美國文學(xué)欣賞WashingtonIrving

1、(1783-1859)“rip van winkle”（瑞普凡溫克爾)washington irving(1783-1859)position in american literature life works literary achievements stylecontributionsposition in american literaturethe first american (true) literary writerthe first american man of letters americas first genuine internationally best-sell

2、ing author the first belletrist in american literature, writing for pleasure at a time when writing was practical and for useful purposes -belletrist n. 純文學(xué)作者純文學(xué)作者the first american writer to earn his living solely by his penthe first american literary humoristthe first modern short story writerthe

3、first to write history and biography as entertainment his use of the gothic looks forward to poe.the messenger sent from the new world to the old world “the american goldsmith”mark twain also is called vthe father of american literaturevthe true father of american literatureii. life and literary car

4、eervborn: 3 april 1783vbirthplace: new york, new yorkvdied: 28 november 1859vnamed for george washington; his parents were admirers of general washington.virving was born in 1783, the year in which benjamin franklin signed at paris the treaty of peace with england after the revolutionary war. virvin

5、gs mother was born in englandvstudied lawvamused himself by writing for periodicals vfrom 1804 to 1806 his older brothers financed his tour of france and italy. vunder the pseudonym diedrich knickerbocker, he published a history of new york (1809), a satire that has been called the first great book

6、of comic literature written by an american. vin 1820, irving published the sketch book under the pseudonym geoffrey crayon. vthe hit book made irving the first american author to gain real fame in europe. vthe stories (including “rip van winkle” and “the legend of sleepy hollow”) appeared serially i

7、n 181920.vtheir enthusiastic reception made irving the best-known figure in american literature both at home and abroad. vin search of colorful material, he made a journey to the frontier and wrote about the american west in a tour of the prairies (大草原游大草原游記記,1835). late life:va colossal 5-volume bi

8、ography of george washingtonva biography of christopher columbus is still considered a classic.irvings gravemajor worksv(1809: a history of new york紐約外史v 1820: the sketch book of geoffrey crayon, gent. 見聞札記v two folktales: “rip van winkle” and “the legend of sleepy hollow”(睡谷傳奇)v 1822: bracebridge h

9、all布雷斯勃列奇莊園v 1824: tales of a traveller 游客談v 1835: a tour of the prairies大草原游記stylev graceful, refined, fluent and dignifiedv sentimental, romanticiv. commentv the first american author to win international recognitionv the first prose stylist of american romanticismv in his sketch book appeared the

10、 first modern american short stories. v his essays are models of perfect english.v irving created humor by the way he said things: 1)he delighted in making ironic remarks which say just the opposite of what he meant. 2) he used dignified words to produce a half-mocking effect. 3) he was also fond of

11、 exaggerating the seriousness of situations.v he not only provided a young nation with humorous, fictional accounts of the colonial past but also helped create an american mythology which is made up of stories about the american past so widely read as to be familiar to nearly every american.short st

12、oryva prose narrative that is brief in naturevalso has many of the same characteristics of a novel including characters, setting and plot. vhowever, due to length constraints, these characteristics and devices generally may not be as fully developed or as complex as those developed for a full-length

13、 novel. vthe short story usually deals with a single episode and often a single character. vthe short story frequently also lacks denouement (n. 結(jié)結(jié)局局 ), ending instead at its climax. vmany authors well known for it including edgar allan poe, 埃德加埃德加愛倫愛倫坡坡o henry, 歐歐亨利亨利ernest hemingway, 海明威海明威vpoe fi

14、rst theorized on the structure and purpose of the short story.rip van winkle “rip van winkle” introductionrip van winkle: the protagonist the plot introductionvsimilar to a 3rd-century chinese tale of ranka retold in lionel giles in a gallery of chinese immortalsvpart of a collection entitled the sk

15、etch book of geoffrey crayonvthe story is set in the years before and after the american revolutionary war. rip van winkle: the protagonistva villager of dutch descentvlives in a nice village at the foot of new yorks catskill mountainsvan amiable man whose home and farm suffer from his lazy neglectv

16、he is loved by all but his wife the plotvone autumn day he escapes his nagging wife by wandering up the mountains. vthere he encounters strangely dressed men, rumored to be the ghosts of henry hudsons crew, who are playing nine-pins. vafter drinking some of their liquor, he settles down under a shad

17、y tree and falls asleep. vhe wakes and returns to his village, where he finds twenty years have passed. vhe finds out that his wife has died and that his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else. vhe immediately gets into trouble when he proclaims himself a loyal subject of king georg

18、e iii, not knowing that the americanrevolution has taken place.van old local recognizes him, however, and rips now grown daughter takes him in. vrip resumes his habitual idleness, and his tale is solemnly believed by the old dutch settlers, with certain hen-pecked husbands wishing they shared rips g

19、ood luck.vi. topics for discussionv 1. compare the different situations in the village for rip van winkle before and after his 20-year sleep. 1) changes in his family his daughter grew up and married; his wife died; his dog no longer recognized him. 2) changes in the village when rip returned, child

20、ren hollered at him and at first no one recognized him. the portrait of king george was replaced by that of washington; a harangue about citizens rights 3) change in the life style: peaceful in the past but noisy after rips long sleepv2. what is the authors opinion of rip van winkle? and what is you

21、rs? do you agree with rips view as to the changes of states and empires? why?v3. this selection is a good illustration of the humor characteristic of irving. analyze how irving creates humor.v4. do you think rips wife is also a well-developed figure? how does this figure impress you?the protagonist

22、rip van winklev good-natured, well-oiled, carefree, happy-go-lucky, showing no interest in political affairsva lazy farmerv a hen-pecked husband; an irresponsible head of his familyv a good neighbor, ready to help othersv. stylevconservative e.g. rip felt into sleep before american independence and

23、woke after itlove of old worlds tradition“an old gentleman speaking english not american vaim of writing: entertainment, not moralizingvmaster of a graceful and unobtrusively(不引人不引人注意的注意的) sophisticated prose stylevgentle, refined, lucid, beautiful vclassical in form though romantic in subjectsvgood at creating atmosphere vhumorous vfinished(精致完美的精致完美的) and musical language vvivid charactersvii. contributionsva. he was the fi