American Literature Tutorial

Author: Peng Jiahai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: This is an undergraduate textbook for English majors, combining literary history with selected readings in English. The literary history section primarily introduces the historical background, literary trends, and literary schools of several important periods in American literature, as well as the literary careers, artistic characteristics, and plots of representative works of writers. The selected readings section features outstanding works by prominent American literary figures, including short stories, poems, and essays, with necessary annotations and glossaries for the novels. The principles of this textbook are as follows:
1. Emphasizing the importance of novels, particularly short stories, in American literature. Instead of excerpting from long novels, we have selected outstanding short stories that, to a certain extent, represent the creative themes and styles of the authors' longer works. For some writers, we have selected two works to present their styles from different periods, with varying difficulty levels to cater to readers of different levels. Additionally, we provide summaries of the plots of long novels widely recognized as representative works of certain authors.
2. Highlighting practicality. While emphasizing the representativeness and readability of the works, we have carefully selected a small number of outstanding writers. All the selected writers are prominent figures in American literature and can largely represent the creative themes and styles of certain schools. Given the limited time in literary courses, this textbook allows students to gain a certain understanding of the history, development, and characteristics of American literature. Based on this, writers from the 1960s and later are not included in this textbook. Additionally, to facilitate reading for undergraduate and similarly leveled readers, we have provided glossaries for some of the selected works. This is because many students struggle to read and understand the texts due to the abundance of unfamiliar words, leading to a loss of interest in literary courses and hindering literary appreciation and classroom discussions.
3. Emphasizing the importance of the works themselves. We provide only brief introductions to the writers. To combine literary history with selected readings, we also introduce the social background and literary characteristics of several important periods in American literary history.
4. Highlighting cultural content. Since literature and culture are inseparable, and understanding culture helps in comprehending works, we place great importance on culture in the background and writer introductions, as well as in the selection and annotations of the works.
5. To give readers a more comprehensive understanding of American literature, we have also selected outstanding poems by famous American poets and several essays.