American Literature(7)

• Edgar Allan Poe(1809 – 1849)

was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Born in Boston, he was the second child of two actors.

 Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.

•  Selected list of works

1.  "The Fall of the House of Usher"  (Tales)
2.  "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) – Essay

              Poetry

1.  "Annabel Lee"
2.  "The Raven"
3.  To Helen"

• American Renaissance (literature) 

 In American literature, the American Renaissance was a period during which many of the literary works most widely considered American masterpieces were produced. The period is generally defined as the mid-19th century but especially the years roughly from 1850 to 1855.

Major works from those years include Ralph Waldo Emerson's Representative Men (1850, ), Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850) and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), Henry David Thoreau's Walden (1854), and Walt Whitman's first edition of Leaves of Grass (1855).

The notion of an American Renaissance has been criticized for overemphasizing a small number of white male writers and artifacts of high culture.

• Nathaniel Hawthorne ( 1804 – 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer.

1.  The Scarlet Letter (1850)    (Novels)

                              * Dimmesdale/Chillingworth

•   short stories

     1."My Kinsman, Major Molineux" (1832)

 ....... Robin, a youth, arrives by ferry in Boston seeking his kinsman, Major Molineux, an official in the British Colonial government, who has promised him work. ............

Disillusioned, the youth asks the old gentleman the way back to the ferry. Yet the latter restrains him, saying that it is still possible for him to thrive without his kinsman's protection.

 *initiation journey/*river styx(冥河)/*charon冥衛(ferryman擺渡者)
 

2. "Young Goodman Brown" (1835)

The story takes place in 17th century Puritan New England, a common setting for Hawthorne's works, and addresses the Calvinist/Puritan belief that all of humanity exists in a state of depravity, except those who are born in a state of grace.

Hawthorne frequently attempts to expose the hypocrisy of Puritan culture in his literature. In a symbolic fashion, the story follows Young Goodman Brown's journey into self-scrutiny, which results in his loss of virtue and faith.

*allegorical name/the betrayal of the trust/faith /believe

• Vocabulary