《美国文学选读》是《求知高等学校英语专业系列教材》的一部分,旨在为英语专业高年级学生、美国文学爱好者和研究者提供一片园地,用以学习和研究美国文学,提高文学素养,开拓视野,陶冶情操。本书是一本集历史、文本、批评理论于一书的文学选读教材。该书介绍了美国自殖民地时期到20世纪末的历史文化背景和各个时期的文艺思潮以及代表作家和他们的代表著作。本书按照美国文学的发展分九章,每章包括历史文化背景简介、作家作品选读、文学聚焦、阅读与欣赏和时代之声5个部分。精简而丰富的注释、引导自主性研究的思考题能有效帮助读者加深对所选作品的理解和鉴赏。

Chapter 1 EARLY AMERICA TO 1750
INTRODUCTION
William Bradford( 1590-1657 )
from Of Plymouth Plantation
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
To My Dear and Loving Husband
LITERARY FOCUS
READING FOR APPRECIATION
VOICE OF THE AGE
Chapter 2 REASON AND REVOLUTION 1750-1800
INTRODUCTION
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
from Poor Richard' s Almanac
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
from The American Crisis
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
The Declaration of Independence
LITERARY FOCUS
READING FOR APPRECIATION
VOICE OF THE AGE
Chapter 3 NATIVE GROUNDS 1800-1840
INTRODUCTION
Washington Irving(1783-1859)
Rip Van Winkle
James Fenimore Cooper ( 1789-1851 )
from The Last of the Mohicans
William Cullen Bryant(1794-1878)
Thanatopsis
Edgar Allan Poe(1809-1849)
To Helen
The Raven
LITERARY FOCUS
READING FOR APPRECIATION
VOICE OF THE AGE
Chapter 4 NEW ENGLAND RENAISSANCE 1840-1855
INTRODUCTION
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
from Nature
from Self Reliance
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
from The Scarlet Letter
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
A Psalm of Life
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
LITERARY FOCUS
READING FOR APPRECIATION
VOICE OF THE AGE
Chapter 5 CONFLICT AND CELEBRATION 1855-1880
INTRODUCTION
Walt Whitman(1819-1892)
from Song of Myself
O Captain ! My Captain !
……
Chapter 6 REGIONALISM AND REALISM 1880-1910
Chapter 7 THE BLOOM OF MODERNISM 1910-1930
Chapter 8 MID-CENTURY VOICES 1930-1960
Chapter 9 IN OUR TIME 1960-PRESENT
BIBLIOGRAPHY