted against the literary forms and ideas of the period of classicism by developing some relatively new forms of fiction or poetry. （1） They put emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature， which included a liking for the picturesque， the exotic， the sensuous， the sensational， and the supernatural. （2） The Americans also placed an increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions and disp1ayed an increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters. Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement. （3） The strong tendency to exalt the individual and the common man was almost a national religion in America. Writers like Freneau， Bryant， and Cooper showed a great interest in external nature in their respective works. （4） The literary use of the more colorfu1 aspects of the past was also to be found in Irving’s effort to exploit the legends of the Hudson River region， and in Cooper’s long series of historical tales. （5） In short， American Romanticism is， in a certain way， derivative. 2.The unique characteristics of American Romanticism Although greatly influenced by their English counterparts， the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，（1） the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America''''''''s landscape with its virgin forests， meadows， groves， endless prairies， streams， and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. （2）The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales， in Thoreau''''''''s Walden and， later， in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. （3） With the growth of American national consciousness， American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. （4） Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. （5） Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. （三）应用内容 1. The American Puritanism and its great influence over American moral values， as is shown in American romantic writings. （1） American Puritanism Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. （The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church， who came into existence in the reigns Queen Elizabeth and King James Ⅰ。The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons， but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious， religious people， advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints， Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Church of Rome in doctrine form of worship， and organization of authority.） The American Puritans， like their brothers back in England， were idealists， believing that the church should be restored to complete "purity". They accepted the doctrine of predestination， original sin and total depravity， and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. But in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America， they became more and more practical， as indeed they had to be. Puritans were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinated their whole way of life. Puritans'''''''' lives were extremely disciplined and hard. They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them， and history has criticized their actions. Yet in the persecution of what they considered error， the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history. As a culture heritage， Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind and American values. American Puritanism also had a conspicuously noticeable and an enduring influence on American literature. It had become， to some extent， so much a state of mind， so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere， rather than a set of tenets. （2） One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. 2. New England Transcendentalism New England Transcendentalism is the mot clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period. It was started in the area around Concord， Mass. by a group of intellectual and the literary men of the United States such as Emerson， Henry David Thoreau who were members of an informal club， i. e. the Transcendental Club in New England in the l830s. The transcendentalists reacted against the cold， rigid rationalism of Unitarianism in Boston. They adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation ， the innate goodness of man， and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The writings of the transcendentalists prepared the ground of their contemporaries such as Walt Whitman， Herman Melville， and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main issues involved in the debate were generally philosophical， concerning nature， man and the universe. Basically， Transcendentalism has been defined philosophical1y as "the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively， or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses." Emerson once proclaimed in a speech， "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism inc1ude the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and， therefore， self-re1iant. 3. American Romanticists differed in their understanding of human nature. To the transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau， man is divine in nature and therefore forever perfectible； but to Hawthorne and Melville， everybody is potentially a sinner， and great moral courage is therefore indispensab1e for the improvement of human nature， as is shown in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
Chapter 3 The Modern Period Ⅰ。本章学习目的和要求 通过本章的学习，了解20世纪初期至中叶美国现代文学产生 的历史、文化背景，认识该时期文学创作的基本特征、基本主张，及其对当代美国文学发展的影响；了解该时期主要作家的文学生涯、创作意图、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画和语言风格等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品，了解其思想内容和写作特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 Ⅱ。本章重点及难点 1. 美国现代文学的特征 2. 主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画和语言风格 3. 名词解释：“迷惘的一代”，意象派诗歌，象征主义，表现主义，意识流 4. 选读作品的主题结构、艺术特色、人物刻画和语言风格 Ⅲ。 考核知识点和考核要求 （一）现代时期美国文学概述 1. 识记： A.两次世界大战期间美国文学产生的历史及文化背景 （1）两次世界大战 （2）移居国外的美国人 （3）马克思主义理论和弗洛伊德学说 （4）欧洲现代派艺术 B.战后美国文学产生的历史及文化背景 2. 领会： A. 两次世界大战期间的美国文学 （1）诗歌：意象派诗人；象征主义 （2）小说；“迷恫的一代” （3）戏剧：表现主义 B.战后美国文学 （1）诗歌：“垮掉的一代”等 （2）小说：黑人小说、*人小说、实验小说（荒诞派 小说）等 （3）美国现代文学多元化的现象 C.美国现代文学写作手法的创新 3.应用 A.名词解释：“迷惘的一代”，意象派诗歌，象征主义，表现主义，意识流 B.“荒原”意识在美国20世纪文学中的反映 C.分析选读作品的主题结构、艺术特色、人物刻画和语言风格 （二）美国现代时期的主要作家 A.埃兹拉。庞德 1.一般识记：庞德的生平和创作生涯 2.识记：庞德的诗歌 （1）短诗：《地铁站一瞥》 （2）长诗：《诗章》 3. 领会： （1）庞德与意象主义 （2）庞德与中国文化 （3）庞德的诗歌理论及艺术特色 4.应用：《地铁站一瞥》《盟约》《河商的妻子》：主题、意象、语言 B.罗伯特。弗洛斯特 1.一般识记：弗洛斯特的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：弗洛斯特的诗歌：田园诗；自然诗 3.领会： （1）弗洛斯特诗歌的艺术特色 （2）弗洛斯特的诗论 4.应用： （1） 弗洛斯特的自然诗 （2）《摘苹果后》《未选择的路》《雪夜停马在林边》：主题、 象征与比喻、语言 C.尤金。奥尼尔 1.一般识记：奥尼尔的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：奥尼尔的戏剧 （1）早期作品：独幕剧；多幕剧《天外边》 （2）中期作品：《琼斯皇帝》《伟大之神布朗》《毛猿》 ——表现主义和象征主义的力作 （3）后期作品：《直到夜晚的漫长一天》 一 自传体戏剧 剧 3.领会： （1）奥尼尔戏剧的悲观主义和神秘主义色彩 （2）奥尼尔戏剧的艺术特色 4.应用：选读《毛猿》第八场：主题结构、表现主义和象征主义手 法、语言特色 D.司各特。菲兹杰拉德 1.一般识记：菲兹杰拉德的生平及创作生涯 2.识记： （1）菲兹杰拉德与“爵士时代” （2）主要作品：短篇小说集：《爵士时代的故事》 中、长篇小说：《人间天堂》《了不起的盖茨比》《夜色温柔》《最后一个巨头》 3.领会： （1）《了不起的盖茨比》与“美国梦” （2）菲兹杰拉德的小说艺术 4.应用：《了不起的盖茨比》第三章：主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格 E.欧内斯特。海明威 1.一般识记：海明威的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：海明威的主要作品 （1）短篇小说集：《在我们的时代里》-一涅克的故事 （2）长篇小说：《太阳照样升起》《永别了，武器》《丧钟为谁而鸣》《老人与海》 3.领会：海明威与“迷惘的一代” 4.应用： （1）海明威小说的艺术特色：“硬汉”形象、“重压下的风 度”、“冰山”原则等 （2）《在我们的时代里》选篇：主题结构、人物刻画、语言 风格 F.威廉。福克纳 1.一般识记： 福克纳的生平及创作生涯 2.识记： （l）福克纳的主要作品：中、短篇小说：《给艾米莉小姐的玫瑰》《老人》《熊》等；长篇小说：《喧嚣与骚动》 《八月之光》《我弥留之际》《押沙龙，押沙龙！》 （2）福克纳的“约克纳帕塔法”神话王国 3.领会： （1）福克纳小说的艺术特色：“意识流”、“内心独白”、“时序颠倒”、“对位式结构”、“象征隐喻”等 （2）福克纳的文体 （3）福克纳与美国南方文学 4.应用：《给艾米莉小姐的玫瑰》：主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格
哈哈,我考过.一开始头痛,现在是喜欢.和上外的一位学生聊过这本教科书,他觉得最大的收获是里面修饰作者文采的形容词很有使用性.我的外教老师说这本书的难度是属于"TOP"了.所以,如果真的想把英语学好,看熟这本书是绝对有意义的! 书里的节选文章中,英国文艺复兴的几篇诗歌有点难,因为有很多的古英语单词,现在很多已经不用了,都成了废词,但还是要求能看懂大致意思的,但好在量不大(和现代英语生词比起来),所以要坚持看完哦.我有一些学习方法,是专门对付考试的,但如果是抱着提高自身的文学修养去看这本书,我建议最好花上整整一年的时间去好好琢磨一下精选文章以及书中的精彩点评,而不是很功利去背诵: 1.英美文学中有48位作者和他们将近100篇选读,你要把这48位作者和这些选读作品,一一对号,识记一下,这是最基本的 2.概括作者的写作手法和写作风格,你可以先独立地去认识每一位作家的特点,但不要忘记要总结,哪些作家的风格相似,但区别又在哪里?(历年考卷中都出现过这种题型,而且分值都很大) 3.每一位作者的代表作品的主题,主人公的名字. 4.每一段选读前都有一段小字是简述故事或总结概要的,要熟记(去年的考试里就有考过) 5.选读文章的最后都或多或少有一些文字的注释,最好熟悉一下,因为往年的考题中也有涉及. 6.不要去做所谓的模拟考卷,根本就没有用!因为考试根本就不会出模拟里题.
下篇：美国文学 第一章美国浪漫主义时期 一、美国浪漫主义时期概述 Ⅰ。本章学习目的和要求 通过本章学习，了解19世纪初期至中叶美国文学产生的历史、文化背景；认识该时期文学创作的基本待征、基本主张，及其对同时代和后期美国文学的影响；了解该时期主要作家的文学创作生涯、创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想、人物刻画、语言风格等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品并了解其思想内容和艺术特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 Ⅱ。本章重点及难点： 1.浪漫主义时期美国文学的特点 2.主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义。 3.分析讨论选读作品 Ⅲ。本章考核知识点和考核要求： 1.美国浪漫主义时期概述 （1）“识记”内容：美国浪漫主义文学产生的社会历史及文化背景 （2）“领会”内容： 美国浪漫主义在文学上的表现 a.欧洲浪漫主义文学的影响 b.美国本土文学的崛起及其待证 （3）“应用”内容：清教主义、超验主义、象征主义、自由诗等名词的解释 2.美国浪漫主义时期的主要作家 A.华盛顿。欧文 1.一般识记：欧文的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：《纽约外史》《见闻札记》 3.领会：欧文的创作领域、创作思想，及其作品的艺术风格 4.应用：选读《瑞普。凡。温可尔》的主题及其艺术特色 B.拉尔夫.华尔多.爱默生 1.一般识记：爱默生的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：爱默生的超验主义思想 3.领会： （1）爱默生的散文：《论自然》《论自助》《论美国学者》等 （2）爱默生与梭罗：梭罗的超验主义思想和他的《沃尔登》 4. 应用：《论自然》节选：爱默生的基本哲 学思想及自然观 C.纳撒尼尔。霍桑 1.一般识记：霍桑的生平及创作主涯 2.识记：霍桑的长短篇小说 3.领会： （1）《红字》的主题、心理描写、象征手法和、小说结构 （2）霍桑的清教主义思想及加尔文教条中的“原罪”对霍桑的影响（人性本恶的观点） （3）霍桑对浪漫主义小说的贡献 4.应用：选读《小伙子布朗》的主题结构、象征手法及语言特色 D.华尔特。惠特曼 1.一般识记：惠特曼的生平及其创作生涯 2.识记：惠特曼的民主思想 3.领会： （1）惠特曼的《草叶集》的主创意图、思想感情及诗体形式、语言风格 （2）惠特曼的个人主义 4.应用：选读《草叶集》诗选：“一个孩子的成长”、“涉水的骑兵”、“自己之歌”的主题结构、诗歌的艺术特色、语言风格 E.赫尔曼。麦尔维尔 1.一般识记：麦尔维尔的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：麦尔维尔的早期作品：《玛地》《雷得本》《白外衣》，后期作品《皮埃尔》《的化装表演》《比利伯德》等 3.领会：《白鲸》的 （1）主题：表层及深层意义 （2）小说结构：浪漫主义和现实主义的统一 （3）象征手法和寓言的运用 （4）语言特色 4.应用：选读《白鲸》最后一章的节选：主题思想、人物刻画、象征手法、语言特色 Chapter l The Romantic Period （一）“识记”内容： 1.The origin of Romantic American literature The Romantic Period， one of the most important periods in thehistory of American literature， stretches from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the Civil War. It started with the publication of Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 2.The American Renaissance or New England Renaissance is a period of the great flowering of American literature， from the i830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War. It came of age as an expression of a national spirit. One of the most important influences in the period was that of the Transcendentalists， including Ralph Waldo Emerson， Henry David Thoreau. The Transcendentalists contributed to the founding of a new national culture based on native elements. Apart from the Transcendentalists， there emerged during this period great imaginative writers ——Nathaniel Hawthorne， Herman Melville， and Walt Whitman——whose novels and poetry left a permanent imprint on American literature. 3.Its social historical and cultural background The development of the American society nurtured "the literature of a great nation." America was flourishing into a politically， economically and culturally independent country. Historically， it was the time of westward expansion in America economically， the whole nation was experiencing an industrial transformation. Politically， democracy and equa1ity became the ideal of the new nation， and the two-party system came into being. Worthy of mention is the literary and cultural life of the country. With the founding of the American Independent Government， the nation felt an urge to have its own literary expression， to make known its new experience that other nations did not have： the early Puritan settlement， the confrontation with the Indians， the frontiersmen''''''''s life， and the wild west. Besides， the nation’s literary milieu was ready for the Romantic movement as we11. Thus， with a strong sense of optimism， a spectacular outburst of romantic feeling was brought about in the first ha1f of the 19th century. 4.Major writers of this period There emerged a great host of men of letters during this period， among whom the better-known are poets such as Philip Freneau， William Cullen Bryant， Henry Wordsworth Long Fellow， James Russel Lowell， John Greenleaf Whitter， Edgar Ellen Poe， and， especially， Walt Whitman， whose Leaves Of Grass established him as the most popular American poet of the 19th century. The fiction of the American Romantic period is an original and diverse body of work. It ranges from the comic fables of Washington Irving to the The Gothic tales of Edgar Allen Poe， from the frontier adventures of James Fenimore Cooper to the narrative quests of Herman Melville， from the psycho1ogical romances of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the social realism of Rebecca Harding Davis. （二）领会内容 1.The impact of European Romanticism on American Romanticism Foreign literary masters， especially the English counterparts exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the new world. Born of one common cultural heritage， the American writers shared some common features with the English Romanticists. They revolted against the literary forms and ideas of the period of classicism by developing some relatively new forms of fiction or poetry. （1） They put emphasis upon the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature， which included a liking for the picturesque， the exotic， the sensuous， the sensational， and the supernatural. （2） The Americans also placed an increasing emphasis on the free expression of emotions and disp1ayed an increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters. Heroes and heroines exhibited extremes of sensitivity and excitement. （3） The strong tendency to exalt the individual and the common man was almost a national religion in America. Writers like Freneau， Bryant， and Cooper showed a great interest in external nature in their respective works. （4） The literary use of the more colorfu1 aspects of the past was also to be found in Irving’s effort to exploit the legends of the Hudson River region， and in Cooper’s long series of historical tales. （5） In short， American Romanticism is， in a certain way， derivative. 2.The unique characteristics of American Romanticism Although greatly influenced by their English counterparts， the American romantic writers revealed unique characteristics of their own in their works and they grew on the native lands. For examp1e，（1） the American national experience of "pioneering into the west" proved to be a rich source of material for American writers to draw upon. They celebrated America''''''''s landscape with its virgin forests， meadows， groves， endless prairies， streams， and vast oceans. The wilderness came to function almost as a dramatic character that symbolized moral 1aw. （2）The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature. Such a desire is particularly evident in Cooper’s Leather Stocking Tales， in Thoreau''''''''s Walden and， later， in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. （3） With the growth of American national consciousness， American character types speaking local dialects appeared in poetry and fiction with increasing frequency. （4） Then the American Puritanism as a cultural heritage exerted great influences over American moral values and American Romanticism. One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. （5） Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. （三）应用内容 1. The American Puritanism and its great influence over American moral values， as is shown in American romantic writings. （1） American Puritanism Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. （The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church， who came into existence in the reigns Queen Elizabeth and King James Ⅰ。The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them Puritans. They came to America out of various reasons， but it should be remembered that they were a group of serious， religious people， advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints， Puritans wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They felt that the Church of England was too close to the Church of Rome in doctrine form of worship， and organization of authority.） The American Puritans， like their brothers back in England， were idealists， believing that the church should be restored to complete "purity". They accepted the doctrine of predestination， original sin and total depravity， and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. But in the grim struggle for survival that followed immediately after their arrival in America， they became more and more practical， as indeed they had to be. Puritans were noted for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that determinated their whole way of life. Puritans'''''''' lives were extremely disciplined and hard. They drove out of their settlements all those opinions that seemed dangerous to them， and history has criticized their actions. Yet in the persecution of what they considered error， the Puritans were no worse than many other movements in history. As a culture heritage， Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind and American values. American Puritanism also had a conspicuously noticeable and an enduring influence on American literature. It had become， to some extent， so much a state of mind， so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere， rather than a set of tenets. （2） One of the manifestations is the fact that American romantic writers tended more to moralize than their English and European counterparts. Besides， a preoccupation with the Calvinistic view of origina1 sin and the mystery of evil marked the works of Hawthorne， Melville and a host of lesser writers. 2. New England Transcendentalism New England Transcendentalism is the mot clearly defined Romantic literary movement in this period. It was started in the area around Concord， Mass. by a group of intellectual and the literary men of the United States such as Emerson， Henry David Thoreau who were members of an informal club， i. e. the Transcendental Club in New England in the l830s. The transcendentalists reacted against the cold， rigid rationalism of Unitarianism in Boston. They adhered to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation ， the innate goodness of man， and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. The writings of the transcendentalists prepared the ground of their contemporaries such as Walt Whitman， Herman Melville， and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The main issues involved in the debate were generally philosophical， concerning nature， man and the universe. Basically， Transcendentalism has been defined philosophical1y as "the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively， or of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses." Emerson once proclaimed in a speech， "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism inc1ude the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and， therefore， self-re1iant. 3. American Romanticists differed in their understanding of human nature. To the transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau， man is divine in nature and therefore forever perfectible； but to Hawthorne and Melville， everybody is potentially a sinner， and great moral courage is therefore indispensab1e for the improvement of human nature， as is shown in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.
我也是学自考的，专业是英语，不过已经毕业了。在上学时英美文学的确是很让人感到头疼的一个学科，不过山在高也会有人去翻越的。其实学英美文学主要是记住选文前面有关作者和文章的相关介绍。再一个就是要对主要的选文仔细的阅读，特别是几个大家，例如莎士比亚了，他的每个选文都非常重要，一定要好好看。还有就是作品和作者要对上。我们考得时候就有作者和作品的匹配题。最后说说我自己总结出来的一个小方法吧。通常是要对一个时期的文学大家自己列一个表，要自己不看书的写出来，要英国和美国的一起写。因为美国的部分开始的比较晚，就可以先弄英国的。自己列好作家之后就针对每个作家写出他们的作品。然后自己想想作品的主要内容。并针对这一时期的文化背景提炼出一些主要的东西来。我当时就用的这种方法，尤其是在临考试前的一个月，这种方法比较有效。英美文学是一个非常好的学科，虽然学的时候很难，但能受益终生。希望你能顺利通过！这门课基本上没有捷径可走，必须都看一遍，切记，一定要看原文，译文只做参考。生平可以不用看的太详细，但是作品一定要记得滚瓜烂熟，就像初中学历史的时候背的作家和作品一样。英国部分占60分，美国部分占40分，可以按照这个比例去看书。再就是课本最后的教学大纲，按照那个可以帮助你捋顺。再就是做历年真题，一定是真题，出题一般都是从题库里找，有时好多题可以连续出好几年。英美文学一定要稳扎稳打，除非是对文学本来就有些研究的同学，可能看起来会顺一点。每个作家的风格一定要信手拈来，最后的大题考的就是这些。还有课本上的所有节选一定要知道这是谁的作品，以及这些作品的相关的东西。选择看着眼熟的一般就对了，前提是你得的确看着眼熟。我觉得最重要的就是看课本，一定不能把译文作为主要的来看，因为出题全是英语。最后希望你能顺利过关。 自考“英美文学选读”课程介绍课程性质与学习目的英美文学选读课是全国高等教育自学考试英语语言文学专业本科段的必修课程，是为培养和检验自学应考者英美文学的基本理论知识和理解、鉴赏英美文学原著的能力而设置的一门专业理论课程。设置本课程旨在使英语自学者对英美两国文学形成与发展的全貌有一个大概的了解；并通过阅读具有代表性的英美文学作品，理解作品的内容，学会分析作品的艺术特色并努力掌握正确评价文学作品的标准和方法。由于本课程以作家作品为重点，因此考生需仔细阅读原作。通过阅读，努力提高语言水平，增强对英美文学原著的理解，特别是对作品中表现的社会生活和人物思想感情的理解，提高他们阅读文学作品的能力和鉴赏水平。根据本课程考试的大纲，凡要求“识记”的内容，所涉及的知识和理论都与考核点直接相关，考生应熟知其概念和有关知识，理解其原理，并能在语言环境中予以辨认。凡要求“领会”的内容，必须做到掌握有关知识和理论。凡要求“应用”的内容，必须做到在掌握有关知识和理论的基础上使之转换为能力，即能用有关知识和理论来分析解决英美文学中的相关问题，并指导作品的阅读。凡要求“一般识记”的内容，所涉及的知识和理论，一般不直接作为考核时命题的内容，但由于这些内容对于其他相关知识和理论以及作品阅读能力的考核有直接或间接的影响，因此要求考生在自学过程对这些内容也要有所了解自考名师总结：怎样准备英美文学选读 2009年04月09日 19:21 新东方新东方实用英语学院自考部 黄培辰英美文学选读这门课程学习比较困难，要记忆和理解的知识很多，学好这门课的关键是要注重以下几个问题。首先，要注意细节。文学新颁布了考试大纲，明确规定了考核目标。凡是考核目标范围内的作家，一定要仔细阅读，直到能说出以下几个内容才能继续向后复习：1)他的主要作品是什么？2)他的写作主题是什么？3)他的写作风格是什么？4)他是不是这个时代的代表性作家，如果是，那么出大答题的可能性存在不存在？如果这几个问题都能很明确地说出来了，那么考试通过的日子就不远了。其次，复习一定要有章法。有些同学对细节归纳不够，另外一些同学细节背得还可以，但语言表述能力不行。前一种同学，前面的四十分选择题做的就不理想，后面还有节选题，就更不好办了。后一种同学记得住细节，但是拼写语法错误多，看出来是什么作家了，就是写不对，这么丢分十分遗憾。对于这样的同学，我觉得规定每周看书的进度十分重要，比如4月1日到4月3日，准备复习英国文艺复兴部分，你可以每天上午先把书上的细节看一遍，对内容有一个大致的了解。下午的时候专门背大答题，细节也顾到了，大答题的表述内容记清了，进度控制住了，效率自然就提高了。还有就是一定要读作家评述后面的节选。有的考生只读关于作家和文学流派的介绍，不读教材中节选的引文，这样做是很危险的。试卷中有从教材里选出引文，要求考生回答作家的名字，作品的题目和对引文的理解。其实这些考生不是不想读后面的引文，而是没有学会阅读的方法。要想读懂后面的选文，关键是了解文学课本的写作特点。你得先弄清楚作家的创作主题和思想(这一部分通常是写在作家评述部分中)然后顺着创作主题到选文中寻找和这些创作思想相符的句子(选文登在后面，和创作主体部分经常是脱节的)这样做才能既少看，还不遗漏内容。比如惠特曼的诗歌，自我之歌的主题是“歌颂个人主义，自由和平等”，用第一人称手法把诗人的思想和大众的思想联系起来，歌颂一个自由的美国。而书后节选中的song of myself中的第一诗节就体现了这种主题： I celebrate myself and I sing myself。(这句话说的是自由和个人主义)，Every atom belonging to me as good belong to you。(这句话说得的诗人希望把自己的思想和大众的思想进行联系)，很显然，每一个美国人都把歌颂自己变成一个座右铭，一个人人歌颂自由的国度也就必然是一个歌颂自由的国度。总之，一定要前后联系的看节选，先找到主题，再读节选。最后就是大答题不能死记硬背，得想点办法，加快记忆效率。比如背雪莱的西风颂，那么一大段怎么背呀？最简单的办法就是先把中文的大意背下来，再抓住关键字，回想英语的内容是什么。你可以这么背：“西风是雪莱的形象(image)，西风是建设和摧毁的力量(constructive and destructive potential)，西风是无处不在的力量(universality)，用自然神祈祷希望和复生(primitive deity for hope and rebirth)”抓住了关键字，内容不就明确了吗？还有就是要找到作家之间，英美之间的一些相似性，这样对背诵也很有好处。比如课文中谈到托马斯哈代的自然主义时曾有过“性格即命运，环境即命运”的说法，在美国部分讨论德莱塞德自然主义时也有类似的内容，这个时候就要先背好托马斯哈代部分的内容，只有前面的内容背好了，后面的内容才有可能快速掠过，提高学习效率。类似的情况还出现在：狄更斯的创作主题和肖伯纳的创作主题之间有一些关键字是相似的(都谈到了谴责社会虚伪，不公和腐败)，英国现代文学创作特点和美国文学创作特点(都提到了from public to private, from chronological to psychic, from objective to subjective)。很多来新东方上课的同学其实开始英语水平都不太高，对文学也很头疼。但是找到了记忆方法之后，反而觉得文学很有意思，最后不仅考出了高分，还喜欢上了文学。这就全在学习方法了。总之，不能一句话一句话的“精读”，时间来不及，考试的时候未必记得住。耽误了时间，延迟了效率，得不偿失。 更多信息请访问：新浪自考频道 自考论坛 自考博客圈
与科技有关，没有重点。
只要把书本学好了一般都能及格的
（一）关于考核知识点的调整 考核知识点中的各章概述内容仍为考核内容；对知识点中的作家只保留对如下主要作家的考核。 英国文学： Chapter 1 III. William Shakespeare John Milton Chapter 2 III. Daniel Defoe IV. Jonathan Swift V. Henry Fielding Chapter 3 I. William Blake II. William Wordsworth V. Percy Bysshe Shelley VII. Jane Austen Chapter 4 I. Charles Dickens II. Charlotte Bronte VI. Thomas Hardy Chapter 5 I. George Bernard Shaw IV. T. S. Eliot V. D. H. Lawrence 美国文学： Chapter 1 III. Nathaniel Hawthorne IV. Walt Whitman V. Herman Melville Chapter 2 I. Mark Twain II. Henry James III. Emily Dickinson IV. Theodore Dreiser Chapter 3 II. Robert Lee Frost IV. F. Scott Fitzgerald V. Ernest Hemingway VI. William Faulkner （二）关于考核要求的调整 考核要求中每章概述内容不作调整：“该时期的重要作家”只包含对考核知识点中保留的重要作家的相关内容的考核。
我将当年自学《英美文学选读》时记的关于乔叟的笔记的一部分发给你看看，里面有介绍：英国文学史上最伟大的诗人之一Geoffrey Chaucer：①出身农民家庭，过的是贵族生活。一方面用贵族式的理想眼光看待生活，一方面又不失以现实的态度来思考。一生与各种人打交道，博览群书，观察敏锐。②他向欧洲人文主义运动代表、意大利作家Petrarch and Boccaccio学习，这表明文艺复兴在英国开始了萌芽。Chaucer强调人权，尤其是追求今世幸福的权力，反对神权和禁欲主义。盛赞人类的智慧、机敏和对生活的热爱，揭露罪恶，针砭时弊，带有人文主义的特点，预示一个新时期的到来。③其作品在英国文学史上第一次向我们展示了当时英国社会的一幅包罗万象的现实主义画卷。发掘了个人与社会的关系这个主题，刻画了人物性格的冲突及其在物质利益上的矛盾。如：新兴的资产阶级夫人The Wife of Bath维护自己的独立地位。④代表作The Canterbury Tales：一群从London去Canterbury朝圣的香客在路上为解闷而轮流讲故事，共24个短篇。塑造了一系列来自社会各阶层生动的人物形象。
自考考的都是比较基础的东西，不会深究太多，其实记得东西不算太多，你只要把作家及其主要作品记牢，并且的大致了解作品内容，中心思想以及作家写作特色之类的就好。作家作品名是肯定要背下的，至于剩下部分，你看过一遍就会有个大体印象，答题时找准点，用自己的话表述，老师就会给分的。还有就是自考出题的重复率还算挺高的，你看看往年的题，也会很有帮助的加油吧~~
Chapter 5The Modern Period Ⅰ。学习目的和要求 通过本章的学习，了解20世纪批判现实主义文学和现代主义文学产生的历史、文化背景。认识该时期文学创作的基本特征、基本主张，及其对现当代英国文学乃至文化的影响；了解该时期重要作家的文学创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格、思想意义等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品，了解其思想内容和写作特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。 Ⅱ。本章重点及难点 1. 英国现代文学的特征 2. 主要作家的创作思想、艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构、人物刻画和语言风格 3. 名词解释：现代主义 4. 应用：选读作品的主题结构、艺术特色、人物刻画和语言风格，如 （1）叶芝和艾略特诗歌（所选作品）的主题、意象分析 （2）小说《儿子与情人》的主题和主要人物的性格分析 （3）意识流小说的主要特色分析 （4）萧伯纳戏剧的特点与社会意义分析 Ⅲ。考核知识点和考核要求 （一）现代时期概述 1.识记： A. 20世纪英国社会的政治、经济、文化背景 B.英国20世纪批判现实主义文学 C.现代主义文学的兴起与衰落 2.领会： A. 现代主义文学创作的基本主张 B.英国现代主义文学思潮 （1）诗歌 （2）小说 （3）戏剧 3.应用： A.名词解释：现代主义 B.英国现代主义文学的特点 C.现代主义文学对当代文学的影响 （二）现代时期的主要作家 A.萧伯纳 1.一般：萧伯纳的生平与文学生涯。 2.识记： A.萧伯纳的政治改革思想和文学创作主张 B.萧伯纳的戏剧创作 （1）早期主要作品：《鳏夫的房产》、《华伦夫人的职业》、《康蒂坦》、《凯撒和克莉奥佩特拉》 （2）中期作品：《人与超人》、《巴巴拉少校》、《皮格马利翁》 （3）晚期作品：《伤心之家》、《回到麦修色拉》、《圣女贞德》、《苹果车》 3.领会： A.萧伯纳戏剧的特点与社会意义 B.萧伯纳的戏剧对20世纪英国文学的影响 4.应用： A.《华伦夫人的职业》的故事梗概、情节结构、人物塑造、语言风格、思想意义 B.选读：所选作品的主要内容、人物塑造、语言特点、艺术手法等 B.约翰。高尔斯华绥 1.一般识记：高尔斯华绥的生平与文学生涯 2.识记：高尔斯华绥的文学创作 （1）戏剧：《银盒》、《正义》、《斗争》 （2）小说：《福赛特世家》（《有产业的人》、《骑虎》、《出租》）、《现代喜剧》 3.领会： A.高尔斯华绥的创作思想 B.高尔斯华绥批判现实主义小说的主要特点及社会意义 4.应用： 选读：所选作品的主要内容、人物性格。语言特点、叙述手法等 C、威廉。勃特勒。叶芝 1.一般：叶芝的生平及文学生涯 2.识记：叶芝诗歌的代表作品 （1）早期诗歌：《茵尼斯弗利岛》、《梦见仙境的人》、《玫瑰》 （2）中期诗歌：《新的纪元》、《1916年的复活节》 （3）晚期诗歌：《驶向拜占廷》、《丽达及天鹅》、《在学童们中间》 3.领会： A.叶芝的诗歌创作思想 B.叶芝诗歌的特点及思想意义 C.叶芝诗歌的艺术成就 D.叶芝的诗歌对当代英国文学的影响 E.叶芝的戏剧创作 4.应用：选读：、所选作品的主题思想、语言风格、艺术特色等 D、T.S.艾略特 1.一般识记：艾略特的生平及创作生涯 2.识记：艾略特的主要诗歌作品 （1）《普鲁弗洛克的情歌》 （2）《荒原》 （3）《灰星期三》 （4）《四个四重奏》 3.领会： A.艾略特的文学理论与文艺批评观 B.艾略特诗歌的艺术特色及社会意义 C.艾略特的戏剧 D. 文略特的艺术成就 E.艾略特的文学创作及文艺批评思想对现当代英国文学的影响 4.应用： A.《荒原》主题、结构、神话、象征、语言特色及社会意义 B.选读：所选作品的主题结构、思想内容、语言特点、艺术手法等 E.戴维。赫伯特。劳伦斯 1.一般识记：劳伦斯的生平及文学生涯 2.识记：劳伦斯的主要小说 （1）《儿子与情人》 （2）《虹》 （3）《恋爱中的女人》 3.领会： A. 劳伦斯的创作思想 B. 劳伦斯小说的主要艺术特色及社会意义 . C. 劳伦斯的小说对现当代英国文学的影响 4.应用： A.《儿子与情人》的故事梗概、情节结构、人物塑造、语言风格、思想意义 B.选读：所选作品的主要内容、人物性格、语言特点、艺术手法等 F.詹姆斯。乔伊斯 1.一般识记：乔伊斯的生平与创作生涯 2.识记：乔伊斯的主要作品简介 （1）《都柏林人》 （2）《青年艺术家的肖像》 （3）《尤利西斯》 3.领会： A. 乔伊斯的文学创作主张与美学思想 B. 乔伊斯小说的主要艺术特色及思想意义 C.乔伊斯的艺术成就 D.乔伊斯的作品对现当代世界文学的影响 4.应用： A. 意识流小说的主要特色分析 B. 选读：所选作品的主题思想、人物塑造、语言特色、艺术手法等 Chapter 5 The Modern Period 一。识记： 1. The social， ideological background of the modern English literature： （1） The influences of the two World Wars on English literature： Modernism rose out of skepticism and disillusion of capitalism. The First World War and the Second World War had greatly influenced the English literature. The catastrophic First World War tremendously weakened the British Empire and brought about great sufferings to its people as well. Its appalling shock severely destroyed people's faith in the Victorian values； The postwar economic dislocation and spiritual disillusion produced a profound impact upon the British people， who came to see the prevalent wretchedness in capitalism. The Second World War marked the last stage of the disintegration of the British Empire. Britain suffered heavy losses in the war： thousands of people were killed； the economy was ruined； and almost all its former colonies were lost. People were in economic， cultural， and belief crisises. （2） Ideologically， the rise of the irrational philosophy and new science greatly incited modern writers to make new explorations on human natures and human relationships. （a） In the mid-19th century， Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels put forward the theory of scientific socialism， which not only provided a guiding principle for the working people， but also inspired them to make dauntless fights for their own emancipation. （b） Darwin's theory of evolution exerted a strong influence upon the people， causing many to lose their religious faith. The social Darwinism， under the cover of "survival of the fittest，" vehemently advocated colonialism or jingoism. （c） Einstein's theory of relativity provided entirely new ideas for the concepts of time and space. （d） Freud's analytical psychology drastically altered our conception of human nature. （e） Arthur Schopenhauer， a pessimistic philosopher started a rebellion against rationalism， stressing the importance of will and intuition. （f） Having inherited the basic principles from Schopenhauer， Friedrich Nietzsche went further against rationalism by advocating the doctrines of power and superman and by completely rejecting the Christian morality. （g） Based on the major ideas of his predecessors， Henry Bergson established his irrational philosophy which put the emphasis on creation， intuition， irrationality and unconsciousness. All these irrationalist philosophers exerted immense influence upon the major modernist writers in Britain. So， after the First World War， all kinds of literary trends of modernism appeared： symbolism， expressionism， surrealism， cubism， futurism， Dadaism， imagism and stream of consciousness. Towards the 1920s， these trends converged into a mighty torrent of modernist movement， which swept across the whole Europe and America. After the Second World War， a variety of modernism， or post-modernism， like existentialist literature， theater of the absurd， new novels and black humor， rose with the spur of the existentialist idea that "the world was absurd， and the human life was an agony." 2. The development of English poetry in the 20th century： The 20th century has witnessed a great achievement in English poetry. In the early years of this century， Thomas Hardy and the war poets of the younger generation were important realistic poets. Hardy expressed his strong sympathies for the suffering poor and his bitter disgusts at the social evils in his poetry as in his novels. The soldiers-poets of World War I revealed the appalling brutality of the war in a most realistic way. The early poems of Pound and Eliot and Yeats's matured poetry marked the rise of "modern poetry，" which was， in some sense， a revolution against the conventional ideas and forms of the Victorian poetry. The modernist poets fought against the romantic fuzziness and self-indulged emotionalism， advocating new ideas in poetry- writing such as to use the language of common speech， to create new rhythms as the expression of a new mood， to allow absolute freedom in choosing subjects， and to use hard， clear and precise images in poems. The 1930s witnessed great economic depressions， mass unemployment， and the rise of the Nazis. Facing such a severe situation， most of the young intellects started to turn to the left. And therefore the period was known as "the red thirties." A group of young poets during this period expressed in their poetry a radical political enthusiasm and a strong protest against fascism. With the coming of the 1950s， there was a return of realistic poetry again. By advocating reason， moral discipline， and traditional forms， a new generation of poets started "The Movement，" which explicitly rejected the modernist influence. There was no significant poetic movement in the 1960s. A multiplicity of choices opened to both the poet and the reader. Poets gradually moved into more individual styles. 3. Realism in the 20th century English literature： The realistic novels in the early 20th century were the continuation of the Victorian tradition， yet its exposing and criticizing power against capitalist evils had been somewhat weakened both in width and depth. The outstanding realistic novelists of this period were John Galsworthy， H. G. Wells， and Arnold Eennett. The three trilogies of Galsworthy's Forsyte novels are masterpieces of critical realism in the early 20th century， which revealed the corrupted capitalist world. In his novels of social satire， H. G. Wells made realistic studies of the aspirations and frustrations of the "Little Man；" whereas Bennett presented a vivid picture of the English life in the industrial Midlands in his best novels. Realism was， to a certain extent， eclipsed by the rapid rise of modernism in the 1920s. But with the strong swing of leftism in the 1930s， novelists began to turn their attention to the urgent social problems. They also enriched the traditional ways of creation by adopting some of the modernist techniques. However， the realistic novels of this period were more or less touched by a pessimistic mood， preoccupied with the theme of man's loneliness， and shaped in different forms： social satires by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell comic satires on the English upper class by Evelyn Waugh； and Catholic novels by Graham Greene. Another important group of young novelists and playwrights with lower-middle-class or working-class background in the mid-1950s and early 1960s known as "The Angry Young Man." They demonstrated a particular disillusion over the depressing situation in Britain and launched a bitter protest against the outmoded social and political values in their society. Kingsley Amis， John Wain， John Braine and Alan Sillitoe were the major novelists in this group. They portrayed unadorned working-class life in their novels with great freshness and vigor of the working-class language. Amis was the first to start the attack on middle-class privileges and power in his novel Lucky Jim （1954）。 The term "The Angry Young Man" came to be widely Having been merged and interpenetrated with modernism in the past several decades， the realistic novel of the 1960s and 1970s appeared in a new face with a richer， more vigorous and more diversified style. 二。领会： 1.Modern English poetry： It is， in some sense， a revolution against the conventional ideas and forms of the Victorian poetry. The modernist poets fought against the romantic fuzziness and self-indulged emotionalism， advocating new ideas in poetry- writing such as to use the language of common speech， to create new rhythms as the expression of a new mood， to allow absolute freedom in choosing subjects， and to use hard， clear and precise images in poems. 2. Modern English novels： The first three decades of 20th century were golden years of the modernist novel. In stimulating the technical innovations of novel creation， the theory of the Freudian and Jungian psycho-analysis played a particularly important role. With the notion that multiple levels of consciousness existed simultaneously in the human mind， that one's present was the sum of his past， present and future， and that the whole truth about human beings existed in the unique， isolated， and private world of each individual， writers like Dorothy Richardson， James Joyce and Virginia Woolf concentrated all their efforts on digging into the human consciousness. They had created unprecedented stream-of-consciousness novels such as Pilgrimage by Richardson， Ulysses （1922） by Joyce， and Mrs. Dalloway （1925） by Woolf. One of the remarkable features of their writings was their continuous experimentation on new and sophisticated techniques in novel writing， which made tremendous impacts on the creation of both realistic and modernist novels in this century. James Joyce is the most outstanding stream-of-consciousness novelist； in Ulysses， his encyclopedia-like masterpiece， Joyce presents a fantastic picture of the disjointed， illogical， illusory， and mental- emotional life of Leopold Bloom， who becomes the symbol of everyman in the post-World-War-ⅠEurope. In the works of E. M. Forster and D. H. Lawrence， old traditions are still there， but their subject matter about human relationships and their symbolic or psychological presentations of the novel are entirely modern. Forster's masterpiece， A Passage to India （1924）， is a novel of decidedly symbolist aspirations， in which the author set up， within a realistic story， a fable of moral significance that implies a highly mystical， symbolic view of life， death， human relationship， and the relationship of man with the infinite universe. D. H. Lawrence is regarded as revolutionary as Joyce in novel writing； but unlike Joyce， he was not concerned with technical innovations； his interest lay in the tracing of the psychological development of his characters and in his energetic criticism of the dehumanizing effect of the capitalist industrialization on human nature. He believed that life impulse was the primacy of man's instinct， and that any conscious repression of such an impulse would cause distortion or perversion of the individual's personality. In his best novels like The Rainbow （1915） and Women in Love （1920）， Lawrence made a bold psychological exploration of various human relationships， especially those between men and women， with a great frankness Lawrence claimed that the alienation of the human relationships and the perversion of human nature in the modern society were caused by the desires for power and money， by the shams and frauds of middle-class life， and， above all， by the whole capitalist mechanical civilization， which turned men into inhuman machines. After the Second World War， modernism had another upsurge with the rise of existentialism which was reflected mainly in drama. 3. The development of 20th century English drama： The most celebrated dramatists in the last decade of the 19th century were Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw， who， in a sense， pioneered the modern drama， though they did not make so many innovations in techniques and forms as modernist poets or novelists. Wilde expressed a satirical and bitter attitude towards the upper-class people by revealing their corruption， their snobbery， and their hypocrisy in his plays， especially in his masterpiece， The Importance-of Being Earnest （1895）。 Shaw is is considered to be the best-known English dramatist since Shakespeare whose works are examples of the plays inspired by social criticism. John Galsworthy carried on this tradition of social criticism in his plays. By dramatizing social and ethical problems， Galsworthy made considerable achievements in his plays such as The Silver Box （1906） and Strife （1910）， in which Galsworthy presents not only realistic pictures of social injustice， but also the workers' heroic struggles against their employers. W. B. Yeats， a prominent poet of the 20th century， was the leader of the Irish National Theater Movement. He was a verse playwright who desired to restore lyrical drama to popularity. With the heroic portrayal of spiritual truth as his main concern， Yeats wrote a number of verse plays， introducing Irish myths and folk legends； but the plot in his plays was seldom very dramatic. The 1930s witnessed a revival of poetic drama in England. One of the early experimenters was T. S. Eliot who regarded drama as the best medium of poetry. Eliot wrote several verse plays and made a considerable success. Murder in the Cathedral （1935）， with its purely dramatic power， remains the most popular of his verse plays， in spite of its primarily religious purpose. After Eliot， Christopher Fry gained considerable successes in poetic drama. His exuberant though poetically commonplace verse drama. The Lady's Not For Burning （1948）， attracted delighted audience. The English dramatic revolution， which came in the 1950s under various European and American influences， developed in two directions： the working-class drama and the Theater of Absurd. The working-class drama was started by a group of young writers from the lower-middle class， or working class， who presented a new type of plays which expressed a mood of restlessness， anger and frustration， a spirit of rebelliousness， and a strong emotional protest against the existing social institutions. John Osborne's play， Look Back in Anger （1956）， in a fresh， unadorned working-class language， angrily， violently and unrelentingly condemned the contemporary social evils. With an entirely new sense of reality， Osborne brought vitality to the English theater and became known as the first "Angry Young Man." The most original playwright of the Theater of Absurd is Samuel Beckett， who wrote about human beings living a meaningless life in an alien， decaying world. His first play Waiting for Godot （1955） is regarded as the most famous and influential play of the Theater of Absurd.
考研时，复习英美文学用的 “环球时代" 系列，前面的总结很清晰。 按作家时代，流派，代表作，经典名句等分类归纳的不错，还有习题。 你可以去看看。 封皮是绿色的。
只背重点1. 文学流派：流派名称、代表人物、起讫时间、时代背景。2.作家姓名和代表作：（1）作家姓名、国籍、流派、时代。（2）代表作：书名，人物，情节。3.背诵经典教材原文，或截取重点记忆。哪些作家或作品记不住就买这个作家的这本书好好看看。看了有助于记忆。