Teaching Focus
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Historical Introduction
Washington Irving
Edgar Allan Poe
Transcendentalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Herman Melville
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
HISTORICAL EVENTS
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1815-50 – Westward Expansion
1846-48 – Mexican War
1849 – California gold rush
1861-1865 – Civil War
Historical Introduction
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Geographically, America expanded its frontier through westward
movement. The land and the population in the United States was
largely increased. (P52)
Economically, it began the industrialization and urbanization.
(automation and technology led to sharp contrast of riches and
poverty)
Politically, people enjoyed more freedom.
Culturally, cultural nationalism prospered.
Literary Ideas: Romanticism and Transcendentalism (novels, short
stories and poems replaced sermons and manifestos as America’s
principal literary forms.
The diversity of American romanticism:
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comic fables of Washington Irving;
gothic tales of Edgar Allan Poe,
the frontier adventures of James Fenimore
Cooper;
the Psychological romances of Nathanial
Hawthorne…
Elements of Romanticism
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1. Frontier: vast expanse, freedom, no geographic
limitations.
2. Optimism: greater than in Europe because of the
presence of frontier.
3. Experimentation: in science, in institutions.
4. Mingling of races: immigrants in large numbers
arrive to the US.
5. Growth of industrialization: polarization of north
and south; north becomes industrialized, south
remains agricultural.
Three periods of American Romanticism
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Early American Romanticism :
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High Romanticism:
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imitative and independent: Irving, Bryant, Longfellow,
Whittier, Holmes and Lowell ,modeled on works on
English and European masters like John Dryden,
Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison, Oliver Goldsmith,
Byron and Wordsworth
Independent and new: Transcendentalism, Emerson,
Thoreau
Late Romanticism:
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Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville
Romanticism (※)P55
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Rise of Romanticism: appeared in England in the 18th century.
Reaction against the prevailing neoclassical spirit and
rationalism during the Age of Reason.
Moral enthusiasm: passion, emotion, fancy and imagination.
Faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception:
display personalities, express feelings and ideas, stress men’s
rights for freedom and happiness. Human nature is of good will.
Man can know the world through his own
ability/conscience/intuition.
Nature was a source of goodness and man’s societies a source
of corruption.
Romanticism
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The literary works of romanticism mostly reflected the
fantastic and thrilling stories taking place long ago and
far away, rich in mystic color. The romantic had a
persistent interest in the primitive literature, in which
he found inspiration of various kind.
The romantic showed a profound admiration and love
for nature. The beauty and perfection of nature could
produce in him unspeakable joy and exaltation.
Romanticism in America
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Arrives in America 1820s
Center around Concord,
Massachusetts—kind of
artists’ colony
“Transcendentalist Club”
1836—writing, reading,
reform projects
Utopian communities—
groups to escape
American materialism
Representative Writers of the Romanticism
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Washington Irving (1783-1859):
James Fennimore Cooper (1789-1851)
William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
Herman Melville (1819-1891)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
Washington Irving
Washington Irving: (1783—1859)
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the first native American author to win
worldwide fame / the first important American
fiction writer who gains international fame.
often referred to as "The Father of American
Literature" or "The Father of American Letters
“.
American author, short story writer, essayist,
poet, travel book writer, biographer, and
columnist, best known for the short stories
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van
Winkle".
Life
A. Born in a rich merchant family,
the last of 11 children
B. Liked traveling and reading
C. Learned law but more interested
in writing
D. Went to England for family
business
E. Wrote to support himself after
business failure
F. Diplomatic work for a period
Major works
(1) A History of New York (1809)
a. written under the name of D. K.;
b. a popular and humorous handbook about the Dutch settlers;
(2) Biographies of Goldsmith and Washington
(3) The Sketch Book (1819 - 20)
a. a collection of essays, sketches and tales;
b. It marks the beginning of American romanticism;
c. Satire is woven throughout the book;
d. Two famous short stories in the collection: "Rip Van Winkle"
and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
Rip Van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle:
good-natured, hen-pecked,
idle, amiable, careless,
conservative
Dame Van Winkle :
his termagant wife
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Setting ：The story begins about five or six years
before the American Revolution and ends twenty years
later. The action takes place in a village in eastern New
York, near the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains.
The river was named after Englishman Henry Hudson,
who explored it in 1609. The Catskill Mountains were
named after Kaaterskill, the Dutch word for a local
stream, Wildcat Creek. The Catskills contain many
other streams, as well as lakes, waterfalls, and gorges.
the story: Rip felt into sleep before the American
Independence and woke after it and found the world
completely changed.
the writer’s conservative attitudes (love of the old
world's tradition, "an old gentleman speaking English
not American”)
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Irving had a special talent for creating a
magical, fairytale quality in his tales–notably
"Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow"–and thus helped shape the folklore
of early America. His elegant writing style, full
of gentle humor and vivid descriptions,
continues to enchant modern readers.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
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"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by
Washington Irving contained in his collection The
Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.(1820) 《见闻
札记》, written while he was living in Birmingham,
England, and first published in 1820. With Irving's
companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest American
fiction still read widely today.
Questions:
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1. Setting: What is the location of this
story? The atmosphere and the history
of this area?
2. Who is the protagonist of this story?
3. Describe the protagonist’s physical
features and the meaning of his name.
Where did he come from? What was
he doing there to make a living?
4. What’s the plot of the story?
Plot Summary
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The story is set in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York, in a
secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. It tells the story of Ichabod
Crane, a priggish schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes
with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, a strong and rough man, for
the hand of eighteen-year-old Katrina Van Tassel.
As Crane leaves a party, he is pursued by the Headless Horseman,
supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who lost his head to a
cannon-ball during "some nameless battle" of the American
Revolutionary War and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in
nightly quest of his head." Crane runs away from town, leaving
Katrina with Brom Bones, who is implied to be the Headless
Horseman.
小说概要
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小说中的故事发生在约1790年的美国纽约州东南部一个荷兰人聚
居的村庄塔里敦（Tarry Town），在一座名为“沉睡谷”
（Sleepy Hollow）偏僻的狭谷中，来自康涅狄格州的傲慢男教员
伊奇博德·克瑞恩（Ichabod Crane），他同村里的另一个青年
Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt争夺18岁女孩卡翠娜·凡·塔赛尔
（Katrina Van Tassel）的芳心，她是当地一个富农的女儿。一
个秋天的晚上，当克瑞恩从凡·塔赛尔家的一次派对上离开时，他
被无头骑士追赶，传说无头骑士曾是一个驍勇善战的黑森骑兵，
在美国独立战争的一场无名战争中被对手砍下了自己的头颅，从
此他总是在月黑风高的夜晚在村庄出没，寻找自己失落已久的头
颅。
Inspiration
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The denouement of the fictional tale is set at
the bridge in the real location of the Old
Dutch Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow. The
characters of Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van
Tassel may have been based on local
residents known to the author. The character
of Katrina is thought to have been based
upon Eleanor Van Tassel Brush and her
name comes from Eleanor's aunt Catriena
Ecker Van Tessel.
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小说故事的发生地是真实存在的，源于来自美国纽约州威斯特彻
斯特郡的一个村庄，从美国革命起该村名为“比克曼镇”
（Beekmantown），1874年改称“北塔里敦”（North
Tarrytown），1997年正式改名“沉睡谷”（Sleepy Hollow）。
小说的灵感来自于沉睡谷中荷兰老教堂前的一座桥上，男女主角
伊奇博德·克瑞恩和卡翠娜·凡·塔赛尔的原型都是作者认识的当地
居民。虽然小说面向的是纽约读者，作者因此将故事主要情节设
置在纽约州东南部的塔里敦，但男主角却来自沿哈德逊河向北很
远的纽约州另一个城市肯德胡克（Kinderhook，在荷兰语中是
“小孩的角落”的意思，美国总统马丁·范·贝伦的故乡），作者华
盛顿·欧文1809年曾在那里度过了8个星期[1]。
华盛顿·欧文去世后葬于沉睡谷的墓地，同样葬在沉睡谷的还有世
界钢铁大王安德鲁·卡耐基、克莱斯勒汽车公司的创始人华尔特·波
尔斯·克莱斯勒（Walter Percy Chrysler）等。
改编作品
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电影默片《无头骑士》（The Headless Horseman，1922年），
拍摄于纽约的哈德逊河。
动画电影《伊老师与小蟾蜍大历险》（The Adventures of
Ichabod and Mr. Toad，1949年），华特迪士尼公司出品。
电视电影《沉睡谷传奇》（The Legend of Sleepy Hollow，1980
年），拍摄于犹他州。
电影《断头谷》（Sleepy Hollow，1999年），蒂姆·伯顿导演，强
尼·戴普主演，获1999年奥斯卡金像奖最佳艺术指导奖。
电视连续剧《你害怕黑暗吗？》（Are You Afraid of the Dark？，
1992年）中的《午夜骑士的传奇》（The Tale of the Midnight
Ride）一集。
Irving’s Style
beautiful
highly skillful
providing a model for the narrative of the future
“The style is the man,”文如其人
striking features
•avoided moralizing; wrote to amuse and entertain,
•was good at enveloping his stories in an atmosphere,
•his characters are vivid and true
•filled with humor
•musical language
Washington Irving’s Literary style
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(1)“The style is the man;”
(2) neoclassical in form;
(3) English style + German folktale +
American life = Irving’s style;
His graceful, humorous, stylistically careful
writing is in the tradition of Addison, Steele,
and Goldsmith.
Washington Irving’s Contribution
1) Irving is the first belletrist in American literature,
writing for pleasure at a time when writing was
practical and for useful purposes.
2) He is the first American literary humorist.
3) He has written the first modern short stories. The
short story as a genre in American literature
probably began with Irving's The Sketch Book.
4) He is the first to write history and biography as
entertainment.
5) He introduced the nonfiction prose as a literary
genre.
6) He was the first American writer of imaginative
literature to gain international fame.